This is a third-party review of an engineering deliverable from Detailed Engineering (construction package – plans and specifications) before obtaining bids for construction. The review is done to identify any potential conflicts or deficiencies that may affect the contractor’s ability to perform the construction based on those documents. It serves as quality control and quality assurance measure at the pre-construction, construction, and post-construction stages of a project. Furthermore, it helps to minimize delays and costs associated with the need to revise the design after construction begins. It is also a preventive project implementation catalyst at all stages of the project management life-cycle as it makes the construction, fabrication, installation, or production process comply with quality at design and implementation phases, and its impact is beneficial at maintenance and product life-cycle.
Process flow of constructability study involves –
- Review design deliverables for constructability.
- Re-design deliverables.
- Validate deliverables for implementation.
Various parties involved in the design phase, such as – Architects; Builders; Risk Engineers; Health, Safety and Environment Engineers; Civil Engineers; Engineering Services Engineers; Quantity Surveyors, and other stakeholders come together to decipher possible gaps relating to the specialist disciplines and how possible construction can be coordinated with the intent of eradicating project implementation failures.
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As each discipline expert considers certain design factors, the possibility of bringing their design into life within project budget, certain implementation risk matrices, and safety considerations.
HOW? Each discipline expert makes use of design review checklists to study the design deliverables such as drawings and models, specifications, bill of quantities, and preliminary reports in delivering the constructability review report. A design integration phase comes in place when the deliverables of each discipline are applied in checking how the package affects the actualization of other discipline packages. This applies in all forms of project implementation types, whether – construction, installation, or manufacturing.
WHAT IS NEEDED?
- Design deliverables from various disciplines.
- Design review checklists for various disciplines.
- Experts for review of various disciplines.
- High-performance software solutions for model-based review.
- Constructability review reports for re-designing and validating designs.
- BUILDING INFORMATION MODELING (BIM) goes a long way to simplify the process of constructability review engineering and project review applications.
Revit does model-based physical model checks such as checks for tolerances, interference checks, alignments, analytical model checks, etc. Models can be exported to interoperable applications for static and dynamic stability checks.
Virtual inspections are carried out via visualization tools. Inspections like clash detection help in multidisciplinary project integration. Structural elements, architectural elements, and engineering services components are checked against each other, and clashes are detected and resolved virtually before the actual implementation of the project.
- COMPUTER-AIDED ENGINEERING (CAE) contributes immensely in reviewing projects in relation to engineering-based parameters that can result in project implementation failures. Code-based engineering reliability checks, testing of products as per standards, and codes eradicates project implementation delays due to design alterations arriving from unforeseen errors. Simulations can be carried out as a virtual construction measure that allows for experiencing the project before it comes into life. This process is called engineering prototyping, and it serves as a constructability review solution.
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Contact solvers detect surface friction and help designers on making decisions on allowances for tolerances. Assembly tests that determine the compatibility of parts or components such as frames analysis and static part analysis such as the center of gravity; driving of movable parts for motion coordination termed dynamic analysis helps in reducing construction risks, errors, and cost during implementation.
- COMPUTER-AIDED MANUFACTURING (CAM) uses high technology solutions in automating manufacturing or production process. These solutions can be pre-programed, checked, and debugged for use in robotic manufacturing processes. Constructability reviews become demystified in high-performance embedded computational means and help the reviews to test processes in design model forms to detect all possible gaps, remove those gaps before the commencement of actual production.
CONCLUSION: Constructability studies involve so much, but this much can be achieved by cutting review time tremendously using BIM, CAE, and CAM applications for design with the input of the right professionals. Alterations, omissions, errors, wastes, discrepancies, operational risks, and delays associated with project implementation are reduced ‘As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP).
At Safety Consultants and Solution Providers Limited, we provide the benchmark for excellence in the provision of security and safety services to critical national infrastructure, industrial facilities, critical assets, government departments, and private sector organizations in general. Through best practice guides, we deliver innovative and quality engineering design solutions we deliver optimum levels of life safety, process safety, and environmental protection.
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By William Nwoagu
Safety & Security Systems Engineering Manager
Safety Consultants and Solution Providers Limited
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