NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

PM5106 DESIGN MANAGEMENT

Semester 1, AY2016/2017

Time Allowed: 2 Hours

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES

1. Candidates must attempt ALL questions.

2. For each question, candidates may choose and name from any industry a
hypothetical capital project (e.g. hotel, road, water-plant, etc.) when answering,
provided that these assumptions are not inconsistent with the information given in
the questions.

3. Candidates should illustrate their answers with diagrams, tables, charts and sketches
on the left side of the answer book, where appropriate.

INFORMATION TO CANDIDATES

1. This examination paper contains FOUR questions and comprises THREE printed
pages.

2. This is an OPEN BOOK examination.

3. The total mark for this paper is 60.

4. All questions carry EQUAL marks.

5. The examiner for this module is Mr. Leonard Yeo.

.../2
 PM5106 DESIGN MANAGEMENT
Page 2

Question 1: Design roles in project life-cycle

Assume that you are the project manager Mr. A of a capital project in a development
cum investment company. Your companys interest is to lead the project from
development to financial closure (full capitalisation of the single-purpose vehicle
(SPV), a subsidiary company dedicated to the project), including construction. The
company exit plan is to sell the capital project AFTER construction completion and one
year of successful operations.

You have recently completed the NUS PM5106 DESIGN MANAGEMENT course.
Prepare a 2-page high level executive summary for your Investment committee,
emphasizing critical design roles and potential impacts on outcome of project returns or
value in each of the following phases of the project life cycle:

a) development & financing

b) construction or building

c) operation & maintenance

Candidates may choose and name from any industry a hypothetical capital project (e.g.
hotel, road, water-plant, etc.) when answering, provided that these assumptions are not
inconsistent with the information given in the questions.
(15 marks)

Question 2: Scoping outsourced design activities vis a vis different construction

contracting strategies

Assume that you are the deputy project manager Mr. D of the capital project as
described in Question 1, responsible for outsourcing the design activities. The
company has no prior experience in project development, where designs are NOT
already provided for.

Prepare a 2-page executive summary to discuss how the three different construction
outsourcing strategies below will affect the minimum and maximum design scope at
development and financing phases. Finally, recommend the most suitable construction
outsourcing strategy and associated optimal design scope for your project, describing a
hypothetical base case scenario to justify your choice.

a) turn-key construction contract

b) lump-sum construction contract

c) cost plus construction contract with OFE (owner furnished equipment)

(15 marks)
/3
 PM5106 DESIGN MANAGEMENT

Page 3

Question 3: Design tools and deliverables for construction & operation

You have worked 3 months as a new general manager of a traditional but old-fashion
design consultancy and would like to recommend some improvements to increase
competitiveness and profitability. Prepare a 2-page summary to convince your
shareholders and colleagues the cost-benefits of the typical modern industry planning &
engineering tools needed to produce the deliverables at different stages of the project
life cycle. You should analyze and illustrate (qualitatively) how they can affect your
companys competitiveness and profitability. Provide examples of at least two software
solutions for each of the activities below in an industry and project of your choice:

a) Scheduling and planning tool

b) Computer aided drafting; CAD/CAE

c) CADCAM or BIM
(15 marks)

Question 4: Managing Design, Risks and Returns on projects Life-Cycle Costing

Assume that the poor economic outlook requires project design budget and delivery
period to be significantly reduced upfront until a financial closure is more certain or
secured.

As the design project manager in a design Consultancy supporting a clients capital

project whose life-cycle begins with development through financial closure, a minimum
2-year construction plus over 10 years operation period, prepare (for your clients
consumption) a 2-page executive summary:

a) to highlight design risks associated with an unreasonable tight budget and delivery
schedule;

b) to provide 2 examples illustrating design-related risks caused by external factors or

even inputs from the owner;

c) to provide 2 examples illustrating risks that can be mitigated or shared between

owner and designer, in a manner that the project financial closure is not compromised.

Candidates may choose and name from any industry a hypothetical capital project (e.g.
hotel, road, water-plant, etc.) when answering, provided that these assumptions are not
inconsistent with the information given in the questions.
(15 marks)

END OF PAPER