The Construction Process –

Girls Hostel, Buruburu Girls School

Clementine W. Macharia
Civil/Structural Engineer
Kitololo Consultants, Nairobi Kenya

and institutional buildings together with their associated

Summary civil engineering works. It has undertaken numerous
The construction process of the the girls hostel-buruburu projects both for the government and for private sector
girls school is a typical example of the merits and developers. Currently Kitololo consultants employes six
demerits of combining proffessional roles in a building engineers, one technician engineer, seven draughtsmen
process. The roles of a project manager in the Kenyan and five support staff members in the administration
construction market is slowly becoming clear to the department. The director of the company is also a member
proffesionals involved in the market but has yet to be of the board of governors of Buruburu girls school. At the
appreciated by project financiers. time of design of the project the project architect who was
In many Kenyan construction projects, the client acting as an individual was housed in the offices of
appoints a consultant to manage the project and to be Kitololo consultants.
responsible for co-ordinating the various actors in the The construction of the hostel was concieved when it
process. The most usual project manager is one of the became necessary to accommodate the more than 390
consultants in the design team with experience in girls previously housed in wooden dormitories in a
contracting and designing activity. Structural engineers permanent structure with better facilities conducive to
are very rarely selected in building projects because the study. The project involved the design and construction of
Kenyan architects are still being treated as the self-evident a double storey hostel block, a laundry block and two
project managers. In the building process analysed herein clothes drying shelters. The use of natural stone, a locally
under, the project structural engineer was the project available construction material from nearby quarries was
manager. It is my intention to let the reader of this paper encouraged by all parties in order to cut down costs.
see how the engineer performed and how the construction
process as a whole was carried out.
The Country
The project is located in Kenya, which lies on the equator
and enjoys a tropical climate: hot and humid on the coast,
Introduction temperate inland, and very dry in the north. The
The aim of this paper is to describe and analyse the temperature range is affected by latitude and varies from
construction process of the Girls hostel, Buruburu Girls 7 degrees celsius to 32 degrees celsius. There are only
School, Nairobi two seasons in a year i.e. the wet and the dry season and
hence construction goes on throughout the year except on
some days when the rainfall is particularly heavy as to
The Project interfere with the construction work. Insulation of
Buruburu girls school is one of the girls boarding schools buildings in most parts of Kenya is mainly optional.
located in Nairobi. It is situated on a low-lying fairly flat Kenya is also a third world economy, which depends
on agriculture and tourism for her foreign exchange
piece of land on the outskirts of the city of Nairobi within
a middle income housing estate. Nairobi is the capital city earnings. The main kenyan exports are tea, coffee,
of Kenya with a population of 1.5M inhabitants. horticultural products, petroleum products, meat and meat
products, hides and skins and cement. It imports industrial
The school, which has been built mainly through local
fund raising efforts, is run by a school board of governors. machinery, crude petroleum, motor vehicles and transport
The school headmistress also doubles up as the secretary equipment, minerals, chemicals, iron and steel and
manufactured goods. It occupies a cross section area of
to the board and represents the board on the routine
running of the school. 580 000 square kilometres and is home to a population of
23M increasing by 3.34 percent per year. The country is
Kitololo consultants is an indegenous private
engineering consulting firm located in Nairobi. It has bordered to the north by Ethiopia, to the northeast by
been involved in the design and construction supervision Sudan, north west by Somalia, to the west by Uganda, to
the south by Tanzania and to the east by the Indian Ocean.
of low rise/high rise residential, industrial, commercial

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CLEMENTINE W. MACHARIA

The main languages spoken in Kenya are Bantu, at the construction process that better quality and timely
Nilotic and Cushitic. Kiswahili is the national and cultural completion of large projects will be archieved.
language and English is the official and international
language. All the correspondence, meetings and verbal
conversations during the construction process were in the
English language.

The Construction Market

The construction market has at all times been important to
the Kenyan society. The degree of activity within the
construction industry is usually a very good pointer to the
performance of the economy with investments in
construction accounting for over half of the countrys
gross investment. It is however sad to note that the market
is normally ignored by the major actors i.e. politicians,
planners, administrators, and others concerned with
development issues resulting in very fragmented building
operations. The government is the main client of the
construction market in Kenya and like in many other
developing countries the demand for several categories of
output cannot be met by the limited financial resources.
On the whole, the construction market is generally
affected by deficiencies in adequate and favourable
financing mechanisms, which jeopardises construction
programmes leading to cost escalations and time
overruns.
In Kenya, local authorities control construction
activities for the purpose of ensuring safety and health in
the built environment by way of building acts, regulations
and building codes. There is however a general lack of
maintenance and upgrading strategies with an obvious
disparity between the importance placed on new
construction programmes vis-a-vis repair and upgrading
of existing structures and services. Construction of new
structures is preferred because it is less challenging and
more straightforward than repairs.
Corruption is a major problem affecting every sector of
the Kenyan economy. The construction market has had its
share of headaches resulting from the vice. Unlike
Swedish contractors, the majority of Kenyan contractors
are not trustworthy, as they would not hesitate to
Design Stage
compromise on quality in order to maximise on their Project Organisation
profits. Quality control therefore cannot be left entirely in
the hands of the contractors. Constant supervision of the At the predesign and design stage, the key players in the
project by the design team during construction is project were the client, the project architect and the
necessary to ensure adherence to the proposed design, consulting engineer. The client was represented by the
materials and construction standards. secretary to the board who is also the school headmistress.
Construction management is a relatively new concept Below is the project organisation chart.
in Kenya. The architect is usually the lead consultant and
the natural project manager. Construction management Client
has not been fully accepted due to the obvious fact that it (Board of governors)
leads to a reduction of architectural fees if the
architectural firm does not provide the services. There has
also not been a clear-cut definition of the roles of a
project manager in the construction process. Many firms Consulting Engineer Architect
are now incorporating the construction management
function within their services inorder to continue
receiving the full fees. In a nutshell few projects in Kenya
have a construction manager. Its not until clients realise
that incorporating a project manager who is not part of the Contractor
design and financing team leads to a more objective look

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 Construction Process – Buruburu Girls School

Procurement necessary procedures for scrutiny and approval of the

design by the local authorities were put into place i.e. the
The consulting engineer, a member of the board of
design calculations and all the structural and architectural
governors, was appointed by the board to offer his
drawings were submitted. All the required fees for
services as a consulting engineer and to advise the board
approval of the designs and supervision of the works by
on the technical and managerial aspects of the project.
the local authorities were paid for by the client through
The consulting engineer offered his services free of
the consulting engineers office. The agreement and
charge and invoiced the client only for direct expenses
schedule of conditions of contract, a document which was
like photocopying.
to form part of the contract was also purchased through
The appointment of the project architect was done by
the offices of the consulting engineer.
the consulting engineer on the behalf of the board of
It was mainly the engineer who played the role of
governors. The project architect was a friend of the
adviser to the client in deciding the form of contract to
engineer. He did not have a registered company and hence
adopt. Without a quantity surveyor in the construction
offered his services as an individual. The architect unlike
process to prepare the bills of quantities, the client was
the engineer charged a professional fee for all his
advised to go for a schedule of rates contract. The project
services.
architect prepared the schedule of rates.
During the construction process, the architect was
The engineers estimate of the project cost was 438000
housed in the offices of the consulting engineer.
US dollars. After negotiations the contractor agreed to do
Consultations between the architect and the engineer
the works at a reduced cost of 353 000 US dollars. At the
during the design stage were made easy by the fact that
negotiation stage, the contractor also, in a bid to ensure
they were both housed in the same offices. There was no
that he won the tender, promised the school that he would
quantity surveyor on the project team and all the cost
also undertake the levelling of the schools playing fields
estimates were prepared by the engineer and the architect.
as well as upgrading of the 500 metre access road to the
school and the parade ground from the existing murrum
Design Process standard to bitumen standard and provide a compre-
hensive storm water drainage system for the new road all
At the preliminary design stage, several proposals were
at no extra cost to the school. The offer was made hastily,
submitted to the client by the architect for approval. After
without a serious consideration of the cost implications
several consultations, and revisions, detailed architectural
and in writing. It was therefore attached to the contract
drawings of the double storey hostel block, the laundry
document and became part of the contract. It was to
block and the drying shelters were prepared and
become a major bone of contention latter on in the project
incorporated in the school master plan. The design
when the contractor realised that inorder to fulfil his
incorporated the use of locally available building stone
promise he had to try and cut corners on the main project
from quarries located in the schools neighbourhood. Out
to avoid making loses. The source of funding for the
of cost considerations, a load bearing structure was
project was made clear to the contractor at the negotiation
preferred in leu of a framed structure. The floors, beams
stage and he promised though verbally not to ever stop or
and staircases were made of cast in situ concrete and the
delay completion due to delayed payment.
roof was made of structural grade cypress timber trusses.
The contractor was a great friend to the school
Asbestos based roofing tiles manufactured locally were
headmistress then having constructed civil works for a
used for roof covering.
subdivision scheme that the school had undertaken on a
The most economical structural design was undertaken.
donated plot and having actually bought some of the
All the designs complied with the requirements of the
plots. There had been no problem with funding for the
local authorities in regard to safety and health. The
earlier project since the plot buyers were paying for the
cheapest and most straightforward construction method
construction. The contractor was also a guardian to his
was given preference and the use of formwork and
niece who was a student at the school then.The client –
concrete reduced as much as possible. The design
contractor friendship was not to last long, neither was he
calculations and drawings were prepared to the various
to keep his promise of carrying out the construction work
British codes of practise requirement for the various
at full blast irrespective of delayed payments after he
structural elements.
encountered delays in payment on the second interim
The cost estimates were prepared by way of taking off
payment certificate.
the quantities of the construction materials e.g. concrete
and reinforcing steel, timber, mortar etc from the design
calculations and drawings and calculation of the total cost Financing
done based on the basic rates as determined by the local
The project was financed through a school building fund
joint building council. Material manufacturers cost
but the greater amount of money was sourced through
catalogues were also used for cost estimating. There was
major local fundraising efforts known locally as
no computer package for cost estimating. The cost of past
“HARAMBEES”. Through payment of school fees, every
and ongoing projects was also used as a general pointer to
parent contributed to the building fund kitty.
the expected costs.
“Harambee” is a well-known term in Kenya which
Contacts with the engineering and architectural
closely means, “let us pull together.” It is a heritage from
departments of the local authorities were established by
the founding father of the nation, a call that was made to
the engineer and the architect respectively. All the
the citizens during the early days of nation building.

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CLEMENTINE W. MACHARIA

To host the harambees, invitation cards to the occasion facility that they were seemingly not going to occupy.
were printed by the board of governors, the parents and Due to the demands by the students that they be allowed
the teachers of the school and sent out to as many friends to occupy the hostel for their last term in school, the
to the school as possible. On the card was indicated the contractor was issued with a partial taking over certificate
date of the harambee, the presiding guest of honour, the and the final year students accommodated in the hostel.
assistant guests and the venue of the funds drive. All the There was a long list of outstanding items of work and
funds drives were carried out in the school compound. At defects that was prepared at the taking over date.
the back of the card were tables drawn to assist the Unfortunately, After the issue of the taking over
recipients collect funds. Names of the people contributing certificate, the contractor demanded that the consultant
to the fund, the amount given and the date are entered in issue him with a certificate releasing five percent of the
the tables. On the fund raising day all the people who retention money as stipulated in the contract document.
received invitation cards returned them together with the The engineer refused saying that the certificate was issued
amount collected coupled with their personal not because the works were substantially complete but to
contributions to the harambee. It was through such efforts avoid unnecessary confrontations with the students and
that three quarters of the finances to the project were parents who had every right to the hostel but were denied
sourced. Other sources included donations of cash and by the contractors failure to complete the work on time as
kind to the school by local politicians, old parents and per the programme. The contractor could not hear any of
friends. it and in protest he refused to attend to any of the defects
and abandoned the site.
It was such grievances that led the contractor and the
Budget and Budget Control consulting engineer to mistrust each other so much so that
To avoid cost overruns during the execution of the they wound up being antagonists rather than team
project, it was observed that a good combination of the members in the construction process. Accusations and
contract and payment forms was critical.The client was counter accusations became the order of the day and time
therefore advised to adopt a fixed price contract with no and energy, which could have been put in the project was
allowance for variation of prices during the contract wasted as the parties refused to come to a compromise.
period. A clause was included in the contract document to
that effect. There were quite a number of variations to the
contract which affected the budget. Information Technology
Applications for interim payment certificates were The use of computers in the project was limited to the
done by the contractor and submitted to the consulting design office and used only for typing the contract
engineer for certification. To avoid antagonism and documents and correspondences. The structural design of
suspicions, all the valuations for payment were done by the roof trusses was done by computer. All the other
the engineer and the contractor. Payment certificates were architectural and structural design work and preparation
prepared by the engineer and submitted to the client for of drawings was undertaken manually both by the
payment. All the extra works were valued separately but architect and the engineer. Neither paper nor computer
included in the interim payment certificates. models were prepared for the project. Drawings and
To control the budget, the engineer and the architect verbal explanations were used to make the client who was
ensured that the contractor put up all the structures and represented by the headmistress appreciate the design at
installed all the services in accordance with the drawings the design stage.
and the specifications. Few variation orders were made by When construction started however, and the first floor
the consultant or the architect. All the variation orders slab and the staircases cast, the headmistress who had full
came from the school headmistress. Delays in the access to the site during the construction could simply not
completion of the project were occasioned by the believe the positioning of the staircases was on the
numerous variations issued by the client and delays in drawings as she saw on site. She immediately asked the
payment. There was also never a steady supply of contractor to stop work, called the consultants and
finances to the project and the contractor abandoned the explained to them where she all along wanted and thought
works on several occasions siting delayed payment. The the staircases were and immediately requested that the
contractor also took advantage of the fact that the two middle staircases be replaced with one middle
consulting engineer was a board member to cry foul every staircase and two smaller staircases at the two extreme
time the amount on his application for payment was ends of the hostel. Work had to stop on site as the design
altered to tarry with the situation on site. He argued that and drawings were revised to the clients requirement.
the engineer was being unduly unfair to him and kept
questioning the engineers ability to render fair judgement
in his combined role of a consultant, project manager and Design Experiences and Conclusions
client per se. It came out as work progressed that the client had not
Due to the delays in completion, the end of year understood the drawings at the design stage. All the
examinations and hence the clearing of some of the variation orders came from the clients office. When the
students who had contributed to the building fund was construction of the double decker beds, wardrobes,
fast approaching without the students being hosted in the reading desks and chairs in the sample room that the
new hostel. There was agitation among the final year contractor had been told to prepare was in progress, the
students as they questioned why they had to pay for a client requested for alterations and additions to the works.

4
 Construction Process – Buruburu Girls School

She asked the contractor to include dado rails on the walls • The “relay race” should as much as possible be
next to the beds, shoe racks for every student at the top of avoided in the construction process by involving all
the wardrobes, additions to the reading desks to allow the parties in the pre-design and design stage. If
more students to study at the same time and curtain boxes possible the contractor should also be involved in the
in every room. She also wanted the contractor to make design process. Reliability on the part of contractors
many other additions which had more to do with her when they are entrusted with the construction of
understanding of the behaviour and particular needs of projects is to be encouraged. This will eliminate the
girl students as she had known them over the years than ever present suspicion and believe that contractors
design considerations. are cheats who require close supervision from the
It comes out clearly that many variation orders and the engineer or architect because they will readily
accompanying time and cost overruns could have been compromise on quality to increase their profit
avoided had computer models showing the circulation in margins if left unsupervised.
the building and all the facilities to be included in all the
• As much as possible involve the client in the process.
rooms had been prepared for discussion with the client at
This approach has come on board in the Kenyan
the design stage. Without these models, it did not really
construction market where the client is represented in
matter for how many hours the design team sat explaining
the whole construction process and has full access to
to the client the various aspects of design, they never
the construction site. The use of computer models
managed to make themselves clear.
showing three dimensional details of the project at
The fact that the client had full access to the site during
the design stage will increase client understanding
the construction made it possible for some of the
and hence participation in the construction process.
problems to be identified and addressed before it was too
The use of computer aideed design (CAD) and
late. It becomes difficult to imagine the effect of the
computer aideed manufacturing (CAM) of structural
clients misconceptions on the project if it was a large
elements will also help bring down the cost of
project. The “ relay race “ which is to be found in many
construction.
projects also featured in this process but was to some
degree contained. • Delegating of responsibilities within the contractors
The following observations will prove useful in future office, good training of craftsmen, and interaction
projects: between the site staff and headoffice staff will
• A separation of the offices and roles of the project enhance the flow of information and eliminate
manager, design team, contractor and client would antagonism between staff members. The most
have led to a more peaceful working relationship common problem encountered is diversion of
between the parties. The engineer in this construction drawings or instructions meant for site staff to the
process played three roles, he was a client by virtue contractors head office which leads to delays in the
of the fact that he was a board member, he was work as information is awaited and also the use of
involved in the design process and he was the project superseded drawings on site as the updated ones are
manager cordinating the whole process. His left lying in the contractors office
involvement in the design process made it difficult
for him to look at the construction process
objectively in his capacity as the project manager.
From what we have learnt in this course the trend Production Stage
which is coming on board in Kenya whereby the
engineer or architect incorporates the services of a Tendering and Contract
project manager in their company will only make the The contract was based on the Agreement and Schedule
role of a project manager more difficult for clients of Conditions of Building Contract (without quantities), a
and the general public to appreciate. Project regional document published with the sanction of the
managers should be companies employed by the Architectural Association of Kenya, the East African
client to coordinate the construction process. They Institute of Architects, the East African section of the
should not be involved in the design process. Institution of Structural engineers, the Kenya Association
• Procurement of contractors should not be based only of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors, the East
on the lowest prices. In the above construction African Federation of Contractors Association, the
process the contractor offered to do the work at a Uganda Society of Architects and the Joint Building
discount and at the same time promised to do more Council.
for the school. The offer was wonderful during The design and preparation of all the contract
negotiations but it brought about many hiccups to the documents was undertaken by the office of the structural
project when the contractor realised that he was engineer. The tender document was made up of the form
going to have to do the work almost at a loss. The of tender, the form of agreement, the form of performance
consultants cost estimates ought to have been bond, the conditions of contract, particular specifications,
considered at the negotiation stage to avoid going for the schedule of rates, the schedule of drawings and the
the lowest price without considering its effect on the general instructions to tenderers. Every tenderer was to
project. comply with the instructions to the tenderers, failure of
which was to lead to a rejection of their tenders. The
tendering contractors were to submit addresses through

5
CLEMENTINE W. MACHARIA

which they were to receive tender correspondence, they was conducted by the client with the help of the
were to bear the cost of tendering irrespective of the consulting engineer. During the tender opening, the
conduct or outcome of the tendering process, visit the site, names of all the contractors who had been invited to
examine it and its surroundings and obtain for themselves tender were read out and their tender figures as well as the
all necessary information for preparing the tender and construction period. A brief check as to whether the
entering the contract. They were also required to examine contractors had filled the form of tender and the form of
all the instructions, conditions, forms, terms, performance bond was done to determine how responsive
specifications and drawings and comply with the the tenders were. The preparation of the tender analysis
requirements of tender submission. The details of the and recommendations report was done by the consulting
tender document were to be treated as private and engineer. The tender analysis report was submitted to the
confidential. client together with copies of the engineers estimates for
The tender prepared by the tenderer and all the the works to enable her get into negotiations with one of
correspondence and documents relating to the tender the contractors. The contract was awarded after
exchange by the client or the consultant were all written negotiations with one of the contractors who was a friend
in the English language. to the client, a guardian to one of the students in the
The tender prices were inclusive of the value of work school and who was willing to lower his tender price. The
described including all costs and expenses and all general engineer was not involved in the negotiations. The formal
risks and liabilities. The contract sums submitted were award of the tender was done by the consulting engineer
deemed to have been calculated on the basis of the again on the behalf of the board of governors. The signing
schedule of basic rates as determined by the joint building of the contract was done in the clients office. The school
council. The rates and prices quoted by the tenderers were headmistress signed the contract on behalf of the board of
not to be adjusted during the performance of the contract. governors. The contract was registered with the relevant
All duties, taxes, and other levies payable by the authorities by the contractor and copies of the signed
contractor under the contract were deemed to have been contract documents were retained by both the client and
included in the rates, prices and the total amount of tender the contractor for future reference.
submitted by the contractors. Upon award of the contract, the contractor was asked
The tenderers were allowed to modify or withdraw the to submit to the engineer the necessary insurances against
tender after tender submission provided that written injury to persons and damage to property during the
notice of the modification or withdrawal was received by contract period. He was also to submit insurances of the
the client prior to the prescribed deadline of submission of works against loss or damage by fire, earthquake etc. He
tenders. was to maintain the policies of insurance over the entire
For ease of contract administration during the contract period.
construction stage, the required amount of the
performance bond (ten percent of the contract value), the
mobilisation period (fourteen days), the amount of Quality Assurance
liquidated damages, the maintenance period (six months), To ensure quality control of the works, detailed
the percentage value of listed materials (one hundred specifications in regard to all the materials, which were to
percent), the percentage of retention money (ten percent), be incorporated in the works, were included in the tender
the limit of retention (ten percent of the contract value), document. Specifications for excavation and filling during
the period of payment after issue of the payment the construction of the foundations, specifications for
certificates (twenty eight days) and the laws applicable to reinforced concrete work which formed a big percentage
the contract (the laws of Kenya) were all listed in the of the construction material, specifications for masonry
appendix to the form of tender. and blockwork, specifications for timber for structural
Prequalification of contractors was done by the use, timber roof trusses, roofing sheets and cladding,
consulting engineer in order to eliminate unacceptable carpentry, joinery and iron mongery, paving and
contractors and to encourage serious bids and the list plastering, glazing, painting, plumbing, and drainage, and
submitted to the client for approval. The client did not external works were prepared in detail and formed the
have any additions or omissions to make to the list. The basis of quality control.
tendering procedure was administered by the consulting As a quality check, all the materials to be used in the
engineer. It was the consulting engineer who on the behalf works were submitted to the governments testing
of the board of governors invited the contractors to tender laboratories and tested at the expense of the contractor
for the construction, completion and maintenance of the and the results submitted to the consultant. This acted as a
facilities. The cost of tendering was borne by the check against the use of substandard construction material
contractors. on the project. Quality checks were also done through
The tender was a fixed price contract with no variation inspections and supervision of the construction as work
of prices during the contract. It was a schedule of rates progressed. There was no clerk of works on the site and it
contract. There was limited construction time due to the was the engineer and the architect who carried out all the
urgent need to house the final year students in the hostel inspections. It was the contractors responsibility to call
before they cleared school. Completion time was the engineer for inspections of the reinforcing steel before
therefore given premium at the tender evaluation stage. any concreting was done. The engineer checked on the
With the limited financial supply the best value for money quality of formwork, reinforcing steel, timber for
had to also be put in mind. The tender opening ceremony structural use etc while the architect checked on the

6
 Construction Process – Buruburu Girls School

quality of the architectural components of the Production Planning

construction work. The contractor was not permitted to
Immediately after the tender award, the contractor was
use materials of less quality than that specified in the
asked to submit a detailed programme of works showing
specifications. He was however free to source his
how he intended to sequence the construction activities.
materials from the any supplier. All the concrete was
The programme of works was to help all the parties
prepared on site and concrete cubes were taken from the
monitor the progress of works. The engineer approved the
mixing plant, cured on site and submitted to the
programme and copies of the same were displayed in the
government laboratories for crushing strength
offices of the client and the engineer. A copy of the
determination. The results were sent directly to the
programme was also pinned up in the site office. The
engineers office. If the crushing strength was lower than
contractor used bar charts for time scheduling. Progress
the specified value, the contractor was asked to demolish
monitoring meetings were held regularly. During such
the parts cast with the poor concrete and recast with the
meetings the contractors programme was reviewed and if
specified grade of concrete all at his own cost. Masonry
he was lagging behind his programme, then he was asked
blocks delivered on site for use in the construction were
to submit a revised programme showing how he intended
picked at random and submitted to the laboratories for
to make up for lost time.
crushing strength determination to ensure that the
The progress monitoring meetings were chaired by the
specified strength of materials was maintained. The steel
engineer who was also responsible for the preparation and
for reinforcement was also tested for yield strength. The
distribution of minutes. All the dates for future meetings
contractor also submitted samples of sand and aggregate
were set during the previous meeting but either the client
for grading curves determination.
or the engineer could call a meeting. The client who was
Quality control was exercised not only through
constantly in touch with all the aspects of the construction
inspections and testing but also through contract review,
particularly the rate of progress of the works also
quality design, up to date technical drawings, proper
occasionally called meetings when dissatisfied with the
documentation and by taking necessary corrective action
rate of progress.
on defects at both the design and the construction stages
It was upon the contractor whose main objective was to
of the project. Consequential costs arising from delays in
achieve the highest possible profit from the project to plan
the issue of technical drawings or necessary approvals
his resources i.e. labour, finances, materials and materials
were as much as possible avoided. At no time did the
supply in a manner most suited to him. During the
contractor incur any expense resulting from a delay in
construction stage, it was not a requirement for the
issuing of drawings or information from the consulting
contractor to submit his materials schedule or the names
engineer or the client.
of his suppliers. As such, guidance of execution of the
A site instructions book was kept at the site office for
works on site, allocation of resources, co-ordination of
use by the client, architect and the engineer. As much as
effort on site and motivation of site staff, site
possible all the instructions, approvals and any other
organisation, planning for plant and equipment together
necessary correspondences were relayed in writing. If
with all site operations was his responsibility. It was
instructions were issued verbally, a written confirmation
however often difficult for the contractor to carry out a
of the same was given to avoid any confusion.
systematic production planning or to realise his materials
Supervision of the works was done with little allowance
delivery plans because of delays in payment which
for the contractor to come up with alternative construction
characterised the project.
methods those stated in the specifications. This worked
All the daily problems on site which had an effect on
for and against the project. Due to the unreliability of
the works programme were recorded by the site foreman.
some local contractors in matters of quality , the
Days on which the weather was too poor to allow
contractor could not be given the freedom to use any
construction to go on were recorded and used by the
construction method other than that specified by the
contractor when requesting for extension of time.
engineer. This was done to avoid the risk of the contractor
compromising on quality and the likelihood of the
contractor coming up with claims for extra expenses when Economic Control
using a different construction method. The contractor had
The fixed sum contract with the schedule of rates method
also not been involved in the pre-design and design stages
of payment was adopted for the project because it enabled
of the project and it was therefore too late in the process
the client to know the total production cost of the project
to incorporate his ideas. This kind of arrangement denied
early and helped the board of governors to exercise
the project the extra benefit that would have accrued from
control early by planning on the methods they were going
giving the contractor a free hand when choosing
to adopt to acquire the required finances.
alternative construction method and material.
The contractor played a significant role in the
Inorder to make the contractor get involved in quality
economic control during the construction stage. It was his
control, he was made to bear all the cost of repairs which
responsibility being the one who was doing all the
were necessitated by defective work. Costs arising from
construction work to bring down the cost of production
forgotten construction details, misplaced construction
without compromising on the specifications if he was to
elements, wrong measurements, exceeded tolerances,
make profit in the project. Being the one supplying all the
delayed materials and excess consumption of resources
materials for the construction work he was responsible for
were also borne by the contractor.
preparing his material schedule, cutting down on transport

7
CLEMENTINE W. MACHARIA

and storage cost, using equipment where necessary and out to get back at the rest of the parties. On several
managing his own time. He was responsible for hiring his occasions the contractor neglected the site after he
own labour for all the construction work. It was up to him received payment. He failed to supply the foreman with
to arrange for credit with his suppliers if need arose. The sufficient construction materials and failed to pay his
roofing tiles specified were to be sourced from particular workers who in turn left the site. This unethical behaviour
manufactures. It so happened that the manufactures were made the client resort to paying the balances on the
not able to supply the roofing tile in time and the certificates directly to the materials suppliers identified
contractor was allowed to use different roof tiles. with the help of the foreman. The client did not want to
The contractor prepared and applied for payment resort to the legal mechanism to resolve any disputes
certificates at intervals of not less than four weeks. After during the construction process. She always tried to
measurement and verification by the engineer, a initiate dialogue with the parties any time the need arose.
certificate of payment was issued within fourteen days The use of information technology and prefabrication
from the receipt of the application for payment stating the was minimal during the construction process. Production
amount due to the contractor by the client. The contractor of most of the components was done manually. There was
was entitled to full payment by the client within fourteen no computer aided manufacturing for any of the structural
days from the date of presentation of the certificate. The components. Precast units for the two spiral staircases
amount stated in the interim payment certificates was the were prepared on site. All the paving slabs for external
total value of work properly executed together with the works were also cast on site.
value of the construction materials and goods delivered to
the site and meant for incorporation in the construction.
On all the certificates, a ten-percent retention was Experiences to Use in Future Projects
exercised. The willingnes of all the parties to work together as a
The prices in the schedule of rates were used to team would have greatly reduced or even eliminated any
determine the value of all the variations ordered by the antagonisms resulting from delays in payment and delays
client. Measurements of the variations were done by the in the completion of the works.
engineer. The contractor however was always given the It is evidently clear that the consulting engineers role
opportunity to be present at the time of measurement and of the project manager in the construction process was not
to point out all the works that he wanted measured. The clearly defined both to him and to the contractor and the
value of all variations were added to the contract sum and client. The fact that he was also a board member and had
included in the interim payment certificates. This gave the a role to play as the client complicated matters even more.
client the opportunity to see the cash flow and to There was also very little if any financial planning in this
appreciate the effect of the variations she was making on project which led to the numerous financial difficulties. It
the final contract figure. might have been better to wait until a substantial amount
of money for the project was collected before construction
started but considering the way the project was to be
Budget Reviews and Reconciliations financed, there had to be some work going on at the site
Final budget reviews and reconciliations were done by the to convince the local people to contribute to the building
consulting engineer and agreed upon by the contractor fund.
before submission to the client. The preparation of the In future it is recommended that the project manager be
final budget was undertaken when the contractor refused an individual or a company that is completely
to undertake any more extra work after the client failed to independent of the design and financing team. This is
pay him on time on several certificates. He was also upset however more easily said than done particularly for small
by the fact that whereas he sometimes would carry on projects and for those projects like this one where
with the work even when his payment was delayed, and financing is a problem.
the fact that he never sued the client for payment of
interest on the delayed payments, the engineer was always
pushing him and demanding that he completes the work
on time. On several occasions, things went quite sour Property Management
between the contractor and the engineer with each
accusing the other of arrogance. The engineer called on Life-cycle Economy
the client to terminate the services of the contractor and As stated earlier, the financing of the project was done
hire another contractor to complete the work. On hearing through local fund raising effort. There was no money
that the contractor produced all the records showing how borrowed from banks or other lending institutions. As
his payments had been disbursed and threatened the client such, there were no loans to be repaid. The client did not
with legal action to make the school pay interest on all have to worry about such things like the conditions of
delayed payments at the current bank lending rates. He loan, interest rates, repayment time etc. Problems arising
also abandoned work. Neither the engineer, nor the from the above mentioned were therefore not taken into
contractor would call the other for dialogue. One consideration at the design stage.
correspondence after another was exchanged between the Due to the geographical location of the project, heating
parties and the project suffered greatly during those stand- and thermal insulation of buildings is not necessary.
offs. There were periods when the contract suffered There is never a time in the year that is too cold or too hot
because the contractor was either simply demoralised or to warrant heating or air conditioning of the building.

8
 Construction Process – Buruburu Girls School

Heat energy costs on the project were therefore a Connection to the Design Stage –
negligible part of the total running costs. Ventilation of
the buildings was achieved through windows, doors and Feedback
ventilation blocks. There was no need for mechanical The following measures were put into place at the design
ventilation of the hostel. Electricity was therefore used stage and construction stage as a means of cutting down
mainly for lighting and this kept the electricity bills fairly maintenance costs.
low. • The floors on the highly trafficked areas of the
The school matron who was housed in the girls hostel buildings and those areas which were subject to
was responsible for controlling the water and electricity scratching, kicking and striking like the lobbies,
consumption levels by the girls. She was to ensure that all corridors, staircases, ablution areas and the laundry
the lights were turned off when the students were out of were finished off in polished terrazzo which is
the hostel and at the designated times in the evenings, more durable than cement screed and needs less
check that no tap was left running in the ablution areas or maintenance.
in the laundry and report any leakages as soon as she
• Metal casement windows were used instead of
noticed them to the school headmistress. Water
wooden ones as they can withstand rough handling
consumption in the hostel was in the showers, toilets,
and to avoid the rot and decay that the timber
laundry and for the general cleaning of the facility.
undergoes with age, hence offering a prolonged
The daily cleaning and orderliness of the hostel was
maintenance free life.
done by the students under the supervision of the matron.
Every student washed their own clothes and ironed them. • Pitched roofs were designed and constructed
There were no washing machines or dryers in use in the instead of flat ones on all the buildings to reduce
facility and all the wet clothes were hang out to dry at the maintenance that is occasioned by leakages which
clothes drying shelters. This was done to avoid any damp invariably accompany flat roofs.
clothes being put in the rooms which would have affected • Gutters and rain water down pipes were installed
the durability of the timber beds and wardrobes. and eaves constructed on the roofs to provide
All the garbage generated within the hostel was protection to the external walls and windows from
collected by the students and burnt within the school the damage occasioned by contact with rain water.
compound.
The school bursar dealt with all the invoices arising • All the external walls were made of keyed natural
from the running costs of the structures i.e. payment of stone which requires very little maintenance.
water, telephone and electricity bills. • All the external doors were solid wooden doors
recessed into the building to avoid any contact
with rain water or direct sun shine. This was done
Maintenance Planning to eliminate the periodical wetting and effect that
Due to the lack of a favourable and adequate financing direct contact with the elements has on timber,
mechanism for the construction process, it was not hence prolonging the life of the doors.
possible to put aside some lumpsum amount of money for
• The doors inside the wet core areas were also
maintenance. Proper maintenance and upgrading
raised off the floor level to minimise wetting. All
strategies could not be formulated. The production of the
the doors in the bathrooms were also solid.
project was taken more into consideration than the
maintenance of the completed works. This is not to say • All the walls in the bathrooms were finished off in
that inferior quality components with shorter lifespans polished terrazzo, which is tighter than cement
were built instead of those with longer life but in the screed and hence reduced ingress of moisture into
allocation of the available resources, emphasis was laid the floor slab. Adequate slopes were also provided
on the successful completion of the project. in the bathrooms and the floor in the laundry area
The maintenance period of the buildings by the to avoid any stagnation of water in the respective
contractor was only six months after which the contractor areas.
was not liable to the client for any more maintenance or • The water supply and distribution network in the
repair. Necessary continuos maintenance during the life of building was done in such a manner that it was
the facilities was to be arranged and paid for by the client. possible to access the water stop valves easily and
Regular painting of walls, polishing of floors, cut off water supply when repairs were needed.
replacement of broken windows, wardrobes, reading
desks and chairs, burnt out bulbs, broken or leaking taps
etc was done as the need arose. There was no systematic
maintenance planning at the final handing stage over of
the hostel.