Construction- The Integration of Elements
The activity of putting different elements together using a detailed plan and design is termed as 'Construction'. The industry is associated with creating a structure for different spheres at certain locations like houses, offices, power plants, roadways, railways, etc. Construction, in brief, means “to build” something like a fort out of pillows, building a sandcastle or a house of cards. However, construction of large structures requires a clear and comprehensive plan of how they should be done and where they should be built. While the Project Managers are responsible for handling the projects, architects and engineers play a vital role in designing and building a structure keeping the location in mind.
Why Construction?
Construction provides significant employment opportunities and career stability for people who chose to work in the field. Construction goes on throughout the year in all sectors, and you’ll get to have a job all the time and earn good money. You get to work with people all the time and every day is something new and interesting. Moreover, the results are immediate and rewarding, which gives you satisfaction.
Types of Construction
Getting to know the types of construction is important for effective planning, implementation and also to determine the payment for the same.
Construction can be broadly classified into 4 major types based on the requirements and characteristics such as
• Residential Construction & Renovation
• Institutional & Commercial Building
• Specialized Industrial Construction
• Infrastructure & Heavy Construction
Within these types of constructions involve lots of sub-categories like residential buildings include sky scraping apartments, individual houses/villas, renovation on the existing building and industrial construction comprises refineries, power utilities, manufacturing plants, pipelines, telecommunication infrastructure and even more. Planning for different construction types involves different methods of procuring professional services, assigning construction contracts, and financing the construction.
Residential Construction & Renovation
Residential or housing construction involves building from scratch, repairing, or remodelling the existing structure to accommodate people, supplies, or equipment. This type of construction incorporates apartments/high-rise flats, single-family condos, multi-family dwellings, town homes, dormitories, nursing homes, etc. Garages and outbuildings like utility sheds also fall under residential construction. Any repair or installation of utilities like electricity and water around the structure belongs to residential construction, too.
Engineers and architects design the residential buildings, and the construction companies execute construction for the same. They hire sub-contractors to do other civil works like electrical, structural, and mechanical work of the project. However, the builders themselves deal with the design and construction part for single-family houses. There has always been a substantial increase in the demand for residential construction, causing construction companies or individuals to invest in the housing sector at different locations. The market for residential construction type is highly competitive and rewarding regardless of the risks involved in it.
Institutional & Commercial Building
This is one of the major types of construction types involving various commercial or institutional building projects like schools, universities, hospitals, retail stores, warehouses, large shopping centers, sports arenas, and skyscrapers. Similar to the residential construction, institutional and commercial building also includes both building a new structure and repairing or maintenance of the existing building premise. Specialty architects and engineers are involved in designing in these specific types of building construction and the builders and general contractors who undertake this type of construction will also be specialized in the type of building.
While commercial skyscrapers, offices, hotels, shopping centers, and retail stores can be authorized by a company or an individual owner, other institutions like schools, hospitals, stadiums and sports arenas are managed by both the local and national government. Since this type of construction requires higher costs and greater sophistication of institutional and commercial buildings when compared with the residential type of construction, there are only fewer competitions in the market. The construction process for this type is also longer considering the economic conditions and so the demand is less than the housing construction. As a result, only limited competitors exist, and the price is based on competitive strategies in the local market.
Specialized Industrial Construction
Specialized Industrial Construction is another major type of construction that incorporates large scale projects or structures that require a high level of technical skills and specialization in planning, design, and construction. Steel mills, chemical processing plants, oil refineries, and nuclear power plants are some examples of specialized industrial construction with a high degree of technological complexity. Big industrial corporations usually carry out this specialized type of construction like a chemical industry building oil refineries and power generation industry constructing nuclear power plants, hydroelectric power plants, etc.
This type of construction is capital intensive and requires a considerable amount of time in planning and construction. The state of the economy and long-range demand forecasting are taken into account for the initiation of such projects. Besides, the governmental regulations involving the Environmental Protection Agency ruling and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are largely influenced by the decision of these projects.
Infrastructure & Heavy Construction
This type of construction entails projects such as building and upgrading of highways, railways, communications, mass transit systems, drainage systems, bridges, tunnels, pipelines, and sewage treatment plants in the surroundings of a city. Infrastructure and heavy construction is usually carried out in the motive of public interest and is usually executed by government agencies and large private corporations. As most of these are publicly owned, the projects are financed either through taxes or bonds. Since a high degree of mechanization is required for the construction of these heavy infrastructure projects, specialized engineers and highly skilled builders are involved in the construction of these projects. The demands are this type of construction may shift due to saturation in different segments, and the contractors move their workforce accordingly where the jobs are available.
Phases of Construction
Construction of a project is generally divided into 4 phases as below.
Planning: It is the first phase in the construction process, which majorly involves planning a design, articulating, and defining the goals for a project. This is also called the conceptual phase, where the builder, owner, and architects work together to define the idea of what they want to build.
Pre-construction: This phase earlier to construction involves the commencement of construction documents, which transforms the design planning into contract documents and submitted for building permit defining what exactly is being constructed to the contractor. The materials needed, project timeline and cost estimates are decided in this phase.
Construction: This is the actual building execution phase, where all the planning is implemented. The transition of a project into actual construction is done by the contractor and construction manager in this particular phase. On-site project management, quality control, and technical inspections are carried out during this phase to ensure the project is on track.
Close-out: This is the final phase of the construction process. During this critical phase, the transition of projects to occupancy is finalized. All the information related to the project like a construction closeout document, warranties, and final accounting is provided to clients at this phase.
Knowing the construction types will help you in carrying out a specific building process for the projects. There are many reputed construction experts from whom you can seek help in choosing the right construction type for your project.
For more information, consult our expert for free.
