Bowes, D and Arnold, S (2009) The engineering and construction contract and its implications for project programming procedures. In: Dainty, A R J (ed.) Proceedings of 25th Annual ARCOM Conference, 7-9 September 2009, Nottingham, UK.
Abstract
The New Engineering Contract was introduced in 1993 with a view to achieving three aims of flexibility, clarity and simplicity, and to provide a stimulus to good management. Now in its third edition and with a new title of the Engineering and Construction Contract, it places great emphasis on project programming and requires early warnings of anticipated delay and its effect on cost. As a result many contractors are establishing procedures to ensure compliancy with these contractual requirements. A questionnaire survey was carried out, supplemented by semi structured interviews, within a major civil engineering contractor in order to investigate the standard programming procedures (known as the Established Approach) in terms of their functionality and applicability to the contract clauses, and their impact on project management. The results show that the Established Approach not only complies with the programming requirement of the contract, but also is a very good project management tool. But to make it work, staff need proper training and should be allowed sufficient time to operate the system. Commitment from both employers and project managers is also needed.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | ECC; programme delay; early warning; project management |
| Index terms: | programming, construction contract, questionnaire, project management, engineering contractor, project manager, interview, programme, early warning, survey, New Engineering Contract, functionality, commitment |
| Subjects: | project controls, firms, project management theory and practice, financial risk, psychology, design features, contractual arrangements, profession, data collection methods, contract type, programming |
| Topics: | Cost Management, Project Management, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Procurement, Digital Applications, Design Practice, Organizational Design, Time Control |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here