Bill of Quantity in Civil Engineering

Bill of Quantity in Civil Engineering INTRODUCTION As stated in the assignment brief, the objective of this assignment is to appreciate and disseminate the knowledge, techniques and skills of measurement into actual practice and to expose the students with the production of Bills of Quantity referring to the measurement work done as part of tender documentation requirements. Based on CESMM, measurements can be classified as coordination and planning of quantities and also to list the details of the work to ensure it is running with a consistent, systematic and new construction techniques were explained well. Bill of Quantities is prepared by Quantity Surveyor based on measurement from the construction drawings / building plans. This document has been used in the construction of buildings which has been detailed in the context of the quantity of each category of work performed. For an example, building works, mechanical, electrical works, civil, structural works and infrastructure works. The contractor will priced or estimate all the works associated in completing the buildings during pre-construction stage. The civil works measurement referred to a document called Civil Engineering Standard Method of Measurement (CESMM). Before this document is produced, the party who responsible for the working measurement refers to the method adopted in the United Kingdom named ‘CESMM 2nd Edition or 3rd Edition’. There are most of the benchmark method used in building works, they use their own measurement system. This leads to inconsistencies in the measurement procedure. As a result, contractors are having difficulty to appreciate the tender. Work on the actual measurement must take into account the complexity of the work undertaken. Work measurement for any item of work is also closely associated with the activities and construction methodology. TASK 1 Discuss the importance of Civil Engineering Standard Method of Measurement (CESMM) in the civil engineering works / projects taking-off. Civil Engineering Standard Method of Measurement (CESMM) is to be used in conjunction with the Conditions of Contract for Civil Engineering Works. CESMM does not deal with the preparation of Bills of Quantity for mechanical electrical engineering work, building work or work which is seldom encountered in civil engineering contracts. If any such work to be included in the contract, such work shall be measured in accordance with their respective Standard Method of Measurement and shall be stated in the Preambles to the Bills of Quantity. CESMM provides a standard format, either in the form of items components and how they should be measured. A multi-level classification introduced in CESMM or space for a description of the work that can be developed. In the other hand, CESMM is to understand the purpose of using a standardised method of measurement. CESMM measurement method using the concept of method-related charges to present the cost of construction at the site in more obvious, such as covering the cost of site preparation and building machinery operating costs, and labor force. The importance of CESMM are be able to prepare bill items and re-measure completed work in accordance in civil engineering works. Be aware of the structure and application of Method Related Charges, unique to CESMM and the benefits arising from this facility. Be aware and appreciate the relationship of the Method of Measurement and the Conditions of Contract in the civil engineering works. TASK 2 Identify and discuss the contents of the tender document to be prepared for the tendering stage. The tendering stage is the process of selecting and appointing the contractor for the main construction contract. The contents of the tender document to be prepared for the tendering stage are: Letter of Invitation to tender– The bidder produce a formal letter to the tenderer, stated the tender closing date and time. Introduction-The tenderer invites bidder to submit a detailed proposal on the provision of equipment/system/software/services/works are detailed in the Tender Document. Conditions of contract – A written agreement is intended to bind the contractor appointed by the employer based on the laws and conditions imposed and agreed. Contract Drawings – technical / detailed construction drawings for measurement / costing by Quantity Surveyor / engineers – prepared by architect / engineers. Specification / Preambles A brief description of the materials and workmanship, the standard or quality of workmanship .It must convey the architect and engineer’s requirements. Bill of Quantities – Prepared by the Quantity Surveyor/stint on the size of the construction drawing plan / building. This document has detailed all the quantities for each category of work used in the construction of buildings. For example, building works, mechanical, electrical, civil, structural works, infrastructure works and other contractors would cost / budget all work related to the completion of pre-construction building. Investigate the Tenderer Financial standing – Look back into the audited accounts for past three years whether they have stable financial background. Get confidential report from firm’s bank. Instructions to Bidder – Purpose of Instructions. Tender Acknowledgement. Tender Document Preparation of Proposals. Submission of Proposals – (technical unpriced commercial proposals, priced commercial proposals, softcopy format) Acceptance of Bidder’s Proposal. Validity of Bidder’s Proposals. Queries Confidentially of Tender Document. Audit of Bidder’s Facilities. .Pre-award Meetings. Bidder Questionnaires Forms. Suspension and cancellation Award of Contract. Proposal Submission Guidelines. Scope of Works, Technical Specifications Requirements. Bill of Quantity (BQ) and Price Schedules. Bidder’s Compliances to Tenderer General’s Terms and Conditions. Tender Acknowledgement Form. One of the contents in the tender document is conditions of contract. What are the available conditions of contract, which are commonly used in the construction project? Contract Agreement. Letter of Acceptance. Tender and Appendix to Tender (as submitted by the Contractor in the Tender) Particular Conditions of Contract, Conditions Part 11(Part of Tender Document) General Conditions of Contract, Conditions Part 1(Example, as published by DM) Specifications(parts of Tender Documents) Drawings. Priced Bill of Quantities. What are the functions of the conditions of contract? The functions of Contract Conditions is to set out the principal legal relationship between the parties to a construction project, determining the allocation of risk and consequently, price. Conditions of contract must be read in conjunction with specification documents, drawings bills of quantities, activity schedules and special conditions. Standard form contracts often comprise suites of contracts with ‘back to back’ subcontracts, consultant appointments and collateral warranties. The formal conditions of contract in a tendering process is: Certification of free competition For the purpose of restricting competition to the price in the tender shall not be taken in consultation discretion. Restriction of publicity action Tenderers are not authorised to mention in their publicity that they have been invited to tender, are tendering or have tendered. Validity period of tender The tender shall specifically state a period of validity of 4 months from the closing date for the receipt of tenders, or such other period as may be provided for in the Special Conditions of Tender. Period for tender preparation The closing date for submission of tenders is stated in the cover letter. Extensions of this period, requested in writing, will only be considered by the Agency if operational requirements so permit, and if, in the case of competitive tendering, fair competition is not thereby impaired. Requests for extensions received less than two weeks before the closing date will,not be considered. Right to audit During its validity period, to request the tenderer to provide evidence of any element of his quotation and may call for additional detailed information irrespective of the type of price proposed. The Agency reserves the right to audit the quoted prices. Negotiation prior to contract award The Agency reserves the right to negotiate with one or more tenderers before taking a decision on the placing of a contract. The offer shall remain valid until changes are agreed in writing. The original offer, as modified shall constitute a binding revised offer. CONCLUSION Civil Engineering is a broad field containing many engineering sub-fields, such as transportation engineering, environmental engineering, geotechnical engineering and construction engineering. I understand the knowledge, techniques and skills of measurement with the production of Bills of Quantity referring to the measurement work according to the requirements of Tender Documents. In addition, I must also thanked to my group members and also my lecturer, Mr. Kumarason, as they helped me a lot in the measurement part in Task 2. It helps to create clear open channels of measurements and the procedures in tendering documents, improved my productivity in measurements skills and help keep morale high. In short, this assignments helps me to accept the idea of working in a construction site in future, following the rules and achieving correct Tendering Document. Therefore, this assignments helped me share ideas which ultimately lead me to innovation and better opportunity in my future under takings. REFERENCES Traditional Contract tender.info.[online] Available at : http://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Traditional_contract:_tender  [Accessed on 8th July 2014] Construction Contract Conditions.info.[online] Available at : http://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Construction_contract_conditions [Accessed on 8th July 2014] Bill of Quantity.info.[online] Available at: http://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Bill_of_quantities [Accessed on 9th July 2014] Seeley I.H., Winfield R. – Building Quantities Explained, Fifth Edition, Macmillan (1999) Willis A.J., Willis C.J. – Elements of Quantity Surveying, Seventh Edition, Granada (1978)

The Fantasy World of The Glass Menagerie :: Glass Menagerie essays

The Fantasy World of The Glass Menagerie In The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams creates a world in which the characters are disillusioned by the present. Amanda, Tom, and Laura achieve this disillusionment by resorting to separate worlds where they can find sanctuary. Each character develops their own world, far away from reality. Amanda frees herself from the harsh realities of life by constantly reminding herself of the past. To begin with, she continuously repeats the story of the "one Sunday afternoon in Blue Mountain" when she received seventeen gentlemen callers (1195). Furthermore, she keeps a "larger-than- life-size" photograph of her husband over the mantel who left the family when the children were young. When Jim came over for dinner, Amanda wears the "girlish frock of yellowed voile with a blue silk sash" that she wore on the day she met her husband (1222). Amanda obsesses with the past, and at the same time damaging the children psychologically. Constant allusions to the past have psychologically affected Tom and Laura, trapping them into Amanda$BCT(J lost world. Tom and Laura fail to survive in the present because they are always trying to live through the past. However, the past no longer exists, causing them distress in their journey through life. Tom is unsuccessful with his job at the warehouse and Laura cannot seem to fit in with the outside world. These personal downfalls in life drive Tom into a life of poetry and movies, and Laura into a world of glass figurines. Tom is unsatisfied with his work at the warehouse and feels his life lacks adventure. Therefore, he finds it through writing poetry and watching movies. When business is slow at the shoe warehouse, Tom goes to the washroom to work on his poetry. Tom finds adventure in poetry because he is able to create and control his own world. Along with poetry, Tom retreats to the movies every evening to fulfill his adventurous nature. Amanda questions Tom, "why do you go to the movies so much, Tom?" Tom replies, "I go to the movies because$BM*(J like adventure. Adventure is something I don$BCU(J have much of at work, so I go to the movies"(1210). Tom$BCT(J obsessions with adventure leaves him no time or energy to concentrate on his present responsibilities at work. Therefore, he leaves Amanda and Laura for the Merchant Marines, a place where he can live out his dreams for adventure. However, he cannot forget Laura, "I tried to leave you behind me, but I am more faithful than I intended to be!"(1247). Laura's problem, according to Jim, is her "inferiority complex"

Human Resources and Management Stratergy

Analyse two potential benefits of Out and About plc’s current ‘soft’ Human Resource Management strategy. Human Resource Management Strategy is the process of making the best use of an Organisation’s employees in order to achieve its human resource objectives. A soft HRM strategy recognises that the workforce are a valuable asset to the business and are crucial to achieve the organisation’s objectives. Soft HRM has many benefits to Out and About plc- it’s main benefit is to improve staff motivation.Out and About plc has shown this in many ways. Firstly, all staff are on permanent contracts providing them with greater security. This allows for the workers to provide a greater level of commitment to Out and About plc as it is their major career. This greater level of commitment will in turn produce greater labour productivity as workers who feel loyal and dedicated to a company will have a much more enthusiastic and hardworking approach as oppose d to a worker who does not feel greatly involved and concerned of the companies on goings.Furthermore, permanent staff are more likely to commit to training in order to acquire skills that can boost their career- which will again benefit the company. However, it is important to consider whether or not permanent contracts should be used for ALL staff as some groups of staff will most likely not be required at all times. Working in shifts could increase labour productivity as workers are more likely to be ‘fresh’ and more focused on a job in comparison to a member of staff who is to ‘go through the motions’ on a daily basis.Also, permanent contracts for all staff would be a lot more costly than using temporary staff. Out and About plc will need to decide which staff require permanent contracts and which do not to see any benefits financially. Secondly, the company’s current statistics show that the average staff age is 45 and that the labour turnover i s 5 percent (which is well below the industry average of 18 percent). This could indicate that staff are loyal and enjoy working for the business. Therefore it is good to question why a change needs to be implemented when staff are clearly happy.Also a labour turnover of 5 percent is not something which Out and About plc needs to worry about, however it is important to realise that changing the HRM dramatically (form soft to hard) could also affect the labour turnover dramatically. Q2) What do you consider to be the most important influence on Lisa’s marketing plan? Justify your view. A marketing plan consists of setting marketing objectives and deciding upon the strategy needed to achieve them. There are many influences on Lisa’s marketing plan. Firstly, I believe that the operational issues such as location of shops and the availability of suppliers will be of great importance.The passage states that: ‘As well as selling leading brands such as Salomon, Quiksilv er and O’Neill, Out and About plc will also sell a range of ‘own label’ clothing. ’ This means that the ’25 new out of town stores’ will be heavily reliant on these other brands. Therefore, it is vital to gain information and research on the suppliers and how reliable they are. If this research is not done efficiently, Out and About plc could find that they have low levels of stock which could result in unsatisfied customers and the chance of a bad reputation.Furthermore, the location of the shop is vital as it interlinks with the first problem of suppliers. If the shop is far from the supplier – it will be more difficult and take longer to deliver items which will cause great inefficiency. Another reason that the location of shops will be important is because the market in itself is fairly niche therefore the shops will need to be placed in fairly busy areas – like town centres as if they were on quiet desolate places they will see very little business.Secondly, it is key to note that competitors such as supermarkets – Argos and JJB have already affected Out and About plc current market – ‘profits have declined by 15 percent. ’ Building your way up in a relatively niche market is extremely difficult, especially with well known large stores such as JJB competing. Therefore it will be important to ensure that, Out and About plc maintain competitive prices and high quality products.The competition needs to be closely reviewed – for example, if Argos sells a camping jacket for cheap – Out and About plc will have to emphasise that the slight price difference is due to quality and design. Lisa will have to heavily promote what makes, Out and About plc different to Argos and JJB – and why consumers should choose them over a reputable brand. The above has only discussed (in my opinion) the two major points of the influencing factors of Lisa’s marketing plan h owever, there are many more. A key influence would be the reaction of the new target market.If the target market are to decide that the cheaper alternatives are more suited towards them Out and About plc will have failed to create a successful business. I believe this factor is most logical as Out and About plc are almost trying to change a previously known ‘cheap’ business to a higher upmarket business. However, this means they won’t be appealing to the same consumers – this consumer market is much smaller than the aforementioned. We can also question whether or not sufficient market research been carried out upon which to base their strategy?

Are humans still evolving essays

Are humans still evolving essays In order to figure out if humans are still evolving scientists have to ask, do humans have variety in their gene pool, and is there a differential fitness to these variants? Everybody, whether or not they believe humans are still evolving, agree that we have variety. Between genetic drift and when Eyre-Walker and Keightley claimed in 1999 that humans, on average, had 4.2 amino acid altering mutations every generation since humans separated from chimpanzees it is unreasonable to claim that we dont have variety between humans. People who dont believe humans are still evolving are basing their theory on selective pressure. They believe with all the modern technology, medicine, food distribution, heating and cooling, etc, there are no longer any selective pressures in our lives to separate the fit from the unfit. They believe that the capabilities within our modern society and speed with which our culture adapts to change has completely overruled the process of natural selection and ther efore stopped natural selection. However, there are several problems with these claims that could prove these people wrong. These problems are placed into 4 different classes of error including: 1. Misunderstanding the nature and power of natural selection, 2. Forgetting other forms of selection, such as sexual selection, 3. Assumptions about the entire world from the specific first world lifestyles of the very people claiming this, and 4. Mistakenly taking the term current evolution to mean that evolution must happen before our eyes. The first class comes from the assumption that selection only works on the more obvious visible traits and little else. We perceive certain things as good attributes (sharp teeth, strong muscles, speed, and intelligence) and others as bad attributes (obesity, skin prone to sunburn, and uncoordination) and we decide that anything t ...

13 Best Jobs For Good Work-Life Balance

13 Best Jobs For Good Work-Life Balance we have a reputation in america for working too hard. more and more americans are working an average of more than 58 hours a week, well beyond the standard 40. but what if you want a better work/life balance? according to census data, the average american works approximately 39 hours and has a median income of $32,000 per year. but here are 13 positions that pay much better for roughly the same time on the job.postal service clerks work about 39.32 hours a week for a median earned income of $51,000.speech language pathologists work about 36.17 hours a week and make roughly $54,000.registered nurses and psychologists make about $56,000 a year, and work an average of 37.59 and 36.75 hours a week, respectively.chiropractors and occupational therapists each make an average of $60,000 a year working 36.02-39.75 hours.technical writers earn an annual average of $62,000 for 39.61 hours a week.physical therapists work about 37.43 hours a week and earn about $63,000.audiologists work roughly 37.77 hours a week for about $64,000, and radiation therapists make a median income of $70,000 a year for 38.4 hours.the biggest winners are optometrists, pharmacists, and dentists who work an average workweek of 37.83-39.03 hours, but make a whopping $100,000-$130,000 a year.consider one of these careers if you want to optimize your work-life balance and your bank account!the 13 highest-paying jobs for people who want to work less than 40 hours a week

Research Paper #2 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Research Paper #2 - Coursework Example New media platforms such as social media, blogs, digital newspapers, wikis, and websites are becoming more common and widely used in the media industry. Although old media is still trying to remain relevant, new media is exerting increasing pressure on media companies to abandon their traditional media for the new media. According to Dunlop (Para 1), new media is transforming old media by attacking its credibility. This is just one way in which new media is transforming traditional media. With specific regard to print media including newspapers and magazines, the effect is more pronounced. The presence of new media such as blogs, websites, wikis, and social media is rendering the traditional print media less relevant. For instance, even before media companies can print newspapers and magazines with the latest news, the news will have already been featured in the new media platforms. Therefore, by the time the print newspapers and magazines are released, the public has already gotten the news. However, there is still controversy regarding the effect of new media on old media. According to Bernstein (261), despite the new challenges posed by new media, traditional media is not about to be gone soon. This could be right. Currently, traditional media is still relevant. People are still reading print magazines and newspapers. In fact, according to Anderson (Para 1), revenues from digital platforms only account for a small fraction of the total advertising revenues compared to what print newspapers fetch. This shows that traditional print media is still relevant in the digital era. Moreover, the audience for traditional print media has not vanished completely. Although the audience has shrunk significantly, there is still a sizeable audience comprising mainly of the old generations that are not so used to the new media platforms. Even with this raging debate, it is clearly evident that many

Discuss the multiple theories of reading that are presented in Essay

Discuss the multiple theories of reading that are presented in Northanger Abbey. How might they lead us to create a theory of reading for real readers, and why might this theory be important - Essay Example The novel encompasses a strong morale, guidance for the choice for true companion and shows how other considerations are mere shallow. ‘Northanger Abbey’ can be treated as a torch bearer of the Austen canon. Very rightly, it upholds or clearly indicates the theme of Jane’s forthcoming novels. As a literary piece, the novel has a great value. ‘Northanger Abbey’ encompasses within its plot, few frivolities of the Eighteenth century literature and encapsulates many of the contemporary fiction and their genre. The novel, ‘Northanger Abbey’ is often claimed by critics as â€Å"earliest and least perfect†. It is also criticized that ‘Northanger Abbey’, â€Å"lacks the narrative sophistication of the later works†. But the main fact is quite different from all these criticism. Within its limited scope, Austen tried to portray a discursive description of what a fiction might be. He precisely shows the way that how a novel should be written and most importantly, read. The heroine of ‘Northanger Abbey’ Catherine is deliberately portrayed as a complete deviation from the conventional heroines of Eighteenth century fictions. Catherine is simple and notably undistinguished. She is a girl from a middle-class family and she falls in love with her hero, much before the hero of Austen’s ‘Northanger Abbey’ put any of his serious thoughts on the girl. All these deviations prove that Austen desperately wanted to re-shape and re-evalu ate Eighteenth century fiction and its reading pattern along with the writing style. This is also a vital reason for manifesting the plot of ‘Northanger Abbey’ in a fashion of a parody for Gothic Fiction. ‘Northanger Abbey’ is indeed an important literary document; purely concomitant to the Radcliffeian popularity, and is truly a literary landmark. It is more than a mere debunking sentimental Gothic novel. It is a serious attempt to depose a narrative technique that challenges the stress on characters by Richardson and