Material management is an important aspect in project planning and control. It contributes a major portion of expense in construction projects. Controlling procurement and carrying cost can reduce total project cost and complete the project in a fast track method. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 72 ongoing housing projects in and around Kochi. Based on the study, only 15% of the housing projects were expected to complete in time. A field solution was suggested through this study by dynamic control on inventory. Though all materials are equally important in construction, some of the key materials are specifically controlling the project cost. A B C Analysis is an apt tool for identifying those materials. If these key materials are dynamically controlled in procurement, and stored to the optimum level, project cost can be reduced. Again by resource leveling and smoothing, the usage can be brought to the optimum refined level so that much storage cost can be eliminated. The Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) of each material was arrived at this stage, and this EOQ model may further refine with sensitivity analysis. By sensitivity check, the sensitiveness of the material was found out, using ‘what-if analysis’. In this analysis, the effect of the total project was checked and the optimum solution was found. The process has to be followed till the completion of the project to optimize the total project cost.

Material management is an important element in project planning and control. It represents a major contribution of cost in project execution. Every project is expected to be completed within the estimated cost, but more than 80% (Kumaraswamy and Dulaimi, 2000) of the projects, end up with cost overrun, especially in material consumption. So controlling procurement cost in project execution is an important aspect. If materials are purchased in advance, capital cost will be blocked, and interest charges accumulate on the excess inventory of materials. This can lead to several losses like deterioration, theft, damages, etc. Project schedules are invariably dynamic and uncertain. Resource allocation substantially influences project times. Impractical allocation may cause project delay. If materials are not available, delay of the project will occur and extra expense will be incurred. An extensive literature study was conducted. The study reveals that no specific procedure is followed for the procurement of construction materials.

Science and Technology Journal, Seismic Evaluation of Flat Slab Buildings, Flat Slab System, Finite Element Method, Wide Column Model, Design parameters, Static Linear Analysis, Equivalent Frame Method, Nonlinear Analysis, Flat Slab Structures, Equivalent Frame Method.