The importance of engineering and construction alignment throughout the project lifecycle

摘要

Construction is where the rubber meets the road.This phase historically is the most challenging time of the project,often characterized by problems with high levels of urgency and difficulty.One undeniable fact about these problems exists:most of these problems could have been addressed and prevented during engineering.This article focuses on a significant root cause of most construction issues-the lack of necessary alignment between engineering and construction throughout the project lifecycle.Engineering arid construction organizations.The way engineering and construction teams interface depends heavily on the project delivery method chosen by the owner.For example,in the design-build method,one company is contracted to deliver the construction project from the beginning of design to the end of construction;whereas,in the design-bid-build method,the construction entity is selected after design has been completed.Some delivery methods,such as design-build,are more conducive to alignment.However,in all delivery methods,the engineering and construction teams are typically considered two separate groups,and there is always potential for a lack of alignment that could lead to serious execution problems.No matter what the delivery method is,the project leadership should focus on following areas of alignment from the project outset and on monitoring them throughout the project.