Safety Management & Site Establishment Unit 11 - Site Plant Management
Learning Outcomes This lecture aims to introduce the following; The importance of plant for site construction works Points to consider during negotiation of plant hires Points to consider during selection of site plants Main Site plant types, their capabilities and likely uses on site
Site Plant Management • Traditionally, most materials are manhandled, but as labour costs rise in relation to the costs of using mechanical equipment, increased productivity will be sought on site by improved applications of machinery • Mechanisation is one aspect of industrialisation aimed at increasing productivity • Whatever the strategy of mechanisation there will generally be a reduction in the amount of labour deployed without a decline in production and an improvement in waste management.
Group Work: As a group, kindly create a spider diagram for your allocated subject; 1. Fully identify the factors to be considered during the negotiation of the plant hires, 2. Fully identify the factors to be considered during the selection of site plant, 3. Fully identify the whole aspects of Hire vs. Purchase of site plant, 4. Main factors affecting efficient deployment of mechanical plant on site such as: • the nature of job and site • the relationship between operations of plant and of men • the planning and programming of the contract as a whole • the suitability of the building’s design and layout how do each item affect the efficient deployment of mechanical plant on site?
Site Plant Management Nature of job and site: • Mechanisation is usually more viable on larger contracts, as they normally have sufficient amount of work of varying nature spanned over significant contract duration to justify the introduction of specialised machines and to enable them to be used economically • Site conditions must be suitable for the safe, efficient and economic use of all plants and equipment. Relationship between operations of plant and of men: • The number of men working on any operation should be well co- related to the output of the mechanical plant serving them. • This is to maximise mechanical productivity whenever possible.
Site Plant Management Careful planning and programming of the contract as a whole: • To ensure that all plant hired or purchased is occupied to the maximum extent while on the site. • Ideally, the sequence of all operations throughout the job, whether mechanised or manual, should be so arranged that no plant on the site is ever idle. Suitability of the building’s design and layout: • The use of mechanical plant must be carefully considered at the planning stage, and should have been allowed for during the tender phase. • The contractor has to be aware of the advantages of mechanised methods that include continuity of operations and the use of plant at maximum capacity every time it is operated.
Negotiation of plant hires • Hiring plant and equipment for a construction site is normally undertaken by site based staff • It needs to be thoroughly thought through as there are many charges, on top of the hourly or daily hire rate • These charges can be significant when set against the basic rate and need to be agreed up front if the best deal is to be achieved. • Delivery Costs • Maintenance charges • Sale ex-hire charges • Insurances • Operator costs • Service response • Bulk discounts
Negotiation of plant hires Delivery costs - • All plant will be subject to delivery and up-lift charges (one-off charges) and this will be more expensive the larger the items of plant. • If a piece of operated plant is required on site only for a short period e.g. a backhoe excavator for a day, then the one-off charge may be as much as 50% of the total day’s hire cost if it comes on a low-loader lorry. • Clearly, the longer the likely hire, the less significant the one-off cost will be. • Even for small, hand held plant the one-off charges can be steep compared with the hire cost and must be considered part of the hire cost equation.
Negotiation of plant hires Maintenance charges – • All items of plant and equipment need to be maintained and the hirer must establish whether the hire charge includes routine maintenance • Maintenance cost on small items of plant will be relatively low cost and is normally included in the weekly or monthly hire rate • However, for operated plant the hourly hire rate may not do so and so an additional four hours a week (10%) on top of the hire rate may make the hirer less competitive than some of his rivals
Negotiation of plant hires Sale ex hire charges – • On construction sites, items of plant go missing and items of plant get damaged. • Most plant hirers expect some degradation during the hire but others do not, so it is important to be clear on the charging liability. • For example, hired trench sheeting is likely to be buckled and twisted when it comes back out of the ground and a hirer will usually charge for straightening and cleaning. • Also many very small items of plant simply get lost in the mud or pools of water because of the conditions in which the works are being undertaken. • Accordingly, it is always best to consider “write off” a proportion (say 5%) of the hired items in the first week to save paying hire charges throughout the hire period, then in addition for losses at the end of the hire.
Negotiation of plant hires Insurances – • Insurance will almost always be the responsibility of the hiring site unless the item of plant is operated and the operator actions caused the insurance loss • Vandalism of plant and equipment has always been a problem on construction sites, so when hiring operated plant, ensure it is fitted with protective screens as these costs will be picked up by the hirer.
Negotiation of plant hires Operator costs – • Hourly hire rates will normally include the wages of the plant operators; however, some operators will make a larger contribution to productivity on site than others • Often the plant operator will be included in the gang bonus system and any costs of these bonuses will be on top of the hire charges • These should be self financing but they may also be motivational if the works are subject to bonus
Negotiation of plant hires Service response – • Another important factor to consider is the speed of service response • Often a gang of workers will be dependent on a machine working throughout the day • If the item of plant does not start or stops during the day, the down time can result in significant lost cost on the project. • All hirers will provide free service response but they will not cover the disruption costs. • It is important to select a plant hirer who provides good plant and good service to avoid unacceptable periods of down-time
Negotiation of plant hires Bulk discounts – • If a lot of plant is hired then significant discounts are available if all the plant is hired from the one hirer
Selection of site plant • Items ranging from hand-held powered tools to monumental tower cranes can be considered for use on the following basis: • Increased Production • Reduction in Overall Construction Costs • Enable activities that cannot be effectively carried out by manual labour, saving time & costs and ensuring better quality • Eliminate heavy manual work, thus reducing fatigue • Improved control over consistency and quality of output
Selection of site plant The general considerations to be assessed prior to any procurement and deployment of site plant are summarised as follows: Is the plant/equipment a ‘necessity’ or a ‘want’? Could extra labour input and/or other plants/equipment in the company’s possession take over its role? Bearing the contract sum in mind, is it viable to procure the plant/equipment solely for use in the project or as an asset? Will productivity on site be significantly increased? What is the most competitive price package to obtain equipment for its intended use, and what are the best procurement methods (e.g. direct-purchase, hire-purchase, monthly rental … etc.)? A final check: Is it financially viable to even consider having the plant on site, knowing its mechanical output, no. of operatives required, maintenance requirements … etc.?
Selection of site plant • Once the site requirements are ascertained and the necessity of external plant procurement established, the contractor will compare market offerings against his capabilities and needs • A selection template should be drawn up to assist in a systematic selection procedure • With data derived from the tables, the contractor can then perform a comparative analysis and decide on the option that is best suited for the requirements of his company and project
Selection of site plant • Note that no company will have the same set of corporate priorities and agenda • As such, even a typical non-executive decision such as plant selection, based on identical project requirements and market offerings, will tend to differ amongst the most similar of competitors in the industry
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