Building construction is the process of adding structure to real property. The vast majority of building construction projects includes some elements in common – design, financial, and legal considerations. Some projects of varying sizes, can reach undesirable end results, such as structural problems and cost overruns. Those with experience in the field make detailed plans and maintain careful control during the project, to ensure a positive outcome.
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The numbers involved
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, building construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale building construction is an achievement of human multitasking. Normally, the job is managed by a project manager, and supervised by a construction manager, design engineer, construction engineer or project architect.
For the successful execution of a project, effective planning is essential. Those involved with the design and execution of the infrastructure, must consider the environmental impact of the project. They must also take into account the budgeting, construction site safety, availability of building materials and inconvenience caused to the public by construction delays and tendering.
Contracts tying up legal ends
.A building construction project is a complex net of contracts and other legal obligations, each of which must be carefully considered. A contract is the exchange of a set of obligations between two or more parties. It is not just a simple process of trying to get the other side to agree to as much as possible, in exchange for as little as possible. The time element in building construction projects means, that a delay costs money and in cases of bottlenecks, the delay can be extremely expensive. Thus, the contracts must be designed to ensure that each side is capable of performing the obligations set out.
Contracts that set out clear expectations and obvious routes, to accomplishing those expectations, are far more likely to result in the project flowing smoothly. Whereas producing poorly drafted contracts lead to chaos and failure.
Legal advisors, at the start of a building construction project, seek to prevent problems and identify ambiguities and potential sources of trouble, in the contract structure. Throughout the process of the project, they work to avoid and resolve conflicts that arise. In each case, the lawyer facilitates an exchange of obligations that matches the reality of the project.
Keeping it together
The modern trend in design is toward integration of previously separated specialties, especially among large firms. In the past, architects, interior designers, engineers, developers, construction managers, and general contractors were more likely to be entirely separate companies,
Today, a firm that is nominally architecture or construction management may have experts from all related fields as employees. Thus, each such firm may offer itself as one-stop shopping for a building construction project, from beginning to end. This is termed a “design build” contract, where the contractor is given a performance specification and must undertake the project from design to construction, while keeping to the performance specifications.
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