The method of scheduling construction projects increasing the use of resources of the general contractor

Abstract

In carrying out construction projects, enterprises strive to obtain the highest degree of harmonization of the work of the resources involved. It is manifested in ensuring continuous and regular production with a full usage of their executive potential. The purpose of harmonization is to eliminate unjustified interruptions in the work of resources. When planning the realization of non-repetitive construction projects, one should use methods of scheduling that allow the analysis of the project model not only as a function of time. It is also important to take into account the effectiveness of using your own resources and limitations in their availability. The article analyzes the problem of harmonizing the work of crews of the general contractor, performing non-rhythmic, non-cyclical and inhomogeneous processes under the assumption of deterministic operating conditions. An important issue from the point of view of reducing the costs of crews’ employment is the continuity of their work. A mathematical model was developed concerning the problem of minimization of downtime in the work of the general contractor crews with a directively fixed time and limit of the project realization cost, taking into account the limitations in the availability of crews and the possibility to outsource works to subcontractors. The possibility of subcontracting works does not allow for a clear indication in the project model sequences of processes carried out by crews and the usage of previously developed scheduling methods. The method of solving the model (in a linear form with continuous and binary variables) is presented in the example. Additionally, the proposed method allows analyzing the impact of the amount of downtime at work on the duration of the project and the impact of the work outsourced to subcontractors on the continuity of the general contractor’s work.