Author: Massimo Pica
Anyone that has been involved in a construction project will know the challenges involved from an economic perspective.
Almost certainly, one of the factors that govern whether a project is deemed successful relates to how closely it was delivered to its original budget.
In my experience, failure to thoroughly understand and capture the costs throughout the whole lifecycle of a project will all too often have a bearing on programme and quality; all of which can be directly attributable to the eminence of health and safety standards.
So although this book may not immediately allure itself to a health and safety practitioner, having an acute awareness of project economics – particularly when assessing whether what we are advising is….’reasonably practicable’ – is an important component of competency.
The book itself is quite a technical read, with the early chapters being more of interest to construction safety professionals and project managers than the later pages, which do have some rather complex cost analysis equations.
If you are involved in Construction (Design and Management) you will know that effective planning and organisation for construction sites does have a bearing on cost as does risk management, which includes all actions required to address possible unforeseen events that may influence the performance of a project. For example, an accident or the illness of an operator which creates a risk to the project. It is good to see that these aspects are well discussed.
Value engineering and cost analysis generally take prominence at project and design team meetings and so for me, speaking as someone involved in construction health and safety management, it will certainly aid my understanding and improve stakeholder interface.
I can see this book being most beneficial if you are representing a client on a large construction project and have responsibility for budgets as well as health and safety.
Simon Toseland is compliance services director for Salisbury FM Group
Project Life Cycle Economics: Cost Estimation, Management and Effectiveness in Construction Projects by Massimo Pica is available from Ashgate for £85.00. www.ashgate.com
