(b) My primary source for sure was my mentor tom Chavez he was extremely helpful in helping me answer my eq, understand estimation and profit in construction and providing activities to help me learn while attaining hours. He also introduced me to other workers and contractors to help me expand my knowledge. My other source is stated below it was great at helping identify things that were going wrong in many of the reports.
Rawlinson, Simon. "Successful Projects." UK Building (2009): n. pag. Web. http://www.aecom.com/deployedfiles/Internet/Capabilities/Program,%20Cost,%20Consultancy/Cost/Procurement_SuccessfulProjects_10Feb06.pdf
(d)For my independent component I learned about the various factors in construction and how they affect profit, in order to best answer my eq. I looked through old construction reports and summaries looking for what went wrong when profit was lost and what went right when profit was generated. I hoped to find a pattern in which a single factor affected profit time and time again through various projects. I attained my thirty hours through reading report after report, talking to my mentor and having my mentor giving me hypothetical situations so that i could try determine what will go wrong. After narrowing down my answer i then had to discuss differences between estimation and pre construction planning in order to better answer my eq. My independent component was imperative in answering my eq.
INTERPRETIVE DEFEND THE WORK!
How did the component help you answer your EQ? Please include specific examples to illustrate how it helped.
My EQ is What is the most important factor in ensuring a profit in a grading operation? I focused my research primarily on my first and second answers. During the project i realized that these answers overlap a lot and i had to differentiate between the two (estimation and pre-construction planning). My independent component had me looking through case after case for factors that affected construction proffit. Time and time again i found that initial errors that should have been accounted for in estimation compounded and deeply affected profit. Cases like the Costco project where they failed to account for large amounts of asbestos when estimating time and profit and are now facing serious consequences. Or the Case where they simply read the contract wrong and graded one foot too deep. These simple errors should have been prevented by properly estimation the scope of the job at the beginning (the estimation stage). Not only were these errors bad but through my cited source reading and the scenarios I went over I saw how these errors compounded through the project. These repeated occurrences deepened my knowledge and proved my first answer as the best answer. It came up the most out of the three and was by far the most impactful due to the compounding effect. I Am very proud of how well i have gotten at understanding the world of grading and being able to sit in and understand many complicated meetings. By the end both my mentor and i agreed with my first answer and i am very confident in it thanks to my independent component.
I primarily focused in on determining which essential question answer had the most support in the real world. I also had to clarify the difference between my first and second essential questions. In order to find out which factor occurred most often and had the most profound effect on the grading process i had to look through old construction spending reports I had to look for what went wrong in failed construction jobs and try to find a pattern or common theme. The only way to do this was to parse through report after report each one taking over an hour to fully comprehend and read. I also sat through many construction meetings as well. In these meetings problems they were experiencing were often the topic. Through viewing factors that affect profit in grading first hand i was able to answer my eq and support my findings.
Most of the work i did in finance was confidential and difficult to get evidence for. Here is what i could get
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This is some audio of some of the meetings I sat in as well as some of the discussion I had with my mentor.
3/20/2015 completed jobs folders. These folders contain tons of information on past jobs by earth tek, especially on where they went right or wrong.
looking through contracts and estimation plans to find common factors in grading. This work at tustin legacy was quite successful and i noted how well written the initial contract was as well as communication between the owner and earthtek.
here I observed the construction process unfold and how it is well documented.
Here i was able to sneak a picture of some of the finance reports. in this particular project they were very behind schedule due to an error in acquiring supplies. the time delay is noted and cost the company profit.
Here i looked at the building of a school. in the construction there was a wage argument with the construction workers that caused delays. they wanted higher wages and almost started a strike. my mentor stated that they should have finalized the wages in the initial estimation.
http://www.groton-ct.gov/meetings/Handouts/08-22-13%20Building%20Construction%20Scenarios%20%28REVISED%20for%2009-26-13%29.pdf
Link to the scenarios my mentor tested me with. He gave me building criteria and information and i had to explain how certain factors would affect the construction job at hand as well as how to correct them. We also discussed how an estimator must factor in the season as well as the proximity to sewage and water lines. This was actually quite fun.
Very important report on parking lot contract. Earth tek failed to properly grade a surface. they dug one foot to deep and lost a lot of money. I discussed with my mentor how they could have avoided this. It was a greed that if they had properly read the contract an essential part of estimation this could have been avoided.
observing work at ipoly noting the placement of gravel and the savings caused by a light rain. this saved money on water needed for dust prevention. Discuessed the scope of the project 80,000 cubic yards of dirt must be removed and the problem of where to put the dirt.
Looking over more cases this was their current work with a costco and the problems they are facing with asbestos contamination. They did not expect so much asbestos and failed to account for it in the initial estimation. because of this they are behind schedule and over budget.
Sitting in on meetings.
observing budget effects of unaccounted for asbestos in construction project.
"Estimation deals with determining a proper price,
in order to do this the entire job must be planned out to the finest detail in
order to calculate the most accurate price. Estimation should cover all of the planning;
they can be interchangeable in a broad sense. My mentor stated, “A proper
estimation needs to include the site plan, you cannot estimate without planning
the construction out, it is simply impossible”. Planning includes the scheduling of a project another
essential aspect in the construction industry. The deep relationship between
planning and estimating strengthened my first finding greatly."
excerpt from my findings paper that discusses estimation vs pre-construction planning.
Pre-construction planning deals with the actual building plan and estimation deals with the cost of making the plan a reality. You can not complete a plan without an estimation. Estimation affects profit and the construction process more and therefore is the better answer and what i focused my component primarily on.
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