Executive summary
The Queens House project is a project of the National Charity Trust which is dedicated towards the construction of housing facilities for the poor and less fortunate. The company is a Non governmental Organization with branches spanning all major cities of the country. The NGO is specialized with construction of houses and all activities related to the sheltering of the homeless. The National trust is an organization that seeks to assist forsaken children by ensuring the provision of the three basic needs, food, clothing and shelter. The trust is also responsible with the advancement of better medical condition for the children and propagation of education for the children.
After the Annual General Meeting conducted early in the year, the Trust’s Board members decided to construct a house unit which will house the street children of the local town. This initiative comes as a result in the rise in crime in our streets and the lack of social amenities provided to them. The project is going to involve members of the trust and Government officials from the housing ministry, which has decided to contribute to the construction of the house.
The house which is going to fulfill all housing requirement of its members including the inclusion of extra amenities such as sports facilities and day care facilities. The house will also be built in a manner that it conserves energy consumption by utilizing the various forms of natural power. The building Is to also be structurally sound and hence incorporate the input of certified architects.
Project requirements
National Trust’s project objectives are as follows;
- To increase the number of children and less fortunate being sheltered by the National Trust and providing them with better social amenities, which is in line with its motives of the Trust which are provision of quality emotional, mental and spiritual support to the needy.
- to company’s portfolio of schools globally and thereby serve its clientele effectively. This is in line with the company’s vision of offering world class and global education.
- To meet the growing demands of the government, whose target is to reduce the number of street families by the end of the year 2010. This is also in line with the millennium development goals that were set up to reduce the level of poverty in the country.
- To provide an enabling and rich environment for the street children, where propagation of morals and education go hand in hand with them being sheltered in the house.
Project description
Scope of the project
The National Trust housing project will start with tackling the first problem, which is the shelter placement. This will require the employees of the trust to stalk, with assistance from a certified architect and lands surveyor. This will reduce the time spent on surveying as well as reducing any chances of the trust violating the law through wrong positioning of the house. A building surveyor will also ensure that all the building rules and codes have been followed to the letter even before construction of the house begins. More points to be considered when stalking of the lot, with assistance from the architect and land surveyor include:
- Positioning of drainage systems
- The position of the street from the intended house
- Local zoning and deed limitations.
These are just a few of the considerations to be made before the actual purchase of the land on where the house will be built. The house should be located at a strategic point where it is central to the community.
Justification of the project
- Need for a safe and secure community for its members is paramount to the improving its economy. The government goal of ensuring a twenty four hour economy needs to be justified by the provision of security to all. The Trust has researched and concluded that many crimes within the community are being undertaken by disaffected youth who have mostly frown up in the streets. It is thus the duty of the Trust to set up a house that will ensure the availability of world class education facility for the street kids thereby reducing ignorance in the children.
- A house for the abandoned children of the local community will imply less number of suffering children in the streets which will automatically reduce the crime rate in the community.
Functions and Project stakeholders
These are critical players in the project implementation that are crucial to the project success.
Project deliverables
This includes all the tangible and soft components of the project which must be achieved. For our case the ultimate deliverable is the building of the house. In the course of the project there are other deliverables which are imperative for the progress of the project (Nymer 56). The National Trust project deliverables are as listed below;
- Location of land for building of the house.
- Budgeting plans.
- Ministry of housing permits.
- Local authority zonal licensing.
- Assessment reports by Civil and structural engineers.
Risk assessment
Risk assessment is one area that within risk management which is more involved with the identification and rating of risks that can be incurred during the whole project. This step is important in order to reduce any chances of complete failure of the project due to unforeseen circumstances which would otherwise have been avoided in the first place (Cheruiyot, p. 25). Risks may manifest themselves through the lack of proper planning of the whole project and requires much emphasis in the course of the project. Risks can result in projects total failure, late implementation, poor quality service delivery and suspension of project activities. It is therefore imperative that project risks are managed through a pre-planned alleviation plans. For the effective alleviation of risks, the project has classified risks into three classes; highly expected, most expected and Unexpected. Highly expected risks are those whose probability of happening is more than 50% hence the project steering committee has to put in place, alleviation measures. For the most expected risks, their chances of occurrence are less than 50% but their effects might be substantial hence requiring proper alleviation plan. For the unexpected risks, no alleviation measures are put in place. National Trust project is susceptible to numerous risks and the table below indicates these risks and their vulnerabilities (Verzuh, p. 125). It also indicates the counter active measures that can be undertaken in order to mitigate the risks.
Project Estimates
Project Activities
National Trust project deals with construction of shelter homes for abandoned children. The project has been initiated by the National Trust Group of schools as a stop guard measure to deal with the cyclic problem of homeless children in the community. The major project activities are listed below, but the sub activities are succinctly discussed (Aubervy, p. 205).
Site selection and acquisition
This activity involves the selection of construction sites within the community for the construction. The process is to a great extent demanding since the site should have all the necessary amenities and environmentally robust for the construction of a children’s house. The house to be constructed should be located in a quiet and highly secure neighborhood. The assortment process will involve identification of various qualifying sites and ranking them in order of requirements of the Trust. The highest categorized plot owner will be sent a letter of offer and if he/she agrees, then the purchase of the land will be completed. Land purchase process legal regulations will be followed with the assistance of a contracted attorney.
Permit and other legal obligations
Construction of a children’s home will require a permit from the ministry of youth and home affairs. This permit allows the building of the house to go on and the consultation of the ministry officials on extra facilities that should be included. The National Trust has the privilege of doing business with the ministry through former projects involving street children. The trust will have to pay any outstanding fee before embarking on the construction of the house.
Selection and oversight of architects and other consultants
Once authorization is given, the steering committee should advertise for services of an architect and other consultants like structural and civil engineers. The steering committee will further vet their proposals and select those with the necessary credentials for the two positions. The hired architect will design the architectural plan of the school and it will be assessed by the steering committees with the help of the civil and structural engineer. Upon satisfaction of the steering committee, the plan will be adopted else they can request for changes to be done on it by the Architect.
The recruited structural engineer will also be engaged to come up with a bill of quantities report that will form the basis of budgeting and costing for the whole construction. The report will be discussed and approved by the steering committee as a working document for the budgeting process.
Budgeting and cost allocation for the building
The steering committee will ultimately source funds for the construction of the National Trust facility. The steering committee will identify the sources of funds and forward for their proposal for funding. Since most of the funding will be internal, the proposal will be tabled in the board meeting of the National Trust. The board will authorize and allocate funds for the project. The steering committee can also write to the ministry of housing to find out whether they have any grants available for such projects. Where all funding agencies have confirmed their allocations and the steering committee feels that they are satisfactory to run and project with its miscellaneous expenses. Thereafter they can hire a project manager to carry on with the tactical implementation of the project (Kerzner, p. 234).
Building material acquisition
The project management will organize for the acquisition and delivery to site all the required materials as per bill of quantities report. The project manager will order the purchase cement, gravel, construction metals, timber, sand, roofing materials and building blocks. The steering committee will also oversee the recruitment of the building engineers by the project manager. Further the committee will ensure that necessary machineries are hired for use in the project.
Stakeholders meeting
Stakeholders will constitute the National Trust management, the ministry of housing officials, ministry of youth officials, the local community, project management team, engineers, City council members responsible for allocation of building licenses. This is pioneering meeting where the National Trust and project management will update the stakeholders of their project progress. National Trust and the project management will inform the local community of their services and challenges that they have been facing so far.
Foundation Clearance and land excavation
This step involves the clearance of any evident bushes, and rocks that may be evident on the land. This also gives room for heavy machinery such as fork lifts and earth movers to maneuver around the land. This involves the digging of the foundation tunnels which is a labor intensive activity. The laid foundation will have to be inspected by the civil and structural engineer and an assurance report issued. The project manager must also ensure safe custody of the report.
Utilities and Footing
This process involves the process of paying of all fess to all utility providers such as power generating companies, Water companies and installation of well and septic systems. This process s often done months in advance before commencement of the building project, so as toe ensure that utilities are present after the main construction of the house.
Wall construction
When the quality assurance report on the foundations is received, the wall construction process begins. This process is crucial and is under continuous quality assurance monitoring. The civil engineers will give their quality assurance report of the entire wall construction which will then be assessed and filed by the project manager. The progressive construction and payment authorization will only be possible when the quality standards have been adhered to.
Roofing
The roofing engineer will also be involved and will take on the task when construction process gets there. The roofing design and materials will be done as per recommendations of the civil and structural engineers. After the whole roofing activity is complete, necessary quality assurance assessment will be done and reported to the project steering committee. If the committee is satisfied, payment authorizations will be done by the steering committee upon the request of the project manager else necessary adjustment will be done where applicable.
Windows and doors fixing
This activity involves the process of welding of windows and doors within the premises of Queens’ school. This will be followed by fixation of windows and doors to the construction and later all glasses required will be fixed. For payment authorization to be done, completion and quality of work will be assessed and reported to the steering committee through the project manager.
Furnishing
This is process that involves furnishing and installations of the electrical and communication facilities. Furnishing process will include the wall painting, furniture set up, shelves building, curtains fixing and finally cleaning. The electrical installations will include wiring, placement bulbs and tubes and testing of switches. All these activities will undergo independent assessment by the stakeholder’s representative and the project manager.
Building assessment reporting
An independent building expert will have to be recruited by the steering committee to give an assurance on the quality of the construction done, safety standards of the construction, value for money report and that the construction meets the requirements of a schooling facility. The expert will submit its findings through a report that will be discussed both by the project steering committee and board of Queens Group of schools. When satisfied, the board and the steering committee will discharge their contractual obligations by paying the relevant engineers for their work.
Opening and Publicity
This will involve the setting up of the house opening date for public inspection by the steering committee, hiring of the house administrators and teachers,
Resource requirements
This project is a very resource intensive project. The following resources will be necessary for the implementation of the project.
- Project manager
- Four administrative staff
- Building materials
- Construction experts
- License fees
The following table will document the above resources ant there estimated cost
Works Cited
- Aubervy, Jones. House Building and best practices. London: Oxford Publishers, 2008.
- Cheruiyot, Nina. Housing quality assurance. Alpha Science Intl Ltd, 2004.
- Kerzner, Harold. Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. Texas: John Wiley and Sons, 2009. PP. 234- 249.
- Nymer, Robert. International architecture. New York: Addison-Wesley, 2000
- Verzuh, Eric. The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2008.PP. 123-134.