Phases of construction Carl James

These can be compared to the life cycle of the construction project, which is conceived as an idea, developed into a design, built, used and maintained and finally, when no longer of use, demolished. The following diagram illustrates the life cycle of a construction project.

Design: This is the phase that requires the most planning and control.

If you spend a lot of resources and time at this stage, the following stages will run much more smoothly. Planning at this stage involves looking at the overall scheme, the feasibility of the scheme, the budget for the scheme and the time frame in which to deliver the completed project. The design phase often starts with a site investigation that looks at the ground conditions and the site in general to see if it is suitable for the intended project.

construction process The architect or designer runs this phase of the construction process. They will receive a brief from the client which sets out an idea of what they want to construct. The brief is then turned into a sketch design and, eventually, a final design. This process can take many months to complete. Permissions also have to be obtained from the local planning authority for planning consent to build.

Production The production planning phase begins with the procurement of a contractor, the company that will physically construct the design. Then the construction phase involves combining the materials using labour resources, assisted by specialist subcontractors and any plant and machinery.

This phase continues until: completion when the building project is formally handed over to the client. The contractor has to put right any defects within a certain period – the defects period – usually six months. The liability of the contractor is then completed with the issuing of a final certificate and the payment of all monies.

Key Term          Final certificate This is a certificate written by the designer that releases the contractual obligations of the main contractor with the final payment of monies withheld as retention.

In construction terms, production for a typical project may involve the following sequence:

Maintenance This phase of the lifecycle involves the day-to-day care required to keep and maintain the operational function and the purpose of the building for which it was designed. It will include:

Alteration Key Term Listed buildings of special architectural or historic interest in the UK. Alterations to these buildings must be carefully considered before they are made.