Factors affecting the performance of construction industry during the COVID-19 pandemic: a case study in Turkey

One of the latest advancements transforming the global architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry is building information modeling (BIM). Although BIM implementation is at high level in developed countries, it is at a lower level in developing countries. BIM is new to the construction industry in Turkey, with only minor construction firms having implemented it. When making projections based on the current state of the Turkish AEC industry, it is foreseen that it will become mandatory in the near future. Considering this projection, it is doubtful that many construction companies will be caught unprepared for this situation and will not know how to implement BIM. Therefore, this study aimed to identify and model the critical success factors for BIM implementation and their impact size in order to gain insight for the fast and efficient implementation of BIM among construction firms in the Turkish AEC industry, which can be generalized for most developing countries. To reach these aims, a questionnaire was designed with 41 identified success criteria (SC) that were derived through a systematic literature review (SLR). The survey was conducted on construction professionals who actively implement BIM technology at their occupied firms in Turkey and they were asked to rank the importance of 41 SC on a five-point Likert scale. The sampling frame consisted of architects and civil engineers, and in total, 243 responses were received. The differentiation between SC and critical success criteria (CSC) was obtained by using a normalized mean cutoff value. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to identify the critical success factors (CSFs), and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the underlying size effects of each CSF on BIM implementation in the Turkish AEC industry. The results of this study reveal 20 CSC for successful BIM implementation, and EFA exhibited three CSFs from 20 CSC. Three critical success factors for BIM implementation in the Turkish construction industry were determined and grouped into two categories. “Awareness of technological benefits” and “organizational readiness and competitive advantages” formed one group and are the most influential critical success factors for BIM implementation. “Motivation of management regarding BIM” formed the second group of critical success factors that have a significant effect.

Turkish economy has a growing trend after the 2000-2001 economic crises, although ups and downs were experienced in some periods. Some of the important components of Turkish economy are the construction industry and the related housing industry. The construction industry in Turkey has a multiplier effect in the economy since it uses domestic inputs and creates jobs for the labor. Also, the construction sector actors operate overseas and enable inflow of foreign currency to Turkey, thus fostering economic growth. In the recent years, foreign funds and overseas firms have an increasing interest in Turkish construction industry. The Turkish housing industry as one of the leading components of construction industry has also experienced eye-catching developments in the recent years. Definitely, the Turkish housing industry is now much more competitive compared to former years. The global economic crisis of 2008 originated from the housing industry and had devastating effects all over the world. However, the 2008 global economic crisis had relatively lighter effects in Turkey. Parallel to the improvements in construction and housing industries, several financial alternatives exist today. Banks have diversified their credit products considering the needs of consumers. Moreover, the mortgage law going in effect and the mortgage practices becoming popular have contributed to the progress of housing industry. This study analyzed the effect of housing loans and their diversification on economic growth. The research concentrated on the 2010-2015 period, where the impact of 2008 global crisis has diminished.

The Republic of Turkey is a major force in the international construction market. This paperpresents the construction industry in Turkey. Special attention is paid to the overview of the industry; the size and structure of the construction industry; construction contracts (competitively bid, negotiated, build-operate-transfer, ‘mutual construction’); selection of contractor and bidding law; management structure; construction management techniques (bar chart, progress and development outline, CPM); trend of the domestic market; and international construction.

Planning Engineers’ Estimates on Labor Productivity: Theory and Practice

The construction sector became source of controversies in recent years in Turkey. This study is devised to explore the three crucial elements of controversial construction ‘craziness’ that Turkey has experienced since 2002, when the Islamic conservative Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi, AKP) came to power, sweeping victory in the parliamentary elections with 34.3 per cent of the total votes. The first element is a regarded relation between GDP and the construction industry with its supposedly strong linkages with other industries. The second element is the mounting extensive and direct involvement of the AKP governments in the sector, especially through Housing Development Administration of Turkey. Finally yet importantly, the clientelistic networks between the AKP and some privileged businessmen have to be mentioned. Exploring these elements leads to the conclusion that during the AKP era the political involvement in and the economic development of sector became inextricably enme...

Ali Ağaoğlu is the leading figure in the construction industry in Turkey, specializing in luxury housing estates. His sales figures have reached record levels since the early 2000s, far surpassing those of other similar entrepreneurs’. While governmental policies that prioritize the development of the construction sector partially account for Ağaoğlu’s commercial success, we contend that the analysis of popular media images is essential in order to understand his estates’ popularity. Based on a close reading of his media appearances in housing commercials and interviews in the light of psychoanalytical theory, we argue that Ağaoğlu has manufactured a realizable fantasy for his clients, which structures their desires in the cultural context of consumer capitalism. However, the limits of Ağaoğlu’s fantasy world of housing were tested in an unexpected outbreak in one of his estates, where the homeowers traversed their fantasies.

Double skin façade's effects on heat losses of office buildings in Istanbul

Projects are laden with variety of uncertainties depending on their unique characteristics. Construction projects have their own distinctive qualifications and technology. Thereby, unspecialized legal professionals on the subjects of construction related cases would lead the judicial process to settle on unhealthy basis. In this study, it is aimed to classify disputes related to construction sector to distinguish the most frequent dispute sources and to identify the competency level and qualification of concerned judicial actors. Correspondingly, 282 cases between 2007 and 2017 in Turkey have been classified to relevant contents and analysed. In conclusion, contract contents, civil projects, contracts between employers and contractors, debits and credits related disputes have been detected as the most frequent dispute sources under the main contents. Secondly, in majority of the cases, reassessment has been given by Court of Cassation due to inadequate competency level of Courts of First Instance and expert witnesses.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a solid understanding of how integrated building information modeling (BIM) is implemented in a mega project such as the (Istanbul Grand Airport IGA) construction project, which is the main case study in the research methodology.Design/methodology/approachThe paper examines and identifies the lean efficiency gains achieved in the IGA project and highlights the synergies between BIM and lean concepts based on the facts and figures from the case study analysis. In complex projects, there is a vital need for a comprehensive approach that would enable successful managing of design and construction information via accurate modeling, collaboration and integration throughout the project lifecycles covering various disciplines.FindingsThe research findings in the paper make a significant impact in understanding the strategic perception for BIM as a new way of working methodology for the construction industry in Turkey, since the IGA project has become not only a key learning hub for the Turkish construction industry, but also a global landmark for digital construction and project delivery. In addition it proves the mutual synergies between BIM and lean practices.Originality/valueThe IGA project is a mega-scale airport construction project with features beyond building industry challenges, and it should be designed and constructed with tight deadlines and budgets and be operated afterwards in an effective and efficient way. Can lean and BIM help for timely and on-budget completion of the project and could they support the management of the airport facility after handover? The paper also discusses the lean and BIM implementation in the project in relation to the BIM Level 3 requirements.

A Research on the Approach of Employment Authorization Licence of the Construction Industry Employees

This study presents drivers and barriers on construction industry extended reality (XR) implementations in Turkey. It aims to investigate the current state and future directions of XR opportunities for architecture offices and construction companies in a developing country. A quantitative approach was employed which involves conducting a survey, performing statistical analyses, and verification of the hypotheses. The data were analyzed by SPSS and Excel using the frequency, mean score, standard deviation (SD), and one sample t-test. Thirty-three different companies participated in the survey with a return rate of 56.89%. The results were considered statistically significant since all the p-values were below 0.05. The findings revealed that even though 60% of the companies are not using XR, 60% companies have near future plans on implementing them. According to the results, XR was considered as beneficial and highly motivating for the near future, yet it needs to be widespread for companies to keep themselves abreast of information and communication technology trends. Finally, by considering the findings obtained from the results this study reaches a classification of drivers as ‘increased efficiency: time-cost-quality’ and ‘increased communication and coordination’ while barriers as ‘technical limitations’, ‘high costs’, and ‘unqualified professional’.

Volcanic tuff stones are widely used to coat the interior and exterior surfaces of buildings for ornamental purposes in the construction industry in Turkey, and are also used as structural material in the construction of masonry buildings, especially in the Cappadocia region, which is a popular tourist destination. In this study, seventy-six volcanic tuff stone samples collected from different quarries located in different geographical regions in Turkey were surveyed for radiometric analysis, and the radiological risk to human health caused by ionizing radiation from natural radionuclides in the volcanic tuff stone samples was evaluated. The activity concentrations of 238 U, 232 Th, 226 Ra and 40 K analyzed in volcanic tuff stone samples were very variable, ranging from 3 to 389, 8 to 401, 2 to 263 and 99 to 2107 Bq kg -1 , respectively. The emanation coefficient and mass exhalation rate of 222 Rn measured for the volcanic tuff samples ranged from 2 to 68% with an average of 34%, and 1 to 194 μ Bq kg -1 s -1 with an average of 43 μ Bq kg -1 s -1 , respectively. The external (gamma) and internal (alpha) hazard indices, indoor absorbed gamma dose rate and the corresponding annual effective dose were estimated to evaluate the potential radiological risk to human health. The results showed that all of the surveyed volcanic tuff stone samples can be used as covering building materials for ornamental or insulating covering purposes. However, the use of some volcanic tuff stone samples as structural building materials should be restricted.

Large-scale high-rise architecture projects have been central to the rise of the construction industry in Turkey in recent years. This vertical escalation, however, has not been received without dissidence. Scholars, activists, journalists and officials with different viewpoints have participated in media debates regarding the reasons and consequences of this transformation. In these discussions, stakeholders have raised various environmental, cultural and ethical concerns that the vertical organisation of cities generate. Focussing on juxtapositions of Izmir and Istanbul in debates on urban verticality in the city of Izmir, Turkey’s third most populated city, the paper examines how such comparisons with Istanbul, where the recent urban neoliberal transformation is experienced most intensely, have been mobilised to oppose vertical expansion. The paper argues that as a result of the recent centralisation of the Turkish economy around construction, the hyper-visibility of skyscrapers and the concentration of the urban transformation generated by the Turkish construction industry in Istanbul, skyscrapers have become materialised symbols of Istanbul’s integration into global capitalism, neoliberal urbanisation, and the difference between Istanbul and other urban centres in Turkey. This example establishes urban verticality as a discursive axis at which urban centres outside of the Global North establish their difference from each other.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia construction industry is bedevilled with many problems. Many construction projects delivered to poor cost, time, quality performances. In addition, many of the construction organisations in the KSA operate with inefficient project delivery processes and produce enormous wastes and low-value return to clients. Lean construction has been proposed as a management strategy for overcoming the problems associated with construction project delivery and organisational processes in the KSA construction industry. Despite the avalanche of frameworks for implementing lean construction strategies, the appropriate framework for promoting lean construction in the KSA construction industry is lacking. The result is the limited implementation of lean construction in the KSA construction industry. Beside the lack of an appropriate framework for implementing lean construction strategies, there is a concerning dearth of research addressing issues pertaining to the implementation of lean construction such as the barriers and critical success factors (CSFs) for implementing lean construction in the KSA construction industry. As a result, the state of art of lean construction in the KSA construction industry is unknown. Therefore, this study is carried out to promote lean construction in the KSA construction industry. The research methodology follows a pragmatic research paradigm which allows the combined use of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. The quantitative methodology aspects involve the questionnaire survey of experts to obtain their opinion on the types of wastes, the tools and techniques that support the implementation of lean construction, benefits of lean construction, and stages of application of lean methods in the KSA construction industry. In addition, the questionnaire was used to gather experts' opinion about the barriers to the implementation of lean construction in the KSA construction industry. The data obtained from the survey was analysed using powerful statistical analysis techniques such as one-way ANOVA, and the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. An open-ended questionnaire combined with an interview scheme was also designed to obtain the experts' views on the CSFs for implementing lean construction in the KSA construction industry. The data obtained was qualitatively analysed using content analysis to derive a comprehensive list of CSFs for implementing lean construction in the KSA construction industry. On the basis of the list derived, selected experts were asked to complete a pairwise comparison of the CSFs through a well-designed row and column questionnaire. An ISM technique was employed to specify the interrelationships among the CSFs, as well as their hierarchies in order to develop an ISM model for promoting lean construction in the KSA construction industry. An interview with experts who have the understanding of lean construction and the operations of the KSA construction industry was carried out to check for conceptual inconsistencies, and to confirmif the model can be implemented as a lean construction framework for improving the performance of construction projects and organisations in the KSA construction industry. The investigation reveals that 'waiting' is the most pervasive type of waste in the KSA construction industry, while the level of pervasiveness of the over-processing and over-production types of wastes are different between the large and small construction companies mainly due to resource constraints. There are a myriad number of different tools/techniques that support the implementation of lean construction in the KSA construction industry, but the computer aided design (CAD) provides the most support to the implementation of lean construction. The top ranked barriers which are of greatest concern to the implementation of LC in the KSA construction industry are: influence of traditional practices, unfavorable organisational culture, lack of technical skills about lean techniques, and lack of understanding of lean approaches. In descending order of pervasiveness, the principal factors that constitute these barriers in the KSA construction industry are the traditional practices barrier, client-related barrier, standardisation barrier, a technological barrier, performance and knowledge barrier, and cost related barrier. Of these principal barriers, the client related barrier is a new kind of barrier to implementing lean construction in the body of knowledge. There are 12 CSFs for implementing lean construction in the KSA construction industry. As a result, an ISM model that specifies the relationship between the CSFs for implementing lean construction in the KSA construction industry is developed, while a further validation study confirms that the ISM model can be implemented as a lean construction framework for improving the performance of construction projects and organisations in the KSA construction industry. The ISM model comprises of 7 hierarchies (VII-I) of the 12 CSFs. The CSFs in the top hierarchy are the most important CSFs for implementing lean construction in the KSA construction industry. Those in the middling hierarchy are very unstable, whereby any action taken on one or more of them has an effect on another. Therefore, utmost care and consideration are necessary when putting in place any of these CSFs for the implementation of lean construction in the KSA construction industry. The CSF in the least hierarchy is the least important in the KSA construction industry, and to apply this CSF is entirely reliant on the other CSFs, in other words, other CSFs need to be in place to apply this CSF to the implementation of lean construction in the KSA construction industry. Overall, the study generates a new knowledge in the area of lean construction in the KSA construction industry context. This study reveals the state of art of lean construction in the KSA construction industry. In addition, this study identifies the barriers to, and the CSF for implementing lean construction in the KSA construction industry. This study also develops an ISM model that specifies the relationship among the CSFs for implementing lean construction towards the development of a framework for promoting lean construction in the KSA construction industry. In contrast to existing frameworks, the framework reflects the socio-cultural and operation context in the KSA construction industry.

PurposeDespite several advantages of Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology, BIM has not been adopted and implemented extensively in developing countries. Consequently BIM remains at a beginner level in developing countries. To increase the level of BIM implementation, first, knowing the root factors that resist BIM implementation is necessary to know. Therefore, the objective of this study was to identify the factors that limit BIM implementation in developing countries, specifically in the Turkish Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire was designed with 46 influencing causes (ICs) identified through a systematic literature review. In total, 141 survey results were returned from architects and engineers, and reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted. Furthermore, a structural equation model (SEM) was developed to identify the root factors of BIM implementation.FindingsEight root factors affecting the prevalent use of BIM technology in the Turkish construction industry were determined and grouped into three categories based on BIM implementation level. Problems with the BIM transition process and a lack of management support are the most influential root factors limiting BIM implementation. Lack of incentives, lack of BIM education, bias regarding BIM technology and BIM-based software problems form the second group of root factors that have a significant effect. Awareness and lack of communication amongst stakeholders were identified as root factors that had a moderate effect.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to the knowledge body by revealing eight root factors limiting BIM implementation in the Turkish AEC industry which can be generalised to most developing countries. Therefore, the outcomes of this study may be used as a practical reference for future research aimed at improving BIM adoption in developing countries through governmental, educational, and managerial solutions.Originality/valueSeveral studies have identified the challenges and barriers of BIM implementation in the construction industry using qualitative and quantitative analyses and projected the current state. Unlike previous studies, this study comprehensively and quantitatively determined the root factors that constrain the use of BIM in Turkey using exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modelling to present a structural model.