Construction of an Office

Building in Sri Lanka

District Election Secretariat, Colombo

Ratna Maddewithana
Chief Engineer Planning
Department of Buildings, Sri Lanka

Fig 1: Front view of the Election Secretariat

Abstract
The project described in this paper is a typical construction of a three-storeyed
administration building in Sri Lanka. The project is owned by a government
department, which does not have its own technical staff. The Buildings Department,
whose main function is to assist technically in construction and maintenance of
government buildings, was handed over the project by the client. The Buildings
Department acted as the consultant, prepared all the drawings and specifications in
order to procure the building as per the approved guidelines for tendering and
general conditions of contract applicable to contracts in Sri Lanka. During the
construction process the consultant faced various problems and hence was forced to
complete the project with a belated duration of contract. The author in this paper
tries to discuss the reasons behind the delays of completion of the project and
consultants obligations generally.

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Ratna Maddewithana

Introduction
Aim of the paper
This paper describes and discusses a building project in Sri Lanka. The project is
construction of a 3 storey office building with a floor area of 2133m², for District
Election Secretariat in Colombo. Although the project was started in 1995 it is not
yet completed and the building is still under construction. This paper aims to
describe and analyse the planning and reasons for the delay with some proposals for
improvements during construction process of the District Election Secretariat in
Colombo.

Back ground and Aim of the Project

After receiving the independence from british colonial rule in 1948, Sri Lanka had
the centralised government system to administer the country until the devolution of
power to the provincial government by the central government in 1987. Due to this
Sri Lanka had to have more elections island wide and on provincial basis, to select
representations to the nine provincial councils. Provincial council elections,
parliamentary elections and local government elections substantially incresed the
work load of the Election Secretariat. Due to this reason the Election Secretariat
needed more buildings. A particular building was proposed to fulfil the requirement
of Colombo District Election Secretariat to carry out election work pertaining to
Colombo District.

The Project

Fig 2: Super structure under progress

As stated earlier, the selected project is the construction of a three storey

administrative building for the Election Secretariat in Sri Lanka. The building is an
L-shaped one in plan, with 46.1 meters maximum length and 21 meters maximum
width. A sketch of the building plan view is given in fig 3.

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 Construction of a three storied administrative building Sri Lanka

46.1m
21m 14m

13.2
m

Fig 3: Sketch of the building plan view

The ground floor of the building consists of porch, reception, entrance lobby, two
large store areas, paved area for lorry bay, two bath rooms, and two stair cases.
First floor of the building consists of the deputy commissioner’s room, waiting area,
areas for store, records, administration, copying machines, vault, two stair cases and
two large bathroom areas.

The plan of the second floor of the building is almost identical to the first floor. The
water tank is planned above the lobby area of the third floor with an RCC roof. The
scope of the project included the construction of a three storeyed building, with a
pile foundation and the following:
• Lighting Arrestor,
• Fire detection system,
• Landscaping ,
• Access roads,
• Storm water disposal systems,
• External water supply and sewerage and a
• Fair face rubble masonry boundary wall .
The Project was planned to be carried out in two stages, sub structure and super
structure. The sub structure consisted of 75 piles.
The super structure consists of a 3 storied building with a total floor area of
2133,03m2. The total Estimated Cost of the project was Sri Lanka Rupees (Rs) 58.03
Million equivalent to 0.8 Million USD.
Estimated unit cost of the project was Rs 27,570,00 (377.6 US$) per m²
Selection of contractors for the two stages of the project was by open tender.

Main actors of the project

Client
The client of the project is the Commissioner of Elections. He is the sole authority of
the office of the Election Secretariat. He is directly responsible to the executive
president of Sri Lanka.

Election Secretariat
Election secretariat is the administrative office for carrying out elections in Sri
Lanka. Being a democratic government, Sri Lanka has to carry out several elections
through out the country in order to choose people’s representatives.. Presidential
elections are held once in 6 years to elect the executive president of the central
government. Parliament Elections are also held once in 6 years to elect
representatives to the parliament. As Sri Lanka is now having a decentralised system
of administration there are provincial councils for nine provinces of the country.
Members of each provincial council are elected by elections held in the respective
province. All these elections are carried out by the Election Secretariat situated in
Sarana Mawatha, Rajagiriya; which is a suburb of Colombo and within the
administrative capital of Sri Lanka. The building project focussed here is the
Colombo District Election Office, which is one of the many buildings under the
Election Secretariat and meant for the Election works related to Colombo District.

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Ratna Maddewithana

Consultant
The consultant of the project is the Buildings Department under the Ministry of
Urban Development Housing and Construction, Sri Lanka.
By the 13th amendment to the constitution of Sri Lanka, promulgated in
November 1987, provincial council set-up was established as administrative units at
a sub national level. A substantial amount of powers and functions exercise up to
that time by the central government has been devolved on the provincial councils.
Accordingly central building department is responsible for the work which is
coming under the central government.
The Buildings Department is the government department responsible for the
construction maintenance and facilitation of the government buildings of Sri Lanka.
Buildings Department acts as the client’s representative for many non-technical
departments and looks after the interest of the client.

Contractor
There are two contractors for this project. The contractor for the sub structure is
State Engineering Co-operation (SEC).
State Engineering Co-operation is a semi government organisation. Which
competes in the open market for construction works. At the same time SEC does
consultancy works too.
Contractor for the super structure is m/s Sarath Contractors . They are a private
contracting firm registered in the Institute of Construction Training & Development
(ICTAD) and a member of the National Construction Contractor’s Association Sri
Lanka (NCCASL).

Design Stage
Organization Chart of the Buildings Department

Director of Buildings

DDD (Zonal ) DD(PCC) DDF DDA Chief Architect

CEE (Zonal) CE(Pl) CE(Ct) CE(PC) DCA CSE CE(Elect) CE(WS&S) SNR AA

PEE(Zonal) E(Pl) E(Ws) E(CT) E(PC) Jnr AA EE(st) EE

PA

Fig 4

Project Organisation
The Director of Buildings (DB) is the head of the Buildings Department. He is
being assisted by six Deputy Directors (DDD) and Additional Director/Chief
Architect (CA). DB and DDD are engineers by profession and CA is an architect.
The works, which are to be handled by the department, are categorised according to
the geographical location of the project and fall in to the purview of DDD DDD are
also generally categorised according to the projects handle by them except for the

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 Construction of a three storied administrative building Sri Lanka

DD (PCC) who takes care of the Project Control, Contract, Planning, and Quality
Control.

Seven Chief Engineers (CEE) attached to zones

There are seven chief engineers attached to zones covering the entire country and
according to the concentration of work, for the execution of work
1. CE(Construction) All major construction works in Colombo metro-politan
and in the western province
2. CE (Maintenance) All maintenance works in Colombo metro politan and in
the western province
3. CE (Southern) All construction and maintenance works in Southern
province
4. CE (North) All construction and maintenance works in Northern
province
5. CE (North Western) All construction and maintenance works in North
Western) province
6. CE (Kandy 1) Construction and maintenance works in Central province
7. CE (Kandy 2) Construction and maintenance works in Central province

Seven Chief Engineers (CEE) attached to Head office

There are seven chief engineers attach to head office to facilitate the flow of work in
the head office.
1. CSE In charge of the structural design branch of the head
office and responsible for all structural designs; falls
under the purview of CA
2. CE (Electrical) In charge of the electrical design branch of the head
office and responsible for all electrical designs; falls
under the purview of CA
3. CE (Water Supply & Sewerage) In charge of the water supply &
sewerage design branch of the head office and
responsible for all WS&S designs; falls under the
purview of CA
4. CE (Project Control) In charge of the project control branch of the head office
and responsible for co-ordination of post contract phase;
falls under the purview of DD(PCC)
5. CE (Contract) In charge of the contract branch of the head office and
responsible for contract phase; falls under the purview of
DD(PCC)
6. CE (Planning) In charge of the planning branch of the head office and
responsible for overall and project planning of all the
works; falls under the purview of DD(PCC)
7. CE (Estimates) In charge of the estimate branch of the head office and
responsible for estimates rates valuation and costing all
the works; falls under the purview of CA.
There are engineers attach to each branch and executing offices to handle the
quantum of work.
Chief Architect (CA) heads the consultancy division of the head office. CA is
assisted by deputy chief architect and three chief Engineers CSE, CE(WS&S),
CE(Elect), and other senior and junior engineers and architects.

Project Procurement
The project was initiated by the client by a formal request. The Election
Commisioner (the client) made the formal request in 1995, for the design and
construction of a building to house the Colombo District Election Secretariat. Action
was taken by the Consultancy Division, whch is headed by Chief Architect, of the
Buildings Department to make the project brief with relevant officials in the client’s
department in order to carry out the pre feasibility studies. Pre feasibility and
feasibility studies were done by the Consultancy Division of the Department.
Buildings Department provides a wide range of services which include pre-
feasibility studies, feasibility studies, soil investigations, project management,
architectural, structural, water supply, and electrical design, preparation of contract
and tender documents, and providing services during construction.

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Ratna Maddewithana

Pre feasibility Studies

A pre feasibility study is done in order to determine the viability of carrying out an
expensive detailed feasibility study or whether there is number of possible
alternatives.
The activities will generally include the following.
• Study the client’s brief and conceptual proposals for the project.
• Collect and review all available data and information relevant or useful to
the study.
• Carry out preliminary surveys and investigations where necessary to
supplement the available information
• Study alternative proposals where ever possible and recommend the most
suitable.
• Make a preliminary environmental impact assessment
• Preliminary estimate of cost on the viability of proceeding to the next stage
of the detailed feasibility studies.

Depending on the prefeasibility report the decision is made to carryout the feasibility
studies on the project.
Feasibility Studies
The activities will generally includes the followings
• Study and review the project brief, submit comments and make suggestions
where necessary for clarifications or improvements of performance in
carrying out the project.
• Carry out preliminary surveys and preliminary site and soil investigations
and other necessary investigations
• Collect and study all necessary data relevant to the project
• Study statuary and local authority requirements and obtain approval where
necessary
• Study possible alternative proposals, which are not studied in the
permissibility studies.
• Obtain the advice of other consultants where necessary and co-ordinate with
them and any other specialist consultants provided by client.
The consultancy division of the department prepared preliminary drawings.
Preliminary Estimate was prepared by the chief engineer construction based on the
preliminary drawings. The client department approved preliminary estimate and the
drawings. It was decided to carry out the work in two stages, the sub structure and
the super structure.

Project Planning
Planning is the pre thinking of What must be done?, When?, How?, and In what
order?, Or what sequence?
The project planning will carry out the exercise to:
• Forecast and foresee the activities or operations that have to be performed to
achieve the given objective
• Fix realistic duration and time targets for completing the said activities
• Identify the necessary resources for the performance of these activities
• Determine the sequence for performing these activities

The planning process is generally done in the two following levels:

– Macro planning
– Micro planning

A total construction planning process may include:

• Planning and programming of the various construction operations
• Identifying and scheduling the resource requirements
• Preparation of financial plans and cash flow fore cast
• Preparation of systems for progress control, cost control and quality control
• Preparation of material and plant procurement plan
• Preparation of manpower deployment plan or human resource requirement
plan

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 Construction of a three storied administrative building Sri Lanka

• Preparation of the organisational plan and the plan for the procurement of
other services and facilities required for the construction process

In this project the Chief Engineer Planning does the macro level planning at the head
office and the executing chief engineer (CEC) at his office does the micro level
planning. The project engineer attached to the CEC’s office does activity level and
site level planning.

Project Financing
Financial planning in any stage of a project is very important in order to assume that
there would be adequate funds available to persue the construction programme, and
at the same time not tying up the full cost of the project for the entire construction
period. In this project client approved the total cost estimate. Once the client
approved the TEC the consultant can go ahead with the project.
Project Financing is the important part done at the head office level by respective
DD. Here DDW controls the financing part according to the cash flow forecasting
done at the project office.
The money allocated by the client department is usually sent to DB in the form of
a cheque. This money is deposited in the DB’s private account and the Deputy
Director Finance has the control over it. The CECW prepares the cash flow
forecasting programmes. The DDW from head office controls the cash flow to the
project office, where payments to the contractor are made by CEC.

Cashflow forecasting
It is necessary to take into account the timing and the amount of various payments
and receipts. A cash flow is the transfer of money in to or out of the organisation
considering the timing and the amount of the transactions. Therefore cash flow
forecasting means estimating of the cash position of the project by considering the
net effect of cash out flow and inflow and timing of the transactions. Cash flow of
the project is forecasted to receive funds from the head office in order to effect
contractor’s interim bill.
While this project work was progressing, there was a government decision to stop
all new constructions programmed for the current year in order to cut down the
expenditure. Work was held up due to this until the next year .
There were 15 million Rs available for the year 1995 but not utilised. Work in
procurement process started in early 1996.

Budget and Budget Control

The deputy directors prepare the budget for the planned work for the forthcoming
year during the first quarter of the current year. Then the director buildings submits
the total summed up capital and recurrent expenditure budgets to the ministry of
finance, to be included in the nest year’s national budget.
Capital expenditure is the expenditure planned for the new construction of
buildings, procurements of new machinery or equipment etc. Recurrent Expenditure
is the maintenance and all annual expenditure including the salaries of the staff.
Usually the government allocates funds for the capital and maintenance expenditure
of buildings to the other departments separately through their own votes. The
buildings department gets the funds allocated to it in the formal way after client
approves the TEC. The approved TEC becomes the budget for the project. The funds
received by the client departments for the capital expenditure is controlled in the
head office by respective DDD. The estimate includes the construction of the
building, other accessories, the overseerage and contingency component. However
the buildings department is not supposed to exceed the TEC.

Information Technology
Information technology plays a wide role in the construction management.
Following are some of the ways where information technology or the computers are
helpful in the construction industry.
• Updating of schedule of rates to keep up with changing prices of materials.

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Ratna Maddewithana

• Bill of quantities and estimates being done to keep changes to a minimum as

the connected drawings are being corrected.
• Technical and other specifications project reports contract documents, are
done by moving many paragraphs from various other documents to form new
documents
• Repetitive design works to optimise the size or cost being done very fast
• Statistical calculations being done with tedious mathematical analysis
instantly
• Fast and timely retrieval of urgent information
• For good presentation reports
• Preparation of cash flow diagrams budgets, instant knowledge of the
project’s cash situation
• Project planning done using resource scheduling techniques resources
histograms
In the design stage of the project macro level planning was done by this writer as CE
planning using the micro soft project package.

Conclusions
The famous statement says, “Failing to plan is planning to fail”. Accordingly the
planning and the design can be considered as the most important phase of the
project. It is essential to spent more time on planning of project making, prior
correspondence with out side authorities where necessary, in order to arrive on the
correct decision before actual design work starts. Also it is essential to pay attention
on the design, as alternative methodology of doing the same thing with improved
economy or improved quality etc. are possible. Information technology can be used
in wide ways to compare previous projects with similar conditions and learn out of
them.
Planning and design should be the most attention paid stages in a construction
project as the building ones constructed couldn’t be changed easily. It will affect the
lifetime of the project if anything went wrong.

Production Stage
After the design stage is completed, it is required to construct the building. A
contractor has to be selected to carry out the construction works. Also it is essential
to construct the building as per plans, bill of quantities, and specifications prepared
by the consultants within the specified time period and financial framework.

Tendering and Contract

The quantities for various constructional elements and installations are estimated.
The bill of quantities and the firm estimate prepared subsequently. The total
Estimated Cost was obtained and the client’s approval was already obtained.

Tendering Stage
After getting the estimate approved, the tender document has to be prepared. At first
draft tender documents are prepared and it consisted the following:
• Approved Estimate
• Bill of Quantities
• Drawings
• Specifications
• Conditions of tender
• Articles of Agreements
• Paper notice

The following activities have to be carried out at this stage:

• Prepare pre qualification of prospective tenderers and evaluation procedure.
• Pre qualification of contractors
• Invitation of tenders

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 Construction of a three storied administrative building Sri Lanka

• Tender evaluation and submit a report recommending the successful tenderer

• Prepare contract document
• Award of contract
The draft tender documents should be prepared and submitted to the relevant tender
board, which has the authority to give the approval. The minimum number of
members in the tender board is three. As the TEC was exceeding the Departmental
Tender board value it was required to go to the Ministry tender board. The chairman
of the tender board was the Secretary to the ministry of urban development Housing
and Construction. The tender notice was published in newspapers after the approval
was obtained for the draft tender documents. Tender forms in duplicates would be
issued to the interested tenderers after receiving the non-refundable tender
guaranties. Tenderers submit their tenders with the bid bond as per the requirement
on or before the scheduled time. The tender board opens the tender box and reads
the names and their tendered amounts to the tenderers or their representatives. Then
the tenders are handed over to the evaluation committee for the evaluation. The TEC
study the tenders carefully and submit their recommendation for the successful
tenderer or some times with recommendations for negotiations.
State Engineering Co-operation was selected, as the suitable contractor for the
sub structure and M/s Sarath Contractors was the selected for the super structure of
the project.
Contract details of the Sub structure
Date of commencement 04-10-96
Contract period 9 months
Date of completion 31-03-98
Defects liability period 12 months
Insurance Cover Against all risk for the full contract price to
cover the contract period plus the defect
liability period (12 months from the date of
completion)
Third party insurance Rs 1,550,000.00 and insurance policy against
accidents and injuries to workmen also to be
submitted.
Contract amount Rs 14,419,432.50
Security bond Rs 360,500.00 should be valid till 03-07-98
Mobilisation advance Rs 2,884,000.00 and a subsequent advance of
1,442,00.00 in two instalment on submission of a
bank guarantee after signing the agreement
Condition to the contractor At least 15% of the labour force posses national
trade test certificate. Or to be arranged to trade
test with the National Apprentice and Industrial
Training Authority
Work Programme Submit programme in item wise and activity wise
within 14 days of the letter of acceptance issue

Labourers only Sri Lankan both skilled and unskilled

Amount of liquidated damages 1/4000 of the contract price per day
Limit of the liquidated damages 2% of the contract price
Bonus nil
Bid bond Rs 310,000.00
% Retention 10% of the work done, limit 5% of the contract
price
Time within which payment
payment has to be made 30 days
Advance payment 30%of the contract price
Contractor: State Engineering Co-operation (SEC)
Contract details of the Super structure
Date of commencement 19-01-99
Contract period 18 months
Date of completion (due) 18-7-2000
Defects liability period 12 months

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Ratna Maddewithana

Insurance Cover Against all risk for the full contract price to
cover the contract period plus the defect liability
period (12 months from the date of completion)
Third party insurance Rs 1,000,000.00 and insurance policy against
accidents and injuries to workmen also to be
submitted.
Contract amount Rs 27,850,545.60
Security bond Rs 696,300.00 should be valid till 18-07-2001
Mobilisation advance, Rs 5,570,000.00
Condition to the contractor At least 15% of the labour force posses national
trade test certificate. Or to be arranged to trade
test with the National apprentice and industrial
training authority.
Work Programme Submit programme in item wise and activity
wise within 14 days of the letter of acceptance
issue

Labourers only Sri Lankan both skilled and unskilled

Amount of liquidated damages 1/4000 of the contract price per day
Limit of the liquidated damages 2% of the contract price
Bonus nil
Bid bond Rs 00000
% Retention 10% of the work done, limit 5% of the contract
price
Time within which payment is to
be made after submission of the bill
30 days
Advance payment 20%of the contract price

Contractor: M/s Sarath Contractors

Production Planning
Production Planning is done in the contractors project office in order to complete
the project within the agreed time and cost limits. Contractor submits his programme
of works according to the micro soft project requirement. The contractors project
manager does site level planning at this stage. The CEC who is the project manager
from the consultant, also does the planning at site level in order to make sure the
completion of the project in the cost and time frame work.
Following are the duties of the consultant’s project manager (in this case the
CEC) who has to do the site level planning accordingly:
• Site handing over to the contractor
• Supervision or inspection of construction works / monitor progress of
construction
• Co-ordinate work with client other consultants, superiors in the buildings
department, contractor, and any other parties who are interested in this work
• Safety measures to be carried out in this site to avoid any accidents.
• Quality control of the work and testing to be done.
• Monitoring of financial progress, variation orders, extra works etc.
• Maintaining of good weather condition report of the site and any potential
causes for extension applications
• Measurement of work done (mostly done by jointly to avoid any conflicts).
• Checking certifying and making contractor’s payments for the work done
• Action to be taken in case of disagreements
• Receipts of materials samples
• Certification of construction materials as per the specifications
• Contract Administration
• Drawings and any clarifications done at the site
• Defects survey upon practical completion of the project and notification to
the contractor
• Final inspection upon practical completion of the project
• Certification of the final payment.

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Quality Management
The quality can be defined as the ability to meet all the expectations of the
purchasers of goods and services. For an example, an office building should satisfy
the needs of the staff occupying it and also the customers. In the construction of the
structure the needs can be expressed by the following terms.
• Usability
• Safety
• Availability
• Reliability
• Maintainability
• Economics and environment
Quality management is the system of approach aiming at obtaining a product of
acceptable quality at the first time.
Given below are ten steps to be followed by the contractor to obtain a quality
product
1. Understand and accept contract specifications
2. Obtain all necessary factory test documents of material prior to purchase
3. Obtain time and mode of material transport and necessary warranties
4. Inspect material delivered at site, and accept only the quality checked material
for storage
5. Ensure quality transport to and storage and handling at site
6. Exercise all necessary field tests, whether of preparatory conditions materials
and equipment prior to installation
7. Ensure all required laboratory test results are available and accepted prior to
use
8. Check that the final product is in accordance with the specifications
9. Maintain quality control on site and with back up contact with manufactures and
labs during specified maintenance period
10. Make final project inspection with client and consultant. Ensure client
understands necessary future maintenance requirements
The consultant’s project manager or the CEC did quality management of the project
by :
• having regular progress review meetings
• doing testing in appropriate frequency of time and appropriate samples
• proper planning ahead to make sure no materials shortages occur, which force
the contractor to use alternative ways.
• monitoring the contractor in material procurement and resource scheduling

Economic Control - Budget review and reconciliation

Economic controls should be practiced at various levels to protect any possible cost
overrun of the project. The approved estimate gives the details and quantities of
works to be carried out under this project and it becomes the budget for the
consultancy organization. The TEC is the upper limit of expenditure that can be
reached by the consultant at any stage.
While progressing with the expenditure the DDW reports to the client department
monthly of the expenditure statement of the previous month. Also, there are progress
review meetings between the client’s representative and DB, DDW and this writer as
the CE Planning in the head office to review progress of the work. During these
meetings the financial position of the work is discussed. Progress review meetings
with the contractor, CEC and client’s representative are held at the site office
weekly. The upper limit for the payments to the contractor is the contract sum. DB
cannot approve any variation exceeding 10% of the contract sum. The approval of
such payments is done after a tedious way where the secretary to the ministry has to
be intervened. Any extra work or variation on the request of the client exceeding
10% of the contract sum is done in this way. CEC takes care of the payments to the
contractor after taking and certifying the joint measurements and the work done so
far. Cash flow programme and actual cash flow of the work is compared by CEC
and he ensures that the financial progress do not exceed the budget. Any variations if
occurred, are discussed and reconciled at the project office progress meetings or
head office progress meetings.

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Conclusions
The production of total project was carried out by two contracts. The sub structure
was done by the State Engineering Corporation (SEC) which is a semi-government
organisation. Although the project planning was to be completed within 9 months it
took more than that. The planning was done by the consultant’s office to complete
the project in time, but the progress was slow.
Although the project proposal was arrived in 1995 there was a government decision
to stop all new projects which were coming in the current year. Due to that the pre
construction process was slowed. No production could start until 1996. Pre contract
process took until October 1996 to award the contract. This was an unavoidable
delay, which could not have been overseen by the executives.
The delays occurred in the piling contract can be attributed to the following:
• Adverse security situation in the country.
• Lack of proper project management in the contractors organisation
• The client is a government organisation and the follow up by the client is not
adequate.
• Improper human resource management and time management.
• Numerous government red tapes
• As the contractor and consultant are all government institutions and under the
same ministry there were not enough control in order to improve the efficiency
of the work.
The consultants requested the grade 25 concrete for the piles, at the same times the
cement content should be 390 kgs per m³. The cement content for a grade 25
concrete is 330kgs/m³. The consultant later agreed to the contractor’s proposal of
bringing up the cement content to 360kg/m³ without considering the grade of the
concrete. The exchange of letters between two government offices to resolve a
problem took a long time.
The contract of sub structure was delayed due to many reasons and due to that start
of super structure was delayed. Contract management was done for the super
structure by the CEC. The physical and the financial progress are very much better
in this contract. The project is under progress. Progress charts indicate that the
progress is good and it will follow the expected path of construction programme.
Numerous decisions must be made during management of a project, which requires
a significant amount of time and effort of the project manager. Decision-making
involves choosing a course of action from various alternatives. It is the duty of the
project manager to know and clearly communicate the project objectives to
participants so that their efforts can be focused on the alternatives that apply to the
same end result.
Decisions must be made in a timely manner to prevent delays in work. Most of the
project decisions are made internally (within the project manager’s organisation)
which can be managed relatively easily. How ever some decisions are made
externally, out side the project manager’s organisation by owners or consultants.
Early in the project the project manager must identify those activities that require
external decisions so that appropriate information will be provided and the person
who will be making decisions can be identified. This must be included in the project
schedule to alert the responsible parties so that the project will not be disrupted and
delayed due to lack of decision at the proper time.
Time is irreplaceable and vital to every one. A project manager spends a large
amount of time with communicating and interchanging with others who are involved
with the project. Therefore it is important that the time is spent in a productive and
effective manner.
Common time wasters of a project manager are unproductive telephone calls and
meetings. Although the telephone is necessary to perform work, it can be quite
disruptive in some other way.

Proposals for improvements

More follow-ups by the client is necessary to improve the efficiency of the
contractor as well as the consultant as client is the ultimate loser if time or cost over
run occurred. Information technology within the consultant’s organisation should be

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improved so that the history can make lessons for the future. The selection of
contract period was made in an arbitrary manner without having considered previous
data. The information technology could have played a better role in deciding
contract period of contracts by making use of similar history.
The employees of the organisation should be trained in the field of project
management

Property Management
The project as a whole, is not yet completed. After the project is complete, the
property (building) will be handed over to the client. The contractor will be
responsible for the maintenance of the property during the maintenance period,
which is 12 months. Thereafter, the client, who is the owner of the property, will
have to do the property management. The consultant is not responsible for the
property management in this project.

Life cycle economy

It is the responsibility of the consultant to advise the client of not only the
construction cost but also over all cost of the project during it’s life period, by giving
cost benefit analysis of each available option. Even though currently too much care
is placed on the initial cost of the project compared with the over all life and the
replacement cost, the importance of the life cycle costing is now felt by the
professionals in the construction industry.

Maintenance planning
The client will undertake the maintenance planning of the completed building.
Usually when a client does not have a technically competent staff for the
maintenance of the buildings, the maintenance of all the buildings of the client will
be entrusted to the Buildings Department. The government allocates funds for the
maintenance of buildings to the respective department. Buildings department draws
up plans for the maintenance of the buildings.
Maintenance is done in two ways as below:
– Nominal maintenance
– Periodical maintenance
Nominal maintenance
Respective chief engineers calculate the cost of nominal maintenance of buildings
on square foot basis with a flat rate, annually. The annual maintenance cost is
intimated to the client organisation. Once the funds for the maintenance are
received, the buildings department is responsible to carry out all minor maintenance
works with respect to the building promptly.
Periodical Maintenance
Periodical Maintenance is done by the buildings department on a request made by
the client, estimate prepared, cost intimated, and on receipt on funds.

Connections to the design stage-feed back

There is no set procedure adopted at present to get any feed back to the designs stage
from property management. But as the department does maintenance, there is an
indirect feed back, automatically transferring to the design stage.

Conclusions
It is very important to consider the life cycle economy and maintenance
management at the design stage of any property. Although the department is doing
only as a consultant it is appropriate to adopt a system of advising clients on the
property management. It is very much important to design a system of proper feed
back to the design stage from maintenance stages. A proper feed back system can
alleviate errors and economise the designs.

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Ratna Maddewithana

References
Berentsen, C.E
1989 Construction and Quality control, ICTAD Journal, Colombo

Madhusuthanan, N
1990 Role of Computer in the Construction Industry, ICTAD Journal, Colombo

Gunasekara, Mervin. P
1989 Life cycle costing applications in the construction Industry ICTAD Journal,
Colombo

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Construction of a three storied administrative building Sri Lanka

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Ratna Maddewithana

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