Tuesday, February 10, 2015

B5 - Week 6 - Hamad Al-Sulaiti - Group E

Uses of Databases in Construction Firms

Databases in construction firms have not been developed until the 1960’s, where Edgar Codd has proposed the first navigational database to organize the data and save them from corruption. By having an organized collection of data, a modeling of this organized data has been created to save users money and time. A simple example of that use of this database system is the hotel vacancies. Databases can include how many rooms are available in a building, how many of them are occupied and who is occupying them. By having all of this data arranged at one place, hotel staff would have an easier job to track down how many rooms are vacant to adjust night rates based on the demand on the rooms.

In almost every organization, databases are highly preferred by owners. Organizations might include anything from small shops, to leading firms. But if we are to look at it from our experience, we will find that database management system is very helpful in the engineering field. It would be much easier for contractors to have a database system that list all the materials needed for a project including, the quantity of those materials associated with their cost. A lot of other information can be added to a project’s database system involving schedule and items that need replacement. Programs for MEP engineers now can estimate the tolerance and resistibility of pipelines when applying different pressures and loads. Without having the entire database that includes the resistibility of those pipelines, MEP engineers in construction firms will spend a lot of time estimating where to locate those pipes based on the different loads they would have.

Database system can also help contractors to know how many labors they need for a project, and how much each labor costs. By having all of this data listed, the working hours of those labors can be adjustable based on the budget and the schedule of that project. I must say that databases in construction firms have made much easier jobs now. Managing a site has been much more controllable and safe with this kind of management system.

Comment on Angelina Castro:
It is very interesting to compare the use of database system and the reference books that has RM means. I would like to also add that database system have helped construction firms not only to estimate the cost, but to also what type of material to include in a specific area of a project. Having the quantity listed with its unit price will help contractors to choose alternative provider of those items when they are too expensive.

Comment on Abdulghani Albaloushi:
It is very interesting to know about the database system used in Microsoft Access. If I were to compare my topic with yours, I would say that database help a lot of construction firms in all the fields. Microsoft Excel is one of the thousand other programs that organize that data and represent it in a simple form. I also liked how you mentioned the disadvantage of Microsoft Excel including that lack of performance and the memory size that it has.

Comment on Santiago Uribe:
I was very interested to read about different topics regarding databases, and I have chosen to make a comment your post because I was very interested on how you brought an example from an article regarding BIM databases.  After I have personally used the BIM modeling program, I have noticed that I can create a schedule that lists all of the features used in the design. In result, it calculates how much a building can cost by the time the design is completed. Without having this database system in design offices, designers will spend a lot of time estimating the cost after listing the unit price of each feature added to the designed building.

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