Reports and Presentations - Construction Project Scheduling and Control - page 264

8. Permits and government procedures for approval may also differ and may
require special consideration.
9. Contracts also differ. Even though there are some internationally known and
used forms (e.g., FIDIC), certain provisions and practices differ. For example,
in some countries, a percentage (10 to 20%) of the total contract is paid to
the contractor upfront and then is recovered gradually by deducting the same
percentage out of progress payments. Retainage (also called retention )rules
may also differ. Types, definitions, provisions, and cost of bonds and insurance
also differ from one region or country to another.
10. Communication among different cultures, even among those who speak the
same language, may result in misunderstandings. For example, in the United
Kingdom, scheduling is referred to as programming, with the schedule called
programme . The same word may have two different meanings to two people.
There is a big discussion on what is conceptual design, preliminary design,
schematic design, and design development.
Body language and hand gestures may have different—and possibly
obscene—meanings in different cultures. In fact, a person may unintention-
ally insult another person because of a misunderstanding or a language or
cultural difference.
11. Currency exchanges may create a nightmare for management. In some inter-
national contracts, the budget may be set in U.S. dollars but the materials and
labor are paid in local currency. The exchange rate may differ from day to day.
It is not uncommon for the same contract to include two currencies at the
same time. The management team must deal with such situations carefully.
CHAPTER 9 EXERCISES
1. List the characteristics of good communication. Briefly explain each.
2. Why do you think communication is an important issue? Can you mention a situa-
tion in which the lack of good communication resulted in negative consequences?
3. What is the lazy designer syndrome?
4. You are a new scheduler for a medium-sized project. You joined the company
after the project started. The project manager asks you to prepare a report that
tells her “everything about the schedule.” Does this statement provide sufficient
instructions for you to create the report? If not, list the questions that you will
ask the project manager so that you will know exactly what you need to print out.
5. You were hired by a company that does not have a formal policy for managing
schedule files. Schedules are currently on the project manager's laptop (created
with SureTrak Project Manager software 7 ). What precautions do you recommend
to ensure the uniformity and security of the schedules?
7 Old software by Primavera Company, that was replaced later by Oracle Primavera Contractor.