Key and difficult points in the design and management of military-civilian integration projects

Wang Yuheng

【Abstract】Design is the soul of engineering construction, and design management is the key and guarantee for the smooth implementation of design. To enhance the level of engineering construction in military-civilian integration projects, the paper first analyzes the characteristics of military-civilian integration projects and compares them with local projects; then examines the impact of the current two engineering contracting models on design management; finally, it focuses on analyzing the key and difficult points of project design management and provides corresponding control measures.

【Keywords】Civil-Military Integration | Design Management | Design Quality | Quota Design

I. Characteristics of Civil-Military Integration Projects

(1) Construction Process

The basic procedures for the construction of civil-military integration projects currently include the following parts:

Project Initiation Phase. Submit the demand plan and prepare the task document, report it to the higher authorities for approval and issuance of the construction plan.

Survey and Design Phase. Transforming the vision into a feasible blueprint according to the requirements of the project task, the work includes scheme design, preliminary design, construction drawing design, and review.

Construction Phase. Preparation of bill of quantities and control price, project bidding, signing of construction contracts and personnel filing, quality supervision registration procedures and quality supervision briefing, on-site construction process management, inspection and acceptance of various parties for sub-projects, on-site visa changes and technical verification.

Acceptance Phase. Completion Acceptance, Settlement Audit, Final Accounts, Warranty Maintenance.

For the design phase process, the approval and review procedures for military-civilian integration projects differ significantly from those for local projects. Due to departmental independence and confidentiality, projects generally do not need to undergo local planning and construction approval processes (with the exception of key projects located in the city center). They can proceed through internal military review procedures. The preliminary design and construction drawing review are also conducted by experts hired internally by the military, without the need for external review by third-party agencies through local review procedures.

(2) Project Construction Management System

The military engineering agency system primarily refers to the establishment of specialized engineering agency management institutions (agency offices) within the military. These agency offices are responsible for the comprehensive management of construction projects, including the use of funds, engineering quality, and project progress. After the project is officially completed and passes the acceptance inspection, it is handed over to the user units.

The personnel of the Construction Management Office are primarily composed of individuals transferred from various departments originally responsible for military construction or those recruited through civil service positions in the past two years. These individuals possess strong professional expertise and management capabilities, and are well-versed in the military's construction project processes and relevant regulations. For design units, the Construction Management Office facilitates the refinement of the design units' alignment with the needs of the user units, acting as a mediator to balance these needs. The office's personnel, with their grasp of military internal standards, can oversee the design outcomes, preventing illegal and over-standard construction. This ensures compliance with relevant design norms and regulations while meeting the requirements of the user units, thereby enhancing combat effectiveness.

(III) Confidentiality Management Requirements

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All participating units in the military-civilian integration projects must strictly adhere to the national, military, and corporate regulations on confidentiality, fully fulfill the confidentiality commitment signed with the contractor, strengthen confidentiality control throughout the entire process of project planning and design, procurement management, and construction organization, prioritize prevention, focus on key areas, clarify responsibilities, and ensure strict implementation to prevent any occurrence of information leakage incidents.

II. The Impact of the EPC Model for Military-Civilian Integration Projects on Design Management

The military-civilian integration projects currently mainly adopt two modes, both of which implement fixed-price lump-sum contracts. Under the first mode, design, procurement, and construction are all handled by a single unit. This allows for thorough communication and integration between design and construction, reducing the disconnect between these phases, ensuring better quality and controlling the project schedule, minimizing unnecessary costs, and enhancing the economic efficiency of the project. Under the second mode, the owner typically determines the design unit through a bidding process and then separately selects a construction unit. The focus of design management here is on ensuring the accuracy and completeness of the drawings to guarantee the accuracy of the bill of quantities and control prices, strictly adhering to limited design principles, and achieving early proactive cost control.

III. Analysis of Key Difficulties in the Design and Management of Civil-Military Integration Projects

(1) Design Intent Mastery and Communication

The project design phase involves multiple communication participants, including not only the construction management office but also the superior authorities of the user unit, the department responsible for barracks infrastructure within the user unit, and the actual user departments of the building. Design proposals or drawings need to be reviewed and confirmed by these departments. Each department has different habits or perspectives, sometimes leading to inconsistent opinions. This results in design units making multiple visits to report, and the decision-making process taking a long time. To expedite the efficiency of communication and decision-making, it is necessary to establish a comprehensive communication mechanism, clearly define the points of contact and the frequency of contact, document each contact's outcomes in written form to create meeting minutes that are signed and confirmed by all parties. Timely reports should be made to the construction management office, which will then urge the user unit to confirm promptly, avoiding any impact on the design progress.

As the user of the completed project, the usage unit is both the demand initiator and the functional requirement provider. The preliminary scheme of the proposed project should first be confirmed by the usage unit. The design unit, entering the military system for the first time from the civilian sector, lacks understanding of the daily operations, training, and living routines of the military, and has insufficient knowledge of architectural functions and actual usage habits. This results in a lack of concept about how the design will be used in daily operations, leading to flaws in design details and an inability to innovate and optimize the design to enhance its quality. Therefore, on-site coordination and field visits during the design phase are particularly important. It is essential to collect design requirements, paying attention to every detail, from large-scale planning and layout to the arrangement of switch and socket points, ensuring full coverage of all requirements. Through field research, a direct impression is formed, and the principles behind the requirements are understood. Visualization tools such as renderings and models are used to present the design outcomes for confirmation.

(2) Sorting of Site Conditions for Design

On-site survey to collect current status information is a prerequisite for design. Inadequate or inaccurate understanding of the site conditions can lead to design omissions and changes. Such issues are particularly evident in the field of ancillary supporting projects, where the project task book only includes the main structure but does not encompass outdoor ancillary supporting pipe network connection projects. Only the main structure design is considered, neglecting the absence of existing networks or the inadequacy of existing network diameters and capacities to meet the requirements of new buildings, resulting in the inability to connect and necessitating additional items and supplements, leading to increased budgets and the need for complex change processes, affecting project progress. Therefore, during the preliminary survey phase, it is essential to focus on the current status of fire water tanks, fire pump stations, fire control rooms, municipal fire water sources, rainwater and sewage interface locations and elevations, municipal power and backup power supplies, and the intelligent monitoring and control systems of the camp, in order to clearly define the scope of the current project's design.

(III) Design Standards Mastery

Before the development of the civil-military integration strategy, military engineering had already established a set of design standard systems suitable for itself through long-term practice and experience summarization. Most of these standards were compiled into military standards and published, but they were mostly scattered in various internal documents and regulations, without systematic organization. Due to confidentiality reasons, local design personnel often had no access to these standards and needed to obtain them from various relevant business departments. Even after obtaining them, it would take some time to grasp and understand them and apply them in actual design. Moreover, there were some differences between military standards and local standards, with conflicts or situations where military standards were lower than local standards. Design personnel often opted for the higher standard, leading to over-design. Design personnel should aim for knowledge acquisition, seek guidance from the construction management office or hired military design experts, deepen their understanding, identify differences, master common practices, and strengthen their study and research of military standards.

(IV) Project Investment Control

Most military-civilian integration projects are fixed-price contracts. Compared to civilian projects, the approved task order prices have lower cost indicators, requiring the design system to be optimized as much as possible, with streamlined processes and practical, simplified decoration. The design scheme should fully consider the total life-cycle cost, the relationship between construction cost and operating cost, and through economic comparison of the schemes, meet all the requirements of the military to the greatest extent. Especially in the selection of building materials, structural systems, pile foundation types, foundation pit retaining schemes, and mechanical and electrical equipment schemes, comparative analysis should be conducted. Full consideration should be given to the resources, construction conditions, construction costs, project duration requirements, and operating costs of the project site, striving to achieve the lowest total life-cycle cost for the project under the premise of safety and meeting requirements. Additionally, during the construction coordination phase, design units should strictly review on-site design changes to avoid unnecessary increases in project investment.

In addition, there is still a gap between the capabilities of designers and the requirements of quota design. Most military-civilian integration project design institutes are large central enterprise design institutes, primarily engaged in the design of infrastructure transportation industrial facilities such as roads, railways, power, and ports. Long-standing design habits have led to conservative design practices, with excessively high specifications for materials and equipment, resulting in investment exceeding the approved budget. It is necessary to determine the project quantity quota indicators based on the conventional engineering quantity indicators of different design schemes, adopting a dual control method of economic technical indicators and cost indicators. Economic technical indicators are the technical limits set to ensure the economic efficiency of the design outcomes, such as the content of steel and concrete in building structures. Cost indicators are the cost limits set to meet the requirements of investment or cost, such as the cost per square meter or the cost per unit area. Enhancing the optimization, screening, and review of schemes can control "exceeding the estimate, exceeding the quantity, and exceeding the price" from the source.

IV. Conclusion

The design work for military-civilian integration projects is extensive and time-sensitive, requiring efficient completion within limited timeframes. In the management of military-civilian integration project design, measures should be taken from the perspective of the design management system and regulations, strengthening communication with the construction agency and user units, thoroughly collecting project site information, user needs, and regulatory standards, and deeply exploring these aspects to enhance the optimization, selection, and review of plans, thereby controlling "over-budget, over-quantity, over-cost" at the source. Establishing a specialized team of management and technical talents dedicated to military-civilian integration projects will quickly accumulate project experience, fully leverage the foresight of design, and truly improve design quality, ensure the quality of construction projects, and promote the high-quality development of modern logistics.

references

Zheng Guojun, Lu Yuzhu, Yu Sichun, et al. Research on Difficulties and Countermeasures in Design Management of Civil-Military Integration Projects. Industrial Construction,,()-,.

Shen Xiaodong, Gao Jiangru, Li Shengbo, et al. Exploration on Improving the Quality of Military Facility Projects under the Construction Management Model. Engineering Quality,,()-.

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Editor of this issue: Chen Luyang

This issue reviewed by: Lin Yingxi

Layout Design: Zhou Kaikai

Article Source: "China Military-to-Civilian Magazine"

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