Construction Industry Stakeholders Research Articles

DEVELOPMENT OF A VOCATIONAL SKILLS TRAINING MODEL FOR CONSTRUCTION WORKERS

The development of culture and technology in responding to human needs in architecture and physical infrastructure development requires an acceleration in the skills of construction workers. Many factors become obstacles for construction workers to be able to compete and improve their skills. One of them is access to education and skills training because of the lack of information and opportunities they can get. This study aims to develop a vocational skills training model oriented to the certification of skilled workers in the construction industry. The development of the training model is made through stages that refer to research and development of Logic Model Development. The process carried out includes the planning, implementation, analysis, testing and finalization of the training model. Data collection was carried out through surveys of construction worker service users, FGD with training model development experts, FGD with construction industry stakeholders, theoretical analysis, and policies as materials for model development. The findings of this study are in the form of a training model that develops networks and collaborations between institutions related to skilled workers in the construction industry. Vocational universities have the potential to strengthen and facilitate construction workers in improving job skills and certifying skilled workers. In the long term, this model is expected to become a prototype for a sustainable vocational skills training system for construction workers.

A qualitative approach to investigate stakeholders' engagement in construction projects

PurposeStakeholder engagement in construction projects is an ingredient that contributes to project optimal performance. Many developing countries have a paucity of literature about stakeholders' engagement in construction projects. Therefore, the study investigated South Africa's shareholders' engagement in construction projects and recommended possible measures to mitigate potential limitations.Design/methodology/approachThe researchers collated data from South African experts in stakeholder engagement via a phenomenology type of qualitative research design. They explored the “perceived hindrances” facing stakeholders' engagement in construction projects and proffer measures to mitigate them. The study analysed collected data via thematic analysis and achieved saturation. Three themes emerged from the analysed data.FindingsFindings show that efficient stakeholder engagement will enhance team collaboration and integrated construction project delivery. Results identified the perceived limitations facing stakeholders' engagement in South Africa's construction projects and categorised them into individual perceived hindrances, organisational perceived hindrances and government-related perceived hindrances. Also, findings proffer measures to mitigate perceived hindrances via policies and programmes within the sector.Practical implicationsBesides enhancing policymakers and other stakeholders in South Africa's construction industry to understand the benefits of stakeholder engagement better, the study may stir up the construction sector's stakeholders to embrace enhanced and effective stakeholders' management.Originality/valueThis study contributes to construction project practice that involves stakeholders, as it reveals the underlying causes of perceived hindrances facing stakeholders' engagement in construction projects. Also, it proffers feasible solutions to mitigate these hindrances and enhance stakeholders' engagement within South Africa's construction projects.

Improving The Organizational Culture of Key Stakeholders Involved in Value Management Process to Achieve Optimum Value in Malaysian Construction

Value Management (VM) is necessary for all construction projects to achieve value for money. There is a need to improve the organizational culture of key stakeholders involved in VM process to achieve optimum value in Malaysian construction projects. This paper is part of a larger study aiming to develop a culture-based organizational model for key stakeholders involved in VM process for achieving optimum value in Malaysian construction projects. This study utilizes a systematic literature review synthesis method to evaluate the trend, identify the gaps and recommend future approach in order to improve the organizational culture of key stakeholders involved in VM process that focuses on achieving optimum value in VM. The results include analyzing current VM status quo in Malaysian construction industry, determining the challenges faced in the VM process of generating innovative ideas, and exploring the project value creation to achieve optimum value. Upon introducing the background problem, the paper deliberates the synthesized literature reviews on VM, key stakeholders, VM process and project performance with VM. A cross-analyses discussion contributes towards formulating the culture-based organizational model for VM practice in Malaysia. The results are expected to improve the integrated project delivery performance of Malaysian construction industry stakeholders by understanding critical VM success factors and weaknesses of VM key stakeholders’ team in generating innovation ideas for optimum project delivery value.

Prefabricated Construction in Sri Lanka: A Proposed Adoption Strategy and a Pilot Case Study from Sustainability Perspective

Prefabricated construction (PFC) has increasingly been recognised as a viable construction solution that has the potential to address the typical issues of conventional construction. Portability, quick fixing ability, less labour intensity, a massive potential for quality, productivity enhancements, and environmental savings are some of the most highlighted benefits of PFC. Developed nations and other industrialised regions have been applying these construction methods more successfully compared to developing economies such as Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is slow in adopting PFC because of some inherent barriers. Thus, this study aims to strengthen the case for shifting to PFC in Sri Lanka. Firstly, the current status of the PFC in the Sri Lankan context is described, including the barriers to adoption. Subsequently, an adoption strategy is proposed using the learnings from successful countries. This adoption framework discusses in-depth strategies/ initiatives to overcome current barriers to adopt prefabrication in construction projects. Finally, a pilot case study is carried out to assess the potential of PFC from a sustainability perspective. The results show that PFC has potential time savings and slight improvements in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than traditional construction in the selected case studies. Reduced times have a huge positive impact on sustainability by cost savings and environmental benefits from less on-site waste and emissions from fuel and electricity usage of construction machines. The outcomes of this study can influence construction industry stakeholders, including government and academia, towards escalating the use of prefabricated technologies to maximise sustainability and project-specific benefits.

Survey Evaluation of Building Information Modelling (BIM) for Health and Safety in Building Construction Projects in Malaysia

Traditional safety planning methods that rely on manual inspections result in labour-intensive, time-consuming, and inadequate information transmission, which has significant negative social and economic effects on our society, as well as financial and schedule losses for construction projects. Building information modelling (BIM) is useful for analysing workplace safety issues, preventing risks and hazards, and improving safety throughout the project’s life cycle. This study intends to pinpoint health and safety concerns and to understand the role of BIM adoption in enhancing health and safety in Malaysian building construction projects. Following a survey of 302 Malaysian construction industry professionals, statistical data analysis using the relative importance index, reliability, validity, and correlation measures was performed. The results show that implementing BIM can prevent accidents on construction sites by detecting physical spatial clashes, anticipating project dangers, and providing a wealth of parametric data throughout the entire life cycle of structures. A framework was created to improve the application of BIM to enhance health and safety linked with construction projects. The study found that construction industry stakeholders believe that BIM implementation in construction projects can improve health and safety and reduce accident rates in Malaysia.

Factors influencing the intention to adopt green construction: an application of the theory of planned behaviour

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to assess the behavioural factors that influence professionals' intention to adopt green construction based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB).Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted a quantitative research design with the use of online questionnaires to elicit information from construction professionals in South Africa. Descriptive statistics of frequencies, mean and standard deviation were used to analyse the data obtained from the survey. Linear regression was also used to assess the effect of behavioural factors on professionals' intention to adopt green construction.FindingsThe results showed that attitude and perceived behavioural control (PBC) have a significant effect on the intention to adopt green construction. These were significant at p < 0.05, having p-values of 0.000 and 0.015 respectively. The study also found that there was a positive disposition towards green construction, particularly with regards to insisting on green construction. This had a mean value of 3.99. There was also a high perception of succeeding in the execution of green projects with mean score of 3.76.Practical implicationsThe practical implication of the findings is that adoption of green construction in South Africa is majorly based on the positive attitude of stakeholders towards green construction and also the PBC or the perceived ease of executing green construction. However, these factors are not sufficient to generate long term commitment for green transformation among a critical mass of stakeholders in the South African construction industry. Hence, there is a need for focus on subjective norms (pressure) particularly from the government, to encourage the widespread adoption of green construction in South Africa.Originality/valueFindings present one of the pioneering efforts to empirically validate the influence of behavioural factors on the intention to adopt green construction in South Africa and the outcomes can provide policy directions and baseline data for further research.

Keterlambatan Proyek yang Disebabkan oleh Owner: Evaluasi Faktor-Faktor Penyebab dan Klaim Kontraktor

Delays in construction projects are generally understood to be the sole responsibility of the contractor. In fact, these delays can also be caused by factors that actually are the responsibility of the owner, resulting in project completion exceeding the contract target date. As a result, the contractors can be affected and suffer losses due to delays that are not actually their responsibility. This study intends to evaluate project delays caused by the owner and the delay claims submitted by the contractor. This research is exploratory and uses a mixed method of quantitative and qualitative approach. Data was collected through interviews and questionnaires with 80 respondents of the construction industry. The study found five main factors causing delays caused by the owner, including: land acquisition problems, changes in design and work instructions, payment problems, and unclear drawings in the contract documents. Of these delays, the majority (93%) were claimed by contractors, with an average claim success rate of 53%, and the compensation generally in the form of extension of project completion time (63%). The most frequently chosen claim dispute settlement method (93%) is non-litigation settlement through negotiation. This research has provided a comprehensive overview of delays due to owners and the contractor claims, and gives valuable lessons for the construction industry stakeholders to cope with delays in the future.

Solutions to Overcome Integrated Project Delivery Implementation Barriers: A Meta-Synthesis Approach

Construction projects encounter myriad problems, some of which may be connected to the project delivery model. Integrated project delivery (IPD) is an approach that removes the gap between the planning and the construction stages of a project. Various barriers to implementation exist within the construction industry and these can be resolved by effective solutions. Identifying and classifying these solutions is considered essential for successful project delivery. In this context, this study aims to illustrate and classify the solutions that have been proposed since the introduction of IPD as a new approach for the implementation of construction projects. In this study, a meta-synthesis approach has been used as a qualitative method, and pattern and descriptive coding and analysis have been used to analyse the data. The solutions analysed in the meta-synthesis suggest that all stakeholders—including designers, construction engineers, construction team members and operation and maintenance team members—each have the same responsibility to improve IPD and meet the project goals. This study is significant because it suggests important resolutions to the barriers to IPD implementation and may help construction industry stakeholders better facilitate IPD and enhance clauses of their contracts.

Barriers to Incident Reporting in the Pakistani Construction Industry: An Exploratory Factor Analysis Approach

The construction industry is among the most hazardous industries, with workers routinely involved in critical accidents. Following proper safety procedures can help reduce these accidents. Incident reporting is widely regarded as an effective approach to improving worker safety on construction sites, as it allows relevant stakeholders to learn from past events. Despite the acknowledged significance of incident reporting in reducing accident rates, several researchers have reported that the construction industry still lacks effective reporting and investigation practices. This study aims to explore the barriers that inhibit the reporting of incidents in the Pakistani construction industry. Through a detailed literature review, 29 barriers that inhibit effective incident reporting were identified. A questionnaire survey was then carried out to include the perspective of construction industry professionals on the identified barriers. A total of 214 responses were collected. Further, for dimension reduction, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was utilised and resultantly, four components were revealed and discussed. These components include organisational, individual, environmental and technical. The findings of this study will help the relevant stakeholders in the construction industry improve safety performance by mitigating these reporting challenges at the construction sites, resulting in a better working environment for workers with fewer risks and accidents.

An Assessment of the Factors Leading to Projects Success/Failure in the Mauritian Building Construction Industry

: The Mauritian building construction sector is the 3rd largest employer in the economy with around 46,300 employees, thus absorbing a large percentage of the working population with minimum level of education. However, in the Mauritian construction industry, the concept of project success/failure still remains unclearly defined. The well-known success criteria like time, cost and quality do not provide any practical information of achieving project objectives in an efficient way. Thus, it is very important for local building construction companies to understand the factors which make a project successful or a failure, if they want to progress in the highly competitive environment. The main aim of this research is to identify the major success/failure factor (and their interrelationship) from the 26 factors which were identified from project management literature. The survey was carried out among the major stakeholders of the Mauritian building construction industry through emails and social-medias. 37 responses were successfully received. From the analysis, primary and support areas of success/failure factors were identified and a framework was worked out so as to illustrate the factors which can increase project success in building construction. The most important success/failure factors are proper planning/scheduling, purchasing, contractor competences and other project management skills. Moreover, a clear interrelationship has been identified between primary and support areas of success/failure factors. Hence, from the developed framework and the interrelation matrix of project success/failure factors, major building construction project stakeholders in Mauritius can focus more on the primary factors to increase chances of project success.

Factors affecting the implementation of automated progress monitoring of rebar using vision-based technologies

PurposeRebar is the prime component of reinforced concrete structures, and rebar monitoring is a time-consuming and technical job. With the emergence of the fourth industrial revolution, the construction industry practices have evolved toward digitalization. Still, hesitation remains among stakeholders toward the adoption of advanced technologies and one of the significant reasons is the unavailability of knowledge frameworks and implementation guidelines. This study aims to investigate technical factors impacting automated monitoring of rebar for the understanding, confidence gain and effective implementation by construction industry stakeholders.Design/methodology/approachA structured study pipeline has been adopted, which includes a systematic literature collection, semistructured interviews, pilot survey, questionnaire survey and statistical analyses via merging two techniques, i.e. structural equation modeling and relative importance index.FindingsThe achieved model highlights “digital images” and “scanning” as two main categories being adopted for automated rebar monitoring. Moreover, “external influence”, “data-capturing”, “image quality”, and “environment” have been identified as the main factors under “digital images”. On the other hand, “object distance”, “rebar shape”, “occlusion” and “rebar spacing” have been highlighted as the main contributing factors under “scanning”.Originality/valueThe study provides a base guideline for the construction industry stakeholders to gain confidence in automated monitoring of rebar via vision-based technologies and effective implementation of the progress-monitoring processes. This study, via structured data collection, performed qualitative and quantitative analyses to investigate technical factors for effective rebar monitoring via vision-based technologies in the form of a mathematical model.

A Survey on the Effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic at Construction Sites

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in substantial disruptions and hardships across nations and industries. Like others, the construction industry has also been impacted by the pandemic in a number of ways. Reported adverse impacts include significant delays in projects, failure to deliver materials on time, decreased productivity rates, and increases in material prices. Declining revenues and increasing project delivery difficulties due to the current crisis have also affected the industry. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic at the construction sites from the perspective of the employer, contractor and the employees. A survey has been conducted with the construction professionals to explore the measures taken against the pandemic, how these measures were financed, suspensions, delays, disruptions, non-payment and cash flow issues, employee motivation, procurement and recruitment problems, interpretation of the force majeure clauses in the contracts, extension of time and additional payment claims arisen due to the pandemic. The findings are expected to be useful to all construction industry stakeholders and researchers for identifying the prominent problem areas and seek relevant solutions to decrease the adverse effects experienced during the pandemic.

Internal Stakeholders’ Contribution to Building Collapse in Lagos State, Nigeria: A Perceptual Survey

Building collapse is a universal problem that has resulted in disruption, loss of lives and capital costs, as well as negatively affecting the image of the construction industry and its practitioners. The current study seeks to achieve the following objectives: (i) to assess the contributing factors of internal stakeholders to building collapse due to challenges faced in Lagos state, Nigeria; (ii) to determine the remedies to challenges faced by internal stakeholders towards reducing the spate of building collapses in the study area. The study adopted a survey research method. Questionnaires were administered to purposively selected internal stakeholders in the Nigerian construction industry within Lagos state. 127 questionnaires were administered to survey participants. The data collected was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed a lack of consideration of life cycle costing of utilities, lighting and lifts; lack of proper integration and coordination of design elements; failure to consider the buildability and maintenance requirements during the design; absence of proper supervision and site inspections for quality checks; and failure to inspect materials storage on site, with their mean scores of 4.18, 4.11, 4.10, 4.10, and 4.10, respectively, as the top five contributing factors of internal stakeholders to building collapse in Lagos state. The study provided in-depth insight into the contributing factors of internal stakeholders to building collapse that can help construction professionals and stakeholders facilitate the development of strategies required to minimize the contributing factors of internal stakeholders to building collapse in the construction sector.

Investigation of the Construction Industry Stakeholder's Perceptions of Work-Health and Safety Risk-Based Scenarios Associated with Risks

Improving occupational safety and health (OSH) performance in the construction industry is critical, because it reflects the quality of completed projects and, more importantly, the protection of workers' lives. The application of risk management concepts is one initiative for improving OSH performance in the construction industry. Effective risk management necessitates the cooperation and consensus of all stakeholders, but this is difficult to achieve. The goal of this study is to determine the extent, to which construction stakeholders share a common understanding of perceived risks. This was achieved by utilizing four case study scenario surveys which represent the risk exposures or consequences in the crushing of panels and vibration operations. Data was gathered from a sample of twelve construction professionals in Malaysia. Analysis of the data describes the various risk perceptions among construction industry stakeholders. The immediate-type of risk was rated higher than the expected scores, whereas delayed-effect risks like 'vibration' and ‘chemical' were rated lower. The findings obtained suggest that strategic steps to engage stakeholders in the risk management process are needed, and risk perceptions should be taken into account.

BIM Utilization in Improving Energy Efficiency Performance on Architectural Design Process: Challenges and Opportunities

BIM utilization for energy simulation efficiency is increasing in Indonesia. BIM itself is one of the methods for carrying out building energy efficiency because it has dimensional features that can create collaborative work processes efficiently. This paper aims to describe BIM and building energy workflows in the design process and see the trend of BIM utilization in Indonesia, especially in the architectural design process. The methodology of this paper is a survey by online questionnaire for BIM stakeholders to make an overview of to what extent construction industry stakeholders have utilized BIM in Indonesia, especially in the design phase especially in building energy simulation. The BIM workflow that is integrated into building energy calculations can make the energy-oriented building design process. In addition, it can provide exciting and informative diagrams for the calculation of embodied energy will make it easier to understand the building energy by building construction stakeholders. In the final analysis of this paper, which is the hypothesis model of problem and solution of BIM utilization in Indonesia, there are 4 main problems and solutions according to the analysis of the questionnaire result: Flexibility and Collaboration, Technical Skill Problem and Training, BIM Management Data, and Low-Cost BIM. BIM utilization in Indonesia is still limited, especially in its use to analyze and mitigate building energy.

Sustainable Sand Substitutes in the Construction Industry in the United States and Canada: Assessing Stakeholder Awareness

The United Nations has declared a global sand crisis, called for reduced sand consumption, and proposed solutions to address the crisis, including adopting sustainable substitutes for sand. The construction industry is a major consumer of sand, yet a recent study found a very low level of awareness by stakeholders of the crisis. The purpose of this study is to assess the familiarity of construction industry stakeholders with 27 sand substitute materials, grouped into five components that emerged from a factor analysis. Data were collected using a survey designed by the authors. Respondents consisted of 156 construction industry professionals located in 35 US states and 7 Canadian provinces. Stakeholders were classified according to a framework considering the level of power and interest of each stakeholder in sustainable construction projects. Hypotheses of no differences in awareness for two types of stakeholder groups were generally supported. First, no differences were found for decision makers responsible for ordering sand vs. non-decision makers. Second, for professional roles, academics were more familiar with some substitutes than those in other roles. The article concludes with implications for research and practice, with recommendations on how to increase awareness of sand substitutes among stakeholders in the construction industry.

COMPARISON OF PHOTOGRAMMETRY TOOLS CONSIDERING REBAR PROGRESS RECOGNITION

Abstract. Construction progress monitoring is an important process throughout the project timeline towards its successful completion. Among imaging techniques, photogrammetry is considered as economical and effective method. However, few studies can be found on construction progress monitoring via photogrammetry; thus, not much guideline is available for this domain. This study evaluated the photogrammetry tools for the progress assessment of the rebar grid framework. Photogrammetry tools were evaluated and analysed following defined criteria, and Agisoft Metashape, and 3DF Zephyr were identified as better options. This study aims to provide a guideline to construction industry professionals and stakeholders towards the adoption of photogrammetric progress assessment for construction activities.

Barriers to the green retrofitting of existing residential buildings

PurposeThis study aims to examine the challenges for green retrofitting implementation in existing residential buildings to lower the running cost and achieve a better energy-efficient system.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted a qualitative approach by interviewing conveniently selected 16 construction professionals, made up of architects, quantity surveyors and engineers. Data received were analysed using the content analysis method.FindingsThe findings revealed that the main barriers to incorporating green retrofitting in the existing residential buildings as the nature of the existing structures, limited knowledge, not being a priority and high costs involved in the process. Moreover, other factors influencing property developers’ decision to apply energy-efficient principles in a residential home include cost (initial capital and maintenance), level of knowledge, nature of the climate in the area, local legislation, more independence and increasing the property’s market value and environmental aspect.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is limited to South Africa; thus, the literature available was limited.Practical implicationsPeople’s perceptions, either wrong or correct, affect their ability to make an informed decision to adopt green retrofitting principles, thereby denying them the opportunity to reap the associated benefits. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the construction industry stakeholders and government to increase educational opportunities for property owners on the importance of green retrofitting.Originality/valueThis study provides the occupants with the possible barriers and problem areas with implementing these principles. They will thus make an informed decision when implementing sustainable design methods.

Determinants of immersive technology acceptance in the construction industry: management perspective

PurposeThe usefulness of technology for managing projects in the construction industry is indisputable. The potential utility of immersive technologies (ImTs), including virtual and augmented reality, has recently received significant attention. However, the construction industry, especially in developing countries, lags on the implementation of technology generally and ImTs specifically. Forecasting the potential successful ImTs acceptance at the individual level is essential to strategic planning. The study's objective was to develop and test a conceptual model of factors influencing ImTs acceptance at the individual level in the construction industry.Design/methodology/approachA survey of construction management-level professionals in South Africa was undertaken. The study extended two complementary models, the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB), to analyze behavior towards technology acceptance using structural equation modelling.FindingsResults indicated that attitude significantly influenced the intention to use ImTs and perceived usefulness (PU) positively and significantly predicted the intention to use and usage attitude (UA). Further, the effects of perceived enjoyment (PEn) on UA, and social norms (SNs) and perceived behavioral control (PBC) on intention to use were positive and significant. Perceived ease of use (PEU) had negative and non-significant effects on intention to use and UA. By explaining 82% of the variance, the study established that the proposed model successfully evaluates how management-level professionals in the construction industry accept ImTs.Practical implicationsThe study provides valuable insight into the acceptance of ImTs from the perspective of management-level stakeholders in the South African construction industry. It offers fundamental direction to create a general theory on integrating ImTs in construction.Originality/valueThis study systematically surveyed the intention to accept ImTs in the South African construction industry using an extension of the TAM and TPB models.

Identifying the reasons for the prolongation of school construction projects in Najaf

Abstract There are several problems facing the construction industry in Iraq. Delays in construction projects affect one of the most important factors in project success, namely time. This delay causes many problems such as increasing the cost of the project, lack of timely operation, and on a larger scale, economic and social impact on the country. As being one of the metropolises of Iraq, the city of Najaf needs a lot of development projects in the development path. Public school construction projects are an example of projects needed in the city, and delays in these projects in recent years have sometimes caused the city’s schools to operate on a mixed basis. This study deals with studies and researches related to the delay of construction projects in other countries, and after interviews and surveys of construction industry stakeholders in Iraq, new factors have been obtained and finally, using the opinions of the mentioned experts, prioritizing the factors extracted from both identified the source and the five main causes of project delays, including late payment to the contractor, design errors, construction length errors, problems with neighbors, and inexperience of contractors. In the next step, the amount of delay due to the main factors identified in the projects was analyzed using the official documents of 30 sample projects from the statistical population of completed school construction projects in Najaf city. Statistics on the amount of delay caused by factors and comparing it with some indicators, the need to use contractors with better ratings, skilled manpower, experienced project managers, and the number of sufficient engineers at the project site were presented.