Report on the changes to be made in specification and design to reduce cost of a construction project

Therefore factors certain factors such as time, cost and sustainability is usually very essential to consider when coming up with construction projects (Memon et al. Sustainability is a very important, though complex concept that is greatly used to determine how to use the time and costs available for construction purposes. Sustainability involves advocating for construction of buildings that are economically, environmentally and socially acceptable. In the past, improper planning of construction projects have led to cost overruns and incompletion or late completion of projects. Fast changing conditions and also underestimation of cost of a construction projects have been observed to be the major factors that contributes to overruns. However, further research have shown that there are other factors that greatly influence the cost of constructing a building.

These factors are mainly the specification and design factors of a building. These report deeply discusses the major specification and design factors that the architect can make to reduce the costs of the project. It also gives the impact of making the various design adjustment on the project. Design factors Design factors is said to be the major factor that determines the cost in a construction project. Therefore, a rectangular building is more practical. The changes in the shape of the building can be discussed in two parts. 1) The building perimeter The perimeter of the building should be reduced to the minimum, without reducing its area. If the architect considers reducing this perimeter, he will reduce the cost of construction of the building significantly.

However, the reduction of the perimeter of the building will bring about the following effects; i) Significant reduction in the length and the area of the external wall with an equivalent reduction in the perimeter of the building. This is because there will be sharing of only one separating wall comparing to two external walls. The architect should therefore consider grouping the six blocks into three groups consisting of two blocks since all the buildings are identical. The grouping of these blocks will greatly reduce the cost of constructing the building. However, grouping of these blocks will not only affect the separating wall, the following impact will also be observed; i) The span of the roof members will be greatly affected by the grouping, mainly because a low pitch roof has been proposed by the architect.

Therefore there will be a variation in cost due to the variation of the timber needed for the roof. Reducing the height of the storey will bring the following impacts; i) There will be need in reduction of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems due to the significant reduction in the volume of the building. The piping and the cable sizes will also be reduced and reduced installation costs. ii) The ceiling installation will be easier. iii) The loadings in the foundation will be reduced significantly and therefore there will be reduction in the depth and width of the foundations. d) Circulation space Space in a building is one of the most important factors in the economics of cost. This is because there will be significant reduction in installation cost.

Specification factors The specification factors of a building is also among the most significant factors that determines the cost of constructing a building. The specification factors is mainly effected by the design team and always make critical choices about materials to be used in constructing the building. The cost of using a materials varies with its type and quality (Pheng and Meng, 2018). For example in the installation of pipes, there will be varying cost for use of stainless steel, plastic pipes or copper pipes. Although the installation cost of metal roofing is much higher than the other types, it has a very low maintenance cost. This is because repainting, replacement or repair is usually very rare (Proverbs and Holt, 2000). It is also costly to install and maintain hardwood finishes and the use of ceramic tiles.

Therefore the architect should consider using vinyl flooring. Usually vinyl is very good in underlayment and can be used with cheaper materials on top of it. Reduction in the number of corners of a building is said to have a great effect in reduction of the cost of constructing the building (Paulson, 2017). Usually, cost increase with the increase in the number of corners due to increase in the labor and materials required in construction of this structures. The backside of the building should typically be straight lines and walls and the architect should ensure that there are minimum convex or concave corners. Only the front side of the blocks can have distinctive architecture. e) Materials used should have a 2’0" increment Study that was conducted have shown that of all the materials purchased for construction in a project 1/6th of these materials are discarded as landfill and waste (Faniran and Caban, 1998).

The vertical space should also be maximized appropriately. For example in the laundry, with only four lineal feet it can accommodate coat hangers, storage unit, a seat and a basket shelf. The dining room designed by the architect should be for many and consider using an expandable plan, where the space can be used for other purposes. The footprint in the dining room can also be minimized without affecting the formal feature of the dining room. More space can also be created and maximized by hiding some features behind a millwork door. This is because the ductwork and plumbing is easy to access. Therefore there is significant reduction in the in the cost of installation and maintenance. As there is reduced moisture infestations.

h) Using roof trusses where possible The roof structure can help create a very interesting a beautiful interior spaces. Therefore it is usually important to consider the roof structure as it greatly affects the cost of constructing a building and therefore can be used to reduce costs. Most of the cost overruns in a construction project id due to design variations made by the design team (Akinci and Fischer, 2018). the architect, the client and the designers have to therefore come up with adjustments that will help to reduce the cost of construction significantly and hence preventing overruns. When these adjustment are made, there is huge reduction in the cost of constructions. The report has discussed the various adjustments that can be made by the architect on both the specification and design factors in order to reduce the cost of construction.