Construction of a New Building for Newton University

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary
Business Needs
Product Description
Deliverables
Project Description
Project Approach
Works Cited

Executive Summary

Guru Contractor is a construction company located in West Virginia. Guru has been in the building construction business for a very long time. Many years have seen Guru erect buildings for institutions, real estates, commercial enterprises and many more. If you talk about construction in West Virginia the first picture that comes in your mind is Guru Contractors. Recently, Guru has been awarded a contract by Newton University for the construction of a state of the art ICT center. This building will consist of three floors, ground floor first floor and second floor. The ground floor will host five teaching laboratories; the first floor will host journalism offices, software laboratory, hardware laboratory and radio room; the second floor will host ICT offices and server room. Guru is expected to provide a project management plan that will ensure a successful completion of the construction of the ICT center (Berkun 205).

Guru feels upbeat for this task because of the resources they possess. This includes and is not limited to; highly skilled workforce, construction material, experience in this field etc. Guru has a sound financial base and incase of projects outside their liquidity, they have established a good base with financial institutions and hence can secure loans of greater magnitude. Concerning quality they have a quality management team whose responsibility is to ensure projects are executed efficiently independent of the project location to the desired specification in a timely manner and within the set budget. Any project carried out either meets or exceeds the client expectations. This project management report outlines the tasks to be undertaken by Guru to make sure Newton University attain the realization of a state of the art ICT center.

Table 1: Project charter

Project Title: Project Management Construction of Lilian K. Beam Building Start Date: June 10, 2010 Finish Date: December 4, 2011
Budget Information: The institution has allocated $940,000 for this project. The major costs of this project will be material supply and internal labor.
Project Manager: David Bell, (210)889-2345, [email protected]
Project Objectives: Develop a state of the art ICT center building. The building will consist of two stories and will be an ICT hub for Newton University. The building is intended to host five teaching laboratories, software and hardware laboratories, journalism offices, radio presenter room, ICT staff offices and ICT faculty offices.
Approach: Develop project needs by collaboration between the architects with Newton university team Pre-construction Phase: Perform estimate values and schedules according to project requirements and obtain government approval Bidding Phase: Select a sub-contractor, and suppliers from the database list based on good track record
Roles and Responsibilities:
Name	Role	Position	Contact Information
Fleming Joe	Sponsor	Newton University, CEO (Vice Chancellor)	[email protected]
David Bell	Project Manager	Guru Contactors, manager	eri_bell@ gurucontrators.com
Chen Michael	Sub Contractor Manager	JWD Consulting, senior consultant	mic_chen@ gurucontrators.com
Faue Jessie	Team Member	Guru Contractors, Chief Architect	jes_faue@ gurucontrators.com
Dodge Kevin	Team Member	Guru Contractors, Project Engineer	kev_dodge@ gurucontrators.com
Dawson Cindy	Team Member	Guru Contractors, Quality Engineer	cin_dawson@ gurucontrators.com
Phuong Kim	Advisor	Client representative	[email protected]
Miller Page	Advisor	Client representative	[email protected]
Comments: (From stakeholders, handwritten or typed ) “I will dedicate my time and advice to ensure this project is completed in good time, meeting the set standards.” –Chen Michael “while purchasing the interior furniture and computer equipment we need to verify that the purchases are of good quality bearing current technology in the market.” –Dodge Kevin and Dawson Cindy

Business Needs

Due to the advancement in information and telecommunication technology, Newton University was not to be left behind in their technological endeavors. Newton University has achieved great recognition through its production of creative and highly competent ICT graduates in the world. Great founders and inventors in technology, both software and hardware have set their feet in Newton University. With the U.S.A government having initiated a major project that will see almost 80 percent of West Virginia traversed with fiber optic connection, it was necessary for a technology oriented university like Newton to grab this opportunity by coming up with an ambitious project of constructing a state of the art ICT facility. The board of executives met and deliberated on this issue before deciding on this project.

Newton will use this facility to initiate a master’s degree program in information and communication technology. Through the acquirement of a radio transmission permit, Newton University will realize their goals of setting a radio station in this ultra modern building. Newton also had the objective of restructuring their ICT department to improve on the quality of service delivered to staff, students and faculty, and hence the new structure was to be allocated space within this facility.

The end result of this project is an improvement of university status through offering of a master’s degree programme. As a result of the construction of software and hardware laboratories which will be equipped with modern teaching and research equipment will be a plus to the already established ICT standards of Newton University. The start of a radio station will see journalism students receive training that will usher them positively into the job market. The stated objectives will contribute to both tangible and non tangible profits propelling Newton University to greater heights in the technological world. Newton obtained funding through donation brought in by board members who are alumni of the university. The commencement of this project attained a resounding yes from all the stake holders (Luckey and Phillips, p. 205).

Product Description

The facility to be constructed is to seat on 50,000 square feet of land. The facility will be named Lilian K. Beam building after one of the founders of Newton University. Lilian K. Beam will be a two stories building laid on a stone foundation. The walls will be of brick veneer and well polished and curved fieldstone. The ground floor of the building will host five teaching laboratories. The first floor will host the software laboratory, hardware laboratory, journalism offices and the radio presentation room. The second floor will host a server room, ICT staff and ICT faculty offices. All the rooms contained in this building will have air cons installed. The teaching laboratories will have a stone walled behind, left and right sides but the front area will consist of a glass wall and door separated by silver metal linings. All the glasses to be used in the construction will be sound proof eliminating noise transmission by 99 percent. The floor will be made of hardened grade one quality tiles. Most of the rooms will have large expansive windows as an additional means of ventilation to the air cons. All the floors will include gents and ladies lavatories with the ones on the ground floor being large in size to serve a large population of students as compared to the ones in the first and second floor. The stairs will be made of hardened glass with precast open arm like elements to support the users. The building will have overlapping roofs made of clay baked tiles to ease the work of cleaning and minimize heat. With the choice and approval of this design, Lilian K. Beam building is anticipated to fulfill its objectives and bring great benefit to Newton University (Kerzner 322).

Deliverables

The project deliverable will be a state of the art ICT building with the ability to host teaching laboratories, software and hardware laboratories, server room, radio presentation room, journalism offices, ICT staff offices and faculty offices. The building will be equipped with all the furniture and computer equipment.

Project Description

Scope

The project is to make sure Newton University realize a state of the art ICT center named Lilian K. Beam building which will steer the university to great technological heights in addition to bringing financial benefits. Everything has to be achieved according to the proposed budget and timeline as indicated in the project charter in the executive summary section.

Despite the fact that Guru will supply furniture and computer equipment for the building, they will not be in charge of the maintenance contract for the equipment. Guru will only maintain the building for a period of two years after its completion.

Completion criteria

The building is to be completed within a span of 18 months after which its commissioning will take place. During hand over of the project by Guru to the stake holders it is expected that all the furniture and fittings will be in place. Before the completion its construction will witness many phases consisting of activities which are dependent and independent of each other.

Risk assessment

The risk assessment for the construction project initially seeks to identify, prioritize, distinguish and document a risk alleviation approach that will be adopted by Guru staff relative to the particular risks that can be recognized before the beginning of the project. This process will be continually examined and updated accordingly all through the project cycle, with periodical evaluation and assessment that are included in the below status document and will be open to modification by the project in charge or manager. This is for the purpose of adapting to the present risks as business risks do fluctuate.

Given that all the risk alleviation measures have to be agreed upon by the project management team, with reference to their assessed likely impact, the projects capacity to accommodate such a risk and viability to avoid such a risk, it is vital to assign time to each team meeting, for identifying fresh risks and devising their easing tactics.Our project Team Leader will be able to convey any amendments and suggested eventualities to the Team monthly, or as frequently as the prevailing conditions may demand (Geer, p. 233).

Table 2. Risk assessment

Particular Risk	Level of Risk L/M/H	Occurrence possibility	alleviation Strategy
Size of Project
Hours per Person	M: Over 10,000	Likely	Allocated Project Leader, involved consultant, all-inclusive management approach and communications plan
Expected Project Schedule	L: 18 Months	Unlikely	Employed a detailed project timeline with periodical reviews and adjustments
Project team size at task peak	M: 3 members/ task	Certainty	broad consultation structure, communications plan, regular meetings, strict management oversight
Project Definition
Low user knowledge level	L: User understanding of assigned task	Unlikely	The assigned team leaders to source vet staff and offer training.
Project Scope crawl	L: Scope usually designed to be flexible	Unlikely	Scope was first defined in plan for the project, evaluatd monthly by each team
Relevant deliverables in project unclear.	L: Were Well defined	Unlikely	Intergrated in the entire project plan and subject to revision.
Unrealistic cost estimates	L: carefully assessed by the industry professionals using proven best practices	Unlikely	Intergrated in the project plan but can be reviewed as new information pertaining the project scope in unveiled.
Unrealistic timeline estimates.	H: Timeline overlooks any form of derailment	likely	Timeline will be reviewed periodically by the teams to avoid unnoticed timeline departures.
Presence of team members with little or no business knowledge.	L: Proficient team well informed of business trends and technology.	Unlikely	The project team leader and consultant to spot any knowledge gap and source for the necessary training needs
Project Leadership
Existence of steering committee	L: recognized and enthusiastic	Very Unlikely	Constantly find feedback to ensure the project is on track.
Lack of commitment and management attitude	L: Knows the value and complements the project	Unlikely	Constantly find feedback to ensure the project is on track.
Lack of commitment and positive attitude from users	L: Knows the value and complements the project	Unlikely	Constantly find feedback to ensure the project is on track.
Lack of mid level management concern	L: Knows the value and complements the project	Unlikely	Constantly find feedback to ensure the project is on track.
Project Staffing
Availability of project team	L: Team readily available for the assigned tasks	unlikely	Constant review of project by the team leaders to identify any urgent tasks that require more personnel.
Present team physical location enhances management.	M: Team resides within the same municipality.	unlikely	Further use of technological equipment like internet and phones for effective communication.
Individual user paticipation on team tasks	L: users are good team players	Unlikely	Each team supervised by dedicated full time employees.
Project Management
The procurement procedure used not farmiliar with the team.	L: Team knowledgeable of most of the procedures.	Unlikely	N/A
Procedures to manage change not well illustrated.	L: change management procedures very well laid out.	Unlikely	N/A
Unclear quality measurement procedures	L: Standard quality assurance measures used	Unlikely	N/A

Constraints

Time: This project is expected to take a period of 18 months. This is one month before the commissioning ceremony. The reason for this is to avoid complications that might arise as a result of not finishing the project in good time.

Cost: Guru Contractor has to use its vast experience in project management to make sure it achieves the set objectives of not only accomplishing the project on time but doing it in a cost effective way (Phillips 120).

Quality: If more workers than necessary are employed to accomplish the task, the quality of the work will be compromised. This is due to the fact that the project manager will be obligated to input additional coordination affecting the timeless delivery of other phases of the project.

Dependency linkages

This project will consist of five phases i.e. Phase I, Phase II, Phase III, Phase IV and Phase V. Each phase will be completed in a chronological order. Each phase has numerous activities. Some of the activities in the phases are depended on each other and hence a task cannot be started before another is completer while other activities are independent of the other and can commence without any linkage to other tasks.

Impacts

The ICT department will increase its staff after restructuring. Lecturers from other faculties who had no offices will be allocated offices initially occupied by members of ICT faculty. Due to the construction of many teaching laboratories student enrolment numbers will hike. There will be a change on how staff and faculty ICT needs are served due to implementation of a call center, multimedia, roaming support, security and data center units. All this will lead to an increase in the operation budgets which will be parallel with revenue generated.

Measures of project success

Measures of project success will be the successful completion of the project within the set time frame and budget. This will be achieved through great experience of Guru Employees and discipline while undertaking this project. Perfect implementation of each phase of the project will have a direct impact to the success of the project. By the end of the project implementation Newton University should have a state of the art ICT center that is built to the required standards meeting or exceeding its expectations for the set objectives to be attained.

Assumptions

One assumption is that Guru contractor will be able to seal an agreement with a sub-contractor in good time. Second assumption is that suppliers will be able to deliver construction material in good time. Third assumption is that everyone will stick to the set construction blue print

Critical success factors

The first critical success factor is approval of the construction blue print by both stakeholders and government building and construction regulatory agencies. The second factor is the involvement of the stakeholders by constant report and inspections during the development of each and every phase of the project. As a result of good relationship between the stake holders and the project team it was apparent that there will be minimal hitches in the course of project implementation. The third factor is sufficient funding. With the budget set and funds availed this was key in ensuring acquisition of the correct construction material and payment of all the workers.

Roles and project Stake Holders

The table below indicates roles of subjects involved in the construction of Lilian K. Beam building.

Project Sponsor	This includes the alumni of Newton University. They are the main sponsors of the project budget hence major stakeholders
Project Owner	This comprises of the vice chancellor and the deputy vice chancellor. They are the major decision makers in this project and hence control the formulation and implementation of policy documents. They resolve any conflicts that arise during project implementation. They have a direct communication link with the project manager.
Project Manager
Steering Committee
Stakeholder
Team Member

Project Approach

Planned Approach

This project will be implemented in various phases. A checklist will be provided at every phase to ensure that every task is implemented according to plan. These phases are: planning phase, design phase, construction phase, acceptance phase and finally persistence phase. A sub-contractor and suppliers will be brought on board. The sub-contractor will then hire or outsource manpower and skills to carry out the project. The hired resources will either be on permanent or temporary basis. The contractor will ensure various tests are carried after implementation of each phase.

Expectations

One expectation of this project is that it will be implemented within the planned time or even earlier. Another expectation is that the budget allocated will be enough to carter for all the requirements needed for the implementation. Finally, it is expected that the quality of the project will not be compromised based on the vast experience of the implementation team (Kendall 123).

Work breakdown structure

Phase one

Contract negotiation with selected music groups

Design contract document
Discuss contract document
Consult with both parties
Agree on contract document
Sign contract document

Contract negotiation with roadies

Design contract document
Discuss contract document
Consult with both parties
Agree on contract document
Sign contract document

Screen and hire security personnel

Identify security needs
Draft security needs on paper
Consult various security firms
Make a choice of security firm
Agree and hire security personnel

Phase two

Find a construction firm & build the stage

Research on stage designs
Decide on stage design
Approach different construction firms
Make a choice of construction firm
Award constructing contract for stage to build

Phase three

Logistical arrangements for music group transportation

Identify number of music crew
Identify mode and means of transportation
Book tickets for music crew

Hire parking staff, and make parking arrangements parking fee

Identify parking zone or parking space
Identify and vet parking staff
Hire parking staff

Phase four

The table below shows the estimated cost of organizing “Rock ‘n’ Reggae” music festival.

Task	Number of workers	Duration (Weeks)	Labour charges ($200/week first worker , $300/week extra worker)
Contract negotiation with selected music groups	1	3	$600
Contract negotiation with roadies	1	2	$400
Screen and hire security personnel	1	3	$600
	1	1	$200
Find a construction firm & build the stage	2	4	$1100
	1	3	$600
Organize advertising brochures and souvenir	1	4	$800





Total Implementation Cost			$7,800

The figure below shows the task schedule chart

Works Cited

Berkun, Scott. Making Things Happen. Boston: HRD Press, 2005.
Berkun, Stella. The Art of Project Management. New York: Weaver Publishers, 2008.
Greer, Michael. The Project Manager’s Partner: A Step by Step Guide to Project Management. Boston: HRD Press, 2001.
Harvey, Levine. Practical Project Management: Tips, Tactics and Tools. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2002.
Kendall, Gerald. Advanced Project Portfolio Management and the PMO: Multiplying ROI at Warp Speed. Denver: MacMurray, 1999. Print.
Kerzner, Harold. Advanced Project Management: Best Practices on Implementation. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2004.
Luckey, Teresa, and Phillips Joseph. Project Management for Dummies. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2006.
Phillips, Dwayne. The Software Project Manager Handbook: Principals that work at work. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2004.

Click Here To Order Now!