Division 2: Project Management

Question 1

What are some examples of responsibilities involved in project management?

Answer 1

Project planning, scheduling, monitoring, coordinating, and directing, updating documentation, closing out the job, and following up with clients

Question 2

What is the most important factor to consider when selecting consultants to bring into a project?

Answer 2

Past working relationships

Question 3

What should a project manager consider when assembling a project team?

Answer 3

Project type and complexity, project size, staff availability, experience levels, billing rates, and personalities

Question 4

What are the two methods commonly used for scheduling design and construction projects?

Answer 4

The bar or Gantt chart and the critical path method (CPM)

Question 5

What is the simplest method commonly used for scheduling design and construction projects?

Answer 5

The bar or Gantt chart

Question 6

What is a bar or Gantt chart?

Answer 6

The simplest method of scheduling design and construction projects, in which all the project tasks are listed on the y axis, the entire project duration is represented by the x axis, each task is represented with a bar that illustrates its start and end, and task dependencies are represented by arrows

Question 7

The critical path method is more commonly used with design projects than with construction projects. True or false?

Answer 7

False

Question 8

What is the critical path method?

Answer 8

A method of scheduling design and construction projects, in which all the project tasks are listed, each task’s beginning and end points are represented by numbered circles, and arrows point in the direction of progression from one task to another (arrows can be solid, or dashed to show dependencies, or thick to show the critical path that must be delivered in time if the project deadline is to be met)

Question 9

In the critical path method, what is the float of a task?

Answer 9

The maximum length of time that a noncritical task can be delayed or extended before it causes a delay in the overall project

Question 10

What is a work plan or fee projection?

Answer 10

A detailed project schedule that breaks the project down into its component tasks, assigns staff members and resources to each task, and details how the firm’s fees will be used to pay staff members and cover other costs over the course of the project

Question 11

Creating the work plan or fee projection is one of the earliest and most important tasks that a project manager must complete. True or false?

Answer 11

True

Question 12

What does a good work plan include?

Answer 12

Scope of services, breakdown of the services into phases, dependencies, milestones, required staff, time and fee allocations, consultants’ scopes of work, and consultants’ costs and fees

Question 13

What is the primary element of a work plan or fee schedule?

Answer 13

Project schedule

Question 14

How is the project schedule most commonly depicted in a work plan or fee schedule?

Answer 14

Bar or Gantt chart

Question 15

What is the top-down approach?

Answer 15

Fee estimation in which the project manager begins by estimating the total working fee then uses rules of thumb and historical data to determine the percentages of the total fee that will be allocated to more specific costs

Question 16

What is the total working fee?

Answer 16

The fee available to pay people to do the job after subtracting fees for profit, consultants, and other expenses

Question 17

For a traditional design-bid-build project, what are the fee percentages needed for schematic design, design development, construction documentation, bidding, and construction administration?

Answer 17

15%, 20%, 40%, 5%, and 20%, respectively

Question 18

What is the bottom-up approach?

Answer 18

Fee estimation in which the project manager begins by estimating how much time is required to complete each individual task in a project, then assigning staff members to each task, and using the staff members’ billing rates to estimate the total project fee

Question 19

Which fee estimation approach is the most accurate?

Answer 19

Bottom-up

Question 20

A project manager typically only uses one of either the top-down approach or the bottom-up approach in fee estimation. True or false?

Answer 20

False

Question 21

Why should a project manager monitor employees’ time sheets weekly?

Answer 21

To take corrective action if the actual time exceeds the budgeted time

Question 22

What is a full wall schedule?

Answer 22

A low-tech technique for developing a broad outline of the entire project schedule, involving every team member and the client, and representing simplified start and end dates for major tasks.

Question 23

What are the four basic kinds of communication in a design office?

Answer 23

Work assignments, instructions, reward and punishment, and social interaction

Question 24

For the greatest impact, multiple kinds of basic communication should be delivered together. True or false?

Answer 24

False

Question 25

How does a good project manager handle team members’ anger?

Answer 25

By recognizing anger as a symptom of a significant problem, not just a personality trait.

Question 26

What is a consultant?

Answer 26

An expert who is not part of the firm’s regular staff but is employed to work on specific projects

Question 27

The project manager should involve the consultants in the project as early as possible. True or false?

Answer 27

True

Question 28

What are eight articles that every project notebook should have?

Answer 28

General reference, contracts, fees and schedules, programming, budget, job communication, construction administration, and close-out and follow-up

Question 29

In a project notebook, what does the general reference include?

Answer 29

The index of the notebook, the project directory, and the filing index (names and code numbers of the office filing system for the job)

Question 30

In a project notebook, what do the contracts include?

Answer 30

The owner-architect agreement, architect-consultant agreements, and work authorizations

Question 31

In a project notebook, what do the fees and schedules include?

Answer 31

The preliminary schedule, the detailed schedule, time projections, fee budgets, task assignments, and financial management report summaries

Question 32

In a project notebook, what does the programming include?

Answer 32

Goal statements, the program summary, code and zoning research, special equipment needs, and utility information

Question 33

In a project notebook, what does the budget include?

Answer 33

The overall project budget, the construction budget, the furnishings budget, and budget updates

Question 34

In a project notebook, what does job communication include?

Answer 34

Major correspondence, meeting minutes, telephone and e-mail logs, transmittal logs, design review notes, and written client approvals

Question 35

In a project notebook, what does construction administration include?

Answer 35

The shop drawing log, the sample log, notes from job conferences and site visits, bulletins, change orders, field orders, field reports, site observation reports, and certificates for payment

Question 36

In a project notebook, what does close-out and follow-up include?

Answer 36

The punch list, the certificate of substantial completion, the summary of construction costs, the summary of fee expenditures, commissioning reports, testing and balancing reports, comments on the completed job, consultant evaluations, and follow-up visit notes

Question 37

What is project perfection syndrome?

Answer 37

The desire to continue pursuing perfection in a project

Question 38

Why is project perfection syndrome dangerous?

Answer 38

As a project gets closer to being perfect, the effort and cost required to bring it closer to perfection also increase