Polish Construction Research Articles

Benefits of using IT systems in multi-sector projects: a case study of the Polish construction industry

IT tools play an important role in everyday work, as they do in other human activities. There is already a number of different project management support systems, ranging from applications providing only selected functionalities such as generating schedules, to comprehensive end-to-end programs. In business, developing a functional and practical project management support tool is a very helpful and profitable strategy. The key functionalities of such tools include the effective implementation of projects, followed by ongoing progress tracking, project status reporting, change and risk management, and last but not least, efficient communication and information exchange between team members. Streamlining communication is particularly important in multi-sector projects whose teams are made up of professionals from various fields who work towards a common goal while representing different priorities at different stages of project implementation, e.g., industrial designers may clash in their aesthetic vision with architects, etc. In interdisciplinary teams like these, it is also pivotal for members to have uninterrupted access to up-to-date information, real-time monitoring of deviations, as well as a centralized repository of knowledge and project documentation which is ensured by a properly selected IT system. The main goal of this article is to assess IT tools supporting the management of multi-sector projects. A survey research was conducted among construction companies in Poland to identify the benefits of using IT tools in supporting the management of multi-sector projects.

Modern Wooden Construction System Comparison

Wood-based construction is a rapidly growing branch of construction in the world, it is slightly worse on the Polish field. In the era of care for the environment, it is important that newly constructed building objects, including buildings, not only use as little energy as possible, but are also made of materials received as ecological. Wood-based construction combines both of these aspects. There are, however, two other market aspects: price and availability of materials and technological solutions. Wooden buildings are more environmentally and human friendly than other material solutions, and with proper insulation, finishing and well-chosen installation systems, they can also be tempted to become a zero-energy building, i.e. one whose energy balance is zero per year. Among the architectural design offers today you can find a large number of residential or public building designs (low or large volume) with a wood-based structure, both in terms of bar solutions (generally seen through the prism of skeletal objects), as well as massive structures (today mainly seen through the prism plate objects). Each of them has different design assumptions, but in principle the goal is common. The right kind of construction, insulation and finishing materials should be chosen for each. For structural elements, various types of protection should be taken, e.g. in the field of fire safety or against technical wood pests, etc. In the field of insulation, analyses of thermal issues, waterproofing and wind protection are undertaken. The choice of finishing materials should also take into account solutions that are the least burdening the environment and minimize energy losses, among others by avoiding possible thermal bridges. This article attempts to present the topic in a synthetic way, outlining global trends and possibilities of the Polish wood-based construction market. The calculation example illustrates the heat balance and environmental loads of a single-family wooden building with thermal insulation selected so that the building envelope meets the current requirements given in the Technical Conditions.

Polish Transition towards Circular Economy: Materials Management and Implications for the Construction Sector.

Poland’s economy as the sixth largest economy in the EU is painfully experiencing the effects of natural resource depletion, which extend to increasing prices and the growing dependence on foreign suppliers. The situation is particularly unfavorable in the construction sector, which is among the most resource- and energy-consuming areas of the economy. This paper juxtaposes the situation of Polish construction industry in the context of the national economy with the context of the evolving EU policies promoting green solutions. The resulting changes in Polish legislation, industry and society are identified. The implementation of selected Circular Economy (CE) aspects, outcomes, emerging challenges and future directions are discussed. The social aspects related to this transformation were analyzed based on a survey carried out among construction industry consumers. The results clearly highlight that individuals are aware of the need to protect the environment, but also indicate a strong necessity to educate the populace about the consequences of the excessive exploitation of the environment and the long-term benefits of CE solutions.

Communication and Information Flow in Polish Construction Projects

The objective of this paper is to analyse communication and information flow within construction projects on the basis of a survey study and a review of the literature. The subject of communication and its impact on carrying out a construction project is widely discussed in global academic literature. Many scholars point to problems with communication and information flow while also reporting that it directly affects construction project time and cost. In the literature, communication is also presented as an essential factor that improves safety and partnering in construction projects. There is also a group of studies that points to the lack of effective communication as the cause of delays and modifications. The authors, in reference to global studies, present the results of a survey study performed in Poland on a group of 160 construction industry practitioners. Information about five research areas was collected. These areas included: general information about communication and information flow between construction project participants, problems in carrying out construction projects in relation to the lack of effective communication, the impact of communication on the success of carrying out a construction project, communication costs, and the need to develop a tool (a digital system) that would support construction project managers in the optimal control over communication between project participants. On the basis of the obtained research results and the literature study, it was found that effective communication and information flow within a construction project can improve the construction process and that there exists a need to develop a comprehensive approach that would aid construction project managers in ensuring a more effective information flow.

Assessment of the Constancy of Performance of Cementitious Adhesives for Ceramic Tiles: Analysis of the Test Results Commissioned by Polish Market Surveillance Authorities

Assessment and verification of constancy of performance (AVCP) is a complex process. Without it, the manufacturer cannot mark the product with the Conformitè Europëenne (CE) marking and place it on the EU market. The verification of the correctness of the AVCP is carried out by market surveillance. In Poland, supervision authorities regularly check manufacturers by collecting construction products that exist on the market for inspection. Among the dry-mix mortars, adhesives for ceramic tiles (CTA) constitute an essential group. The requirements for CTAs are specified in EN 12004. According to the standard, the basic characteristics of cementitious CTAs are tensile adhesion strength and open time. The adhesion measurements are performed after various laboratory conditions tests. The study analyzes the results obtained for 129 samples of cementitious CTAs, collected between the years 2016 and 2019 from the market, and tested in notified laboratories at the request of Polish construction supervision authorities. Many tested products did not meet the threshold values, which resulted in removing them from the market. The paper discusses the complexity of the tensile adhesion strength measurement. The obtained test results are considered in various dimensions, including using the simple acceptance rule method when evaluating the results, which does not consider the measurement uncertainty.

Influence of Thermal Retrofitting on Annual Energy Demand for Heating in Multi-Family Buildings

The paper presented the analysis of heat consumption for heating in multi-family residential buildings before and after thermal retrofitting. The analysis involved four groups of buildings, i.e., 43 buildings in total, located in various localities, belonging to one weather station. The predicted level of energy savings resulting from thermal retrofitting was achieved from the energy audits. The actual heat consumption, following the calculation into so-called external standard conditions, was obtained based on the readouts from heat-meters. For each building, the values of heat consumption over the periods of 6–10 years were read. The performance measurements involved the periods before, during, and after thermal retrofitting. The following statistical tests were used for data analysis: Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney, Shapiro–Wilk, Bartlett, ANOVA, Kruskal–Wallis, Dunn and Holm post-hoc. The performed analyses showed that the mean value of energy savings predicted by audits reached 38.5% when the real mean value of savings, achieved from heat-meters, equaled 30.3%. The annual energy demand factors for heating were calculated for final energy and non-renewable primary energy factors. It was established that most of the analyzed objects fulfilled the primary energy factor requirements found in the Polish technical and construction regulations, which were valid at the time of investment.

Market and Accounting Risk Factors of Asset Pricing in the Classical and Downside Approaches

<p>Theoretical background: The variability of the company’s profitability is the result of the accompanying risk. To compare the profitability of many companies, relative profitability measures, which include profitability ratios, are more convenient. This article analyses market and accounting risk factors of CAPM. Risk was considered in variance and downside framework. Market betas, accounting betas were used in an extended version of the asset pricing model. Additionally, the influence of profitability ratios, such as ROA and ROE on the average rate of return on the capital market are considered.</p><p>Purpose of the article: The main purpose of this study is to test the standard and extended CAPM relations between systematic risk measures and mean returns for single companies quoted on the Polish capital market and equally-weighted portfolios in two approaches: variance and downside risk.</p><p>Research methods: The research based on individual securities and portfolios, compares the one-factor risk-return relationships with two-factor ones estimated using mean returns in cross-sectional regressions. The regressors were expressed in absolute terms and classical and downside beta coefficients. The sample includes companies differing in terms of size and across different industries.</p><p>Main findings: Portfolios with higher classical or downside market betas generate higher mean returns. The negative risk premium for accounting betas for variance and downside risk was identified. It is not in accordance with our earlier study of the Polish construction sector, where a positive and significant risk premium for downside accounting betas was found. The highest explanatory power of rates on returns on the Polish capital market were found for average ROA and ROE. This confirms the results of the previous studies on the Polish capital market for food and construction sectors.</p>

Innovative logistics as a tool to increase the competitiveness of the polish construction industry

The role of logistics and logistic potential in effective development of building branch of economy is investigated in article. The authors focus on the need to actively implement progressive innovations in logistics activities of Polish companies. The innovative approach in the development of the logistics system will contribute to an increase in the level of competitiveness of Poland and increase the efficiency of operation of related sectors of the national economy.

Dimensions of Intercompany Cooperation in the Construction Industry and their Relations to Performance of SMEs

Cooperation between companies is widely believed to have positive impact on their performance. However, there is insufficient empirical research on relationships between these constructs in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the construction industry. Moreover, cooperation is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon, and it is interesting how different dimensions of cooperation may influence the company’s performance. To bridge the research gap, the following study is performed, which: (1) identifies dimensions of intercompany cooperation, and (2) examines the relationships between dimensions of cooperation and the performance of SMEs. Eight dimensions of cooperation were identified, based on 125 observations obtained from Polish construction SMEs. It appears that a company’s openness to cooperation is dependent on the company’s maturity and the competition between partners. Surprisingly, no significant connection was observed between the cooperation, financial performance and the change in the number of employees. It is considered that the cooperation in the construction industry, although not related to financial performance in a significant or direct way, is common and may be essential for the survival of SMEs.

A SWOT Analysis of the Use of BIM Technology in the Polish Construction Industry

The present paper presents a SWOT analysis, the aim of which is to evaluate the strategic implementation of BIM technology in the construction industry in Poland. The authors created a SWOT matrix presenting strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and risks associated with the use of BIM. Using literature analyses, own experience, and market reports, all elements of the SWOT matrix are described in detail. Basic indicators characterizing the strategic position of BIM on the Polish construction market are calculated. Finally, the matrix of strategic tasks and actions that should be applied in order to promote and develop BIM in Poland are defined.

The influence of the acquisition of English as a foreign language on acceptability judgements in L1 Polish among young adults

ABSTRACT The article discusses the results of a study of L1 proofreading competence conducted among young adult native speakers of Polish who acquired English through formal education at school and university in Poland. Students with various levels of proficiency in English were asked to make acceptability judgements for Polish structures presented to them in writing. The results confirm the hypothesis that competence in L2 English exerts an influence on judgements of well-formedness of linguistic expressions in L1 Polish. Students with the strongest and weakest language skills in L2 English demonstrated significantly higher competence in detecting non-standard constructions in L1 Polish than students with intermediate L2 proficiency. The largest disparity appeared in the area of lexical semantics. A reinterpretation of the results of a similar study by Sunde and Kristoffersen. [2018. Effects of English L2 on Norwegian L1. Nordic Journal of Linguistics 41, no. 3: 275–307] conducted in Norway is proposed to explain the difference in the findings. The article proposes possible explanations for why strongest cross-lingual influence occurred in students who showed intermediate competence in English, and discusses the potential implications of the findings for language teaching on the one hand, and normative language attitudes on the other.

Can Tense Be Subject to Grammatical Illusion? Part 2: Evidence from an ERP Study on the Processing of Tense and Aspect Mismatches in Compound Future Constructions in Polish

Studies in Polish Linguistics » Volume 15 » Issue 1 » Can Tense Be Subject to Grammatical Illusion? Part 2: Evidence from an ERP Study on the Processing of Tense and Aspect Mismatches in Compound Future Constructions in Polish A A A

“X, not Y” construction, copular clauses and expressive NN juxtapositions in Polish

Studies in Polish Linguistics » Volume 15 » Issue 1 » “X, not Y” construction, copular clauses and expressive NN juxtapositions in Polish A A A

Underneath the Wedding Veil: Class Conflicts in Wyspiański’s „Wesele”

The article discusses the descriptions of social class strife included but masked in the plot and characters’ construction in the famous Polish play Wesele(The Wedding) by Stanislaw Wyspianski. According to the author of the article, the scenes depicting the wedding customs and party are inherently a facade that attempts to mask class conflicts. The class tensions appear consequently in dialogues throughout the play (especially in its climax) and with regard to several different characters. Their role reversals consist of extrinsic signs, which suggest that they are playing the roles and not actually fulfilling them. Thus, the symbols they use in the play are merely costumes that mask their actual backgrounds, drawing for the readers or audience of Wyspianski’s drama the line between appearance and reality.

Predicative Adverbs and Adjectives with Infinitival Subjects. A Corpus Investigation

The aim of this paper is to compare two Polish predicative constructions with infinitival subjects, namely those with predicative adverbs and those with predicative adjectives. The latter construction, of the form “predicative adjective + copula + infinitival subject”, has hardly been noticed in Polish literature on predication, copulas, or infinitival subjects. On the basis of corpus data, mainly from the National Corpus of Polish, we demonstrate that this construction is much rarer than the analogous construction with predicative adverbs. We also show that roughly the same predicates may be expressed as either adverbs or as adjectives when the subject is an infinitival phrase – any observed differences are not systematic but rather stem from lexical gaps and differences in the meanings of particular adverbs and adjectives. In particular, certain modal predicates may only be expressed as adjectives because the corresponding adverbs do not express the same non-epistemic modal meanings. Finally, we provide new corpus evidence for an earlier claim that predicative adjectives are much rarer than adverbs when the subject is infinitival because they require this subject to undergo covert nominalisation; as adverbs combine with infinitival subjects directly, they are usually preferred.

Predicting the length of a post-accident absence in construction with boosted decision trees

Work safety control and analysis of accidents during construction performance are one of the most important issues of construction management. The paper focuses on post-accident absence as an element of occupational safety management. Somehow, the length of the post-accident absence can be treated as an indicator of building performance safety. The paper attempts to answer the question of whether it is possible to use boosted classifier ensembles to predict the post-accident absence length using a small set of historical observations, and which classification algorithm is the most promising to solve the prediction problem. It also proves that there is a dependence between the length of the post-accident absence and the cause of the accident or working conditions The choice of boosted algorithms is not accidental. Thanks to the use of aggregation methods it is possible to build classifiers that predict precisely and do not require any initial data treatment, which simplifies the prediction process significantly. The model of the prediction problem has been clarified. To identify the most promising classifier ensemble the prediction accuracy measures of selected classification algorithms were analyzed. The data used to build models was gathered on national (Polish) construction sites.

Risk related to the assessment and verification of the constancy of performance of construction products. Analysis of the results of the tests of cementitious adhesives for ceramic tiles commissioned by Polish construction supervision authorities

The paper analyzes the results of adhesion tests of cementitious adhesives to ceramic tiles, commissioned by construction supervision authorities in 2016-2020. A significant number of the tested cementitious adhesives did not meet the acceptance criteria. Following legal regulations, their manufacturer was obliged to withdraw the product from the market immediately. When assessing the compliance of the results with the requirements, the simple acceptance rule is applied. It means that the product is considered compliant only if the result met the threshold requirements. The results variability estimated from the measurement uncertainty is not taken under consideration. Possible situations in which the manufacturer correctly assessed and verified the constancy of performance [AVCP] of the cementitious adhesive, but the laboratory assessment was negative due to not including the variability resulting from measurement uncertainty, or the specificity of the multi-stage research methodology were discussed. The analysis of the test results was carried out according to the division into C1 and C2 class cementitious adhesives, and also according to the division into notified laboratories, where the tests were performed. When analyzing the number of products that meet or not the requirements, significant differences were found between laboratories carrying out tests commissioned by construction supervision authorities.

Value creation efficiency of Polish construction companies listed on Warsaw Stock Exchange during 2010-2012

Measuring the efficiency of enterprise value creation is the basis for assessing the profitability of capital investment by its shareholders. The conceptualisation and application of the value creation measures were related to the creation and development of the value-based management concept. These measures also enriched the financial analysis, becoming tools for the analysis of the enterprise value. The purpose of this article is to analyse the value creation efficiency of Polish construction companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange with showing the possibility of using the mentioned measures to assess the value creation efficiency. This will enable to answer the research questions formulated for the purposes of analysis. The article is based on an analysis of the literature and the use of value creation measures, constituting a scientific reflection presented from the perspective of the few years that have passed since the analysed period.

Decyzja o zezwoleniu na lokalizację obiektów budowlanych w pasie drogowym jako źródło prawa do dysponowania nieruchomością na cele budowlane

The article presents the problem of the interpretation of art. 3 point 11 of the polish Construction Law act. Abovementioned provision statues the definition of the notion of “right to use the real property for construction purposes”. Literal wording of art. 3 point 11 may seemingly indicate that this right may be arised only from private (civil) law’s legal relationships. This paper aims to indicate that such interpretation of the art. 3 point 11 of the Construction Law act is incorrect. The author proves that the administrative act like the permit for building structures localisation in the road lane (statued in the Public Roads Act) may be considered as independent source of the investor’s right to use the real property for construction purposes.

Value creation efficiency of Polish construction companies listed on Warsaw Stock Exchange during 2010-2012

Measuring the efficiency of enterprise value creation is the basis for assessing the profitability of capital investment by its shareholders. The conceptualisation and application of the value creation measures were related to the creation and development of the value-based management concept. These measures also enriched the financial analysis, becoming tools for the analysis of the enterprise value. The purpose of this article is to analyse the value creation efficiency of Polish construction companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange with showing the possibility of using the mentioned measures to assess the value creation efficiency. This will enable to answer the research questions formulated for the purposes of analysis. The article is based on an analysis of the literature and the use of value creation measures, constituting a scientific reflection presented from the perspective of the few years that have passed since the analysed period.