Construction Stakeholders Research Articles

Rethinking the challenges to the pricing of projects in the Ghanaian construction industry

PurposeThe aim of the paper is to examine the challenges to the pricing of construction projects in the Ghanaian industry. This remains a persistent problem among construction stakeholders because price is the basis for which offers are made. Project stakeholders are always faced with challenges relating to effective and efficient pricing system making it difficult to achieve value for money.Design/methodology/approachResearch data were collected through a questionnaire survey involving quantity surveyors in the Ghanaian construction industry. Data collected were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis which helped to reduce the factors into six components. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was further carried out to explore whether these six observed variables would form a latent variable called challenges to pricing of construction projects.FindingsThe paper highlighted six underlying challenges which were cost-related, managerial-related, quality-related, variation of works, poor understanding of the terms of contract and time-related. Strong and significant relationships were found between all six of the observed variables. A CFA confirmed that they formed a latent variable the authors called challenges to pricing of construction projects.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings clearly can serve as a reference for both developed and developing countries in the quest for finding an antidote to pricing challenges. In addition, use of CFA improves measurement of the constructs and thus enhances understanding of the underlying components of a construct and their individual relationship with pricing. The paper is particularly useful for policy making and industry regulation because it identifies some of the factors that need attention.Originality/valueThis paper presents an exceptional contribution to the construction management literature by concentrating on the factors that challenge effective and efficient pricing system in the construction industry.

Rework in Malaysian building construction: impacts, causes and potential solutions

PurposeRework is detrimental to project outcomes. However, there is still a lack of attention about rework within the Malaysian construction industry. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of rework on schedule and cost performance, to explore the causes of rework and to propose effective measures to minimise the occurrence of rework in building construction projects in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachUsing a sample of 114 construction stakeholders consisting of 39 clients, 36 consultants and 39 contractors from the Klang Valley region, the authors investigated the variables on rework through a questionnaire survey. The level of importance of the causes and the potential solutions was ranked and correlated.FindingsFrom the primary data analysis, the study on Malaysian building projects unveiled the cost of rework to range from 3.1 to 6.0 per cent of the project value and the schedule growth due to rework to range from 5.1 to 10.0 per cent. The significant causes of rework were identified and prioritised. The 18 causes were further categorised into five underlying dimensions by using a factor analysis. Effective rework reduction measures were also given. Finally, the relationships between the causes of rework and the potential solutions were identified using correlation tests.Research limitations/implicationsWhile this study is limited to rework in Malaysian building construction, rework in infrastructure projects is a potential area to discover new causes and possible solutions.Practical implicationsThis paper provides insights into the effects of rework to project outcomes, causes of rework and feasible solutions in reducing rework in building construction projects.Originality/valueRework has been the focal point of research; however, empirical studies on rework have been under-represented in the Malaysian construction industry. This paper seeks to fill the gap by conducting an in-depth investigation on rework in the context of Malaysia.

Managing the expectations of external stakeholders in construction projects

PurposeThe consideration of external stakeholders has proven to be more critical than internal stakeholders in construction projects. The purpose of this paper is to present the diverse expectations of external stakeholder groups, i.e. governmental authorities, general public, and affected local communities, in construction projects. The practical steps to manage the expectations are also outlined.Design/methodology/approachA three-stage methodology was adopted for the review. The primary terms “stakeholder,” “project participants,” or “project environment” were first searched in four popularly search engines and eight top journals that publish construction research to retrieve publications. After a second-stage filtering process, the selected data were then analyzed and reviewed in line with the objectives.FindingsIn total, 49 common expectations were identified and classified. The results indicate that each stakeholder group pursues expectations in line with the social, environmental, and economic sustainability objectives. For effective management, project managers (PMs) must know stakeholder opportunities and threats, fulfill social responsibilities, establish common goals, apply appropriate strategies, and enhance stakeholder satisfaction.Research limitations/implicationsThe identified expectations are only based on the selected publications. Even though the expectations have been categorized in line with the triple bottom line model, the relative importance of the expectations cannot be ascertained since there is no empirical support.Practical implicationsPMs can play safe by acknowledging the stakeholder expectations and employ such strategies to curtail resulting impacts and maximize mutual benefits. The list of expectations could also be used to promote equitable value optimization in projects, enhance needs fulfillment, and facilitate the evaluation of external stakeholder satisfaction.Originality/valueThis study provides a comprehensive checklist of construction stakeholder expectations which hitherto, is lacked in the literature. Moreover, practical steps to manage the expectations of external stakeholders have been discussed.

Decision-making tool for the assessment and selection of construction processes based on environmental criteria: Application to precast and cast-in-situ alternatives

This paper presents a quantitative environmental impact assessment tool for the decision making of construction processes including structures, infrastructures and buildings by means of an Environmental Impact Index (EII) to be applied at design and/or construction stages. The research is based on multi-attribute utility theory, interviews with experts representatives of the different stakeholders in construction, and an analysis of fifty-nine European and Spanish environmental legislative acts. The resulting tool was applied to two construction alternatives for road drains (one precast and one cast-in-place). The findings show that the tool enables the prioritisation of construction processes and the selection of the best alternative in terms of environmental impact and that the results are stable to reasonable weight variations. The tool contributes to decision making in the context of project management in construction: it can help professionals in public administration, and design and construction companies. It helps to quantify the cradle-to-gate impact of construction work, which has usually been less studied than the operational impact in the life-cycle assessment of buildings. The tool is being piloted in construction projects of the Barcelona City Council.

Value conflicts and organizational commitment of internal construction stakeholders

PurposeThe possible effect of conflicts as the consequence of differences between personal and organizational values (OV) on organizational commitment (OC) of internal construction stakeholders was an unclear issue in the areas of organizational behaviour in the construction industry, especially in Malaysia. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to focus on this issue in the Malaysian construction industry.Design/methodology/approachThis paper targeted professional project consultants, who are identified as architects, engineers, and quantity surveyors, as the internal construction stakeholders. The personal-OV and the level of OC of the stakeholders were evaluated through a questionnaire survey. To achieve the research objective, comparative and hierarchical regression analyses were performed.FindingsThe results generated by the analyses indicated a high level of value conflicts in the construction organizations which significantly and negatively affected commitment of the internal stakeholders.Originality/valueValue conflicts in construction organizations are the agenda of this paper while not many empirical studies have been conducted on this issue in Malaysia. This paper through investigating the potential effect of value conflicts on the stakeholders’ commitment reveals the importance of interaction between personal and OV in construction organizations which contributes to the extant literature of organizational behaviour as to the construction literature.

W117 Performance Information in Construction: 2017 Research Roadmap Report

The CIB Working Commission W117, “Performance Measurement in Construction,” is one of the more innovative and productive research-based commissions in CIB. It focuses on the utilization of performance metrics in the delivery of construction services. The home for W117 is the Performance Based Studies Research Group (PBSRG) at Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe, Arizona, where W117 and ASU-PBSRG hold their annual Best Value Conference. From its start in 2009, W117 was led by Prof. Dean Kashiwagi (ASU), and his group of innovators (Dr. Kenneth Sullivan, Sylvia Romero, John Savicky and Dr. Jacob Kashiwagi) and co-coordinator, Professor Charles Egbu, (Glasgow Caledonian University). In 2016, W117 was joined by Co-Coordinator Prof. Sicco Santema, (University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands) the visionary who led to the proliferation of the W117 technology in the Netherlands.
 W117 aims to change construction procurement and stakeholder organizations worldwide through the use of the information-based Best Value Approach (BVA). As such, it differs from most CIB Commissions that are more science driven, while W117 is more concept and impact driven. It has been one of the most successful CIB Commissions in bridging the gap between the construction industry practice and academic research. It has been prolific in publishing and running research tests with industry partners. W117 and PBSRG have published over 300 papers and generated licensed technology (47 licenses from AZTech, the licensing body of ASU for intellectual property rights). It is the most licensed technology from the most innovative university in the U.S. (as rated by U.S. News and World Report (2016).

A review of stakeholder management performance attributes in construction projects

Construction stakeholder management (SM) engages a lot of attention in project management research domain and industry. This is because construction SM has attained poor industrial feat in the past decades. Hitherto, there is lack of an elaborative tool to manage SM performance in construction projects. Hence, this review fills the gap by presenting a conceptual model of SM performance attributes comprising performance objectives (POs), success factors (SFs) and performance indicators (PIs) that could be engaged to manage (i.e. benchmark, enhance, monitor, and measure) the performance of construction SM. The outcome will benefit professionals and researchers due to the flexibility of selecting a number of attributes that fit the nature, type and stage of projects in order to ensure effective management. It therefore provides a better means of measuring project success in the industry by objectively and subjectively evaluating the level of stakeholder and organisational satisfaction in construction project delivery.

Application of Supply Chain Performance Measurement in Scor Model at Building Project

The supply chain has become a priority subject of management research and manufacturing theory in recent years. It has also become an interesting topic in the construction industry. Construction supply chain management is more concerned with the coordination of discrete quantities of materials delivered to a specific construction project. Currently, in some building project, there has been no standard indicators in measuring the performance of the supply chain. Therefore, further research is needed to define the performance indicators there. One of supply chain performance measurement model is Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR). The SCOR model provides a unique framework that links performance metrics, processes, best practices, and people into a unified structure. The objective of the study is to define the application of SCOR in construction project. There are 11 Key Performance Indicator (KPI) on the SCOR model that could be used as an supply chain performance indicator in construction project. The research method of this study is by conducting a questionnaire to the project manager and material supplier to determine how the indicators are applied in building projects. The result of the study is the definition of each KPI at building project which facilitates understanding of construction stakeholders to measure the performance of the supply chain.

Multilevel Safety Intervention Implementation Strategies for Nigeria Construction Industry

This study was aimed at examining the relationships between the effectiveness of safety intervention programmes and implementation strategies in the Nigeria construction industry. Structured questionnaires were distributed to construction stakeholders across some selected states in Nigeria and the data generated were analysed using Pearson’s product moment correlation. The study found that the effectiveness of safety intervention programmes for construction site accidents prevention is significantly related to the communication implementation strategies. Based on the principles of social ecological theory and UNICEF’s communication for development strategies, this study developed a multilevel safety intervention implementation strategy for construction industries in Nigeria. Four communication strategies, namely, advocacy, social mobilisation, social change communication, and behaviour change communication, which are central to the effectiveness of safety intervention implementation programmes for construction site accidents prevention, were identified. It further revealed that these communication strategies could be individually and collectively applied at different intervention levels but that the greatest effect would be felt when all strategies are systematically combined with more efficient use of resources. The study recommended systematic actions by policy makers, construction organisations, and various community groups towards construction safety interventions, since maximum effect could only be felt when safety interventions are implemented across all levels.

Malaysian construction firms' social sustainability via organizational innovativeness and government support: The mediating role of market culture

The increasing demand by construction stakeholders for ecologically viable construction is pushing the construction firms to adopt social sustainability practices while executing construction projects. While there are several studies establishing how external factors and organizational innovativeness have been influencing social sustainability performance of construction firms, social sustainability performance of Malaysian construction firms is still relatively low. This study therefore proposed that market orientation culture is a significant mediator through which government support can favourably influence firm's social sustainability performance. Empirical support for the argument was derived from the data collected from 172 large construction firms in the Malaysian construction industry. The results suggest that construction firms require managerial initiatives to comply with government regulations and leverage it to facilitate market orientation cultures so as to improve their social sustainability performance.

Sustainability and green building rating systems: LEED, BREEAM, GSAS and Estidama critical analysis

In the built environment, a green building rating system provides the project team a framework and a tool to help achieving a better sustainable development. The research presents how Green Building Rating Systems (GBRSs) are environmental-oriented tools and should not be confused with Sustainability Assessment Systems; the latter is defined by the sustainability three pillars; environmental, social and economic. Achieving a green building certification does not necessarily mean that the building succeeded in achieving its environmental targets. The financial-driven and prescriptive implementation of GBRS are reasons behind a masked sustainability outcome.This paper presents an objective analysis between two internationally applied GBRSs; LEED and BREEAM, and two particularly developed for the gulf region; Estidama and GSAS. Those four systems are analyzed with respects to them addressing and prioritizing the sustainability pillars. The study also quantitatively discusses the credit weighting given by these systems, focusing on energy and water criteria. Limitationsof GBRSs’ application and possible areas of improvement have been highlighted, such as climate change adaptability and the importance of sustainable communities and cities trend. The aim is to help designers and construction stakeholders in defining the development sustainability targets and objectives, without compromising on the local context and regional agenda.

Key factors influencing the decision to adopt industrialised building systems technology in the Malaysian construction industry: an inter-project perspective

ABSTRACTThe factors impacting the adoption of industrialised building systems (IBS) technology is gaining increasing attention in Malaysia, particularly because of the slower-than-expected pace of adoption. This paper aims to identify the factors that influence the decision to use IBS in construction projects. The research methodology is embedded in an interpretative phenomenological paradigm that is applied through semi-structured face-to-face interviews with a group of 27 experienced construction stakeholders from across the industry. The ‘inter-project perspective’ is contextualised through an interpretative content analysis that synthesises varied accounts of interviewees to identify the influence of different factors on IBS adoption. The findings group the factors that influence IBS adoption decisions into ‘structural’, ‘contextual’ and ‘behavioural’ themes. The ‘structural’ and ‘contextual’ themes have five factors impacting the IBS decision, whereas ‘behavioural’ has four factors. The 14 factors are project condition, procurement setup, management approach, communication process, decision-making style, economics conditions, technology development, government involvement, sustainability feature, stakeholders’ participation, experience, bounded rationality, awareness and attitude. These factors are influenced by 49 ‘aspects’. It is suggested that the IBS adoption decision is complex and influenced by many interconnected ‘aspects’, beyond government incentives, cost, attitudes and skills. Moreover, a more integrative approach that considers all factors is needed to make the IBS adoption decision. However, because the intensity of influence of these factors/aspects may differ country to country, as may the nature of the construction industry, any attempt to develop a strategy or policy to increase IBS adoption or integration needs to be targeted.

Preliminary Survey of Safety and Health Cost Framework for Urban Rail Infrastructure Project in Malaysia

This paper presents the findings of a preliminary survey, which is consist of three criteria as the main focus, namely the identification of critical phases for safety cost allocation, issues, and importance of safety and health cost allocation and potential respondent for this research. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven (7) construction stakeholders who are involved in urban rail infrastructure project. The transcription and interpretation from the interview findings were carried out using Atlas.ti© qualitative software. The respondent views are needed to obtain safety items and related issues in developing this framework mainly for estimating the safety cost allocation.Keywords: Safety and Health Cost; Cost Framework; Urban Rail; Infrastructure Project. ISSN: 2398-4287© 2017. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.

Mapping the Industrial Perception of Delay Data Through Importance Rating

The construction industry is struggling with several recorded incidents of delay due to improper planning and/or implementation of required construction measures. The common conclusion by many researchers worldwide is that the construction industry is overloaded with more frequent delays when compared to other labour-enforced industries. Construction stakeholders’ input is required to facilitate the smooth flow of construction projects. The purpose of this paper is to identify and rank the most significant delay attributes that affect the construction industry. The scope of the effort concentrates on identifying the delay factors and ranking them based on a questionnaire. After a review of the literature, a list of 42 delay attributes was made and presented in a survey, which was sent to numerous professionals in the construction industry. One hundred and seventy-nine complete responses were received and analysed. The procedures to execute the work are carried through the importance index, Spearman’s rank correlation, t test, and risk mapping. The major findings of the study are that “low productivity of labour”, “delay in decision making”, “changes to the project by owner”, “delays related to subcontractors’ work”, and “unqualified workforce” were ranked as the most significant delay attributes. Based on the most significant factors, recommendation to industry professionals was presented.

Analysis of the impact of craft labour availability on North American construction project productivity and schedule performance

The North American construction industry has experienced periods of craft shortages for decades. While this problem has received significant attention from researchers, less attention has been given to quantifying the impact of availability of craft labour on project performance. The primary contribution of the current work to the body of knowledge is the quantification of the relationship between craft labour availability and project performance, as measured by project productivity and schedule. Data from 97 construction projects completed in the U.S. and Canada between 2001 and 2014 were collected from two industry databases. The primary analysis shows that projects that experienced craft shortages underwent substantial and statistically lower productivity compared to projects that did not. The analysis also shows a significant growth in schedule overrun due to the craft labour shortages among the same population of projects. Further exploration by means of several regression analyses shows a statistically significant correlation between increased craft recruiting difficulty and lower project productivity and also higher schedule overruns in both project databases. The results are confirmed across both databases and serve as informative models that provide valuable insight for project management teams to perceive the risk that lack of skills poses on project productivity and time performance. Understanding the level of impact that craft shortages are having through robust statistical analyses is a first step in developing the motivation for industry leaders, communities and construction stakeholders to address this challenge.

Green oriented procurement for building projects: Preliminary findings from Malaysia

As Malaysia is planning an increasing number of construction projects in the near future, a major imperative is to embark on a ‘greener path’ to ensure a more sustainable future. One of the efforts currently being undertaken is the introduction of green procurement, which is part of the government’s MyHijau initiative and highlighted in the Malaysian economic planning program. Previous studies have found that the concept of green procurement is still very new to the Malaysian construction industry and accordingly have sought to address the low levels of knowledge in this area. This paper presents preliminary findings of green procurement practices in Malaysia based on a review of the existing literature as well as a pilot study utilising semi-structured interviews of experienced practitioners. Our findings indicate that, although the term ‘green procurement’ is not being used broadly across construction stakeholders, some green practices related to procurement are developing in the industry. These include the availability of green procurement guidelines and the inclusion of green criteria in the tender process, with due consideration given to green purchasing. The findings are encouraging and point to an increasing awareness, practices and implementation of green procurement by practitioners in Malaysia. It is envisaged that the paper will provide the basis for future research into green procurement practices for construction projects in Malaysia and beyond.

Stakeholders Assessment of Constraints to Project Delivery in the Nigerian Construction Industry

The central goal of construction stakeholders is to successfully deliver projects to stated objective (s). However, for decades, construction projects have been plagued by perennial constraints of cost and time overruns, poor quality, and lack of sustainability. The objective of this paper is to identify and assess the constraints to construction project delivery, and to recommend solutions to enhance project performance. This paper adopted both quantitative and qualitative methods to establish the constraints in the Nigerian construction industry. A pilot survey and literature reviewed revealed a total of fifty (50) construction constraints, which were further classified into eight (8) major groups. Well-structured questionnaires were administered to construction stakeholders (client, consultant and contractor) in Abuja, the federal capital city of Nigeria. Relative Importance Index (RII) was used to analyze the data using Likert scale. The results suggest that cost/time overrun related factors (inability to reduce project cost), Stakeholders interactive-related factors (inability to establish client value system), Client-related factors (Delay in interim payment and finance problem), and Labor/material-related factors (escalation of material prices and materials quality variability) are the most prevalent constraints in the Nigerian construction environment. To mitigate the effects of these challenges, it is suggested that a formal innovative approach should be used by stakeholders to address the problems of poor communication, high project cost, and delay. Clients should also take measures to provide adequate funding and should promptly honor interim certificates.

Prevention of Collusion for Innovative Construction

Collusion is an unscrupulous and anticompetitive practices among construction stakeholders which has adverse effect not only on the integrity of the parties or people but also on the overall performance of construction projects. In view of this and in order to ensure healthy competition and alliance among construction stakeholders, this study assessed various measures that can be adopted to minimize or eliminate the practice of collusion in the construction industry. The measures were extracted from existing literature materials and questionnaire was adopted as a means of data collection using a 5-point Likert scale. Using convenience sampling, 49 questionnaires were distributed, 43 were retrieved while 41 were found worthy of further analysis. Among other measures, people involved in construction process including the professionals should be encouraged to report any suspicious acts and transactions including collusion practices, and procurement procedures for construction projects should be open and transparent. There is a need to blacklist and deregister professionals and companies that are caught in the act of collusion as this will enhance project performance and subsequently improve the image of the construction industry. Punishments for the offence should be well documented and there should be strict enforcement of the discipline and regulations when a company or individual is found culpable. This study will help regulatory bodies shouldered with the responsibilities of regulating construction activities - including that of the stakeholders - in their quest to reduce or eliminate the practice of collusion in the construction industry.

DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE ASSESSMENT METHOD AND DESIGN TOOL FOR EXISTING AND TRADITIONAL BUILDINGS IN JORDAN

Abstract In the last ten years, numerous Sustainability Assessment Systems have been developed worldwide to provide construction stakeholders tools that help in achieving better sustainable development. Jordan developed its own Green Building Guideline in 2013 for new buildings but unfortunately, the guideline hasn’t included any criteria for existing or traditional buildings. The main objective of this study is to develop a sustainable Assessment Method for existing and traditional buildings to assist both public and private construction sectors in Jordan in achieving more sustainable buildings. The adopted methodology is based on in-depth analysis of three leading international green building rating systems, which are: LEED and BREEAM and Green Globes, from which a system was developed to meet the requirements of the Jordanian National Building Code. It is expected that the implementation of the developed sustainability assessment method will ease the process of measuring sustainability of existing and traditional buildings and therefore will highlight the importance of traditional architecture to set out fundamental principles for contemporary green housing construction.

被災市街地における住宅ストックおよび土地利用の長期的経年変化と不動産移管・再生プログラムの効果

This study clarifies the long-term change of post-disaster built environment of three neighborhoods in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina (2005).Three neighborhoods experienced almost same housing damage by disaster, but have different attribution in terms of population and housing such as household income, race and homeownership etc. The selection of neighborhoods are determined in order to analyze what kind of factors given influence for built environment regeneration. The goal of the research is to examine the neighborhood-scale mechanism of built environment regeneration after mega disaster. The methodology is housing stock regeneration and land use field survey counting five times during 2009 and 2015. This research examines not only the recovery process of neighborhood-scale built environment but also the impact of property transfer and regeneration programs by local government which are Auction and the Lot Next Door program both of which aims to bring back buyout properties into real estate market. It is demonstrated that housing stock regeneration in Lakeview, the middle-high income and white neighborhood is achieved not only by middle-high income survivors' housing reconstruction but also third-party's property purchase who might have motivation in land speculation and for development benefit through local government's property transfer and regeneration programs. High property value which is affected by race and household income is one of factors which given influence for positive built environment regeneration. It is proved that property transfer programs are effective methods for this neighborhood which is achieved by encouraging multiple stakeholders to construct housing and manage properties, not adhering to housing "re"construction by pre-disaster homeowners. In Gentilly Woods, mixed race and low-middle income neighborhood, the percentage of buyout programs are relatively high, but the properties transfer and regeneration program only functions as decrease of blight properties but not increase of new housing stock. The absence of third-party housing construction stakeholder leads to the "empty lot immobilization" that is more apparent than other neighborhoods. Finally, Holy Cross, low-income and African-American neighborhood, number of blighted properties have been visible even after ten years after disaster. However, the percentage of empty lots are smaller than that of Gentilly after ten years and the incremental housing renovation remain ongoing process by survivors' housing reconstruction actions. The percentage of buyout properties are approxitemtly 3 % smaller, more people decided in-situ housing reconstruction, than Lakeview and Gentilly Woods which implies that residents' strong attachment for neighborhood might affect the built environment regeneration situation in the long-term process for the future. This research has not clarify the motivation of the property transfer and regeneration program and also the attribution of non pre-disaster homeowners who construct housing in neighborhood which is one of the factors that might give influence for built environment regeneration. These have to be proved in order to examine the mechanism and structure of built environment regeneration. It is possible to analyze the data of real estate transaction and the attribution of stakeholders by using the Assessors'' office of Orleans Parish. This is next research issue to be examined.