ARCHITECTURAL & BUILDING TECHNOLOGY

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS & PROCESSES 1

BLDG 1050

SITE MONITORING PROJECT

DescripⅥon

The intenⅥon of this term project is for the student to follow the progress of construcⅥon on a parⅥcular site over a few weeks, to become familiar with the use of materials and methods employed on the site, and where these materials and methods fit in following the MasterFormat™ system. The project should emphasize materials and methods from Division 02 (and 31) to Division 05, but items in Division 01 (General Requirements) should be covered (e.g. site trailers, fencing, access) as well.

Site Progress Reports

Students will pracⅥce wriⅥng Site Progress Reports, which are regularly done by many parⅥcipants in the construcⅥon process. Consultants typically document their visits to the site to provide a record for future use and to  let other parⅥes know about progress on site. Contractors may also document site progress for project management databases. Whatever the purpose, site reports need to be written to document changes over Ⅵme. PROJECT REQUIREMENTS:

1.   Students will find an acⅥve construcⅥon site that will serve as a monitoring subject.

Site SelecⅥon Criteria:

• Building Type: MulⅥ-unit residenⅥal project, mix use (residenⅥal / commercial), small insⅥtuⅥonal or commercial project. Not a single-family house, duplex or townhouse development - no excepⅥons.

• ConstrucⅥon stage: underground work visible (excavaⅥon line, waterproofing, shotcrete, concrete foundaⅥons, formwork and reinforcement clearly visible). Avoid sites where site excavaⅥon has started, but no building materials or machinery are present.

• RecommendaⅥon: Find a site that is easy to visit on a regular basis for all group members.

2.  Weekly site visits will be performed by each team in order to observe and record site progress.

A minimum of four site visits are required for teams of four students - each student will be responsible for  wriⅥng a report about one site visit. If your team has five students - five site visits and reports are required. During the site meeⅥng students will record the following:

-    Date and Ⅵme of visit, weather, name of the student

-    Photo documentaⅥon of all important and/or interesⅥng observaⅥons

-    List and photos of construcⅥon equipment/machinery on site

-    Summary of work in the past week since the last visit

-    Progress report, organized by Master Format division

-    Changes to schedule - if any that students are aware of

-    Site issues – what is unusual about the site / what are some “ problems” that you can idenⅥfy.

3.   Format of the wri廿en report format:

-    Use word processing applicaⅥons - hand-wri廿en reports will not be accepted.

-    Provide a good and easy-to-read graphic layout that is consistent throughout the project.

-    Photos should be labeled, explained and integrated with text they visually describe.

-    Text content should be concise and brief, but be thorough to provide enough detail to fully describe the acⅥviⅥes. This report gives you an opportunity to use terminology and informaⅥon presented in the lectures and labs. If you’re not sure what to report on, read the course lectures posted on LH to find more informaⅥon and similar content.

4.  Your report will include the following:

1. Title Page – Site Photo – this should show an overall view of the site under construcⅥon or a picture of what the building will look like when complete.

2. Table of Contents – carefully wri廿en to match page numbers (page 1 occurs a什er the Table of Contents)

3. IntroducⅥon / DescripⅥon of the building – Include in your descripⅥon of 2 or 3 paragraphs: a. LocaⅥon (Complete address) and Context of a neighborhood

b. Building Type (e.g. School, Office Building), Building size, cost (if possible)

c. Start Date & CompleⅥon Date

d. ConstrucⅥon type (e.g. Cast-in-Place Concrete with wood framing)

4. ConstrucⅥon Site Layout / Map – showing the site locaⅥon and site organizaⅥon - please see below:

5. List of Consultant / Company Names: Owner, Consultants (Architect, Structural Engineer, Electrical

Engineer, Mechanical Engineer, and more …), Contractor, Subcontractors (as much as the Contractor will give you or you can find online).

6. Each student is responsible for one (1) Site report that will include:

-    Site Report number

-    Site LocaⅥon

-    Date and Time

-    Weather CondiⅥons (temperature, sky condiⅥons, precipitaⅥon, wind, etc.)

-    Full Site Reporter name, set and student number

-    Equipment on site (larger equipment like excavators, compressors – not tools, like hammers)

-    Summary of work since the last visit

-    Work in progress organized by Master Format Division as follows:

Div 1 – AdministraⅥve (e.g. Site trailers, hoarding, site access, first aid etc.)

Div 2 – ExisⅥng CondiⅥons & Div 31 – Earthworks

Div 3 – Concrete … ..and so on as appropriate

-    Summarize the work in progress. Remember: you are reporⅥng the work to someone who has not  been to the site, so be descripⅥve. Base your observaⅥons on material covered in class. If there has been no work in a parⅥcular division, don’t include that division.

-    Site Issues: Include a discussion of site issues parⅥcular to your site (e.g. storage of materials, access, staging areas, coordinaⅥon of trades, issues of weather, flooding, safety, etc.)

-    Photographs: take photos during each site visit and include them in each report. Number the photos and refer to them in the report. Each photo should have an explanaⅥon in the text and should be labeled with the Figure number (Fig. xx) that is referenced in text. If needed, photoshop photos to add marking (circle or rectangle in some visible color) of a specific item that the reader should pay attenⅥon to.

7. Conclusion – A summary of the project progress, site issues and observaⅥons of all team members.

Some Tips:

• Get your site early and start the work!

Refer to the pdf file named Suitable ConstrucⅥon Sites posted on LH under Content / Site Monitoring Project.    

• Basic informaⅥon about the consultants and contractors can be found on the internet - just Google the address or the name of the construcⅥon company (commonly posted at the site entrance).

• Use consistent forma坩ng for the various parts of the report. Coordinate work between team members.

• Read your final report (all parts assembled and organized) before you submit it.

• The text should be able to convey your observaⅥons without photos. The photos are to help describe the work. Site reports that are simply annotated “ photo albums” will not receive full marks.

• Work together and coordinate informaⅥon between team members. Instructors will not interfere with internal dynamic of the team - any issues should be resolved between team members.

Project Submission:

-    Please save the completed project as a pdf file and upload it to LH to the designated assignment folder  named “Site Monitoring Project”. Please do not submit any other file formats (txt, docs…) - different file formats o什en show as exploded files with scrambled text and photos.

-     Every team member has to upload the project pdf file independently - that will ensure that your mark is recorded and posted in the gradebook for each student separately.

Marking:

-    Every site report done by a specific student (team member) will receive an individual mark.

-    The remainder of the project will receive a common mark shared between all team members.

-    The final mark will include both individual mark and common mark (individual + common = final)