Chapter 5 recap

On site

The key takeaways from this chapter’s 4 lessons.

The general contractor

The main contractor plans, procures, builds and coordinates the works, through a team of project managers, planners, QSs, engineers and site managers.
Work is bought in packages (groundworks, frame, envelope, MEP, fit-out), each with its own subcontractor.
Contractors use models for planning, logistics, quantities, package scopes, coordination of trades and site queries.
They need information split by package, zone and level, with clear status: what's approved to build.

The superintendent is responsible for the daily running of the site: safety, sequence, trades, logistics, quality.
Their day runs on look-ahead programmes, daily briefings and inspections.
They need simple, approved information by area: what goes here, at what level, built by whom, and what's changed.
Site questions (RFIs) need fast answers; the model can often answer them in minutes.

Specialist subcontractors (trades) design in detail, fabricate and install their packages.
Many produce fabrication models (steel connections, MEP spools, façade panels) from the design models.
Their models must come back into the federation for coordination before fabrication.
Their product data is the most important source of handover information.

An RFI (request for information) is a formal question from site or a trade to the design team.
A submittal is a proposal (shop drawing, product data, sample) sent for the designer's review before it's built or bought.
Inspections check work before it's covered up or handed over; results are records.
Linking all three to model elements makes them faster to answer, easier to find, and useful as as-built and handover data.