Construction Industry In Order Research Articles

On the limited damp-proofing of residential buildings: do social norms matter?

PurposeThis study draws on neoclassical and behavioural economics theories to provide an empirical insight into the effect of knowledge, costs, and social norms on damp-proofing residential buildings in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachThis study used the quantitative approach involving survey data. A sample size of 242 participants was involved in the study. Applying principal component analysis on the responses from the participants, an index for damp-proofing, cost, knowledge, and social norms was derived. After generating the indexes, the ordinary least squares (OLS) regression was applied to estimate the impact of knowledge, costs, and social norms on damp-proofing.FindingsThe results from the OLS regression revealed that knowledge has a significant positive effect on damp-proofing while costs and social norms have significant negative effect on damp-proofing in Ghana. This study, therefore, concludes that although neoclassical economic factors such as knowledge and cost affect behaviour (damp-proofing), behavioural factors such as social norms also matter.Practical implicationsThe outcome of this study calls for policymakers to consider putting in place measures that increase knowledge and promote the use of damp-proofing techniques during the construction of buildings. In addition, the study calls for scholars to partake in collaborative research amongst disciplines such as economics, psychology, and the construction industry in order to provide more innovative solutions, the key of which is finding innovative ways to damp proof buildings.Originality/valueThis study is original in its context as it draws on neoclassical and behavioural economics theories to provide an empirical insight into the effect of knowledge, costs, and social norms on damp-proofing of residential buildings in Ghana. This is an area that has received less attention in the areas of building biology and building pathology globally.

Assessment of Factors Affecting the Safety Performance in Construction Projects

Abstract: This study analyzes the 152 responses of clients, contractors, and consultants within the construction industry in order to investigate safety performance factors within the construction industry. The data for the study were gathered through the use of a structured questionnaire, and statistical analysis, including ANOVA tests, was performed on it in order to evaluate the possibility of differences between the respondents in terms of their experience and designation. The findings highlight significant differences in perceptions among the various groups and suggest that areas of focus for improvement include safety training, availability of equipment, communication, and adherence to safety standards. The study emphasizes the significance of ongoing evaluation and improvement of safety measures and advocates for increased attention to the cultivation of a culture that places an emphasis on safety in construction projects. These findings provide valuable insights for improving overall safety performance and contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of safety in the construction industry, which is a sector that is currently understudied.

Green Building Best Practices in Achieving Energy and Environmental Sustainability

In the construction and building industry, sustainable development is becoming a powerful force for economic, social, and environmental gains with fewer negative consequences for the environment. It is essential to establish green and sustainable practices in the building and construction industry in order to improve energy efficiency, particularly by utilising the newest green technologies. As a result, the study’s objectives are to first investigate the most relevant practices to be used for green building employment; second, evaluate the benefits produced by the execution of green building; and third, analyse the best practices of green building characteristics. The findings of this study showed that green buildings developed using energy-efficient systems and implementing sustainable practices can reduce energy consumption, as well as lower the cost of operating and maintaining these buildings in the long term. Meanwhile, the government’s role is essential to attracting more participants in implementing sustainable practices in the construction and building sector, especially through more stringent regulations and appealing incentives.

Performance Evaluation of Sand Screening Machine: Effect of Sieve Size and Moisture Content

In construction industry, sand is a major raw material besides water, cement, gravel and steel. The quality of sand is vital in development of firm structures in construction. Thus, for construction industry to remain competitive, it is critical to develop efficient sand screening technologies that produce high quality sand while reducing labour cost. Therefore, the main objective of this research paper was to assess sand sieving technologies used in construction industry in Kenya and to design and evaluate performance operation of the sand screening machine that would help improve the efficiency and quality of sand while lowering the overall construction cost. The specific objectives were to design sand screening machine and to investigate the effect of moisture and sieve sizes on screening time. Experiments were conducted on semi-automatic machine driven by motor to determine fine sand produced at different moisture levels and time consumed. The machine designed consist a motor, sieve, shaft, steel hollow tubes, flat steel bars, sheet metal plates, hinges, eccentric sheaves, and angle bars. The study found that screening raw sand of 10 kg using a designed semi-automatic machine with a sieve of 3mm x 3mm and densities 1442 kg/m3, 1602 kg/m3, 1682 kg/m3, 1922 kg/m3 and 2082 kg/m3 were found to produce 8.1kg, 6.8kg, 6.1kg, 4.1kg and 2.8kg respectively with sieving time of 24s, 26s, 27s, 30s and 32s respectively. Designed semi-automatic sand sieving machine displayed a labour reduction cost of 66% leading to savings of Ksh. 39,600 per month. In addition, the output of the machine screening dry sand (1442 kg/m3) 8 hours per day was found to be 9,720 kg. In conclusion, low density sand and optimal sieve size results to high efficiency and significant labour cost savings. The study recommends the use of sand with low density (dry) and adoption of semi-automatic screening machine technologies in construction industry in order to attain Kenya’s affordable housing programme

Concrete Technology in a Rapidly Growing Urban Environment – The Case of Dar es Salaam City

Concrete is a building material that is used in great quantities second only to our use of water. The ingredient materials of concrete include cement, fine and coarse aggregates plus a reasonable amount of water, and sometimes additives. The construction of various structures like, residential buildings, commercial buildings, hospitals, schools, bridges, etc, needs good quality concrete. Good modern technologies are needed by the construction industry in order to effectively construct buildings which are durable. A study has been done with the main objective of assessing the concrete technologies existing in rapid growing cities in Sub-Sahara Africa like Dar es Salaam, and the challenges faced in attaining good quality constructions. The study was done through site visits, observations, sampling and testing. From the results, it has been found that traditional concrete technologies are still prevailing, while new technologies are starting to be adopted. Also there is a problem of conformance to the standards. It was therefore recommended that investment in Cement production industries is needed and that regulatory bodies must enforce builders to adhere to the standards in order to yield good quality constructions.

Green Building Best Practices in Achieving Energy and Environmental Sustainability

In the construction and building industry, sustainable development is becoming a powerful force for economic, social, and environmental gains with fewer negative consequences for the environment. It is essential to establish green and sustainable practices in the building and construction industry in order to improve energy efficiency, particularly by utilising the newest green technologies. As a result, the study’s objectives are to first investigate the most relevant practices to be used for green building employment; second, evaluate the benefits produced by the execution of green building; and third, analyse the best practices of green building characteristics. The findings of this study showed that green buildings developed using energy-efficient systems and implementing sustainable practices can reduce energy consumption, as well as lower the cost of operating and maintaining these buildings in the long term. Meanwhile, the government’s role is essential to attracting more participants in implementing sustainable practices in the construction and building sector, especially through more stringent regulations and appealing incentives.

The Effect of Capital Structure Management on Firm’s Value: The Case of Final Tax Regulation on Indonesian Construction Firm

In 2008, the Indonesian government implements the final income tax regulation, a new income tax concept. Since its implementation, the final income tax has had a significant impact on how the construction industry calculates its income tax liability. Implementation of the final income tax, which mandates that the final tax be calculated directly on the firm’s revenue, has directly reduced the tax shield that the firm benefits from. The M&M theorem provided a new perspective on capital structure. The theory stated that a firm’s capital structure influence on the cost of capital depends on the firm’s tax shield implications. Combining the M&M theorem and the final tax implementation, the purpose of this study is to determine if a firm’s capital structure influences the firm value and whether the cost of capital mediates such effect in the Indonesian construction industry through the proxy of long-term debt-to-equity ratio, share price, and weighted average cost of capital. Using a quantitative methodology, secondary data from construction companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange between 2012 and 2019 are collected for this study. This study utilized linear regression and the simple mediation model. The result indicates that the long-term debt-to-equity ratio has a direct and significant positive effect on the stock price of the company. Meanwhile, the weighted average cost of capital does not have a significant mediating effect on the relationship between capital structure and stock price. The finding of this research is intended to provide firm managers an insight surrounding the implication of capital structure within Indonesia construction industry in order to be able to increase firm’s value.

Appraisal of health and safety management practices pre and during COVID-19 in the construction sector

The construction sector has long been regarded as one of the most dangerous. This is due to the industry's low performance in terms of health and safety when compared to other industries around the world. Construction workers experienced and continue to face extraordinary safety and health problems during the pandemic. The goal of this study is to analyse and assess the safety management in the construction industry in order to reduce and control construction worker health and safety (H&S), as well as what new safety precautions have been defined to protect the workforce's health and safety and limit the spread of the virus. A questionnaire is designed to gather a variety of viewpoints from experienced people working on various building sites. The first stage in gathering information from previously linked studies is to conduct evaluations of related literature, publications, and conference papers. The literature reviews provided a theoretical framework on safety management that aided in the questionnaire's development. According to the findings of this study, the construction sector has a high rate of fatalities and protracted injuries. In a modern culture, this is unacceptable, and it also makes the sector inefficient, as days are missed due to injury.

How resilient safety culture correct unsafe behavior of new generation of construction workers: the mediating effects of job crafting and perceived work meaningfulness

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the correction mechanism of resilient safety culture on new generation of construction workers (NGCWs)' unsafe behavior and test the multiple mediation effects of job crafting and perceived work meaningfulness based on the context of Chinese construction industry in order to find a new way to effectively correct the NGCWs' unsafe behavior.Design/methodology/approachA theoretical model of correction mechanism was established based on literature research and theoretical deduction. An empirical study was employed based on confirmatory factor analysis and regression analysis with a sample of 404 NGCWs in China.FindingsThe results indicated that resilient safety culture can effectively correct NGCWs' unsafe behavior through job crafting and perceived work meaningfulness. Job crafting and perceived work meaningfulness can play independent and serial mediating roles between resilient safety culture and unsafe behavior.Research limitations/implicationsResearch results only represent a short-term law about the correction mechanism of NGCWs' unsafe behavior based on a questionnaire study from China's construction industry. It is necessary to continue to implement a longitudinal study to test it in a relatively long period in future research. The findings also need to be verified based on the young construction workers in other countries.Practical implicationsThis study provides a theoretical basis and feasible management reference for construction enterprises in China to correct NGCWs' unsafe behavior from the perspective of resilient safety culture. Furthermore, the construction of resilient safety culture in construction enterprises can help NGCWs better carry out job crafting and perceive the meaning of work.Originality/valueThis paper clarifies the correction mechanism of resilient safety culture on unsafe behavior of NGCWs, and further tests the independent mediating roles and a serial mediating role of job crafting and perceived work meaningfulness between resilient safety culture and unsafe behavior, which fills the research gap about the influence mechanism of resilient safety culture on young construction workers' unsafe behavior and enriches the theoretical system of unsafe behavior correction of construction workers.

Construction and Demolition Residuals as Raw Materials for the Production of Novel Geopolymer Building Materials

The increasing number of new construction projects requiring high-quality building products, which, in turn, emit enormous amounts of CO2, runs counter to European and global climate goals. The increasing occupation of valuable landfill space is also an ecological problem. To meet these challenges without having to lower living standards, more ecological building materials should be used in the future. Geopolymers or alkali-activated materials, which, unlike conventional building materials, can be produced and used without a prior burning or calcination process, offer a comparatively low-CO2 alternative. Significant CO2 emissions can already be saved by using this technology. The aim of this work is to investigate whether geopolymers can also be produced from construction and demolition residuals generated by the construction industry in order to counteract the problem of the increasing use of landfill space and, at the same time, to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the production of building materials. For this purpose, various residual materials from the construction and demolition industry are investigated by means of XRF, XRD, and IR spectroscopy for their setting behavior by alkaline activation. At the same time, the characteristic values of compressive strength, flexural strength, bulk density, and thermal conductivity, which are important for building materials, are determined in order to test the possible applications of the resulting materials as building materials.

Research of infrastructure of investment and construction process

The article considers the most important factors that led to the emergence of new activities that ensure the creation of high quality consumer value of construction projects, for financing, design, construction and management of which requires expert intervention. The study of investment and construction activities suggests that a group of professionals – functional participants – "promotes the investment process", and this, in turn, allows, according to the author, to distinguish them and combine them with the concept of infrastructure of investment and construction process. Much attention in the article is paid to the study of the essence of the concept of infrastructure as a set of institutions, organizations, government and commercial enterprises that ensure optimal functioning of the process, interaction and effective cooperation of its participants. In the context of the investment and construction process, as an independent subsystem, infrastructure is a set of organizational and legal forms that mediate the movement of the construction project to implementation, or a set of institutions, systems, enterprises serving the process and performing certain functions to ensure effective operation. The infrastructure of the investment and construction process is created by its functional participants, whose activities are commercial in nature and related to the organization of the investment process, increase investment efficiency, reduce costs of institutional investors, solve the problem of optimizing all resources. Therefore, the article considers and analyzes the development, consulting, engineering, auditing, acquiring activities, the emergence of which in the investment and construction process determined the demand for quality real estate, to finance, design, build and manage which requires expert intervention. It is noted that the emergence and development of infrastructure for investment and construction activities. focused on project management and implementation – ie coordination of all actions of the participants, reflects the process of intensive internal restructuring of the construction industry in order to improve economic conditions.

Developing a collaborative framework for construction projects in emerging economies

PurposeThe construction industry is a primary contributor to the development of emerging economies such as the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. However, the sector is underperforming, and products are not meeting expectations. A lack of collaboration is considered a significant contributor to these issues. Various researchers have identified factors to improve collaborative approaches. However, there is still a lack of clear frameworks to help implement collaboration in the construction industry, especially in emerging economies. Therefore, this study aims to develop a framework to implement collaboration in the construction industry.Design/methodology/approachThis article utilises a review of literature, questionnaire and interviews with experts in the construction industry in order to develop a framework to achieve collaboration in construction projects.FindingsThe research presents a framework that distributes the factors of collaboration over the project lifecycle stages in accordance with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Plan of Work 2007. Each factor is divided into a set of enabling conditions which must be satisfied to ensure that the given specific factors are delivered. Additionally, the framework suggests appointing a collaboration champion at the beginning of the project to manage the process.Originality/valueThe research contributes to scarce literature about collaboration practices in the Kurdistan Region and in emerging economies in general.

The Role of the Big Five Personality Factors on Accident: A Case of Accidents in Construction Industries

Limited research has been undertaken to explore how construction workers’ personality affects safety behavior. Most of the previous literature in the field of health and safety especially in the construction industry has been focusing on managerial, non-occupational accident,s or somewhat other aspect accident causation. Indeed, construction is known as one of the most dangerous industries globally, therefore, this study estimates the importance of personality traits in relation to risk behavior in the workplace. The objective is to review and identify which dimension of personality traits (big five models) are more effective on occupational accident to suggest a new model that is helpful in the construction industry in order to reduce the accident rate. The finding showed that neuroticism, agreeableness, and conscientiousness compare to the other personality traits are more effective on both occupational/non-occupational accidents, while, the effect of agreeableness and conscientiousness on improving safety performance was overwhelming. On the other hand, there is little evidence to show the meaningful and efficient connection between occupational accidents and extraversion. Extraversion and openness were appropriate only to affect non-occupational accidents. Finally, this research presents the appropriate model which is worthwhile to improve the safety performance in the construction industry.

The Effects of Delays in Algerian Construction Projects: An Empirical Study

This paper examines the effects of delays in the Algerian construction industry in order to identify the various critical aspects of the causes for improving the economy in the construction sector. A questionnaire survey was conducted to assess the perceptions of all players in the construction industry, which led to the identification of the most significant impacts of delays. The results show that ten main effects of delays in the construction sector are at the origin of many constraints that have a negative impact on the economy of the country. Further, the factor analysis technique was performed to categorize the identified effects into main groups, and it yielded 5 groups (factors). As an important contribution, the relationship between these groups was tested using the SMART-PLS, and a structural model has been developed. Also, a comparative study with other previous works on the most critical effect of delays in construction projects has been conducted and the results show that the main effects of delays in the construction industry are at the root of many constraints in reaching and achieving the objectives.

An algorithm of state regulation of leasing relations in the construction industry

The article examines the nature and need for the state regulation of leasing relations in the construction industry. The construction activities are regulated by the federal construction industry development program. A set of tools for state regulation of Russian construction organizations is described. These are tools of direct and indirect regulation. Through these tools, the government regulates reproduction processes in the construction industry in order to boost the long-term construction industry development. The state regulation tools reveal possibilities of state regulation and solve problems of direct provision of construction companies with equipment. The article offers an algorithm for developing leasing relations in the construction industry by the methods of state regulation. The algorithm is aimed at developing the material and technical base of construction companies. Efficiency indicators for the use of fixed assets in construction companies are analyzed.

The need investigate career progression of female professional employees in the South African construction industry

The purpose of the study is to investigate factors influencing career progression of female professional employees in the construction industry in order to identify challenges and suggest possible mitigations. An integrative review of purposively sampled literature on career progression is used to arrive at challenges to career progression faced by female professionals in the South African construction industry. The limitation of the study is its theoretical nature at this stage. Findings show that involvement of women in the construction industry has increased. However, women apparently still face challenges in progressing to senior positions in their careers. Some noted common factors include training, mentoring support, and networking. Implications of the study include the need to study factors influencing female career progression with the support of empirical data. There is also a need to examine the factors that act as barriers and analyse their nature in order to develop possible mitigations, which are also nuanced with the experiences of the subject population. The study forms a basis for understanding influencing factors and challenges to career progression of female professionals. This study is at its early stage of a more extensive research project and will be used as the foundation for empirical studies.

The Potential of Carbon Footprint Reduction of a Mid-Rise Residential Building in Sarawak

Carbon emission is released into the atmosphere as the result of various activities due to rapid urbanisation and thus contributed to global warming and climate change. The government has taken various initiatives to reduce the impact, including from the construction industry in order to support the carbon footprint reduction of 40% as pledged by the Prime Minister. Various strategies, such as the Malaysian Carbon Reduction and Environmental Sustainability Tool (MyCREST), have been established to promote green building development in Malaysia. Recent studies suggested that the selection of sustainable materials can reduce the overall carbon emission of a building, but the cost has been identified as the main barriers. This paper aims to analyse the potential of carbon footprint reduction by using sustainable material in mid-rise residential building and subsequently to evaluate the cost implication. The impact of the conventional and the selected sustainable materials was assessed using data from the MyCREST tool while the data for cost analysis were taken from various sources of cost data such as JKR Rates online (RATOL), JKR Sarawak Schedule of Rates (SOR), and previous research. The results show that the sustainable materials such as 30% of Blast Furnace Slag (BFS) concrete mixture, Aerated Autoclaved Concrete (AAC) block, and recycled steel roof truss has the potential to reduce the carbon emission. The findings also show that sustainable materials are slightly cheaper than the conventional materials except for the AAC block and clay roof tiles. Therefore, the potential of carbon emission reduction approach by using MyCREST as a guideline tool can assist in the reduction of the environmental impact of buildings.Keywords: Carbon emission, sustainable building materials, cost implication.

The relationship between eco-innovation and sustainability in the construction industry: Exploring knowledge networks from the perspective of ANT

Growing awareness of the benefits of the green movement and rapidly increasing sustainable-oriented practices in the construction industry have point academicians and professionals out to eco-innovation and its application in building projects. Research interests in addressing the issues related to innovation have resulted in a great number of publications over the last two decades. Knowledge is considered as a vital ingredient in innovation. Hence, the problem addressed in this study is how knowledge networks having a heterogeneous body must be effectually managed in the firms for achieving the desired success in eco-innovation. In that context, the study attempts to indicate the relationship between the eco-innovations and sustainable construction practices and to explore knowledge networks. In the paper, firstly theoretical background related to eco-innovation is presented as a starting point of the study. Based on insights from the related literature, the determinants of eco-innovation are also detected to better understand the dynamic nature of the knowledge networks. Following that, as a research approach in the study, Actor-Network Theory (ANT) is used. To that end, in this paper, a case study is conducted for three firms that come to the forefront with their innovative activities in the construction industry in order to gain insights into the factors affecting their success in eco-innovation. The findings of this study point out that eco-innovation has positive impacts on sustainability solutions for buildings and also knowledge exchange and knowledge linkages can be seen as key issues in the field of eco-innovation towards the construction industry.

A Roadmap towards Circularity - Modular Construction as a Tool for Circular Economy in the Built Environment

The concept of Circular Economy (CE) is a novel economic model aiming to foster sustainable economic growth, increase a company’s economic value added, boost global competitiveness, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The modular construction has a high potential to embody a starting point for this transition because of its industrial construction and predestined characteristics for disassembly and reuse. In this paper, a circular economy framework is applied to the modular construction industry to develop a roadmap within the scope of Circular Business Models (CBM). In the first part, a literature review is conducted to identify the current CBMs in terms of applicability, usability and adaptability to the sector. The four business models maintenance and repair, reuse and refurbishment, upcycling, and product-as-a-service emerged. In a second step, a qualitative approach with international experts in modular construction, circular economy in the built environment and consultancy is used to explore the opportunities, challenges and barriers in the industry to accelerate the transformation to circularity within the holistic building life cycle. To overcome the barriers, 15 guidelines are distilled and through additional expert interviews verified. Subsequently, this roadmap supports responsible consumption and production through the building life cycle and enables benefits concerning the triple bottom line paradigm. While some of the guidelines refer to specific CBMs, the majority represents a comprehensive approach. Applying the roadmap is a first step to activate the identified potential of the CE in the modular construction industry in order to enhance an innovative and sustainable industrialization within the built environment and to contribute to a cleaner, more resilient economy.

Transformation from 2D structural drawing to building information model: Perspectives from a small-scaled company

Building information modelling (BIM) is one of the revolutions in construction industry. BIM is one of the long-waiting solutions for construction industry in order to solve the arisen quality and effectiveness problems. Many researchers have proved the benefits gained from BIM. In this paper, the structural package available in BIM platform is summarized and its maturity is discussed. The BIM projects in Malaysia are listed and it showed a low local BIM implementation. In the perspectives of engineers, migrating from 2D drawing to building information model is discussed with the faced problems and challenges. The technical supports such as internet supports, cloud system and etc. was lacked for small-scaled companies; and self-transformation plan is not available which is believed to minimize the lost during transformation. From structural engineers’ perspective, a better visualization with building information models is critical to address these major problems occurred throughout the migration. However, more time are expected to be consumed in producing the models as it was found that there is a low level of model sharing between engineers and architects. Although the BIM implementation in Malaysia is still in a low level, it is advised that industry players and government should work together to migrating from traditional method to BIM environment.