What does BIM mean?
BIM (Building Information Modeling) is a working methodology that centralizes all information of a building, geometry, materials, costs, schedules, in a shared digital model by all project stakeholders, instead of in separate and disconnected plans and documents.
In small and medium-sized projects the real value of BIM is not in 3D modeling, but in information no longer living in isolated files: it is the same idea pursued by centralizing budgets, measurements and certifications in one place.
What is the building manual?
The building manual is the document that the developer must deliver to end users when a new project is finished: it contains technical data of the building, the designs and certificates, the guarantees of the agents that have intervened, and instructions for use and maintenance.
It is mandatory under the Building Regulation Law (LOE) and is usually prepared by the technical management with the documentation that has been generated during execution, another reason to have that documentation organized from day one of work, not reconstructed at the end.
What is an ITE?
The ITE (Technical Inspection of Buildings) is a mandatory periodic review of the state of conservation of a building, structure, facade, roof, installations, performed by a qualified professional, required from a certain age depending on the municipality.
The result is presented to the corresponding municipality and can result in the obligation to execute repair works if deficiencies are detected, with deadlines set by the inspection itself.
What is the difference between a construction company and a developer?
The developer is the one who drives and finances the project, buys the land, orders the design, assumes the economic risk and sells or exploits the result. The construction company is the enterprise hired to physically execute the work according to that design.
The same company can act as both developer and construction company in small projects, but in work of certain size it is common for them to be separate entities with a work contract between them.
What is the project reception certificate?
The project reception certificate is the document that formalizes the delivery of the finished project by the constructor to the developer, signed by both parties, and normally also by the technical management, leaving a record of the date and condition in which it is received.
From that date the legal guarantee periods (LOE) begin to count and, in practice, it is usually also the starting point for certifying the end of work and settling the last outstanding items.
What is the safety and health study?
The safety and health study is the document that the developer must order before starting work in cases marked by regulations (budget, duration or number of workers above certain thresholds): it identifies the foreseeable risks of the specific work and the preventive measures for each phase.
Based on that study, the main contractor drafts the safety and health plan, which adapts those measures to their own working method and must be approved by the safety and health coordinator before commencement.
What is the subcontracting register?
The subcontracting register is a mandatory record (Law 32/2006) that each contractor must maintain on site, which documents all subcontracted companies, at what level of the chain, for what specific work and for how long.
Its function is to control that the number of permitted subcontracting levels is not exceeded and that each subcontractor meets legal requirements, it is, fundamentally, the same problem that clear control of purchases and suppliers solves: knowing who did what, when and with what backing.
What is PEM (budget for material execution)?
PEM is the sum of all direct and indirect costs necessary to physically execute the work, materials, labor, machinery, without yet including the general expenses of the construction company, its industrial profit or VAT.
On the PEM the contract budget is then calculated (PEM + general expenses + industrial profit) and, in many municipalities, the Tax on Construction, Installations and Works (ICIO), so a poorly calculated PEM carries the error through everything else.
What is technical management?
Technical management is the team of professionals responsible for directing and controlling the work in accordance with the design and regulations: usually the architect (work direction) and the building architect (construction execution direction).
They are the ones who certify work progress, validate executed units and finally sign the certificate of completion, their judgment is, in practice, what decides whether a certification is approved or returned for review.
What is a disputed price?
A disputed price is the price agreed between the owner (or technical management) and the contractor for a work unit that was not provided for in the original budget, for example, an unforeseen ground condition or a change in construction solution during execution.
Since there is no reference price in the contract, both parties must negotiate and document it before executing that unit, to avoid arguments about its amount in the final certification.
What is a fixed budget?
A fixed budget (or lump sum) is one in which the agreed total price does not vary even if the actual quantities executed change, except for expressly agreed modifications, unlike a unit price budget, where you pay for what is actually measured.
It transfers more risk to the contractor if they miscalculate the initial measurement, so it usually requires especially careful item calculation before signing.
What is a subcategory in a budget?
A subcategory is a subdivision within a budget chapter that groups related items together, for example, within the chapter "Foundation", subcategories such as "Excavation" and "Cleaning concrete".
This hierarchy (chapter → subcategory → item) is what allows comparing budgets from different suppliers in an organized way, instead of item by item.
What is an item in a construction budget?
An item is the minimum unit of a construction budget: it describes a specific job (for example, "ceramic brick masonry"), with its unit of measure, unit price and measured quantity, so that unit price × measurement = amount of that item.
It is also the unit on which progress is certified, which is why a poorly defined or poorly measured item carries the error through certification and, in the end, payment.
What is a work unit?
A work unit is a complete and measurable construction element, m² of flooring, m³ of concrete, unit of installed door, that combines materials, labor and auxiliary means needed to execute it, and serves as the basis for defining an item in the budget.
Its precise definition (what it includes and what it does not) is what avoids the most common discrepancies between what the client thinks they hired and what the contractor thinks they have to execute.
What is site layout of a project?
Site layout is the operation of transferring to the ground, with surveying equipment, the exact measurements and references that appear in the design plans, axes, elevations, limits, before starting to build, to verify that what is designed fits with the physical reality of the plot.
The site layout certificate signed when this verification is completed formally marks the beginning of the work execution deadline.
What is work progress?
Work progress is the percentage or actual execution status of work at a given moment, compared to what was planned for that same date, normally measured by items or chapters, not globally and approximately.
This is the data that allows detecting a schedule deviation while there is still margin to correct it, instead of discovering it when it is too late to recover the delay.
What is a work certification?
A work certification is a periodic document, normally monthly, that assesses economically the work actually executed until that date, item by item, and serves as the basis for the contractor to invoice and collect that amount.
The month's accumulated certification is compared with that of the previous month: the difference is what is certified, and invoiced, in that period.
What is a negative certification?
A negative certification occurs when the amount certified in a period is less than that already certified in the previous period, for example, after correcting a measurement that had been overvalued, resulting in a downward adjustment instead of a new amount to collect.
It is usually a sign that it is advisable to review how measurements are being taken before certifying, not just correct the number once the error is detected.
What is the certificate of completion?
The certificate of completion is the document signed by technical management certifying that the work has been completed and that it has been executed in accordance with the design (with its authorized modifications) and applicable regulations.
It is a usual requirement to later process the first occupancy license and to register the building utilities, without it, the rest of the closure procedures are blocked.
What is the conditions document?
The conditions document is the project document that sets the technical, economic, professional and legal conditions under which the work must be executed, materials accepted, how to measure and pay each unit, deadlines, responsibilities of each agent.
Together with the budget and plans, it forms part of the contractual documentation: in case of disagreement about how something should have been executed, it is the first thing consulted.
Functions and responsibilities of the project manager
The project manager is the technical and organizational person responsible for the daily execution of the work by the contractor: coordinates crews and subcontractors, controls deadlines and costs, manages safety and acts as a liaison with technical management and technical office.
In practice, they are the one who spends the most time reconstructing by hand what should already be centralized, site reports, certifications, incidents, between mobile phone, WhatsApp and several different Excel sheets.
Functions of the safety and health coordinator on site
The safety and health coordinator is the professional who, during execution, ensures that the safety principles contained in the safety and health plan are correctly applied, coordinates activities when multiple companies are working at the same time, and organizes access control to the site.
Their appointment is mandatory whenever more than one company or self-employed worker participates in execution, and is different from the safety and health coordinator in the design phase, although the same person often assumes both roles.
Difference between building architect and architect
The architect drafts the design (design, layout, structural design in many cases) and exercises work direction, verifying that what is built conforms to that design from the perspective of design and urban planning regulations.
The building architect (today titled as technical architect or building engineer) exercises construction execution direction: technical and economic daily control, measurements, certifications, site safety and coordination of execution resources.
Difference between technical architect and architect
It is the same distinction as between architect and building architect, with the updated name: technical architect is the current qualification since it replaced the old building architect, and remains focused on the material execution of the work, not the design of the project.
In practice both figures work as a team within technical management, with responsibilities that complement rather than overlap.