The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Training of engineers from private construction firms are under way on how to use Construction Manager Software. This is after engineers working under government agencies have been trained and they have implemented the using of the software.
Given the advantages of using the software, the Construction Association of Bhutan (CAB) has requested the Ministry of Labor for support to train engineers working in private construction firms. The ministry is funding the training while private construction companies are putting in some amount to add on to what they are receiving from the Ministry.
The software helps in saving a lot of time and minimizes the risk of making an error with the calculations which sometime leads to excess or shortage of payment to the contractors.
General Secretary of CAB, Tshering Yonten said that before the introduction of construction manager software, everything has to be done manually whereby it consumes a lot of time which delays the payment.
“Before, we had to enter detail measurement in Measurement Book (MB) manually and having to do one by one, for a small work it takes minimum a week or so, no matter how hard an engineer works which ultimately delays the payment,” he added.
Now, with the implementation of the software, he said that everything is made easier and convenient whereby they can bring down the number of days to one or two days from a long week.
“We have very less chances of making an error and they need not have to keep crosschecking the calculations as the software does it automatically. When everything is done in a short span of time, the payment is done without delay”, he added.
This training is going to benefit both engineers and contractors.
Kezang Choejay, a contractor said that this system paper work will be minimized and it will help them in keeping track of raw material management at site. “Our burden would be less as we do not have to maintain MB manually. Having to maintain 3 to 4 MB used to be so tough which leads to delay in submitting our bills. Now with this system we feel at ease,” he added.
Maintaining a MB for large projects takes one to two weeks no matter how hard an engineer works. When there is delay in payment they fail to procure raw materials at site and they sometime fail to make labor payments, he said.
Meanwhile, Phub Bidha, an engineer said that since everything is incorporated in the system everything will be easy and comparatively a lot of time would be saved. “The software is user friendly and it would help us in keeping track of both physical and financial progress of works. It will also benefit in timely allocation of resources and budget,” she added.
She also said that they just have to give an input whereby the system will automatically deliver all the output without having to wait as like before.
In the first batch, they have trained 35 engineers from various firms and they would train another two batches with same number in Thimphu. They have a plan to give the same training in other districts around the country and they would be taking in as many engineers as possible.
As per their tentative program, they plan to finish their training in the country by March 2021.
