Search results for: construction sector

Authors: E. O. Fakoya, B. G. Abiona, J. O. Soetan

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The study determined Perception of Agricultural Extension Agents of Private Sector Participation in Extension Services in Ogun State, Nigeria. Data were collected from 80 respondents with a well-structured questionnaire. The result of the findings showed that there is need for private sector participation in extension services (=4.313), private extension services has facilities than public extension services (=4.97). Private sector participated in extension services by: giving of loans and credits to farmers (=4.50). Major constraints identified by the respondents were: Transportation problem (=2.88) and lack of fund (=2.77) A significant relationship (P<0.05) exists between factors affecting public extension services(r = 0.641, p = 0.00) and private sector participation in extension services. It was concluded from the study that there is need for private sector to participate in extension service in order to improve productivity of the farmers.

Keywords: agricultural extension, extension agent, private sector, perception

Procedia PDF Downloads 545

Authors: Vladimira Vytlacilova

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Recycling of construction and demolition waste (C&DW) and their new reuse in structures is one of the solutions of environmental problems. Construction and demolition waste creates a major portion of total solid waste production in the world and most of it is used in landfills all the time. The paper deals with the situation of the recycling of the building and demolition waste in the Czech Republic during the recent years. The paper is dealing with questions of C&D waste recycling, it also characterizes construction and demolition waste in general, furthermore it analyses production of construction waste and subsequent production of recycled materials.

Keywords: Recycling, Construction and demolition waste, Recycled rubble, Waste management

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Authors: Sareh Rajabi, Taha Anjamrooz, Salwa Bheiry

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Sustainability of construction projects is an important issue to be addressed since the sector will continue to be developed in the coming years, especially in developing countries. Thus, it is significant to discover approaches and solutions for improving sustainability. Currently, the construction industry is the largest consumer of natural resources. This is the same in other countries in the Gulf region, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has limited natural resources such as water, electricity, etc. Recently, the UAE has taken several actions in order to implement sustainable initiatives within its construction industry. Within the industry, the contractors’ role is significant in promoting sustainable development by taking the responsibility to minimize their negative impacts on the environment and society, and maximize their economic distribution. In this research, sustainability will be studied as an important key to bring competitive advantages to contracting organizations. The contractors should understand the need to improve their sustainable performance in order to expand their business competitiveness. Competitiveness at the construction project level refers to a contractor’s ability to compete for a project. There is less focus on how to improve contractors’ competitiveness by implementing sustainable construction practices. Based on an inclusive literature review on the relationship between sustainability performance and business competitiveness, this research will conduct a study of sustainable practice in the construction industry and the relationship between sustainability performance and business competitiveness in order to develop a framework for evaluating how contractors can improve their competitiveness in terms of more efficient processes, enhancements in productivity, and lower costs of compliance in order to reduce the initial project cost and obtain market opportunities in the UAE. The research findings will provide a framework that can be a useful guideline for contractors to develop their sustainability policy, strategy and practice for meeting the increased requirements for sustainable development in construction.

Keywords: sustainable construction practice, sustainability, competitiveness, construction industry, contractors

Procedia PDF Downloads 92

Authors: S. Dorbani, F. Kharchi, F. Salem, K. Arroudj, N. Chioukh

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The need for thermal comfort of buildings, with the aim of saving energy, has always generated a big interest during the development of methods, to improve the mode of construction. In the present paper, which is concerned by the valorization of locally abundant materials, mixtures of plaster and dune sand have been studied. To point out the thermal performances of these mixtures, a comparative study has been established between this product and the two materials most commonly used in construction, the concrete and hollow brick. The results showed that optimal mixture is made with 1/3 plaster and 2/3 dune sand. This mortar achieved significant increases in the mechanical strengths, which allow it to be used as a carrier element for buildings, of up to two levels. The element obtained offers an acceptable thermal insulation, with a decrease the outer-wall construction thickness.

Keywords: local materials, mortar, plaster, dune sand, compaction, mechanical performance, thermal performance

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Authors: Kishor Bhagwat, Gayatri Vyas

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Construction industry is earmarked with complex processes depending on the nature and scope of the project. In recent years, developments in this sector are remarkable and have resulted in both positive and negative impacts on the environment and human being. Sustainable construction can be looked upon as one of the solution to overcome the negative impacts since sustainable construction is a vast concept, which includes many parameters, and sometimes the use of multi-criteria decision making [MCDM] tools becomes necessary. The main objective of this study is to determine the weightage of sustainable building parameters with the help of MCDM tools. Questionnaire survey was conducted to examine the perspective of respondents on the importance of weights of the criterion, and the respondents were architects, green building consultants, and civil engineers. This paper presents an overview of research related to Indian and international green building rating systems and MCDM. The results depict that economy, environmental health, and safety, site selection, climatic condition, etc., are important parameters in sustainable construction.

Keywords: green building, sustainability, multi-criteria decision making method [MCDM], analytical hierarchy process [AHP], technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution [TOPSIS], entropy

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Authors: Karthick Prasad Gunasekaran, B. Chase Babrich, Saurabh Shirodkar, Hee Hwang

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Construction preparation is crucial for the success of a construction project. By involving project participants early in the construction phase, project managers can plan ahead and resolve issues early, resulting in project success and satisfaction. This study uses quantitative data from construction management projects to determine the relationship between the pre-construction phase, construction schedule, and customer satisfaction. This study examined a total of 65 construction projects and 93 clients per job to (a) identify the relationship between the pre-construction phase and program reduction and (b) the pre-construction phase and customer retention. Based on a quantitative analysis, this study found a negative correlation between pre-construction status and project schedule in 65 construction projects. This finding means that the more preparatory work done on a particular project, the shorter the total construction time. The Net Promoter Score of 93 clients from 65 projects was then used to determine the relationship between construction preparation and client satisfaction. The pre-construction status and the projects were further analyzed, and a positive correlation between them was found. This shows that customers are happier with projects with a higher ready-to-build ratio than projects with less ready-to-build.

Keywords: NLP, BERT, LLM, deep learning, classification

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Authors: Andrea N. Ofori-Boadu

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The purpose is to develop a conceptual model of subcontractor development practices and processes that strengthen the integration of subcontractors into construction supply chain systems for improved subcontractor performance on Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building projects. The construction management of a LEED project has an important objective of meeting sustainability certification requirements. This is in addition to the typical project management objectives of cost, time, quality, and safety for traditional projects; and, therefore increases the complexity of LEED projects. Considering that construction management organizations rely heavily on subcontractors, poor performance on complex projects such as LEED projects has been largely attributed to the unsatisfactory preparation of subcontractors. Furthermore, the extensive use of unique and non-repetitive short term contracts limits the full integration of subcontractors into construction supply chains and hinders long-term cooperation and benefits that could enhance performance on construction projects. Improved subcontractor development practices are needed to better prepare and manage subcontractors, so that complex objectives can be met or exceeded. While supplier development and supply chain theories and practices for the manufacturing sector have been extensively investigated to address similar challenges, investigations in the construction sector are not that obvious. Consequently, the objective of this research is to investigate effective subcontractor development practices and processes to guide construction management organizations in their development of a strong network of high performing subcontractors. Drawing from foundational supply chain and supplier development theories in the manufacturing sector, a mixed interpretivist and empirical methodology is utilized to assess the body of knowledge within literature for conceptual model development. A self-reporting survey with five-point Likert scale items and open-ended questions is administered to 30 construction professionals to estimate their perceptions of the effectiveness of 37 practices, classified into five subcontractor development categories. Data analysis includes descriptive statistics, weighted means, and t-tests that guide the effectiveness ranking of practices and categories. The results inform the proposed three-phased LEED subcontractor development program model which focuses on preparation, development and implementation, and monitoring. Highly ranked LEED subcontractor pre-qualification, commitment, incentives, evaluation, and feedback practices are perceived as more effective, when compared to practices requiring more direct involvement and linkages between subcontractors and construction management organizations. This is attributed to unfamiliarity, conflicting interests, lack of trust, and resource sharing challenges. With strategic modifications, the recommended practices can be extended to other non-LEED complex projects. Additional research is needed to guide the development of subcontractor development programs that strengthen direct involvement between construction management organizations and their network of high performing subcontractors. Insights from this present research strengthen theoretical foundations to support future research towards more integrated construction supply chains. In the long-term, this would lead to increased performance, profits and client satisfaction.

Keywords: construction management, general contractor, supply chain, sustainable construction

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Authors: Othoman Elsayah, Naren Gupta, Binsheng Zhang

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The construction sector constitutes one of the most important sectors in the economy of any country. Contractor selection is a critical decision that is undertaken by client organizations and is central to the success of any construction project. Contractor selection (CS) is a process which involves investigating, screening and determining whether candidate contractors have the technical and financial capability to be accepted to formally tender for construction work. The process should be conducted prior to the award of contract, characterized by many factors such as: contactor’s skills, experience on similar projects, track- record in the industry, and financial stability. However, this paper evaluates the current state of knowledge in relation to contractor selection process and demonstrates the findings from the analysis of the data collected from the Delphi questionnaire survey. The survey was conducted with a group of 12 experts working in the Libyan construction industry (LCI). The paper starts by briefly explaining the general outline of the questionnaire including the survey participation rate, the different fields the experts came from, and the business titles of the participants. Then, the paper describes the tests used to determine when the experts had reached consensus. The paper is based on research which aims to develop rank contractor selection criteria with specific application to make construction projects in the Libyan context. The findings of this study will be utilized to establish the scope of work that will be used as part of a PhD research.

Keywords: contractor selection, Libyan construction industry, decision experts, Delphi technique

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Authors: Mokhtar Nikgoo

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Road definition and road construction: in engineering literature, a road is defined as a means of communication between two different places by air, land, and sea. In this way, all sea, land, and air routes are considered as roads. Road construction is an operation to create a road on the ground between 2 points with a specified width, which includes works such as subgrade, paving, placing tables, and traffic signs on the road. In this article, the stages of road construction are explained from the beginning to the end. Road construction is generally done in the construction of rural, urban, and inter-city roads, and according to the special conditions of this area, the precision of engineers in its design and calculations is very important. For example, if the design of a road does not pay enough attention to the way the road curves, there will undoubtedly be countless accidents. Also, adjusting the road surface and its durability and uniformity are among the things that engineers solve according to the upcoming obstacles.

Keywords: road construction, surveying, freeway, pavement, excavator

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Authors: Pınar Aydın, Şule Turhan

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Today, with the change of people's consumption habits, the importance of frozen fruit and vegetable sector has been increased. In Turkey, sector is based on export. It is growing very fast and external demand is constantly increasing. About 80% of frozen fruits and vegetables produced in Turkey are being exported. More than 90% of the exports go to European Union countries. About 49% of frozen fruits and vegetables in Turkey is being exported to Germany, England and France. In the sector which the abroad demand is continuously increasing, although it has been estimated that around 25% of the average annual growth rate, the domestic consumption is very low. Although the frozen food consumption per person in Turkey is about %2 of United States, the growing rate of the sector is higher than the United States and Europe. This situation reflects that it is such a sector that has a growing demand in both domestic and foreign markets.

Keywords: frozen food, fruit and vegetable sector, exports, Turkey

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Authors: Robin Becker, Nane Roetmann, Manfred Helmus

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Construction companies lack junior staff for construction management. According to a nationwide survey of students, however, the profession lacks attractiveness. The conflict between the traditional job profile and the current desires of junior staff for contemporary and flexible working models must be resolved. Increasing flexibility is essential for the future viability of small and medium-sized enterprises. The implementation of modern work modules can help here. The following report will present the validation results of the developed work modules in construction practice.

Keywords: modern construction management, construction industry, work modules, shortage of junior staff, sustainable personnel management, making construction management more attractive, working time model

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Authors: Mahboobeh Hemmati, Tahar Messadi, Hongmei Gu

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Today, life cycle assessment (LCA) is a leading method in mitigating the environmental impacts emerging from the building sector. In this paper, LCA is used to quantify the Green House Gas (GHG) emissions during the construction phase of the largest mass timber residential structure in the United States, Adohi Hall. This building is a 200,000 square foot 708-bed complex located on the campus of the University of Arkansas. The energy used for buildings’ operation is the most dominant source of emissions in the building industry. Lately, however, the efforts were successful at increasing the efficiency of building operation in terms of emissions. As a result, the attention is now shifted to the embodied carbon, which is more noticeable in the building life cycle. Unfortunately, most of the studies have, however, focused on the manufacturing stage, and only a few have addressed to date the construction process. Specifically, less data is available about environmental impacts associated with the construction of mass timber. This study presents, therefore, an assessment of the environmental impact of the construction processes based on the real and newly built mass timber building mentioned above. The system boundary of this study covers modules A4 and A5 based on building LCA standard EN 15978. Module A4 includes material and equipment transportation. Module A5 covers the construction and installation process. This research evolves through 2 stages: first, to quantify materials and equipment deployed in the building, and second, to determine the embodied carbon associated with running equipment for construction materials, both transported to, and installed on, the site where the edifice is built. The Global Warming Potential (GWP) of the building is the primary metric considered in this research. The outcomes of this study bring to the front a better understanding of hotspots in terms of emission during the construction process. Moreover, the comparative analysis of the mass timber construction process with that of a theoretically similar steel building will enable an effective assessment of the environmental efficiency of mass timber.

Keywords: construction process, GWP, LCA, mass timber

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Authors: Ayodeji Emmanuel Oke, Mathew O. Ikuabe, Clinton O. Aigbavboa, Douglas O. Aghimien

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The call for sustainable construction has received significant drive in recent time considering the overwhelming impacts of its adoption. However, not much has been deliberated on this subject with regards to the roles of organisational leadership in delivering sustainable construction. To this end, the study empirically scrutinised the roles of organisational leadership in delivering sustainable construction. The study adopted a quantitative approach while construction professionals formed the population of the study. A well-articulated questionnaire was used in eliciting responses from the respondents, while appropriate methods of data analysis were used. Findings from the study depicted that the major role of organisational leadership in the delivery of sustainable construction is acting as sustainability integrators. Equally revealed are the internal and external factors affecting organisational leadership in delivering sustainable construction. The study concluded by emphasizing the core roles for delivering sustainable construction by organisational leadership and further recommended that sustainable construction should serve as a prominent and focal organisation goal by organisational leadership when steering the organisation towards meeting its objectives

Keywords: organisational leadership, project delivery, roles, sustainable construction

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Authors: Nur Aishah Binti Awi, Zulfiqar Khan

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Lean-kaizen has always been applied in manufacturing sector since many years ago. What about education sector? This paper discuss on how lean-kaizen can also be applied in education sector, specifically in academic area of Malaysian’s higher education sector. The purpose of this paper is to describe the application of lean kaizen in course plan and delivery. Lean-kaizen techniques have been used to identify waste in the course plan and delivery. A field study has been conducted to obtain the data. This study used both quantitative and qualitative data. The researcher had interviewed the chosen lecturers regarding to the problems of course plan and delivery that they encountered. Secondary data of students’ feedback at the end of semester also has been used to improve course plan and delivery. The result empirically shows that lean-kaizen helps to improve the course plan and delivery by reducing the wastes. Thus, this study demonstrates that lean-kaizen can also help education sector to improve their services as achieved by manufacturing sector.

Keywords: course delivery, education, Kaizen, lean

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Authors: N. Ojaroudi Parchin, H. Jahanbakhsh Basherlou, Y. Al-Yasir, A. M. Abdulkhaleq, R. A. Abd-Alhameed, P. S. Excell

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A compact design of multi-sector patch antenna array for 60 GHz applications is presented and discussed in details. The proposed design combines five 1×8 linear patch antenna arrays, referred to as sectors, in a multi-sector configuration. The coaxial-fed radiation elements of the multi-sector array are designed on 0.2 mm Rogers RT5880 dielectrics. The array operates in the frequency range of 58-62 GHz and provides switchable directional/omnidirectional radiation beams with high gain and high directivity characteristics. The designed multi-sector array exhibits good performances and could be used in the fifth generation (5G) cellular networks.

Keywords: mm-wave communications, multi-sector array, patch antenna, small cell networks

Procedia PDF Downloads 112

Authors: Hafiz Usama Imad, Muhammad Akram Akhund, Tauha Hussain Ali, Ali Raza Khoso, Fida Hussain Siddiqui

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Construction industry plays a significant role in fulfilling the major requirements of the human being. It is one of the major constituents of every developed country. Although the construction industry of both the developing and developed countries encompasses a major part of the economy, and millions of rupees are utilized every year on various kinds of construction projects. But, this industry is facing numerous hurdles in terms of its budget and timely completion. Construction projects generally consist of several phases like planning, designing, execution, and finishing. This research study aims to determine the significant factors of time overrun in pre-construction planning (PCP) phase of construction projects in Pakistan. Questionnaires were distributed by various means and responses of respondents were compiled and collected data were then analyzed through a statistical technique using SPSS version 24. Major causes of time overrun in pre-construction planning phase; which is an extremely important phase of construction projects, were revealed. The research conclusion will provide a pathway for stakeholders to pay attention to the mentioned causes to overcome the major issue of time overrun.

Keywords: construction industry, Pakistan, pre-construction planning phase, time overrun

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Authors: Picha Sriprachan

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The increase in electricity prices affects the cost of high-rise building construction. The objectives of this research are to study the electrical cost, trend of electrical cost and to forecast electrical cost of high-rise building construction. The methods of this research are: 1) to study electrical payment formats, cost data collection methods, and the factors affecting electrical cost of high-rise building construction, 2) to study the quantity and trend of cumulative percentage of the electrical cost, and 3) to forecast the electrical cost for different types of high-rise buildings. The results of this research show that the average proportion between electrical cost and the value of the construction project is 0.87 percent. The proportion of electrical cost for residential, office and commercial, and hotel buildings are closely proportional. If construction project value increases, the proportion of electrical cost and the value of the construction project will decrease. However, there is a relationship between the amount of electrical cost and the value of the construction project. During the structural construction phase, the amount of electrical cost will increase and during structural and architectural construction phase, electrical cost will be maximum. The cumulative percentage of the electrical cost is related to the cumulative percentage of the high-rise building construction cost in the same direction. The amount of service space of the building, number of floors and the duration of the construction affect the electrical cost of construction. The electrical cost of construction forecasted by using linear regression equation is close to the electrical cost forecasted by using the proportion of electrical cost and value of the project.

Keywords: high-rise building construction, electrical cost, construction phase, architectural phase

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Authors: Yousef Alqaryouti, Mariam Al Suwaidi, Raed Mohmood AlKhuwaildi, Hind Kolthoum, Issa Youssef, Mohammed Al Imam

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The UAE has experienced rapid economic growth due to its mature oil production industry, leading to a surge in urbanization and infrastructure development in the construction sector. Sustainable development practices are becoming increasingly important, and the UAE government has taken proactive measures to promote them, including the introduction of sustainable building codes, energy-efficient technologies, and renewable energy sources. Initiatives such as the Masdar City project and the Emirates Green Building Council further demonstrate the government's commitment to a cleaner and healthier environment. By adopting sustainable practices, the UAE can reduce its carbon footprint, lessen its reliance on fossil fuels, and achieve cost savings in the long run. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a thorough review of the current state of sustainability in the construction industry of the UAE. Our research methodology includes a local market survey and qualitative observational analysis of executed housing construction projects by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Housing Establishment. The market survey assesses eleven different challenging factors that affect sustainable construction project delivery. The qualitative observational research is based on data collected from three projects, including construction progress, bill of quantity, and construction program. The study concludes that addressing these challenges requires a collaborative team approach, incentivized contracts, traditional project management practices, an integrated project team, and an increase in sustainability awareness among stakeholders. The recommendations proposed in this study aim to promote and improve the application of sustainability in the UAE's construction industry for the future.

Keywords: sustainability, construction, challenges, opportunities, case study, market survey

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Authors: Pornpote Nusen, Manop Kaewmoracharoen

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In recent years, there was an observable shift in fully developed countries from constructing new buildings to modifying existing buildings. The issue was that although an effective instrument like BIM (Building Information Modeling) was well developed for constructing new buildings, it was not widely used to renovate old buildings. BIM was accepted as an effective means to overcome common managerial problems such as project delay, cost overrun, and poor quality of the project life cycle. It was recently introduced in Thailand and rarely used in a renovation project. Today, in Thailand, BIM is mostly used for creating aesthetic 3D models and quantity takeoff purposes, though it can be an effective tool to use as a project management tool in planning and scheduling. Now the governmental sector in Thailand begins to recognize the uses of using BIM to manage a construction project, but the knowledge about the BIM implementation to governmental construction projects is underdeveloped. Further studies need to be conducted to maximize its advantages for the governmental sector. An educational extra large governmental building of 17,000 square-meters was used in this research. It is currently under construction for a two-year renovation project. BIM models of the building for the exterior and interior areas were created for the whole five floors. Then 4D BIM with combination of 3D BIM plus time was created for planning and scheduling. Three focus groups had been done with executive committee, contractors, and officers of the building to discuss the possibility of usage and usefulness of BIM approach over the traditional process. Several aspects were discussed in the positive sides, especially several foreseen problems, such as the inadequate accessibility of ways, the altered ceiling levels, the impractical construction plan created through a traditional approach, and the lack of constructability information. However, for some parties, the cost of BIM implementation was a concern, though, this study believes, its uses outweigh the cost.

Keywords: building information modeling, extra large building, governmental building renovation, project management, renovation, 4D BIM

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Authors: Sunday Odunaiya

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The statistics of banks in operation in this current dispensation compared to some decades ago has brought about a lot of changes on the face of the financial system. The demand of customers, technological advancement, and government policies among others has therefore generated a lot of heat for financial sector’s growth, sustenance and survival. This paper discusses mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in banking sector using West Africa as a yardstick of evaluation. It explains rigorously the conditions that warrant mergers and acquisitions in the banking sector, its effect, and how to ensure mergers and acquisitions effectiveness in the banking sector. The conceptual and empirical review of the relevant literature were done systematically while value-increasing and value-decreasing theories were used to substantiate the discourse. Findings of this paper show that mergers and acquisitions is a practical and conscious activity in Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast from earliest time till date with tremendous turnaround in the financial sector. It was found out that M&A is consensually arrived at by the targets and the acquirer on a value-based account. In other words, merger and acquisition is a deliberate decision reached by the management of such bank for a ‘just cause’.

Keywords: acquisitions, merger, management, financial sector

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Authors: Mujahid S. Alturais

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The construction of process plants in oil and gas-producing countries, such as Saudi Arabia, necessitates substantial investment in design and building. Each new plant, while unique, includes common building types, suggesting an opportunity for design standardization. This study investigates the adoption of standardized Issue For Construction (IFC) packages for non-process buildings in Saudi Aramco. A SWOT analysis presents the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of this approach. The approach's benefits are illustrated using the Hawiyah Unayzah Gas Reservoir Storage Program (HUGRSP) as a case study. Standardization not only offers significant cost savings and operational efficiencies but also expedites project timelines, reduces the potential for change orders, and fosters local economic growth by allocating building tasks to local contractors. Standardization also improves project management by easing interface constraints between different contractors and promoting adaptability to future industry changes. This research underscores the standardization of non-process buildings as a powerful strategy for cost optimization, efficiency enhancement, and local economic development in process plant construction within the oil and gas sector.

Keywords: building, construction, management, project, standardization

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Authors: Yvonne Ayerki Lamptey

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The expanding informal sector in developing countries and in Ghana in particular from the 1980s has now been aggravated by the growing population and downsizing in both the public and private sectors, with displaced workers finding alternative livelihoods in the informal sector. Youth and graduate unemployment also swell the numbers and further promote the continuity of the sector. Formal workers and institutions facilitate the growth and complicate demarcations between informality within the formal and informal sectors. In spite of its growth and increasing importance, the informal economy does not feature in policy debates and has often been neglected by the Ghana government. The phenomenon has evolved with modernity into myriad unimaginable forms. Indeed, actors within the sector often clash with the interventions provided by policy makers - because neither the operatives nor the activities they perform can be clearly defined. This study uses in-depth interviews to explore the behavioural nature of the informal workers in Ghana to understand how the operatives describe and perceive the sector, and to identify the factors that influence their drive to stay within the sector. This paper concludes that the operatives clearly distinguish between the formal and informal sectors and identify the characteristics and conditions that constitute the informal sector. Other workers are trapped between formality and informality. The findings also enumerate the push and pull factors contributing to the growth of the sector.

Keywords: informal employment, informal sector, informal work, informality

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Authors: Olubukola Olumuyiwa Tokede, Dominic D. Ahiaga-Dagbui, John Morrison

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The project environment in construction has been widely criticised for its inability to learn from experience effectively. As each project is bespoke, learning is ephemeral, as it is often confined within its bounds and seldom assimilated with others that are being delivered in the project environment. To engender learning across construction projects, collaborative contractual arrangements, such as alliancing and partnering, have been embraced to aid the transferability of lessons across projects. These cooperative arrangements, however, tend to be costly, and hence construction organisations could revert to less expensive traditional procurement approaches after successful collaborative project delivery. This research, therefore, seeks to assess the lessons-learned in a post-alliance contractual framework. Using a case-study approach, we examine the experiences of a public sector authority who engaged a project facilitator to foster learning during the delivery of a significant piece of critical infrastructure. It was found that the facilitator enabled optimal learning outcomes in post-alliance contractual frameworks by attenuating the otherwise adversarial relationship between clients and contractors. Further research will seek to assess the effectiveness of different knowledge-brokering agencies in construction projects.

Keywords: facilitation, knowledge-brokering, learning, projects

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Authors: Omar M. Aldenali

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Planning is one of the most important phases of the management science and network planning, which represents the project activities relationship. Critical path is one of the project management techniques used to plan and control the execution of a project activities. The objective of this paper is to implement a fuzzy logic approach to arrange network planning on construction projects. This method is used to finding out critical path in the fuzzy construction project network. The trapezoidal fuzzy numbers are used to represent the activity construction project times. A numerical example that represents a house construction project is introduced. The critical path method is implemented on the fuzzy construction network activities, and the results showed that this method significantly affects the completion time of the construction projects.

Keywords: construction project, critical path, fuzzy network project, planning

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Authors: Aydemir Akyürek, Osman Nuri Ağdağ

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Construction industry is in a rapid development for many years around the world and especially in Turkey. In the last three years sector has 10% growth and provides significant support on Turkey’s national economy. Many construction projects are on-going at urban and rural areas of Turkey which have substantial environmental impacts. Environmental impacts during construction phase are quite diversified and widespread. Environmental impacts of construction industry cannot be inspected properly in all cases and negative impacts may occur frequently in many projects in Turkey. In this study, implementation of ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS) in construction plants is evaluated. In the beginning stage quality management systems generally reviewed and ISO 14001 EMS is selected for implementation. Standard requirements are examined first and implementation of every standard requirement is elaborated for the selected construction plant in the following stage. Key issues and common problems, gained benefits by execution of this type of international EMS standard are examined. As can be seen in sample projects, construction projects are being completed very fast and contractors are working in a highly competitive environment with low profit ratios in our country and mostly qualified work force cannot be accessible. Addition to this there are deficits on waste handling and environmental infrastructure. Besides construction companies which have substantial investments on EMSs can be faced with difficulties on competitiveness in domestic market, however professional Turkish contractors which implementing managements systems in larger scale at international projects are gaining successful results. Also the concept of ‘construction project management’ which is being implemented in successful projects worldwide cannot be implemented except larger projects in Turkey. In case of nonexistence of main management system (quality) implementation of EMSs cannot be managed. Despite all constraints, EMSs that will be implemented in this industry with commitment of top managements and demand of customers will be an enabling, facilitating tool to determine environmental aspects and impacts of construction sites, will provide higher compliance levels for environmental legislation, to establish best available methods for operational control on waste management, chemicals management etc. and to plan monitoring and measurement, to prioritize environmental aspects for investment schedules and waste management.

Keywords: environmental management system, construction projects, ISO 14001, quality

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Authors: Namhun Lee, Seong Jin Kim

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The construction industry represents one of the largest industries in the United States, yet it continues to face several occupational health and safety challenges. Many workers on construction sites are suffering from extended exposure to stressful situations such as poor and hazardous work environments and task complexity. Stress can be commonly defined as a feeling of emotional or physical tension, which can easily impact construction safety and result in a higher rate of job-related injuries in the construction industry. Physiological signals transmitted from wearable biosensors can be used to detect excessive stress. Therefore, workers’ stress should be detected and mitigated to prevent any type of serious incident or accident proactively. By doing this, construction productivity, as well as job satisfaction, would also be improved in the construction industry. To establish a foundation in this field of research, a conceptual framework for using wearable technology for construction safety has been developed for continuous and automatic monitoring of worker’s stress. The conceptual framework will serve as a foothold in future studies on the application of wearable technology for construction safety.

Keywords: construction safety, occupational stress, stress monitoring, wearable biosensors

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Authors: Saleh Alzahrani, Halim Boussabaine

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Many of Public Private Partnership (PPP) are developed based on a public project is to be awarded to a private party within a one contractual framework. PPP project risks typically include the development and construction of a new asset as well as its operation. Certainly the most severe consequences of risks through the construction period are price and time overruns. These events are among the most generally used situation in value for money analysis risks. The sources of risk change during the time in PPP project. In traditional procurement, the public sector usually has to cover all prices suffering from these risks. At least there is plenty to suggest that price suffering is a norm in some of the projects that are delivered under traditional procurement. This paper will find the impact of exogenous risk factors into actual construction price into PPP projects. The paper will present a brief literature review on PPP risk pricing strategies and then using system dynamics (SD) to analyses of the risks associated with the estimated project price. Based on the finding from these analyses a risk pricing association model is presented and discussed. The paper concludes with thoughts for future research.

Keywords: public private partnership (PPP), risk, risk pricing, system dynamics (SD)

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Authors: Muhammad Lawal A., Abdullateef Abdulkarim Jimoh

Abstract:

This study is to appraise the labour-saving construction methods achievable using a buildability framework through an improved design system. Adoption of labour-efficient technology and construction techniques will be necessary to supplement good buildable designs. Increased usage of prefabricated, modular, and standardized construction components, simplicity in the design, and the number of integrated elements all work to advance buildable design. The objectives of the study include `determining a more efficient buildability framework for designers to achieve labour-saving construction’. 20 completed building projects in Birnin Kebbi, Nigeria, is used as a case study to buttress the proposition that `a more buildable design using buildability frame result in labour-saving in construction adopting a Singapore study approach.

Keywords: buildability framework, buildable designs, construction, labour-saving construction

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Authors: Tharaki S. Hettiarachchi

Abstract:

Sustainable construction has gained massive attention in the present world as the construction industry is highly responsible for carbon emissions and other types of unsustainable practices. Yet, the construction industry has not been able to completely attain sustainable goals. Therefore, the present study aims to identify the extent to which sustainability has been considered within the scope of construction project management and to analyze the challenges, gaps, and constraints associated. Accordingly, this study develops a sustainable framework to integrate in construction project management. In accomplishing the research aim, this research integrates a qualitative approach while relying on secondary data sources. The data shall be then analyzed with the use of a systematic literature review (SLR) method while following the PRISMA (2020) guideline and represented in a statistical form. The outcomes of this study may become highly significant in identifying the nature of the existing sustainable frameworks associated with construction project management scopes and to develop a new framework to integrate in order to enhance the effectiveness of sustainable applications in construction management. The outcomes of this research may benefit present and future construction professionals and academicians to organize sustainable construction-related knowledge in a useful way to apply in practical implementation for effective project management. Overall, this study directs present and future construction professionals toward an advanced construction project management mechanism.

Keywords: construction, framework development, project management, sustainability

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Authors: Ibraheem A. K. Mahameed

Abstract:

The aim of this study is to identify the risks affecting time performance of building construction projects in the West Bank in Palestine from contractors’ viewpoint. 38 risks that might affect time performance of building construction projects were defined through a detailed literature review. These risks have been classified into 6 groups: project, managerial, consultant, financial, external, and construction items. A questionnaire survey was performed to rank the considered risks in terms of severity and frequency. The analysis of the survey indicated that the top five risks affecting time performance of building construction projects in Palestine are: award project to the lowest price, political situation, poor communication and coordination between construction parties, change orders, and financial status of contractor.

Keywords: delay, time performance, construction, building

Procedia PDF Downloads 432