Electronic distance measurement device

1. Managing Director

The managing director of a construction company is responsible for overall planning. They look at the full picture of the company’s current workload, its future workload for contracts already won and possible workload for contracts being tendered for. This global view enables strategic planning on the levels of supervision required for each contract, and may involve trained personnel to supervise the company’s workload.

The managing director will also be involved in the financial planning of the business, including cash flow forecasts, financing of the workload, risk assessments on complex construction projects, bad debts and the type of work the company would like to undertake. These responsibilities differ from the planning decisions that are taken at construction site level.

 

2. Site Manager

The site manager (or supervisor) is concerned with the day-to-day planning, organization and control of the construction site, including the organization of resources. (There are several methods that can be employed to accomplish these tasks). The site manager has to ensure that the construction project is delivered on time, to budget and to the required quality.

One of the site manager’s main responsibilities is to make the best use of resources. This involves maximizing production and ensuring the use of the right labour skills to fulfill a task. Materials must be used efficiently and not wasted. Plant must be utilized to offset the establishment and running costs against the value of labour saved. Subcontractors must be organized and controlled to work efficiently and safely within a team.

The site manager is also responsible for all the operations on site, although they may delegate some of these to general forepersons who may control sections or specific trade areas on the construction site such as bricklaying, carpentry and finishes. The site manager is often from a trade background with wide experience of different construction situations, knowledge and training.

3. Planner

The planner is usually based on the company’s head office, although on complex, expensive projects, they may be employed full time in an office on site. The construction planner is generally responsible for:

- supervising contract programmes (main, monthly, weekly, daily);

- monitoring and reviewing progress;

- materials delivery scheduling;

- labour scheduling;

- reporting procedures;

- plant scheduling;

- overseeing pre-contract tender programmes.

The planner is a managing resource, with an overview of the company’s whole operation, and they will report on the progress of the company’s construction workload either to the managing director or contract team director or manager. They are expected to plan how to make the most efficient use of resources, including responsibility for:

- working out how many operatives will be required on each project – to enable accurate labour forecasting;

- supplying the buying or purchasing department with materials schedules of what is required, when and how much – to enable economies of scalein the purchasing of materials;

- the movement of equipment from site to site – to ensure maximum utilization of the contractor’s own equipment or that hired by the company.

 

4. Quantity Surveyor

The quantity surveyor is primarily responsible for the financial planning of the construction company’s operations. They deal with the financial aspects such as payments for supplies, invoicing of clients, claims for variationsand final accounts. The quantity surveyor will deal with the cash flow of the business. This is the amount of money flowing into the company from clients and the amount flowing out in payments – money flowing in should be greater than money flowing out. The quantity surveyor will plan the periods when the company will receive payment for the work undertaken on behalf of their clients. These are called valuation dates and normally at 30-day intervals in accordance with the contract between the company and its client.

5. Buyer

The buyer is responsible for the purchasing of materials and plant resources and ensuring their timely delivery. There is often insufficient space on site to store all the materials required throughout the life of the project, stored materials can become damaged, and suppliers have to be paid for them. The buyer will analyze the main contract programme to obtain a set of delivery dates for the materials. Ideally, resources need to arrive on site just before they are needed. Often the buyer will place a bulk order with a supplier, who will then deliver specific quantities to the site when requested by the site manager.

6. Estimator

The estimator undertakes tendering operations for the company. Tendering is the process by which the company obtains work. A potential client will ask a number of companies interested in carrying out their project to submit “sealed bids” outlining the estimated cost of the work. It is the responsibility of the estimator to work out these costs, and they may also be expected to submit health and safety plans and construction programmes as part of the tender. During this process, the estimator will have a great deal of interaction with specialist subcontractors, who will be required for installations that cannot be undertaken by the company.

7. Site Supervisor

The site supervisor (or manager) is responsible for the day-to-day running of the construction site. They deal with the site workers, subcontractors, material and plant movements and resourcing, and are expected to maintain the construction programme. On larger, complex construction sites, there may be several site supervisors for different sections of the project, all reporting to a site manager. The site supervisor is also responsible for the health, safety and welfare of all the workers on their site.

8. General Foreperson

The general foreperson reports to the site manager or supervisor and is often trade specific, for example, carpentry. There may be a general foreperson for brickwork, joinery and finishes. Their role is to assist the site supervisor with labour control, materials control and some of the trade-specific plant.

9. Craft Operative

Craft operatives are the joiners, bricklayers, steel fixers, etc. who have a craft background or trade. They are responsible for undertaking their trade duties in producing work that is of the correct quality. They collectively contribute to maintaining the construction programme, and have a duty under health and safety legislation to work safely.

10. General Operative

General operatives undertake semi-skilled works, such as the excavation of drainage trenches, working with concrete, keeping the site clean and the movement of resources.

 

Exercise 2.Match the following English words with their Russian equivalents:

Exercise 3. The following is a list of roles that particular members of the construction team would undertake. For each one decide whose role and responsibility it is:

a) The long-term business plan of the company

b) The delivery date for a full load of bricks

c) The checking of engine-oil level on the site rough terrain forklift

d) The issuing of the monthly construction programme

e) The fixing of timber stairs

f) The pouring of concrete foundations

g) The completion of the tender document

h) The monthly valuation.

Exercise 4. Read the text again and complete the sentences:

1. The managing director is responsible for…

2. The site manager must…

3. The planner reports to…

4. The quantity surveyor deals with…

5. The buyer analyzes…

6. The estimator works out…

7. The site supervisor is responsible for…

8. The general foreperson repots to…

9. The craft operative is responsible for… 10.The general operative carries out …

 

 

Exercise 5.Read the text about Construction Managers:

CONSTRUCTION MANAGERS

Construction managers plan, direct, coordinate and budget a wide variety of construction projects, including building of all types of residential, commercial and industrial structures, roads, bridges, wastewater treatment plants, schools and hospitals. Construction managers may supervise an entire project or just part of one. They schedule and coordinate all design and construction processes including the selection, hiring and oversight of specialty trade contractors, such as carpentry, plumbing or electrical, but they do not usually do any actual construction of the structure.

Construction managers are managers who oversee construction supervisors and personnel. They are often called project managers, coordinators, construction superintendents, project engineers, construction supervisors or general contractors.

These managers coordinate and supervise the construction process from the conceptual development stage through final construction, making sure that the project gets completed on time and within the budget. They often work with engineers, architects and others who are involved in the process.

Construction managers determine the best way to get materials to the site and the most cost-effective plan for completing the project. They divide all required construction site activities into logical steps, estimating and budgeting the time required to meet established deadlines.

Construction managers also manage the selection of general contractors and trade contractors to complete specific phases of the project. Besides, they determine the labour requirements of the project and, in some cases, supervise the hiring and dismissal of workers. They oversee the performance of all trade contractors and are responsible for ensuring that all work is completed on schedule.

Construction managers direct and monitor the progress of construction activities through construction supervisors or other construction managers. They are responsible for obtaining all necessary licenses and, depending upon the contractual arrangements, for directing or monitoring in compliance with building and safety codes, other regulations and requirements set by the project insurers. They also oversee the delivery and use of materials, tools and equipment, workers’ safety and productivity and the quality of construction.

Managers might travel considerably when the construction site is not close to their main office or when they are responsible for activities at two or more sites. Management of overseas construction projects usually entails temporary residence in the country in which the project is being carried out.

Exercise 6.Make up a summary text about Construction Managers.The following expressions will help you:

1. The text under the title “  ” tells us about….

Текст под        заголовком рассказывает нам о…

«    »

2. At the beginning of the text the

В начале текста автор

author underlines

подчеркивает

points out

указывает

gives definition

дает определение

characterizes

характеризует

says that

говорит, что

tells us about

информирует

informs

перечисляет

enumerates

 

3. Then the author passes on to…

Затем автор переходит к…

4. After that the author goes on to say about…

После этого автор         продолжает говорить о…

5. Next the author…

Затем автор…

6. In conclusion…

В заключении…

7. The author draws the conclusion that…

Автор делает вывод, что…

8. The text ends with…

Текст заканчивается…

Exercise 7. Read the text about civil engineer:

CIVIL ENGINEER

Career Overview

Civil engineers design, construct, supervise, operate, and maintain large construction projects and systems, including roads, buildings, airports, tunnels, dams, bridges, and systems for water supply and sewage treatment. Many civil engineers work in design, construction, research, and education.

Duties

Civil engineers typically do the following:

· Analyze survey reports, maps, and other data to plan projects

· Consider construction costs, government regulations, potential environmental hazards, and other factors in planning stages and risk analysis

· Compile and submit permit applications to local, state, and federal agencies verifying that projects comply with various regulations

· Perform or oversee soil testing to determine the adequacy and strength of foundations

· Test building materials, such as concrete, asphalt, or steel, for use in particular projects

· Provide cost estimates for materials, equipment, or labor to determine a project’s economic feasibility

· Use design software to plan and design transportation systems, hydraulic systems, and structures in line with industry and government standards

· Perform or oversee, surveying operations to establish reference points, grades, and elevations to guide construction

· Present their findings to the public on topics such as bid proposals, environmental impact statements, or property descriptions

· Manage the repair, maintenance, and replacement of public and private infrastructure

Many civil engineers hold supervisory or administrative positions ranging from supervisor of a construction site to city engineer. Others work in design, construction, research, and teaching. Civil engineers work with others on projects and may be assisted by civil engineering technicians.

The federal government employs civil engineers to do many of the same things done in private industry, except that the federally employed civil engineers may also inspect projects to be sure that they comply with regulations.

Civil engineers work on complex projects, so they usually specialize in one of several areas.

Construction engineers manage construction projects, ensuring that they are scheduled and built in accordance with the plans and specifications. They are typically responsible for design and safety of temporary structures used during construction.

Geotechnical engineers work to make sure that foundations are solid. They focus on how structures built by civil engineers, such as buildings and tunnels, interact with the earth (including soil and rock). In addition, they design and plan for slopes, retaining walls, and tunnels.

Structural engineers design and assess major projects, such as buildings, bridges, or dams, to ensure their strength and durability.

Transportation engineers plan, design, operate, and maintain everyday systems, such as streets and highways, but they also plan larger projects, such as airports, ports, mass transit systems, and harbors.

 

IMPORTANT QUALITIES

Decision-making skills. Civil engineers often balance multiple and frequently conflicting objectives, such as determining the feasibility of plans with regard to financial costs and safety concerns. Urban and regional planners often look to civil engineers for advice on these issues.

Leadership skills. Civil engineers take ultimate responsibility for the projects or research  that they perform. Therefore,  they  must  be able to lead surveyors, construction managers, civil engineering technicians, and others to implement their project plan.

Math skills. Civil engineers use the principals of calculus, trigonometry, and other advanced topics in mathematics for analysis, design, and troubleshooting in their work.

Organizational skills. Only licensed civil engineers can sign the design documents for infrastructure projects. This makes it imperative that civil engineers be able to monitor and evaluate the work at the job site as a project progresses to assure compliance with design documents.

Problem-solving skills. Civil engineers work at the highest level of planning, design, construction, and operation of multi-faceted projects or research with many variables that require the ability to evaluate and resolve complex problems.

Writing skills. Civil engineers must be able to communicate with other professionals, such as architects, landscape architects, and urban and regional planners. This means that civil engineers must be able to write reports clearly so that people without an engineering background can follow.

Exercise 8. Answer the questions:

1. What do civil engineers design and construct?

2. Why is it important to perform soil testing?

3. How do civil engineers determine a project’s economic feasibility?

4. Why do they use design software?

5. What do federally employed civil engineers do?

6. What are the responsibilities of construction engineers?

7. What are the responsibilities of geotechnical engineers?

8. What are the responsibilities of structural engineers?

9. What are the responsibilities of transportation engineers? 10.What qualities are needed to be a good engineer?

Dialogues

Exercise 9. Read and act the dialogues:

1. A new warehouse

A:Here are the plans for the new finished goods warehouse. Do you have any thoughts or comments?

B:I think the plans look good. There’s just one thing though. I’m a bit concerned about the main lorry entrance. What’s the height clearance?

A:Let me check. It’s 3.80m.

B:Are you sure that’s high enough?

A:That’s a good point. I’ll make a note to increase it to 4.80 to make sure we can accept the new containers.

2. The building schedule

A:I see there are some workmen on the site. When is the building work due to start?

B:Well, I’ll three weeks to demolish the old building and clear away the debris. We should be ready to start the construction work in week 23.

A:How long will the sub-contractors be on site?

B:About ten week in total if everything goes according to plan.

A:I’m sure it will. So, we should be able to start moving the machinery in during week 34. I’ll confirm that date with our suppliers.

 

 

3. Project planning

A:Who’s in charge of the construction project?

B:We’ve taken on a civil engineer on a nine-month temporary contract. He’ll oversee the whole project. In fact, we’re having a project meeting at 3 p.m. this afternoon to allocate responsibilities and finalize the time schedule. Why don’t you join us?

A:I can’t I’m afraid. I’ve got another meeting scheduled for 2.30 p.m.

4. Making progress

A:How’s the building work going?

B:Well, I’m afraid we’ve had a slight delay.

A:What’s the problem? We really can’t have any delays at this stage. We’re working to a really tight schedule and we’re already over budget.

B:The cement arrived late but don’t worry, I’m confident we can still meet the deadline. The crew is on stand-by and as soon as the concrete has set we can get started again.

A:OK. Keep me informed. It must be ready on time.

5. Phase 1 of a project

A:hi, Paulo. How are things going?

B:Everything’s going very well. The first phase of the project was finished three days ahead of schedule. We’re on target to complete phase two by the beginning of week 40.

A:That’s good news. What stage are you at now?

B:Well, we’ve just finished laying the cabling and we’re waiting for the safety inspector to give the go-ahead to continue. I’m just going to meet him. Do you want to come?

6. A new stock system

A:Is the new computerized stock system in operation?

B:Not quite. The software engineers are testing it just now.

A:Have all the operators been trained on it?

B:Yes, most of them. We trained on a dummy system last month. A couple of people were away so we’ve organized two more training sessions on the live system for the whole team this week.

7. Going live

A:Our new production control program’s going live on Monday. The old and the new programs will operate in tandem for four to six weeks. That should give us time to iron out any little problems.

B:Hope it all goes well. We’re very busy at the moment and certainly don’t want any problems at this time of year.

A:Yes, I realize that. We’ve spent a long time planning and preparing for the changeover. I’m confident we won’t have any major problems.

8. An upgrade

A:We need to take the accounts system offline to carry out the upgrade. But don’t worry, it won’t cause too much inconvenience. We’re going to do it over the weekend.

B:How long will the system be down for?

A:We’ll be taking everything offline in about two hours’ time. It’ll be down for a minimum of twelve hours. If everything goes according to plan, it should be up again by 6 p.m. on Saturday.

B:That’s fine. We’ve allowed forty-eight hours to be on the safe side.

Exercise 10. Complete the sentences with prepositions:

1. It is very important to arrive at the meeting…..time.

2. I’m happy to report we are…..schedule and the building will be finished…..June as planned.

3. The new parts cost more than we thought. I’m afraid the project is now…..budget.

4. The builders still haven’t finished the new warehouse. We are three weeks…..schedule and might need to find other temporary raw material storage facilities.

5. The sub-contractors will be staying on site…..six weeks.

6. Good news! Despite the delay, we’re still…..target to finish the project this week.

Exercise 11. Match the two parts of the sentence:

1. Everyone has been trained

2. The engineer helped iron

3. I’m a bit concerned

4. We’ve taken on

5. When are we going to

6. Are the builders

7. I hope they are going to clear

8. Do you think we can still

a. twenty new staff.

b. meet the deadline?

c. away the debris.

d. ready to start phase two?

e. out a few problems.

f. take the network offline?

g. about the delays we’ve had.

h. on the new system.

Exercise 12. Complete the sentences using the words from the box below:

1. Are you sure we’ve got enough height clearancefor the new truck?

2. When two processes are operating at the same time, we say they’re running in……

3. Good news! We’ve got the …..for the new building.

4. We don’t have any spare time. We’ve got a really….. schedule.

5. How much time have you….. for the cabling work?

6. How long will it take to…..the old factory?

7. The ….. inspector has condemned this warehouse.

8. I’m afraid there’s been a …..delay.

9. The anti-virus software was ….. last week.

10. When do you think the new computer system will go…..? 11.How much longer do you think the network will be …..for?

12.The engineers are ….. the phone lines at the moment.

Exercise 13. Complete the sentences using the correct form of the verb in brackets:

1. The engineers are testing (test) the system at the moment.

2. The delivery must........... (arrive) on time.

3. We’re on target…...... (complete) the project ahead of schedule.

4. It’ll take three weeks, if everything…..... (go) according to plan.

5. Everyone........... (be) very busy at the moment.

6. I hope we can........... (meet) the deadline.

7. How much time have you.......... (allow) to clear the site?

8. We............. (finish) phase two of the project last week.

9. When.............. (be) the new system due to go into operation?

 

 

Case study

UNIT 3.

SURVEYING EQUIPMENT

Exercise 1. Read the text about surveying equipment: Vocabulary:

Tape – рулетка, мерная лента

To undertake – предпринимать, брать на себя Survey – съемка, изыскательские работы Dimension – размеры, габариты

Available – имеющийся в наличии, в распоряжении

Length – длина

To fold – складывать, сворачивать, закрывать

Reel – барабан (для намотки)

Folding rule – складная линейка (метр) Read out – считывающее устройство To project – отражать, переносить

Logger – устройство автоматической регистрации

To enable – позволять, давать возможность

Angle – угол

Moisture meter – измеритель влажности

Probe – зонд, детектор

Probepin – наконечник зонда, детектора

Damp course –влагоизолирующий слой, гидроизолирующий слой

Readings – показания (прибора) Obsolete – устаревший

Dilapidation – полуразрушенное состояние, износ Brickcourse – горизонтальный ряд кирпичной кладки Binocular – бинокль

To spot – определять место (повреждения) Boroscope –бороскоп

Disruption – разрушение, пробой (изоляции)

To divert – отклонять, направлять в другую сторону

Thermalimaging – тепловидение Spirit level– строительный уровень Theodolite – теодолит

Ranging pole – вешка

To triangulate – проводить триангуляционную съёмку

Grid coordinate –координатасетки

 

1. Steel and fiber tape

These types of tape are useful when undertaking a measured survey where long external dimensions are required and where a 5-metre tape is not long

enough. There are various sizes available: from 30m to 100m is considered the normal length use. Both operate with a wind-up mechanism which folds the tape into the reel.

 

2. Folding rule

A folding rule, as the name suggests, folds down into a convenient 300mm length but extends to 2m. This is useful where an ordinary tape would bend and collapse when taking a vital dimension, while the folding rule will remain rigid until folded back into itself. It can be used for a constant set of measurements that repeat over and over, thus making it easy simply to hold up the folding ruler. They are normally constructed of timber and graduated in metric.

This device uses laser to bounce from a known surface – the machine – to an unknown surface – the other wall. The speed of light of a laser is constant and thus the distance between the two walls can be calculated and appears on the readout. You can see where you are pointing the laser by the red dot it projects on the adjacent wall. This has to be then recorded on the measured survey. Some newer machines have data loggers that enable the measurements to be downloaded back at the office.

These machines are good for internal dimensions but, externally, where you are not working between walls, a tape measure will be more effective, as it can be attached by the end clip to the outside angle of the wall.