Σχεδιασμός συστήματος οικονομικής παρακολούθησης και διαχείρισης τεχνικών έργων στο στάδιο της κατασκευής τους

Abstract

Current construction projects are trying to successfully combine the parameters ofcost, time and quality. Recent years, great effort has been made to develop techniques,methods and tools to accurately estimate the cost of construction projects and preparethe best tender offer, leading to contract award, with maximum profit for thecontractor.No matter, how accurate the project budget is, it should be accompanied by strict costmonitoring and control during project construction. Otherwise, no matter how mucheffort has been made, during project budget estimation would have not achieved thedesired outcomes. Nowadays, various commercial applications are available. Somecan be characterized for general use and others are specifically structured forconstruction. However, these applications, deal mostly with scheduling and cashflows. Moreover, these applications adopt an accounting approach to costconsideration, which is not suitable for construction projects. As a consequence, thedata structure doesn’t facilitate decision making, and at the same time, doesn’tprovide early warnings for project variances. Lack of proper and timely costinformation provision during construction, combined with purchase, installation,operation, maintenance cost, and construction’s special characteristics, defines anunfortunate investment. System installation and operation cost should be less than therevenues acquired, by its operation. At the same time, the way the data is organizedand stored, doesn’t facilitate data legacy archives, for use in future projects.The dissertation has set as a final goal, the proposal of an integrated system for costmonitoring and control, of construction projects. The operation of the system focuseson construction stage. It is assumed that there exists a definite plan and the contractorhas agreed to a specific contract prize, according to his tender offer. It is important tomaintain the economic aspects of the project according to the budget, so that the profitcould be maintained, along with the quality and project schedule. The approachadopted by the proposed system, is based on the view of the project contractor.Projects are constructed according to the law, legislation and techniques effective inGreece.The PhD dissertation, introduces the main concepts of Project Management. Itanalyzes the special characteristics of construction projects in relation to costmanagement. Then follows a presentation of system approach to project management.At the same time, project management information with respect to cost, is highlighted.The terms monitoring and control, are very similar, as far as financial terms areconcerned. In literature, special emphasis is appointed to project control. Through theconsideration of control and its requirements and qualifications, all elements of anintegrated monitoring system can be identified. Furthermore, the requirements fordata and information should be examined in order to define control.This is the reason why the dissertation analyzes thoroughly project control systems.Furthermore, the relationship between budget and control is defined, and causes ofdeviations are analyzed. The importance of integration between scheduling and costcontrol is also highlighted.A cost monitoring system for construction projects consists of a number ofapplications, responsible for monitoring every aspect of the project. The next goal, isthe definition of the elements, comprising an integrated cost monitoring system, andanalytical presentation of the operation context.In order for the context to be represented it was necessary to collect proper data. Dataacquisition became possible with the use of a prototype questionnaire, which wasanswered by project managers. The structure and content of the questionnaire ispresented, along with the approach to grouping and parametrizing data in threeconsecutive cycles. Data manipulation was necessary, in order to properly formatinformation for statistical analysis. SPSS 16 application is employed for the statisticalanalysis of the data acquired, through the first part of the questionnaire. Analysis ledto the definition of the context and perception of the cost monitoring systems, asperceived by project managers.Then follows the analysis of the structure and content of the integrated system. Theconsisting elements are thoroughly analyzed, and at the same time the adopted workbreakdown structure is presented. Statistical analysis is taking place at the dataacquired through the second part of the questionnaire, involving the model’s structure.Through the questionnaire it became possible to evaluate and confirm the model.Participants’ comments and observations were considered and examined. Model’selements were complemented and updated through corrective actions.In order to examine more thoroughly the model’s structure, elements of the system areparameterized employing an original approach.The dependencies among system elements are defined, on a data transaction basis.This approach represents the data flow between system’s elements, data content andthe order of functioning of elements. Data analysis enables corrections on the systemin order to optimize it. Finally, a number of proposed principals are presented, forsystem optimization, as these principals became obvious, through the consecutivesteps to optimize the proposed model. The resulting optimized model appears to bemore efficient.Furthermore, the model’s reaction and adaption to the internal and externalparameters of a project are examined. Case studies, hypothetical scenarios andcorrelation analysis were used to control the generality of the model. Statisticalanalysis was applied to the data collected. SPSS 16 application was used, whichidentified the correlations that form the final structure of the model according to theproject manager’s perception and needs.Research has developed an efficient and productive model. The next stage is toconsider the model’s reaction and ability to adapt to each project. Adaptionconsideration is examined by: General function scenarios, based on project parameter’s changes Definition of correlation between perception of project monitoring systemsand the way this influences their final formationThe conclusions suggest that the model can fully respond and be customized in everyproject and project manager view.The developed model is essentially an information system for the financial elementsof the project and its evolution. For this reason, security information concepts areconsidered, in current years of web based project management.