Agile design of construction buildings – Part 1

Agile design in building construction allows for increased cooperation among professionals, keeping costs under control, reducing construction site rework and low quality of work, and eliminating the conflicting and stressful management that characterizes projects in construction.

This article addresses the issue of Agile management of the design process up to the documentation that is submitted to the municipality for work approval.

This is a real project of a two-family house.

The construction industry has been suffering from a downsizing of its enterprises for years.

Construction companies have evolved from the post-war period to the present that can be summarized as follows:

• • Businesses in the 1950s and 1960s, operated in a market was expanding with low competition. They employed many workers, and the worker was a handyman

• • From the 1970s onward, the search for efficiency has led to job specializations and the practice of subcontracting. Construction companies of have gradually downsized falling below 3 employees on average from the 200s onward.

• • Since the 1990s, due to downsizing, construction companies become mere processors with severe reduction in margins.

• • In the 200s, construction changes as it incorporates innovations such as reduced energy consumption, sound insulation, air tightness, and proper earthquake-proof design. This puts construction companies in further difficulty.

The current situation is very critical, which is why ANCE Verona Building Constructors has taken action to find a solution.

Ance thinks a new construction ecosystem is needed that is sustainable for industry players and the environment.

ANCE-VR launches a project in 2022 to bring agile methodology for managing the entire process from idea, to design, to the physical construction of a building.

I get involved in this “Agile Project Management” project, and to make it as representative as possible, we identify a real project with which to test the agile methodology operatively.

This is a significant housing project that includes a two-family house, a cottage and 4 apartments.

I had the opportunity to present, together with Fabio Miglioranzi, this project of applying the agile approach in construction at the Agile Venture Pordenone event.

The event, organized by the Italian Agile Movement, was held at CGN headquarters on June 24, 2023.

The location is very beautiful, and there is a modern corporate spirit that is open to talent and inspires you to emulate it. The hospitality was really warm and generous.

We worked three-handedly on the presentation: Andrea Tonolli an officer of Ance Verona who is in charge of bringing agility within construction, Fabio Miglioranzi who has been working for more than 20 years in the industry leading the project as a PO and myself.

In construction when going from the idea of an investment property to physical construction, 3 separate projects can be identified:

1. 1. Investment exploration project
   2. Definitive Architectural Project
   3. Executive and Site Project

In Pordenone we talked about the Final Architectural Project that we developed and concluded in an Agile way.

Ecco le slide dell’evento: Agile design bricks for buildings – Agile Ventureed il pdf.

For the uninitiated, this project includes the development of all the documents and papers that are required to be submitted to the municipality in order to receive a construction permit.

The development of physical products

Physical product design including constructions involves 2 integrated approaches

1. 1. The development of alternative solutions. This has been very common for centuries in construction.
   2. Concurrent design. This is common in industrial products but is used very little in construction because of the fragmentation of the work of the professionals involved.

Agile development occurs in small steps (process iterations), with increments and changes (product iterations) to the product developed at each step.

In the case of physical products, changes can be very costly.

Postponing construction only when the design is consolidated is a necessity to reduce in-place changes.

How is it done in the construction world? I will tell you about it in the next article.

Continued… Agile design of building constructions – Part 2