Abstract
The formwork system (FWS) in reinforced concrete (RC) construction is a critical component. The appropriate FWS is selected based on a number of conflicting and compromising criteria, and the selection of the FWS is carried out by construction professionals with different technical and/or administrative backgrounds. The perspectives and perceptions of construction professionals and companies involved in the FWS selection process may vary depending on their motives. In addition, some building structural parameters may have a significant impact on the FWS selection criteria. Most of the former studies investigated the FWS selection criteria from only the perspective of contractors and neglected the potential differences in the perspectives and perceptions of different construction professionals (i.e., owners (CO), project managers (PM), construction managers (CM), site engineers (SE), planning engineers (PL), procurement engineers (PR), technical office engineers (TO), and formwork design and/or formwork sales engineers (FD/FSL)) and companies specialized in different fields (i.e., project management service (PMS), engineering and design (ENG/DSG), formwork and scaffolding (FW/SCF), and general and/or sub-contractor (GC/SC)) regarding this issue. Moreover, the impact of building structural parameters on the FWS selection criteria has not been investigated. This study aims to fill this knowledge gap through analysing the FWS selection criteria for building construction projects while comparing the perspectives and perceptions of different groups of construction professionals and companies and investigating how FWS selection criteria are affected by the building structural parameters. Based on a comprehensive literature review, 35 FWS selection criteria were identified and a questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire data obtained from 222 Turkish construction professionals were statistically analysed using mean score analysis, the Kruskal–Wallis test, and the Mann–Whitney U test. According to the study’s findings, the FD/FSL group presented significant statistical differences regarding the FWS selection criteria as compared to the CO, PM/CM/SE, and PL/PR/TO groups. Moreover, the total area of building construction and total building height significantly affected the FWS selection criteria. This study serves to underscore the perspectives of various groups of construction professionals and the critical connection between the structural parameters and FWS selection criteria. The findings of this study may guide construction professionals to select the appropriate FWS for their building construction projects.
Highlights
Introductionreinforced concrete (RC) construction involves repetitive activities, with formwork, rebar, and concrete being the main components of these activities in building construction projects [1]
The alternative hypothesis Hypothesis 1 (H1) is accepted for both hypotheses as the relative importance levels of the formwork system (FWS) selection criteria in building construction projects vary according to the “professional title” and “field of specialization”
The purpose of this study was to analyse the FWS selection criteria by comparing the perspectives and perceptions of various construction professionals and stakeholder groups involved in building construction projects in Turkey
Summary
RC construction involves repetitive activities, with formwork, rebar, and concrete being the main components of these activities in building construction projects [1]. Formwork accounts for a major part of the RC structure’s cost [2]. The selected FWS may contribute to up to two-thirds of the entire cost of the RC structural frame [3] and 10% of the total construction cost [4]. In Turkey, the labour cost of formwork accounts for 10 to
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