Construction Parties Research Articles

The severity of design-construction interface risks in Jordanian construction industry

The fragmented nature of the construction industry makes the management of a project a challenge mission. The interfaces between activities require attention to ensure a smooth performance. Interface risks affecting project constraints arise due to many internal and external causes. The main objective of this study is to identity, prioritize, eliminate, and alleviate interface risks. The data was collected from 155 respondents to a questionnaire; which was checked for reliability and validity using Cronbach alpha coefficient and EFA, respectively. ANOVA test was used to show if significant differences exist between the groups of respondents. According to the results of the risks-assessment matrix, the most two severe causes of interface risks are: awarding the contract to the lowest bidder regardless of the quality, and change in the owner's requirements. The study recommends that construction parties should develop a comprehensive strategy in establishing a sustainable interface-risks management. This study serves as another tool that can help construction professionals and researchers in dealing with similar interface risks. Also—beside findings from other studies—construction agencies such as FIDIC can modify their conditions accordingly when dealing with such risks.

Subcontracting Strategy in Industrial Projects: Evidence from Saudi Arabia

Subcontracting is widely employed in the construction industry owing to the variation of methods, materials, magnitude, and function of the infrastructures. However, the rapport between parties in construction are mostly adversarial and plagued with hitches, which negatively impact construction productivity. This research investigates the problems associated with subcontracting strategies of contractors in industrial projects in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia via questionnaire survey. The questionnaire contains a list of thirty-three likely problems affecting subcontracting strategy of contractors organised under the three categories of planning, awarding, and contracting issues. The respondents matched the likely problems with the project value drivers (quality, cost, and time) with which they impact, and rated the magnitude of the problems on project performance. The survey identified incompatibility of the subcontractor/supplier’s time schedule with the project’s time schedule as the topmost problem related to planning issues. Unethical practices is ranked highest among problems related to awarding issues, while incompatibility of subcontracts’ terms and conditions with the main contract’s terms and conditions is rated top among the topmost problems related to contracting issues. The findings revealed that the three problem categories have negative impacts on all the project value drivers in different combinations and are almost equally significant in the view of contractors while making subcontracting decisions. Contractors are therefore advised to critically evaluate the schedule, cost, and quality performance of industrial projects during the planning, awarding, and contracting phase of subcontracting in industrial projects.

Construction Disputes and Associated Contractual Knowledge Discovery Using Unstructured Text-Heavy Data: Legal Cases in the United Kingdom

Construction disputes are one of the main challenges to successful construction projects. Most construction parties experience claims—and even worse, disputes—which are costly and time-consuming to resolve. Lessons learned from past failure cases can help reduce potential future risk factors that likely lead to disputes. In particular, case law, which has been accumulated from the past, is valuable information, providing useful insights to prepare for future disputes. However, few efforts have been made to discover legal knowledge using a large scale of case laws in the construction field. The aim of this paper is to enhance understanding of the multifaceted legal issues surrounding construction adjudication using large amounts of accumulated construction legal cases. This goal is achieved by exploring dispute-related contract terms and conditions that affect judicial decisions based on their verdicts. This study builds on text mining methods to examine what type of contract conditions are frequently referenced in the final decision of each dispute. Various text mining techniques are leveraged for knowledge discovery (i.e., analyzing frequent terms, discovering pairwise correlations, and identifying potential topics) in text-heavy data. The findings show that (1) similar patterns of disputes have occurred repeatedly in construction-related legal cases and (2) the discovered dispute topics indicate that mutually agreed upon contract terms and conditions are import in dispute resolution.

Radon in Schools: A Review of Radon Testing Efforts in Canadian Schools.

Radon, a known carcinogen, becomes a health risk when it accumulates inside buildings. Exposure is of particular concern for children, as their longer life expectancy increases their lifetime risk of developing cancer. In 2016, 5.5 million students were enrolled in Canadian elementary and secondary schools. With no national policy on radon testing in schools, children may be at risk from radon exposure while attending school and school-based programs. This study explored radon testing efforts in publicly funded Canadian schools and summarizes where testing programs have occurred. Radon testing in schools was identified through a systematic qualitative enquiry, surveying members from different levels of government (health and education) and other stakeholders (school boards, research experts, among others). Overall, this research found that approaches to radon testing varied considerably by province and region. Responsibility for radon testing in schools was often deferred between government, school boards, building managers and construction parties. Transparency around radon testing, including which schools had been tested and whether radon levels had been mitigated, also emerged as an issue. Radon testing of schools across Canada, including mitigation and clear communication strategies, needs to improve to ensure a healthy indoor environment for staff and students.

How does the embeddedness of relational behaviours in contractual relations influence inter-organisational trust in construction projects?

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the relationship between the embeddedness of relational behaviours in contractual relations and the development of inter-organisational trust between contracting parties in construction projects.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire survey was undertaken to collect data from 310 experienced project practitioners. Hierarchical regression and curvilinear regression were mainly used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results validated the role of relational behaviours in boosting trust expectation, with the contractual context dampening the positive effect only slightly. However, the impact of the embedded relational behaviours on trust intention was found contingent on the equality of outcome: relational behaviours make an impact on trust intention opposite to what the equality of outcome makes; the combination of relational behaviours and the equality of outcome finally has a positive impact on trust intention. As such, the relational behaviours embedded in contractual relations would help reduce particular distrust or improve trust when the outcome is perceived equal.Research limitations/implicationsThe conclusions are derived from the Chinese cultural background and may apply to a certain geographical scope. The nonprobability sampling method also limits the generalization of some conclusions. Besides, the results may present the contractor's view better than the owner's view.Practical implicationsThis research would help the practitioners to find a balance between relational behaviours and contractual behaviours in managing inter-organisational relationship. It would also supply effective ways for contracting parties to reduce particular distrust or cultivate particular trust in construction projects.Originality/valuePrevious studies have investigated the unique impact of relational behaviours and contractual behaviours on trust. However, few of them have checked how the mixture of both kinds of behaviours influences trust. This paper contributes to this knowledge by investigating how the embeddedness of relational behaviours in contractual relations influences the trust between contracting parties.

Research and Exploration of Steel Structure Deepening Design Based on Multi User Mode

Steel structure with its high strength, light weight, good seismic performance, high degree of industrialization, short construction period, strong plasticity, energy conservation and environmental protection and other comprehensive advantages, has been widely used in machinery, construction and many other fields. But because of its huge scale, increasingly complex structure, project management is facing many problems. Based on the multi-user mode of steel structure in-depth design, the technology of product modelling, structural analysis, in-depth design, engineering calculation, processing and manufacturing and cost control are studied, especially the advantages in model creation and component manufacturing bring more possibilities for the mechanical industry. Based on the multi-user mode, the steel structure deepening design technology integrates the technical requirements of the project, provides clear information for the owner, designer, raw material supplier, manufacturer, construction party, etc., promotes the implementation of the project, improves the achievement degree of the project, and improves the control ability of the engineering personnel. A number of foreign large-scale bulk material conveying systems have obtained good benefits by using the steel structure deepening design technology based on the multiuser mode, which improves the industrialization degree of steel structure component design and manufacturing, so that the research results have good practicability and operability. The research results have positive guiding significance for the practice of steel structure deepening design.

Reflections and Suggestions on China's Sponge City Construction

This article first introduces the development of China’s urban water system management and the Sponge City construction. Generally speaking, China’s urban water system management has progressively turned into addressing water problems with integrated solutions, with the focus shifting from problem finding towards objective-setting and emphasizing theoretical significance. Meanwhile, the evaluation criterion has adopted more indicators valuing the quality and efficiency of projects’ actual performance, rather than a rough quantitative measurement. Then this article addresses the potential reasons for the public questioning China’s Sponge City construction since the implementation of pilot projects in 2015, such as the misunderstanding of its connotation, public perception of the projects’ actual environmental performance, and construction quality. Only by recognizing the reality and identifying difficulties and primary goals, can the targeted and systematic solutions solving on-site water relevant problems and meeting public needs be proposed. In response, the authors put forward the major difficulties in future Sponge City construction promotion, which include 1) coordinating the Sponge City construction and urban storm water management to facilitate onsite runoff retention and address urban waterlogging problems; 2) establishing a whole-process management system for China’s Sponge City construction projects that involves a series of stages; 3) identifying the accountability and responsibilities of the administration, design, and construction parties; and 4) updating knowledge and technical perception. Furthermore, the authors emphasized the importance of expertise collaboration and talent training to provide professionals with ability in practice, in-depth inter-professional and technical coordination, and active learning. Finally, the authors encouraged the key topics in the future—introduction of new market mechanisms such as storm water billing system, optimization of the current policy mechanism, and institutionalization of Sponge City construction.

Construction and application of factory digital twin model based on BIM and point cloud

The digital twin model of the factory is the basis for the construction of a digital factory, and the professional system of the factory is complex. The traditional BIM model is not completely consistent with the actual position of the corresponding component, and it is difficult to directly replace the digital twin model. In response to this situation, relying on a certain factory project, the point cloud is used to eliminate the positional deviation between the BIM model and the factory during the construction phase, improve the efficiency and accuracy and reliability of model adjustment and optimization, and , realize the conversion from BIM model to digital twin model. A novel algorithm is developed to quickly detect and evaluate the construction quality of the local structure of the factory, so as to input the initial deformation data of the structure into the corresponding model and feed back to the construction party for improvement. The results show that the digital twin model, which is highly consistent with the actual location of the factory components, not only lays a solid foundation for the construction of a digital factory, but also further deepens the integration and application of BIM and point clouds.

Applicability of the 2017 FIDIC Red Book in Civil Law Jurisdictions

Abstract In 2017, the FIDIC launched a new edition of its Red Book—a recommended construction-related contract for building and engineering works designed by the employer. The roots of this book were influenced by the common law legal system, whereas many countries follow the civil law legal system. Amongst the latter countries is the United Arab Emirates, which has attracted construction parties from all over the world. Those who wish to use the Red Book amongst such parties should be acquainted with the local limitations on its applicability. Such acquaintance can provide them with a proper understanding of their rights and obligations. This article discusses these limitations using the doctrinal research method, which included, inter alia, an examination of all relevant decisions by local higher courts during the 2009-2019 period. The discussion shows that such limitations can be confronted owing to conflicts with local judicial jurisprudence and/or mandatory statutory provisions.

Solving Inverse Kinematics of the Shotcrete Manipulator Based on the Plane Two-Link Model and Trajectory Planning

Traditionally, the construction of tunnel support is to manually move the manipulator through the remote control. During the manual construction process, there is a large rebound rate and a reduction in the compactness of the concrete. Skilled operators can obtain better shot blasting quality, but training of a skilled worker is costly. In this study, an automatic shotcrete manipulator is proposed to complete spraying and improve the spraying quality. The model of the manipulator is simplified into a planar two-link manipulator, solved the inverse kinematics of the shotcrete manipulator, and implemented the automatic trajectory planning process. By simplifying the complex mechanical arm structure model into a simple planar two-link manipulator model, the inverse kinematics of the shotcrete manipulator is solved, and automatic trajectory planning software is developed, which can better help construction and reduce injury to personnel’s health and can also help the construction party save materials and improve economic efficiency and construction efficiency.

Quantitative Comparison of Project Performance between Project Delivery Systems

AbstractA project delivery system (PDS) defines the relationship and timing of involvement between different contracting parties in construction. Using data from 109 projects, this paper statistica...

Cost Analysis of “One Three Four Seven” Secondary Road Light Reconstruction and Trash Bin Configuration Project in a District——From the Perspective of the Employer

Strengthening cost management is an important task for engineering construction, and it is the key to the profit of the construction party. Similarly, the contractor has done a cost management analysis to reduce unnecessary expenses, that is, the key to saving costs and obtaining maximum profits. Cost management is The procedures in the engineering project are relatively complicated and complicated. It connects the entire process of investment, bidding, preparation, construction, settlement and completion of the project until it is put into use. It requires the use of corresponding cost analysis methods for cost management analysis to effectively control costs and achieve The cost is the lowest and the profit is maximized. This article is mainly aimed at the cost analysis of one or four hundred and forty-seven times the reconstruction of trunk road lights and the waste bin configuration project in a certain district of Chongqing. From the perspective of the contractor, from the project budget, final accounts, construction quality, construction period Comparison of several aspects such as engineering, materials, artificial organization, etc., to find out the problems in the project cost in the project, put forward reasonable suggestions and make corrections.

Factors Causing Construction Litigation in Saudi Arabia

The problem of litigation and disputes in the construction sector is a major impediment to a country’s development goals. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the problem of high legal costs and long delays that arise due to litigation involving project owners, designers, contractors and other construction parties worldwide and in Saudi Arabia, as well as give recommendation according to the outcomes of this research. The causes of litigious behavior in Saudi Arabia and around the world were identified and documented; also the differences in litigation of the Saudi Arabian construction industry as compared to other countries were identified. Preliminary investigations revealed that there is some level of similarity in the nature of the causes. Thus, these causes were grouped into three main categories, which are expectation factors, communications factors and documentation factors. Further research based on existing literature showed that the practices used to minimize litigation in the construction industry were investigated. The following delivery processes were researched: Design-Build (DB) Delivery Method, Alliance Contracting, Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR), Best Value Model (BVM), Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and the Best Value Performance Information Procurement System (BV PIPS). Many of these delivery methods were found to have issues, which means the methods by observation do not seem to be the ideal solution to minimize litigation in the construction industry. The only delivery method found to have no litigation issues was the BV PIPS approach.

Automatic layer classification method-based elevation recognition in architectural drawings for reconstruction of 3D BIM models

Automatic interpretation of computer aided design drawings into a Building Information Model (BIM) would reduce the time and labor costs involved in the modeling process for construction parties. However, the offset and height of building objects cannot be automatically extracted by current algorithms and products since they mostly focus on floor plan detection whilst such information conventionally appears on elevation drawings. Manual inspection and input are needed, which is rigid, error prone, and costly. The challenge of elevation recognition is attributed to the irregular and intricate shapes of the objects portrayed in elevation views, which make it difficult to fully cluster the primitives composing a building object. Additionally, none of the existing methods includes floor plan detection and elevation detection to enable a comprehensive reconstruction of a 3D BIM model. In this paper, these issues are tackled by resorting to an automatically layer classification method (ALCM) that identifies the content of hidden layers. An ALCM-based elevation recognition method is developed. It recognizes the orientation of elevation views and levels of each floor. Furthermore, it segments openings (windows and doors) in elevation views and outputs their offset and height dimensions. A façade BIM model is generated with all openings placed at the correct offsets. The experiments take 94 different sample drawings to validate the model's performance. The test results demonstrate that nearly all floor levels are detected. And that 88% of the members that are visible in elevation drawings are measured perfectly. A real-world campus building is automatically modelled as a case study. The results imply that ALCM-EDM (Elevation Detection Method) contributes to the automatic conversion process since manual input of elevation data is avoided. Future directions could address on incorporating section views and detailed drawings into the reconstruction.

Identify the main factors affecting labor productivity within different organizational structures in the Iraqi construction sector

The construction sector in Iraq has faced many challenges. One of the major challenges is the lack of productivity of laborers who are working construction sites. Although research studies have been conducted to investigate, explore, and identify factors influencing labor productivity in the Middle-east region, the lack of such research studies to address these challenges in Iraq. This motivates the researcher to explore and identify the key factors affecting labor productivity in construction sites across different organizational structures (Matrix, Projectized, and functional). A survey questionnaire has been conducted using Delphi technique in order to achieve a concrete and reliable view of the major factors influencing labor productivity in Iraq. Twenty-four experts from different construction sectors have participated in Delphi rounds. In addition, a total of 110 factors affecting labor productivity is considered in this study. The main findings of this study show a correlation between some of the identified factors and characteristics of the organizational structures. The poor communication and management of the construction site, lack of communication and coordination between construction parties, size and arrangement of the construction crew, on-time payment, and motivational program factors were found to be highly correlated with the characteristics of the selected organizational structures. Also, the study shows that explosive remnants and dangerous construction sites due to terrorist attacks are very influential factors on labor productivity.

Research on Design Method of Interior Wall Painting Based on Computer Technology

In recent years, interior wall painting has become a trend and can be seen everywhere. With the pursuit of people’s spirit and culture, the art of interior wall painting also puts forward high requirements for the artistic literacy of designers. The application of computer technology in interior wall painting design can quickly realize the effect display, save a lot of time and provide more thinking time for designers. At the same time, it also connects designers, owners and construction parties, and creates infinite possibilities for interior wall painting design methods.

Causes of Change Orders in Construction Projects

Change orders are usually issued to cover variations in the scope of work, material quantities, design errors, and unit rate changes. This study discusses variations in public construction projects in Saudi Arabia by investigating their causes, studying their effects on the project, identifying the beneficial parties, and suggesting remedies to alleviate the related problems. Tasks included conducting a field survey via a questionnaire. It was determined that the top five causes of change orders from contractors’ view are: owner’s additional works, errors, and omissions in design, lack of coordination between construction parties, defective workmanship, and owner financial difficulties.

Anatomization of Cost and Time Control Factors in Construction

The Cost escalation and Time overrun has become the common problem in various construction projects across the world which are forcing the construction firms to compromise with the quality and completion time of the building. This can possibly be reduced by concentrating on the key sectors during building construction that are most probable to cause adverse effects on the project objectives. These key sectors that spoils the objectives of projects can be found with the help of a descriptive survey drafted using the significant factors gathered from various Literatures. As a result of survey 38 factors in 7 major groups such as Owner, Consultant, Contractor, Material, Equipments, Labour, External related causes were formulated and the factors were to be assessed based on the Response Scale. These Questionnaire were then circulated among various construction parties such as Owner, Consultant, Contractor in Tamil Nadu. About 191 replies were received in which 66% of them were related Contractors, 21% were Consultants, and 13% were Owner related. The study was carried out by finding the Relative Importance Index of each factor and it was found that the influencing factors were Inadequate Fund for Project, Material Cost Inflation, Changes in Government Regulations, Unrealistic Contract Duration and Requirements imposed by Owner, Inadequate Resources for Construction. Based on the Group Importance Index the Owner group was ranked the highest which signifies that it needs to be concentrated more to reduce the adverse effects

Gaining Legitimacy in Post-Qaddafi Libya: Analysing Attempts of the Muslim Brotherhood

The Libyan Muslim Brotherhood needed to manoeuvre underground for several decades, just as most opposition groups in Libya had to—because of the repression from the Qaddafi regime. In 2012, however, the political wing of the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood (LMB), the Justice and Construction Party (JCP, sometimes also called the Justice and Development Party) participated in popular elections just shortly after its inception. Seven years later, one can unanimously say that the movement was not able to take power in the country. This paper will analyse the LMB in post-revolutionary Libya by concentrating on the attempts of establishing legitimacy in the political sphere—while continuously being informed by historical influences. Methodologically, the paper examines primary sources, key academic texts but also factors in interview data from semi-structured interviews. Overall, the paper addresses the puzzle of why Libya as a predominantly Sunni, conservative country did not translate into a conservative Sunni movement like the LMB faring well; with that, derailing the impression that the whole region was “going Islamist” after the so-called Arab Spring. The LMB today is still influenced by the historical treatment it received under Qaddafi, which lead it to base itself mostly in exile, hence it struggled to entrench itself in the country. The LMB was pointed towards their opponents’ fearmongering of an alleged Islamist takeover, mostly without addressing self-inflicted wounds, such as their inability to unite or to convince major parts of the population of their political programme.

Investigating factors affecting feasibility study of construction projects in iraq

The views at the construction field emboss that construction parties are looking for a higher benefit during implementing aspects of any project. The feasibility study is one of the serious and significant matters in construction sectors as well as in other engineering fields as it has a high impact on investment decision-making. To gain rigorous decisions from decision-makers or contractual parties (client, consultant, and contractor), there is a need for valuable feasibility studies in any construction project. This paper aims to study the influence of some identified factors on feasibility studies as well as the extents of priorities of various feasibility studies. In this paper, the critical factors that have an impact on sequences of initial feasibility studies during the lifecycle of a construction project were identified as well as the associated studies (legal, environment, marketing, technical, managerial, schedule, financial and economic). In this study, 12 factors were identified, analyzed, and thoroughly discussed to have recommendations of their impact on initial feasibility in construction projects in Iraq via a questionnaire survey and a series of expert interviews conducted in Iraq. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) as a multi-criteria decision support system was adopted to examine the weight of each factor. In addition, an analysis by the Relative Importance Index (RII) was carried out to rank eight types of feasibility studies in terms of their perceived importance. The results of AHP indicated that the local shortage of database about the feasibility study was the most critical factor. Indeed, RII's result showed that all kinds of feasibility for construction projects in Iraq are not adopted by the client. In fact, the economic feasibility study was the most popular than others.