Optimizing the Value of Construction in Front End Planning

Constructability, one of the best practices of CII, has been defined as "the optimum use of construction knowledge and experience in planning, design, procurement, and field operations to achieve overall project objectives."

The benefits of constructability will be obtained through the effective and timely integration of construction input into the planning and design stages. Therefore, construction expertise that require for the entire life-cycle of projects should be involved in the Front End Planning stage to lead to project success. (RR241-11, p. 26)

The research identified a strong link between early application of construction resources and the impact on project success. Respondents to a survey agreed that construction expertise during FEP resulted in decreased overall project cost, decreased overall schedule, and increased overall safety awareness.(RR241-11, pp. 31, 42)

The research identified that the PDRI elements most likely to benefit from early construction expertise were 42 of the 64 Building PDRI elements and 38 of the 70 Industrial PDRI elements. (RS241-1, p. 8)

The benefits from using construction in the FEP process included the following:

• Early identification of real problems likely during the project (e.g., material/labor availability, site constraints, and modularization-type decisions)
• More accurate project perspective for owners
• Early decision making
• Early constructability input
• Collaboration between designers and constructors (e.g., utilizing Building Information Modeling, web-based project management, and real-time decision making)
• Reduced cost and schedule with less work-hours and fewer changes
• Lessons learned from previous projects

(RS241-1, p. 7)

This research included determining the level of construction input required during Front End Planning. A metric was developed that indicates an optimal level of construction input for a successful project was 70% for both Industrial and Building projects.

RT-241 research revealed that there remain three barriers to the involvement of construction input during the FEP process: (RR241-11, p. 89)

1. Project Organization
2. Contract Models
3. Decision Aids

Primary stakeholders in a construction project, owner, designer, and constructor, work in separate domains based on their particular expertise. As the team member who has the best information about the project objectives, the owner becomes the party tasked with assembling the project team.

Traditional contract models for addressing design and construction processes reinforce the compartmentalization of owner, designer, and constructor.

Tools to aid the owner in making early stage decisions are not readily available. Often owner must rely on in-house resources that may not have in-depth knowledge of activities required to achieve the owner’s objectives. 

RT-241 research revealed the need for a decision tool that allows project managers to prioritize activities that require and benefit from construction input. The framework of CIAT is derived from the Project Definition Rating Index (PDRI). Refer to Implementation Tools below for more information on CIAT. (IR241-2, p. 1)

IR241-2: Instruction for Using the Construction Input Assessment Tool, for Industrial and Building Project

The CIAT is a decision-aid tool for assessing the level of construction input during FEP. It defines the resources and information that required construction input during FEP for the preparation and execution of a project. The success levels of construction input are all 70.0 for both building and industrial projects.