Concept Of Lean Construction Projects Construction Essay

Concept Of Lean Construction Projects Construction Essay Lean construction project is very different compared to traditional construction project management where Lean approach aims to maximize performance for the customer at the project level, set well-defined objective clearly for delivery process, design concurrent product and process and applies production control throughout the life of project (Howell, 1999). Construction is a key sector of the national economy for countries all around the world, as traditionally it took up a big portion in nations total employment and its significant contribution to a nations revenue as a whole. However, until today, construction industries are still facing numbers of contingent problems that were bounded to be resolved since the past time. The chronic problems of construction are well known such as Low productivity, poor safety, inferior working conditions, and insufficient quality. (Koskela, 1993)  and the phenomenon of the poor performance and conditions in construction had long been witnessed and recorded by academics and practitioners throughout the world regardless in developed countries e.g. England  (Eaton, 1994)  or in developing countries e.g. Chile.  (Serpell et al., 1995) Nowadays, increasing foreign competition, the scarcity of skilled labour and the need to improve construction quality are the key challenges faced by the construction industry. Responding to those challenges imposes an urgent demand to raise productivity, quality and to incorporate new technologies to the industry. A lack of responsiveness can hold-back growth, and to development of the needed infrastructure for the construction industry and other key activities in the country.  (Alarcà ³n,1994).http://www.scribd.com/doc/37230963/Lean-Construction(lps left) Pertaining to the challenges faced by the construction industry, numerous researches and studies had been carried out for the past decades to identify the causes to the construction problems and some of them had went on to suggest and recommend solutions to rectify those identified problems. The early phase of these studies mainly focused on the end side of the construction process with the introduction of new technologies and equipment to speed up the construction process and improve overall productivity. It was only until late 1980s where a new construction improvement movement was being initiated by looking into the mean side of the construction process-related problems in a more holistic and structured way based on the philosophy and ideology of lean production. With the lean construction paradigm, construction industry had started to be reviewed and evaluated in the possibilities of implementing these new lean perspectives of production concepts in the construction processes to optimise the overall construction performance on construction stage as well as design stage. However, in construction, there has been rather little interest in this new production philosophy.  (Alarcà ³n, 1994)  This matter laid on whether or not the new production philosophy has implications for construction and will give any significant impacts on the productivity improvement. According to the scholars and researchers in Lean Construction, the new construction production philosophy is laid on the concepts of conversion and flow process. Therefore, performance improvement opportunities in construction can then be addressed by adopting waste identification/ reduction strategies in the flow processes in parallel with value adding strategies with the introduction of new management tools and with proper trainings and education programs. Unfortunately, these new lean construction concepts especially those on wastes and values most of the times are not well understood by construction personnel. Particularly, waste is generally associated with waste of materials in the construction processes while non-value adding activities such as inspection, delays, transportation of materials and others are not recognised as waste.  (Alarcà ³n, 1995)  As the result of that, the productivity of construction industry cannot be fully optimised due to the narrow interpretatio n on the concept of waste current adopted. In this case, substantial education programs need to be arranged for all related parties involved in order to implement the new process improvement strategies successfully throughout the construction process cycle. According to Ballard Howell (1998), construction covers a spectrum ranging from slow, certain, and simple project to quick, uncertain and complex project. Meanwhile, Koskela (1992) stated that construction is unique in the sense of it is one-of kind nature of projects, site production and temporary multi-organization. However, failure of establishing a good management system in construction project will lead to many problems that would cause cost of project increases, late completion of project and low quality which finally reduce the profit of the contractor. In order to overcome this problems, lean thinking or lean construction is been introduced in this construction sector. According to Howell (1999), lean construction is one of the new philosophies that been implemented by Toyota in their manufacturing process which now applied to the construction industry in order to smoothen the construction project and increase the contractors profit by eliminating waste. This supported by Ballard and Howell (1998) whom also stated the same facts that lean thinking in construction concerned in waste reduction. Generally, lean approach breaks the construction project to smaller parts of activities which will be defined clearly the start and end date for completion of each activity with an appointed person to keep on monitoring the all the activities to be completed according schedule. (lean construction 19/11) 2.2 Types of waste In most cases, construction managers do not know or recognize the factors that produce waste nor have they measurement of their importance. It can be said that most of the factors are not easily visible. Thus the identification of these factors and their causes, and the measurement of their importance is useful information that would allow managers to act in advance to reduce their negative effect. In construction industry the waste comes from the flow activities, conversion activities and management activities. Before sharing examples of lean application in construction, it is useful to identify the seven types of waste readily found in construction: 1. Defects:-This includes wrong installations, fabrication defects, errors in punch lists and not meeting required codes. Rework in construction is rarely measured. These are products or services that do not conform to the specification or Customers expectation, thus causing Customer dissatisfaction. 2. Overproduction of goods:-This happens when material is fabricated too early and/or stockpiled in the warehouse or at the job site. Estimating and bidding jobs that are not won is a form of this waste. Printing more blueprints or making more copies of a report than needed is overproduction. Overproduction occurs when operations continue after they should have stopped. The results of overproduction are; Products being produced in excess of whats required Products being made too early Excess inventory carrying costs 3. Transportation:-This waste occurs when material is moved around the shop, loaded on the truck or trailer, hauled to the job site, unloaded and then moved from the lay-down or staging area to the installation point. This is unnecessary motion or movement of materials, such as work-in-process (WIP) being transported from one operation to another. Ideally transport should be minimized for two reasons; It adds time to the process during which no value-added activity is being performed. Handling damage could be incurred 4. Waiting:-Examples include when a crew waits for instructions or materials at the job site, when a fabrication machine waits for material to be loaded and even when payroll waits for the always-late timesheets. Also known as queuing, waiting refers to the periods of inactivity in a downstream process that occur because an upstream activity does not deliver on time. Idle downstream resources are then often used in activities that either dont add value or result in overproduction 5. Over-processing:-This waste includes over-engineering, for example, the need for additional signatures on a requisition, multiple handling of timesheets, duplicate entries on forms, and getting double and triple estimates from suppliers. This term refers to extra operations, such as rework, reprocessing, handling or storage that occurs because of defects, overproduction or excess inventory. 6. Motion:-These treasure hunts happen when material is stored away from the job or when workers look for tools, material or information. This waste also occurs in the office or job-site trailer when looking for files, reports, reference books, drawings, contracts or vendor catalogs. To move and add value is called work. To move and not add value is called motion. Motion, then, means moving without working, moving and adding cost 7. Inventory: This includes uncut materials, work-in-process, and finished fabrications. Some contractors claim that they have no inventory because they job-cost all material. While this may work for accounting, if the material is not yet installed and isnt being used by the customer, its waste. This waste includes spare parts, unused tools, consumables, forms and copies, employee stashes and personal stockpiles. One could argue that the unfinished facility is inventory and is waste until operational. This refers to inventory that is not directly required to fulfil current Customer orders. Inventory includes raw materials, work-in-process and finished goods. Inventory all requires additional handling and space. http://www.leaninnovations.ca/seven_types.html 2.3 Causes of waste:- 1. Controllable causes associated to flows (a)Resources Materials: lack of materials at the work place; materials are not well distributed; inadequate transportation means. Equipment: non availability; inefficient utilization; inadequate equipment for work needs. Labour : personal attitudes of workers; stoppage of work (b) Information Lack of information Poor information quality Timing of delivery is inadequate 2. Controllable causes associated to conversions (a) Method Deficient design of work crews Inadequate procedures Inadequate support to work activities (b) Planning Lack of work place Too much people working in reduced place Poor work condition (c) Quality Poor execution of work Damage to work already finished 3. Controllable management related causes (a) Decision making Poor allocation of work to labor Poor distribution of personnel (b) Supervision Poor or lack of supervision

Sigumand Freud And Nietzsche: Personalities And The Mind Essay

Sigumand Freud and Nietzsche: Personalities and The Mind There were two great minds in this century. One such mind was that of Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). In the year 1923 he created a new view of the mind. That view encompassed the idea we have split personalities and that each one have their own realm, their own tastes, their own principles upon which they are guided. He called these different personalities the id, ego, and super ego. Each of them are alive and well inside each of our unconscious minds, separate but yet inside the mind inhabiting one equal plane. Then there was Nietzsche (1844-1900) who formulated his own theories about the sub-conscious. His ideas were based on the fact that inside each and every one of us is a raging battle going on. This battle involves the two most basic parts of society, the artistic Dionysian and the intelligent Apollonian. Sometimes one being becomes more dominant than the other or they both share the same plane. Even though individually created, these theories could be intertwined, even used together. Thus it is the object of this paper to prove that the Freudian theory about the unconscious id, and ego are analogous to the idea on the Apollonian and Dionysian duality's presented by Nietzsche. "The division of the psychical into what is conscious and what is unconscious is the fundamental premise of psycho-analysis; and it alone makes it possible for psycho-analysis to understand the pathological processes in mental life..." (Freud, The Ego and the Id, 3). To say it another way, psycho-analysis cannot situate the essence of the psychial in consciousness, but is mandated to comply consciousness as a quality of the pyschial, which may be present (Freud, The Ego and the ID, 3). "...that what we call our ego behaves essentially passively in life, and that, as he expresses it, we are 'lived' by unknown and uncontrollable forces," (Groddeck, quoted from Gay, 635). Many, if not all of us have had impressions of the same, even though they may not have overwhelmed us to the isolation of all others, and we need to feel no hesitation in finding a place for Groddeck's discovery in the field of science. To take it into account by naming the entity which begins in the perception system. And then begins by being the 'ego,' and by following his [Groddeck's] system in identifying ... ...ersonality were named. The Apollonian, "...music had long been familiar to the Greeks as an Apollonian art , as a regular beat like that of waves lapping the shore, a plastic rhythm expressly developed for the portrayal of Apollonian conditions," (AD, in Jacobus, 556). That "plastic rhythm" described by Nietzsche is the cardinal groundwork for the theory of the Apollonian. Apollonian people are those who are totally based in the scientific world. They have no real imagination, no abstractness to their thinking. Whereas people who are wholly Dionysian are the opposite. These folk have no real basis in the real world. They are completely out of synch with reality because they think only in hypothetical thoughts. Hence the fact the most, if not all humans have a little of both in them. Most great scientists for instance are both Apollonian and Dionysian. They are mainly Apollinistic, due to the fact that they are clearly intelligent, which according to Nietzsche is the foundation for Apollonian thought, but they are also Dionysian. This can be said if you take Albert Einstein for an example. He is probably one of the most intelligent (and thus Apollonian) thinkers

Legal Imperatives for Affordable Housing Delivery in Nigeria Essay

Shelter or housing is one of the most basic of human needs; it ranked second only to food in the hierarchy of human needs. [1] It is fundamental to human survival and an essential component in the advancement of the quality of life of the citizenry. [2] Housing provides shelter for man in order for him to actualize his real potentials in life and contributes to the growth of the world economy. 3] The provision of housing is therefore sine qua non to the growth of man and development of the nation. Effective housing delivery involves many actors and segments of the state apparatus, including the building materials sector, financial sector, real estate sector, energy and infrastructural development sectors and the environmental planning sector amongst others; it therefore requires effective partnership, collaboration and information sharing among different sectors of the economy. To fulfill the need for affordable housing in Nigeria, a multi-faceted approach that transcends the legal, social, economics, religious and cultural interfaces and traits must be put in place at any given time. The task of this paper is to examine the legal initiatives required to facilitate the delivery of affordable housing units to the generality of Nigerians irrespective of class, race or gender. This is with a view at pointing out the inhibitors to smooth housing delivery and proffering practical and workable solution to the identified problems. To achieve this end the paper examines the concept of housing within the legal and statutory framework; it forays into the provisions of the Land Use Act, Planning Laws, Title Registration Laws, Property Tax Legislations and Infrastructural Laws amongst others; and submits that there is need for review of most of these legislations before any meaningful progress can be made in the provision of affordable housing to Nigerians. Concept of Housing. Quoting from the provisions of the new national housing policy document; [4] ‘Housing is defined as the process of providing safe, comfortable, attractive, functional affordable and identifiable shelter in a proper setting within a neighbourhood, supported by continuous maintenance of the built environment for the daily living activities of individuals/families within the community while reflecting their socio-economic, cultural aspirations and preferences. From this definition, housing is not only a shelter, but includes safety of the neighborhood; comfortable and functional dwelling, supported by continuous maintenance of the environment and planning; all reflecting the socio-economic, cultural aspirations and preferences of members of the society. Thus, the legal initiatives for the delivery of housing as conceptualized above requires not only the legal parameters concerning land, but extends to town planning laws, Tenancy and Rent control law, property tax law, energy law, water law, environmental law, compulsory acquisition and compensation laws amongst others. Each of these laws is now treated seriatim as hereunder. Land law. Land is to housing as what a woman is to a pregnancy. The conception, gestation and delivery of housing can only come to fruition with the availability of secured land and proper land management. Land midwifes housing delivery in myriad of ways; Land is the superstructure on which the dreams and aspirations of provision of housing is founded. [5] Land supports the production and delivery of housing through the provision of the much needed finance for its construction. As one of the main factors of production, land provides capital formation and collateral for bank advances towards the construction of the much needed- houses. It is thus obvious that the dream of a vibrant, efficient and effective mortgage system (financial reforms) will remain a mirage in the absence of a viable and reliable land management system. [6] The land management policy of a State also impacts directly on the output and supply of some of the basic raw materials in the construction industry including housing. 7] Such materials as sand, gravel, granite, laterite and even cement are subject to the extant land use management policy of the state. Thus, the Land use policy and management of the State has a direct impact and consequences not only on the quantum and quality of the State housing stock, but also fundamentally on the economic wellbeing of the citizen and the state, particularly in developing countries where there is heavy reliance on land and its resources for sustenance. 8] The question of who owns the land, what tenure operates over the land, security of tenure, compensation for compulsory acquisition of property rights are fundamental questions of enquiry in this exercise. Given the foregoing scenario, an examination of the current law regulating the use and management of land cannot but be a prerequisite to the successive delivery of housing units. The current law on the subject is principally the Land Use Act; others are Registration Laws, Registration of Title Laws etc. To ensure an efficient and effective housing delivery, there is a fundamental need for a secured land title and security of tenure; for where there is no security of title and tenure the development of mortgage system and formal land market will be adversely affected, to the detriment of the growth of the housing sector. The land Use Act, as presently constituted does not seem to provide the necessary secured tenure to fast track the delivery of the expected houses. The Land Use Act, founded on hybrid recommendation,[9] undulates between land nationalization and the protection of private property rights. 10] Its wavering posture has given rise to multiple interpretations as to its policy thrust and directives. Questions arise as to what is the quantum of interest obtainable under the Act,[11] are there equal property rights in every citizen under the Act,[12] what is the proprietary value of the Certificate of Occupancy issued under the Act,[13]how secured is private property rights under the Act in view of the Governor’s power of revocation[14] and paltry compensation payable thereon? 15] How much protection does the Act offer potential mortgagees in the creation, perfection and realization of the mortgage transactions? [16] How far the Land Use Act has addressed the problems of land speculation, land grabbing and incessant land dispute and urban slum? [17] Apart from these, the over concentration of power of land management in an individual rather than institution; the dichotomy in land rights and land administration under the Act and the ouster of courts’ jurisdiction in the determination of dispute and compensation issues are areas of concerns. These and many others are impediments to successful delivery of housing as such state of policy confusion and legal inconsistency only breeds fear, distrust and doubts in the heart of would be investors and property developers alike. The Land Use Act should be amended to address these contentious issues bedeviling the smooth delivery of adequate and affordable housing to the masses. For once, the Act should take a categorical stance on who owns the land; state or individual? To many this may seem obvious,[18] but not when one realizes that while the tenure of some citizen is finite and determinable,[19] others are infinite;[20] whilst some pay taxes and rents on their land, others do not. [21] The Act should declare state ownership of land so that the transition provisions of more than 35years old in the Act[22] can be extinguished and laid to rest and occupiers can be compensated for the revocation of their rights over bare land in as much as they paid to obtain the land from the state. With such categorical posture the issue of inequality in land rights as presently obtainable under the Act will become a thing of the past; every citizen will now have equal determinable interest in land. With state ownership of land, the proprietary value of Certificate of Occupancy is enhanced since it will now become a land title document instead of the current position as document evidencing title to land. 23] Still on the Act, the provision relating to consent requirement[24] should be removed with respect to mortgages in order to streamline the laborious process of mortgage creation, perfection and realization under the Act. Presently a mortgagee must ensure that there is Governor’s consent to any mortgage transaction and must also obtain the Governor’s consent when exercising its power of sale under the mortgage deed, otherwise the transaction is void. 25] Also, the provision excluding the mortgagee from the definition of a holder/occupier[26] for the purpose of payment of compensation should be reviewed to facilitate the enforcement and realization of the mortgage transactions. With the amendment in place, the primary mortgage institutions (PMIs) will be able to take the full benefit of the loan window provided for in the National Housing Fund Act[27] to secure their investment with a block of mortgages over the properties being developed. Aside the amendment of the Act to accommodate smooth mortgage transactions, the Act should also provide explicit procedure for revocation of right of occupancy, such as pre-revocation notices, filing of objections and access to the courts for adjudication on quantum of compensation payable upon revocation. The present situation whereby one only reads about revocation in the newspapers; and whereat it is done with military fiat, falls short of international best practices obtainable in more civilized climes. 28] To avoid conflict between State grant and a grant made by the local government, the reviewed Act should abolish the dichotomy e xisting between the State and local government over land administration in the State. This will ensure a uniform source of authority and streamline land administration in the state thus fostering land management reliability and efficiency, all geared towards boosting investor’s confidence in the system and seamless production and delivery of ho using units. Mortgage law Mortgage transaction is a species of secured credit transaction that provides investment funds for business enterprises. With respect to housing, the term means a transaction in which a mortgage, deed of trust, purchase money security interest arising under an installment sales contract, or equivalent consensual security interest is created or retained against the consumer’s dwelling to finance the acquisition or initial construction of such dwelling. [29] It is the bedrock and the superstructure for housing finance. Its functionality is exhibited when it is appreciated that it gives assurance for the repayment of the loan advanced for the construction of houses. Statutorily, the primary mortgage institutions (PMIs) established under the law[30] are required to secure the loans obtained from the federal mortgage banks/national housing funds with a first legal mortgage over the block of properties funded by the loan. In the same vein, individuals are expected to execute a first legal mortgage over the property financed by the funds sourced from the PMIs. Mortgage is so fundamental to mass and social housing developments to the extent that without it housing development will suffer from dearth of block of funds and will have to rely on individual savings and financial support from friends and relatives. But what is the state of our law on mortgages? With few exceptions, our law on mortgages is still founded on the received English laws of the 19th century; which has been discarded in England almost a century ago. Our law on the subject does not reflect the realities of our time. We still convey in fee simple or tail when such proprietary interest does not exist in our statute books. Our mortgage enforcement procedures are still tangled in the webs of the common law and archaic statutory provisions. The rights of the mortgagee to freely realize his investment is hampered by our laws[31] and courts. [32] There is the need to review our laws on the subject of mortgage. The Property and Conveyancing Act[33] needs repealing and a new law on mortgages to reflect the current trend in the area to fast-track mortgage transactions be promulgated. The new law should reflect the quantum of proprietary interest available under our law, streamline the process for the enforcement of mortgagees’ powers of sale and foreclosures and do away with the need for a re-conveyance deed in mortgages amongst others. The right of the mortgagor to create successive legal mortgagees over the same property; be protected from negative amortization clauses and collateral mortgage contracts should be explored under the new law. The new law should harmonize the provisions of existing legislations in the areas and harness them to achieve the goal of providing robust financial base to for social housing. The provisions of the Land Use Act, Registration of Title Laws, National Housing Fund Act, Pension Act, Federal Mortgage Bank Act, Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund Act, Primary Mortgages Institution Act and other laws relating thereto should be examined in this wise. The provisions of the Property and Conveyancing Law,[34] the current law on Mortgages in UK and the Lagos State Mortgage and Property Law[35] are also recommended as templates for the review of the old Act. Land Registration Law. Land registration can be best described as a species of machinery for assisting a purchaser or mortgagee in his inquiries as to his vendor’s or mortgagor’s title previously to completing his dealing, and for securing his own position afterwards. [36] Documentation and registration of all dealings and transactions involving land is at the heart of ensuring record keeping, facilitating land searches, tracing and priority in land transactions, which go a long way at establishing certainty, predictability and efficiency in land transactions including mortgages. A vibrant storage and retrieval land information system enhances transparency in land dealings and is immeasurable as a factor aiding speedy settlement of land disputes. A good land registration system is therefore core to efficient land administration and consequently the delivery of housing in a state. Currently in Nigeria, it is the prerogative of the state to determine, design and operate its own land information recording system. This is as a result of the constitutional arrangement which empowers the states to legislate on the subject atter. [37] The current regime has given rise to multiplicity of laws and diverse administrative procedures in the process of storing and retrieving land information system in the country to the detriment of investors, mortgagees and real estate developers alike. A times the requirements for land registrations/title registration varies from state to state not because laws are different but simply on issue of practice and procedures to be adopted including charges/levies imposed on the parties. 38] In the time past there used to be a uniform land information recording and retrieval system in the country; the Land Instrument Registration Act[39] 1924 which later became state laws[40] with the coming into effect of the 1954 federal constitution. The law is still extant in most of the states of the federation, but the practice has remained diverse. There is therefore a need to streamline the practice and procedure for recording and registration of land dealings and evolve a uniform system that will not only breed seamless land registration process but also boost investors’ confidence in the process. Towards this end, the existing mechanisms and procedure for regularization and registration must be reoriented and reorganized to achieve greater effectiveness, reliability and economy. Since market efficiency depends very much on the availability of reliable information that can be used to check genuineness of titles before purchase and to trace records of land transfers at any point in time, efforts should be geared towards making registration compulsory for all land dealing. Government should compel the conversion of all existing titles on land to a certificate of occupancy within a stipulated time. Such policy would foster the development of a uniform land title in the system, which in turn would engender certainty, reliability and security of land title deeds. [41] Such scheme will also obviate the need to keep dual land title documents over a piece of land[42] and thus stem the tide of land frauds that are rampant in our urban centres.

Othello Iago Appearance vs. Realality - 2420 Words

Iago is one of Shakespeares most complex villains. Initially you get the impression that the character of Iago is one of pure evil. Right from the start of Act 1, it becomes obvious that he is capable of most anything. You see right away that he is able to give the appearance of one thing, but in reality be something quite different. He has been acting like he is interested in helping Roderigo by bringing gifts and messages to Desdemona for him. Iago is in reality using Roderigo who is very gullible and in fact not too bright. Iago plays him like a fool, even taking money from him as payment for doing him favors. Criticism # 1 A. Introduction Ââ€" The theory that Othello is a play about the jealousy of one man, not Othello but Iago, is†¦show more content†¦Roderigo questions this by saying to Iago I would not follow him then (7 41). Iago quickly turns things around by responding to Roderigo O, sir, content you; I follow him to serve my turn upon him (7 44-45). Iago is telling Roderigo that he is only following Othello to a certain point. He is revealing the fact that once he reaches that certain point, he will not follow Othello any longer. This clearly shows Iagos use of deceit. No matter what, Iago will take advantage of Othello any time that he can. Due to the fact that Othello trusts him, he will be easily led to believe the lies of Iago. Othello put all of his trust in Iago during times of war and during his marriage to Desdemona. Trust of Iago made him completely unaware that he was lying to him. As previously mentioned, everyone considered Iago as honest and it would therefore be out of character for Othello to believe any differently than everyone else. For example, Othello had told the Duke, So please your grace, my ancient; a man he is of honesty and trust. To his conveyance I assign my wife, with what else needful your good grace shall think, to be sent after me (49 306-309). Despite his being manipulative, deceitful, scheming and conniving, Iago constantly tries to convince himself that all of his actions are justified. We see this in his soliloquies. For