How to make building industry efficient
Efficiency of building industry and hence the cost of building depends on five main factors: clients, designers, contractors, producers of materials, and economic and institutional contribution lies in his skill in specifying his needs prior to preparation of a design and in assessing value of the solution put forward by a designer. A designer occupies central role. His contribution lies in operate. He must thus take account of the problems likely to arise in the erection of a building and of the extent to which materials since they determine the overall building and can reduce costs not only by using materials to the best advantage, but also by planning to meet the needs in a smaller space.
The contractors’ contribution to cost reduction lies in the efficiency with which they assemble the building. This is not just a question of speed but of a proper balance between labour and organization. The producers of materials can assist in cheapening the product by improving efficiency of the processes of extracting, manufacturing and distributing the materials and components. The economic and institutional environment affects efficiency by the way in which it facilitates the design and the construction process and by restrictions it imposes upon the industry.
clients are involved in exercising their function only occasionally and must rely mainly on the skills of designer in assessing the nature of their needs and value of the solutions put forward.
The design of a building, particularly today, is a very complex problem, demanding a greater breadth of knowledge than most other design problems. The complexity arises from the size of a building and the number of purposes it serves, from the number and range of services to be provided and from the range of materials and methods of construction which are available. Design economy can only be achieved through understanding of the user’s fundamental requirements and ability to predict ultimate cost consequences of many possible solutions. Different components of a building interact with each other and with the ways the building can be used, and affect the cost of running it and operating within it. Few people can be experts in all the facets of the design of the building and its services, but a leader of the design team must at least have an overall knowledge of the problems of all disciplines.
The development of new materials and new building techniques and the increase in the complexity of the services provided in a building have added to the erection problems as well as to the design problems. Not so long ago the range of materials and the techniques of construction was so limited that building craftsmen could set out and erect buildings from the information given simple outline drawings. The services to be fitted were few and a contactor could generally understand the whole building process. Today the possible forms of construction are extensive and many of the services are very complex. Detailed drawings and often specialized knowledge are necessary. The traditional crafts tend to play less important role and more and more specialist workers are employed. More complicated forms of building and demand for more rapid erection necessitate careful site planning and organization, it is not adequate to follow through the natural sequence of trades. Moreover, improvement in the standards of shortage in many advanced countries, have resulted in need for better organization and labour conditions and for higher payments. The greater relative cost of site labour is the more efficient labour use is needed.
Traditional building materials are generally bulky and heavy and variable in shape and size. When cheap by themselves they are often expensive in use. Techniques of using them have been developed giving eliminated most of the difficulties arising from their lack of infirmity. Even so, materials have limited technical performance. Moreover, being bulky and heavy they are costly to transport. At the time when transport was relatively undeveloped, and in countries where this is still so, building materials are not generally much used outside their locality of origin. In such places forms of construction are limited and building is usually expensive. Development of cheap transport results in cheapening of standardization of existing materials and favours development of easily transportable materials.
New materials often developed in other bields have been found. They provide greater flexibility in use and are lighter and more uniform than traditional materials. Such materials often enable to solve a greater range of problems an are often cheaper than traditional materials. However, newer materials sometimes do not contribute easily with the traditional ones.