Multiple Choice Flashcards
A project manager has been assigned to the construction of a new office building using the design-build project delivery method. The site has been fully design by a landscape architect except for the utilities. The contractor determines that the building systems will use design-build subcontractors. Which team members must the project manager include as consultants and staff to complete the project? (choose 4)
A. Specification writer B. Fire protection engineer C. In-house project designer D. Mechanical, Electrical, & Plumbing engineers E. Civil engineer F. Structural engineer
A, C, E, F - Building systems include mechanical, electrical, plumbing, & fire protection engineering which will all be handled by design-build subcontractors. The project manager will need to hire consultants or assign in-house staff to design the building and write specifications, as well as consultants to provide structural and civil engineering services.
The construction administrator has returned from a site visit to the construction site to review the project progress with the contractor’s superintendent. While on site, the construction administrator and the superintendent not that metal conduit material stored on site by the electrical subcontractor is located in an unsecured and unsafe area. How should the administrator respond?
A. Call the electrical subcontractor.
B. Include this observation in a written memo or report.
C. Stop the work and call the owner immediately.
D. Assist the superintendent in moving the conduit to a safe location.
B - Since the meeting took place on the construction site, the construction administrator has limited authority to take direct action on the site condition. The administrator is an agent of the owner and does have the authority to record the observation and send this report to the owner and contractor. It is always important, in addition to reporting the date, time, and location, to record the people attending the meeting. The report could become an important document if a dispute were to arise over the metal conduit.
The architect can best chart the involvement and responsibilities of all members of the project team with a
A. Flow diagram meeting
B. Full wall schedule
C. Gantt chart
D. Project monitoring chart
B - The full wall schedule technique requires everyone on the project to work on developing the project schedule. This facilitates discussion about work tasks, responsibilities, and project deadlines. Participation of all team members is encouraged, and as a result, everyone has a vested interest in the final schedule.
A project architect is developing a project work plan for the coming year. The firm is organized into studios, and the project team includes the project architect, two designers, and a draftsman, with annual salaries and utilization rates shown.
staff salary utilization project architect $100,000 40% designer $60,000 60% designer $60,000 60% draftsman $45,000 80%
The project architect estimates that the studio will gross $400,000 in annual revenue. The firm’s break-even multiplier is 2.25. The actual annual revenue will exceed the estimated amount by what percentage?
A. 0%
B. 10%
C. 18%
D. 20%
C - calculate direct labor costs using the information provided by the employees’ salaries and their utilization rates. The utilization rate is the percentage of work time that is billable to projects. It is clearest to put this into table format
staff salary utilization direct labor cost
project architect $100,000 40% $40,000
designer $60,000 60% $36,000
designer $60,000 60% $36,000
draftsman $45,000 80% $36,000
Total $265,000 $148,000
Determine the amount of profit that will be earned if hte department brings in revenue of $400,000 by calculating the break-even amount using the multiplier and the table’s direct labor cost.
break-even amount = (direct labor costs)(multiplier)
= ($148,000)(2.25)
= $333,000
Determine the amount of actual revenue earned.
actual revenue = estimated revenue - break-even amount
= $400,000 - $330,000
= $70,000
Finally, calculate the percentage.
percentage = actual revenue / estimated revenue
= $70,000 / $400,000
= 17.5% (18%)
Which of the following American Institute of Architects (AIA) documents is used to create a license to use computer-aided drafting (CAD) files and building information models (BIM)?
A. AIA Document C106, Digital Data Licensing Agreement
B. AIA Document E201, Digital Data Protocol Exhibit
C. AIA Document E203, Building Information Modeling and Digital Data Exhibit
D. AIA Document G808, Project Data
A - AIA E201 and E203 define terms of use of contract documents and are designed to be used as exhibits to a prime agreement, such as AIA A101, Standard Form of Agreement Between Owner and Contractor where the basis of payment is a Stipulated Sum, or AIA B101, Standard Form of Agreement Between Owner and Architect. They are not intended to be used independently. AIA G808 is a project management tool that can be used to record regulatory information about the project, such as zoning approvals and resolution of code issues.
AIA C106, Digital Data Licensing Agreement is a stand alone document that can be used by and architect to allow firms that do not have a pre-existing contract with the architecture firm to use the CAD or BIM files prepared by the architecture firm.
During preparation of construction drawings, the architect should coordinate with the structural engineer by
A. requiring the engineer to submit progress drawings when changes are made.
B. conducting weekly meetings with the engineer and exchanging progress copies of drawings.
C. holding conference calls between staff at both offices at times required by the work progress.
D. submitting weekly written memos to the engineer describing the architectural requirements.
B - Submission of engineering progress drawings implies one a one-way exchange of information. Conference calls alone cannot fully describe the visual information being developed during production of construction documents. Telephone calls or emails must be supplemented with some type of exchange of visual information through computer networking, faxes, or a physical exchange of printed drawings. The written work is not sufficient to describe drawings, and tends to be a one-way method of communication. Two-way communication of graphic information is critical to the success of the complex coordination required between consultants and the architect. Regularly scheduled meetings and the exchange of progress documents achieve this goal.
Which of the following are likely results of shortening the critical path of a construction schedule? (Choose the two that apply.)
A. Direct costs will increase. B. Direct costs will decrease. C. Overhead costs will increase. D. Overhead costs will decrease. E. Quality control will increase. F. Activities on float paths will be delayed.
A & D - Overhead costs decrease when the schedule is shortened. Each day that the contractor must rent an office trailer, pay a superindendent’s salary, or cover other overhead expenses costs a fixed amount of money. If the construction period is shortened, the contractor incurs fewer expenses and the total overhead decreases.
Activities on float paths may have to be completed more quickly to finish a project on time, but a change in the critical path shortening, direct costs will increase. A shorter construction period requires more equipment and more worker-hours to accomplish the same amount of work in a reduced amount of time. As the labor force is increased or work hours are extended, workers tend to become less efficient and supervision becomes more difficult. Quality control levels often decrease because workers trying to work quickly are more likely to make errors.
An electrical engineer would typically perform load calculations and develop panel schedules in which phase of basic services?
A. Pre-design
B. Schematic design
C. Design development
D. Construction documents
C - Prior to doing load calculations and developing the specific panel schedules, the electrical engineer will need specific information from the architect concerning power outlet locations and service needs of the equipment the client plans on using. This information is developed during the pre-design (programming), schematic design, and design development phases and would the be available to the electrical engineer for design development. The final checking and drafting would be done during the construction documents phase.
AIA B101, Standard Form of Agreement Between Owner and Architect, separates the architect from the contractor with
A. Agency
B. Privity
C. Mediation
D. Indemnification
B - AIA B101 states that nothing in that agreement will create a contractual relationship with a third party against the architect or the owner. This reinforces the idea of privity - two parties to a contract are not liable to a third party.
For the remodeling and renovation of an 1850s church, the architect retains the services of a historic preservation consultant using AIA C401, Standard Form of Agreement between Architect and Consultant. The consultant’s services include developing drawings showing the repair and anchoring of existing stonework. During construction, the contractor discovers that the anchoring methods specified by the consultant violate the local building code and have to be modified at additional cost. The party responsible for the cost of the modifications is the
A. Architect
B. Consultant
C. Contractor
D. Owner
B - Under the provisions of AIA C401, consultants are responsible for code compliance regarding their area of work and for the accurate production of their drawings.
In order to build a commercial building in a residential neighborhood, what must be obtained first from the local zoning jurisdiction?
A. joint use easement
B. variance
C. conditional use permit
D. restrictive covenant
C - A joint use easement allows two or more property owners to share a common feature, such as a driveway. A variance is a deviation from the zoning regulations. Restrictive covenants are provisions that restrict the use of the property by the buyer. A conditional use permit (CUP) is a permit issued by the zoning jurisdiction for a proposed use that is not otherwise allowed in a particular zoning district. Of the options listed, only a conditional use permit (CUP) allows a commercial building to be built in a residential neighborhood.
An architecture firm will employ a quality circle in order to
A. gather feedback from employees informally.
B. bring together employees from different departments.
C. develop strategic and financial plans
D. identify and address work-related problems
D - A quality circle is a participatory management technique that brings employees who do the same, or similar, work into formal, small groups in order to identify and address work-related problems. Solutions to problems are then presented to management. The quality circle identifies those problems that affect day-to-day work. A steering committee may be appointed to coordinate the efforts of multiple quality circles focusing on various issues. The steering committee then vets ideas to be passed along to the firm’s management. Management issues such as developing strategic and financial plans are outside of the scope of work performed by a quality circle.
A college requires the architecture firm to submit documents for review by the college facilities staff three times during the design process: at the end of the schematic design phase, the design development phase, and the construction documents phase. The requirements for each submission are outlined in the owner/architect agreement AIA B101. Which statement is true about the design development submission?
A. The design development submission cannot be approved if the cost estimate submitted with the design development documents exceeds the project budget.
B. The design development submission includes fully developed specification sections.
C. The design development documents do not contain enough information to obtain a negotiated price from a contractor.
D. The architect must wait for approval of the design development submission before beginning work on the construction documents phase.
D - The DD submission is an important step in the design process because the documents prepared at this stage define the shape, size, materials, and configuration of the building components and allow the owner the opportunity to review and comment on the progress of the work. Ideally, the owner will have been a part of the decision-making process and will have already been consulted about the decisions, so the information in the design development submission should not be completely new to the owner. However, this submission may be the first time that the owner will see all of the decisions to date in a coordinated package that includes both drawings and outline specifications.
The design development submission may be approved even if the cost estimate exceeds the budget, but with the provision that changes be made so the final design will comply with the cost parameters.
Usually when the architect submits the design development documents, many decisions about the materials still need to be made and many properties of materials must be specified; therefore the specifications will not be fully developed. Some firms choose to submit outline specifications with their DD submissions; others submit a draft of the full specification marked where information still needs to be completed or confirmed.
The information included in the DD submission may be complete enough for the owner to negotiate a price for the project from a contractor. However, it would not be developed to the point that the project could be competitively bid.
The owner/architect agreement for this projects is AIA B101, Standard Form of Agreement Between Owner and Architect, which requires that the architect obtain approval of the DD submission before proceeding with the CD phase. This ensures that the owner has the opportunity to review and comment on the progress of the work before moving forward.
