Getting organised

For each building and construction project, you should break the project into its component tasks. This means that you should break the project down into achievable tasks.  At this point, it is essential your organisation skills are up to scratch. The key to a successful project is organisation, if the foundations of the task are not stable, the whole task will fall apart. 

Let us take a look at the components of a task. 
 

Planning techniques

There are a number of techniques that you can use to help generate ideas and to get you thinking about all of the components of a particular project, for example, building a deck, a shed or a pergola. We are going to take a look at the work flow planning techniques you can implement to keep your project on track and ensure you are covering all the relevant aspects of the build. This plan is a generic piece which can be modified to suit the project you are undertaking. Keep this plan in mind when the time comes for you to choose what basic construction task you are going to carry out. 

Right at the beginning of planning, you need to establish a big picture, that is, the final product. Let’s say you are building a pergola, you know at the end of the project you want a sturdy, practical, useful pergola that has satisfied the needs of your client, you may also want to consider how this project is unique.  Now you know what the project is, you need to develop the plan in which you are carrying it out, remember, your plan needs to include the relevant people you will need to be involved in the final build (relevant personnel have been included in the following diagram.)2 
 

Each stage of the process has factors that will influence outcomes. When in the master planning stage, there are inputs and outputs that need to be considered, this also includes what may go wrong throughout the project. This is a networking opportunity where you can discuss past projects with your team members and workplace supervisor. These human resources are a wealth of knowledge to you, and it is integral you take the opportunity to ‘pick their brain’ as to what experiences they have had with projects to help you with the project you are working on.2  

Some of the inputs and outputs have been illustrated in the following table

Positive outcomes

During the planning process, you want to outline the positives as well as the risks that come with undertaking a project. At the end of the day, you want a quality product which keeps your client or customer happy as the experience of those involved in the process. The culture and foundations you build are integrated around positivity. When you are starting a project, you must keep in mind the positive outcomes as they key focus rather than directing all of the energy and resources into the negative risks that may occur. Essentially, the client or customer will make or break, if the customer is happy with their final product, they are more than likely to recommend your services to others. This is why, you must ensure you keep lines of communication open with not only the trades and those you are working on the job with, but your higher management stakeholders and of course, the client.2 

The following diagram stipulates the recommended ‘mind frame’ you should set yourself in when you are starting a project.

Risks 

When it comes to the risks of a project, this stretches beyond the risk of injury that you have come to learn. The safety risks are still integral yes, but in the planning stages, you will need to consider what could go wrong with the actual project, you may also want to consider when you are networking with your team members, if any of their past experiences have seen projects similar to this go wrong. This will help troubleshoot and prevent similar experiences repeating themselves. The risks do not stop at the master plan stage of the project, they extend on to design, project management and of course the completion. It is a good idea to display the risks and controls with each phase of the project. See the following diagram as an example of how you may wish to set your workflow plan out to determine the risks for each phase. 

Breaking down the techniques 

Now that you have developed a deeper understanding of workflow planning techniques, you will now learn how to put the theory into practice. 

Once you have broken the project down into its component tasks and analysed each of them, you can use that information to develop a workflow plan. The workflow plan provides you with a road map for the project. It should place each task into a logical sequence which maximises efficiency.2

When developing a workflow plan consider the following:

One of the best ways to ensure your tasks stay on track is to develop a list. Click the link to download the components task list. [NEED TO HYPERLINK]

Having a checklist or a component task list can help you can keep your tasks in order and organised. 
 

Another important stage in the planning and organising process is to develop a components list. The components list is a list of everything that you need for the project along with the relevant quantities. For each project you carry out, for example building a shed, you will need to ensure you have enough resources to complete the job. 

Below is a sample template on how to develop a components list. Ensure at this point you have calculated the quantities of each of the materials that you will require.
 

Take a short break from the reading. The following videos demonstrate the laying of a concrete slab to prepare for a shed and the process of putting a simple shed together. Please note, these videos are separate and do not correlate with one another. 

By this stage of your construction project, you should have an idea of how big your project is going to be. For example, what are the dimensions for the outdoor shed you are building. Determining the quantities, you need will ensure you have enough materials and resources to complete the project. Time is always key and one of the biggest time wasters is not having enough materials before you begin building. The last thing you want, or need is to be sending team members off site to Bunnings for materials that should have been accounted for when preparing the calculations. This is another contributing factor to the organisation of your project before you start building.  

Determining calculations and formula. 

The area calculation is useful for things like working out how big the area is required for building a shed or how much plasterboard to order. But how do you apply that in practice? 

Step 1:  calculate the area that you are working on.

Area = Length x Width 

Step 2: find out from the manufacturer how the material is supplied. For example:

• you will require 48.5 standard sized bricks to build one square metre of wall
• one sheet of 2400 x 1200 x 10 mm plasterboard covers 2.88 m2.

Step 3: calculate how much of the material you will require to cover the area by either multiplying or dividing.
 

Consider the following scenario. 

You have been asked to order the materials for plasterboard and have been given the following dimensions.

5m x 3m. 

The wall is 6 m wide and 3 m high, so the area is 15 m2. (A = L x W). 

One key factor to remember when you are working out the quantities of materials, you would not be able to order part of something. For example, you cannot order half a brick or a piece of a sheet of plasterboard so you would round up, it is better to have too much then not enough. If you needed 12.2 pieces of plasterboard, you would order 13 pieces of plasterboard. 

Bricks

When determining the quantity of bricks, you need a total of 48.5 bricks to build 1m2 of wall. When calculating the total number of bricks you will need, you need to multiple the area by 48.5. 

Considering the scenario where the area was 15m2 the following calculations would need to be made to determine the number of bricks that would be required to complete the job. 

Quantity = 15( A) x 48.5

The number of bricks required = 727.5. 

Now, remembering you are not able to order half a brick, you will need to round up the number. Therefore, the number of bricks required for the job= 728. 

Plasterboard 

To calculate the plasterboard, we again start with the area of 15 m2. This time, however, we know from the manufacturer that a single board covers more than one unit of measure – it covers 2.88 m2. So in this case we divide. 

Quantity = 15 (A) / 2.88

The number of boards required = 5.20

Remembering, you are not able to order half, you would order 6 boards.  

Calculating concrete

When you are calculating the amount of concrete that you will need, there are some key concepts that you should keep in mind. These include:

You will need to know the area and the thickness of the slab so that you can calculate the volume. That will give you the volume of the concrete that you require.

You should factor in 10% waste.

Concrete is usually ordered in increments of 0.2 (although some companies accept orders in increments of 0.1).

The following video outlines the process you will need to calculate the volume of a concrete slab. Be mindful, when you are calculating the quantities of slabs, you need to be accurate with your own dimensions.