Capabilities Of Contractors Research Articles

The collaborative approaches of the knowledge-based performance management system and lean six sigma to improve contractor productivity and safety performances

PurposeThis paper aims to design a hybrid model of knowledge-based performance management system (KBPMS) for facilitating Lean Six-Sigma (L6s) application to increase contractor productivity without compromising human safety in Indonesian upstream oil field operations that manage ageing and life extension (ALE) facilities.Design/methodology/approachThe research design applies a pragmatic paradigm by employing action research strategy with qualitative-quantitative methodology involving 385 of 1,533 workers. The KBPMS-L6s conceptual framework is developed and enriched with the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to prioritize fit-for-purpose Key Performance Indicators. The application of L6s with Human Performance Modes analysis is used to provide a statistical baseline approach for pre-assessment of the contractor’s organizational capabilities. A comprehensive literature review is given for the main pillars of the contextual framework.FindingsThe KBPMS-L6s concept has given an improved hierarchy for strategic and operational levels to achieve a performance benchmark to manage ALE facilities in Indonesian upstream oil field operations. To increase quality management practices in managing ALE facilities, the L6s application requires an assessment of the organizational capability of contractors and an analysis of Human Performance Modes (HPM) to identify levels of construction workers’ productivity based on human competency and safety awareness that have never been done in this field.Research limitations/implicationsThe action research will only focus on the contractors’ productivity and safety performances that are managed by infrastructure maintenance programs for managing integrity of ALE facilities in Indonesian upstream of oil field operations. Future research could go toward validating this approach in other sectors.Practical implicationsThis paper discusses the implications of developing the hybrid KBPMS- L6s enriched with AHP methodology and the application of HPM analysis to achieve a 14% reduction in inefficient working time, a 28% reduction in supervision costs, a 15% reduction in schedule completion delays, and a 78% reduction in safety incident rates of Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR), Days Away Restricted or Job Transfer (DART) and Motor Vehicle Crash (MVC), as evidence of achieving fit-for-purpose KPIs with safer, better, faster, and at lower costs.Social implicationsThis paper does not discuss social implicationsOriginality/valueThis paper successfully demonstrates a novel use of Knowledge-Based system with the integration AHP and HPM analysis to develop a hybrid KBPMS-L6s concept that successfully increases contractor productivity without compromising human safety performance while implementing ALE facility infrastructure maintenance program in upstream oil field operations.

The Emergence of the Contractor’s Innovation Capability at Project Level: An Agent-Based Modeling Approach

Contractors play a crucial role in ensuring efficient innovation within construction projects but limited research has focused on the innovation capability of contractors. This study utilizes a multi-method approach, including case studies, surveys, and interviews to collect data for analysis. Based on this, a conceptual model is proposed and a simulation mode which utilizes agent-based modeling (ABM) is constructed. ABM is the microscopic bottom-up approach which can describe and follow the agents and interactions. This study proposes a novel conceptual model to examine the emergence of contractor innovation capability at the project level, from a knowledge flow perspective. It fills the research gap regarding innovation capability in temporary cross-organizational projects. Additionally, an ABM simulation model is developed considering project and participant characteristics, providing insights into the formation rule and development mechanisms of contractors’ innovation capability at the project level. The conclusions are as follows: (1) The demand for innovation drives the innovative behavior of different entities within the project. (2) Knowledge availability in public domains and other entities’ knowledge creation capability provide critical support for contractor innovation. (3) Contractors’ capability to absorb and integrate knowledge serves as the foundation for achieving innovation. (4) When contractors possess strong capabilities, effective synergy among organizations facilitates the generation of innovative outcomes.

Belief reliability index determination method based on group decision‐making

AbstractFor newly developing systems, the determination of the reliability index is an important task in the system demonstration process that determines both the system design goal and the verification requirement. However, due to the insufficient data at the beginning of the system life cycle, the problem of epistemic uncertainty cannot be ignored. Researchers have proposed several belief reliability metrics and analysis methods to quantify the epistemic uncertainty of a system, but to the best knowledge of the authors, no relevant studies have been performed on system reliability index determination. In this paper, we propose a belief reliability index determination method based on group decision‐making. Using a similar system‐based reliability index determination method, this method comprehensively considers the demands of users and the capabilities of contractors. In addition, the Delphi method and Hadamard multiplication convex combination are combined to effectively solve the epistemic uncertainty quantification problem. The Delphi method is used to find the conflicts caused by multi‐expert scoring, and the Hadamard multiplication convex combination can integrate the scoring matrix of all experts, which makes the results more reasonable. Finally, a Low‐Earth‐orbit (LEO) satellite communication system is used to verify the effectiveness of our belief reliability index determination method.

The Role of Client-Contractor Relationship in Solving Financing Failure in Construction Project

The construction industry supply chain emphasizes the importance of the client and contractor relationship. This research examines the process of evaluating the Contractor's capability in selecting a contractor. This study also reviews how the project owner solves the problem during work. This research uses a qualitative and case study approach. The study is based on library research, the Delphi method, and content analysis. The results of the study show: (a) in building a relationship, PT XYZ and the Contractor has declared about its business legal documents to the ABC institution; (b) However, in building a relationship, PT XYZ was not transparent about its financial capabilities and business ownership structure; (c) PT XYZ's failure to finance the project has disrupted the relationship of the two parties; (d) PT XYZ (Contractor) has declared about its financial failure; (d) the ABC institution overcomes it with a relationship beyond contract model, which is first to bail out the Contractor's finances so that PT XYZ can still carry out the construction service contract to completion. The ABC institution decided to bail out PT.XYZ is primarily based on the values practiced by the ABC institution, known as LIGHT, which means Love, Integrity, Growth, Humanity, and Trust.

Insights into Increasing the Implementation of Concrete Overlay Rehabilitation Methods for Highway Pavements

Concrete overlays provide a promising solution to extending pavement life, and are currently the focus of the Federal Highway Administration Every Day Counts initiative. Despite their potential benefits, concrete overlays are not commonly used in many areas of the U.S.A., including the Southeast. A survey of 19 paving contractors active in the Southeastern U.S.A. was performed to quantify recent concrete overlay projects performed by these contractors, to assess the capabilities of contractors to construct concrete overlays in this region, and to identify barriers to implementation of concrete overlays as well as opportunities to increase their use. Findings indicated contractors in the region either had extensive overlay experience or no experience constructing concrete overlays. Regardless of the experience level of the contractor, the primary barrier to implementation is that this type of work is not being let for bid. Concerns about traffic control and safety was the second most important barrier among all contractors. Experienced contractors indicated the lack of available and skilled construction personnel were also key barriers. Inexperienced contractors cited concerns about the length and duration of construction as the third most important barrier. Respondents indicated an eagerness to bid on and complete overlays. The results of this study provide insight to regional state highway agencies, municipalities, and design engineers of the capabilities of concrete pavement contractors in the region to complete concrete overlay projects. The findings will help agencies understand the capabilities and concerns of concrete paving contractors and aid in informed decisions about overlays.

Public procurement in construction: a critical review

Introduction. The first article of the series addresses the main findings of the analysis of regulatory documents governing public procurement in construction in some foreign countries. Methods, that are little known in Russia and not typical for the domestic practice of contractual relations, are successfully used abroad. On the contrary, some of the rules look strange to a foreign bidder. The Auditing Chamber of the Russian Federation emphasizes the instability of competition legislation.
 Materials and methods. The authors address the Russian investment and procurement statistics and study basic principles and methods of public procurement. Basic rules governing relations between customers and contractors are analyzed. The Russian bidding legislation is compared with foreign bidding legislation systems, which are analyzed in the article.
 Results. The author have found that no thorough preparations for design and construction works are made. Little financial resources are invested into feasibility studies. Electronic document management is overemphasized, and features of the construction process are not sufficiently addressed. Competitive negotiations are not used abroad, although auctions, that do not take into account any parameters other than the price, are applied. The contact price is set in advance, without taking into account the contractor’s capabilities, and later this price remains unchanged, even if its initial value is too low. In many cases no contractors join the bidding process, which causes investment programmes to fail. The procurement legislation hardly addresses the contract implementation phase.
 Conclusions. It is advisable to draft and pass an independent federal law on public procurement in construction. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the international experience and the capabilities of contractors operating in civil and industrial engineering. There is a need to limit indirect costs and profit margins of equipment and construction material producers in the same way as it is done in respect of construction companies within the framework of price control measures.

An Evaluation of the Causes and Effects of Delayed Payments on the Productivity of Construction Companies in Guyana

Delayed payments for services rendered by contractors are seen as a key problem in the construction sector. It causes significant cash flow problems, which can obliterate the contractual payment chain. The study was done to determine the causes and effects of delayed payments for works completed in the construction sector in Guyana and to ascertain the actions taken by contractors to overcome these problems. In order to obtain data for the study, a random sample of 180 contractors, consultants, and clients in the construction sector in Region 4 were emailed questionnaires. A total of 65 questionnaires were completed and returned for analysis. The ranking of the findings for the causes of delayed payment were determined using the relative importance index for four categories: contractor-related factors, client-related factors, contract-related factors, and consultant-related factors. Effects of delayed payments on contractors’ productivity and finance and actions taken by contractors to overcome delayed problems were also studied. Some of the causes of delayed payment from the study include contractors’ disagreement on valuation of the work, contractors’ failure to substantiate their claims, delay in certification of work done by architect or contract administrator, delay in valuation of work done by quantity surveyor, client delay in certification unrealistic cash, client failure to agree to the valuation of work. From the study, delayed payments results in delay in project progress and have effects on the materials supply capabilities of contractors, the forecasted profit margin, and the amount of the line of credits provided by materials suppliers and banks. Some of the preferred actions taken by contractors include following up with clients by direct communication, applying interest charge to the overdue payments, and slowing down the construction work at site until payment is received.

Investigating the causes preventing the fulfillment of construction contract requirements

PurposeConstruction contractors in Palestine, as in many other developing countries, suffer from many problems. One of their main problems is their inability to meet contractual requirements, such as completing projects within time, at the agreed cost and to the desired quality. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the causes of the non-fulfillment of contractual requirements in three different types of projects: building, road and electro-mechanical projects.Design/methodology/approachTwo methods were adopted to collect the data – qualitative and quantitative. In total, 65 causes were identified from the literature and qualitative semi-structured interviews with professional experts. These causes were classified into five categories: managerial, financial, contractor capabilities, regulations and laws and political. In the quantitative approach, a questionnaire was developed and then distributed to 50 professional experts: 20 building experts, 15 road experts and 15 experts in electro-mechanical projects. A five-point Likert scale was used to assess the importance, from the perspective of the subject matter experts, of the causes that had been identified. About 35 responses, which represent a combined response rate of 70%, were received. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, with the mean, standard deviation and degree of importance for each of the identified causes being determined, and the SPSS software platform used to rank them.FindingsThe results reveal that the most important reasons why contractors did not fulfill their contractual requirements in building projects were that contracts were awarded to the contractor offering the lowest price, and the profit margin was low because of intense competition among contractors. In road projects, the most important causes were the poor estimation of the equipment required and a lack of standardized conditions in the construction sector, while in electro-mechanical projects, the most important causes were the inability of the contractor to estimate the cost of the project accurately because of unclear bid documents and a lack of contractor capital.Originality/valueThe results of this study will be useful to stakeholders and Palestinian contractor unions. They can be disseminated to give guidance so that contractors can avoid these problems in future construction projects and enhance their compliance with contractual requirements. Moreover, knowing about these causes may lead to the reduction of conflicts and disputes between contractual parties (owners and contractors), which in turn will be reflected in the work quality and reputation of contractors.

Contractors' adaptation to environmentally sustainable construction: a micro-level implementation framework

PurposeThere is low adoption rate of existing environmentally sustainable construction frameworks. Contractors have dwindled capability to adapt to environmentally sustainable construction (ESC) towards achievement of SDGs. The aim of this paper is to develop a framework that leverages both theoretical and practical aspects of sustainable construction to enable contractors' adaptation to ESC at the micro level.Design/methodology/approachDue to the social constructivism orientation of the objectives of this research, abductive approach and qualitative research strategy were adopted. Data were obtained through interviews and validation focus group discussion. Content analysis and thematic template analyses techniques were employed to conduct qualitative data analyses.FindingsThere are peculiar ESC barriers that need to be overcome by contractors in the study area. Legislative and financing efforts of stakeholders are key contractors' ESC adaptation drivers. Contractors in less affluent societies, such as Ghana, require high resilience, dense and centralized social network structures and isomorphic and coercive drivers to be able to adapt to ESC.Research limitations/implicationsThe scope of this research is limited to the data gathered from large construction firms in Ghana, a developing country in the sub-Saharan region.Originality/valueThis is one of the first papers that provide guidelines on developing capability of contractors in a developing country to adapt to ESC. The paper addresses the challenge in the ecological modernization theory by adducing empirical evidence to prescribe guidelines on how contractors can increase rate of efficiency through collaborative strategies that engender ESC.

Achieving Sustainable Procurement in Construction Projects: The Pivotal Role of a Project Management Office

Environmental and ecological impacts associated with construction activities have become an ever-increasing concern, especially the considerable amount of waste generated on construction sites. Regulations and growing client pressure on meeting environmental standards have led contractors to adopt sustainable practices and try to embed this concept in their processes. Sustainable procurement management (SPM) as a potential solution takes the environmental consequences of procurement decisions into account and integrates sustainable practices into project procurement to bring positive environmental outcomes. Previous research has mainly focused on the public sector in achieving green procurement, yet this study attempts to highlight internal capacities that help private organisations manage the requirements associated with practicing sustainability. It is theorised that robust management structures, specifically project management offices (PMOs), would enhance the oversight capabilities of contractors in implementing the SPM process. The objectives of the current study are to (1) identify the requirements of a sustainable project procurement process in construction sites based on a literature review, and (2) explore the facilitative role of PMO units in achieving these requirements in the private sector. A literature review was conducted followed by a qualitative survey to solicit the viewpoints of construction professionals in principle contracting firms. As a result of the study, we identified 17 sustainability requirements and found that PMOs boost collaboration and improve the quality of decision making towards sustainable procurement. The findings (1) explain how PMOs support sustainability, (2) provide insights on implementing sustainable practices in project purchases, and (3) improve theoretical understanding of the SPM principles.

Factors affecting the continuation of contractor participation in the tender process for the construction services project at the center for policy research and development and application of technology – research and development agency ministry of pub

The application of new technology as a result of research and development carried out by the Research and Development Agency of the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing is one of the efforts for technological needs in infrastructure development. The implementation of technology implementation activities still faces many obstacles, one of which is the tender process. Project Characteristics Factors, Capability of Contractors and Application of New Technology can influence whether the contractor will continue or stop the tender process. This research is based on a sample of respondents from related parties including goods / service providers (contractors), work owners and groups of goods / services procurement units. The results of the data obtained were analyzed with the partial least-squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM). The analysis shows that the ability of the Contractor has the greatest influence on the Tender Process. This means that the contractor's resources are the main force to carry out the project so that it is not too dependent on other parties. Thus, it can be concluded that the consideration of ownership of the contractor's resources becomes a factor for the contractor to continue the tender process that he follows by making an offer. Because with its capital and equipment, the contractor will be able to offer more efficiently.Â

The Choice of work for Outsourcing: Assessment Tools

The more extensive usage of outsourcing technology poses the challenge for enterprise management to identify possible benefits and problems of such cooperation. For this reason, the purpose of this study is to establish a procedure to determine the operations most suitable for outsourcing. The methodological base of the work consists of the new institutional economic theory provisions; situational analysis, mathematical and logical modeling of the identified relationships are used as methods of study. As a research result, the author detailed the elaboration of criteria that determine the effectiveness of the business processes transfer of the company to an external operator. As well as he specified the sequence of their application within a single procedure of the assessment. There are combined the specified factors in four directions, which characterize the key organizational and economic aspects of outsourcing. The specific feature of the approach is the consideration not only of traditional parameters related to the study of customer requests and the contractor capabilities, but also the nature of the relationship between the parties, as well as the state of the market environment in which the work is carried out. In conclusion, the author proposed an algorithm forexpress-assessment of the effectiveness of the transfer of operations to a third-party operator, based on the introduced approach. The results obtained will be useful to managers for identifying business development opportunities based on the outsourcing.

Procedures and Issues within the Contractors Classification System in Saudi Arabia

Research has shown that construction projects in Saudi Arabia have exhibited poor performance for the past three decades. The Saudi construction environment lacks many of the best practices found in more developed countries, such as prequalification, bonding, and 3rd party insurance. The government’s construction relies on the low bid delivery method and prequalified contractors using the Contractors’ Classification System (CCS). However, the current CCS does not accurately represent contractors’ capabilities and performance. This paper reviews all of the parts of the Saudi CCS, including the workflow and the evaluation criteria. This paper proposes to analyze the current classification system and identify the issues incorporated in the CCS regulations and classification process. This paper summarizes the authors’ critical review through interviews that have been carried out with key persons in the CCS. Several issues with the CCS are identified, such as no performance feedback, complexity of the system, and high resource requirements. The findings identify that the current CCS must be modified to be able to accurately reflect contractor capability and performance.

A Systematic Review of Prerequisites for Constructability Implementation in Infrastructure Projects

Success in infrastructure projects requires success in all phases of the project, including design, construction, and operation. One of the necessary actions for developing countries to construct their economic infrastructures, is implementing infrastructure plans. This industry should focus more on the construction process and utilizing creative tools and new concepts for construction development. The reason of it is because of delivering the project with certain quality, in time and with the given budget. Contractors should have new strategies for construction to optimize project completion, and constructability. Accordingly, constructability improvements have become the concern of construction industry practitioners. Considering constructability issues in the early stages of the project enhances identifying design limitations that prevent capabilities of contractors to take part in planning and improving project performance. The purpose of this study is identifying the prerequisites of constructability to resolve the current problems of projects, including inappropriate plans without implementability, poor decision making in design, and lack of sufficient implementation experience in the design engineering team. This study provides a list of prerequisites for constructability implementation in infrastructure projects. Accordingly, it identifies the prerequisites, using Systematic Literature Review (SLR) technique. The NVivo software is used to facilitate the qualitative analyses.

Influence Factors on General Contractor Capability in the Context of Transforming China

General contracting has gradually become the mainstream mode of project production organizations and the breakthrough point for the transformation of construction industry in China with the deepening of project management and project implementation reform. A general contractor needs to have a clear understanding of the structure and internal mechanism of its capability to achieve sustainable development. This study aimed to explore the critical influencing factors of general contractor capability and interrelationships between these factors in the context of transformation of Chinese construction industry. Fourteen critical factors influencing the general contractor’s capability were identified through literature review and questionnaire survey. Then, the interrelationships between factors were revealed through interpretive structural modeling (ISM). The factors were divided into four groups using the Matrice d’Impacts croises‐multipication applique a classement (MICMAC) in accordance with driving power and dependence power. The results indicate that particular attention should be paid to enterprise culture at present. A strategy to improve the capability of general contractor was proposed. The results contribute to the construction of the theoretical system of general contractor capability. These research findings can thus act as a practical reference for future research attempting to provide technological and managerial solutions for promoting the development of general contracting.

Assessment of delay factors in construction of sport facilities through multi criteria decision making

The construction of sports facilities widened drastically as the number of sport events gradually increased during the last two decades in the global environment. The requirements of International Federations to host these sports events impact the construction of these facilities. Construction complexity, budget and time constraints and pressure from the project stakeholders play an important role on delivery time of such facilities. The aim of this paper is to identify and evaluate the most significant delay factors that affecting the delivery of sport projects worldwide. From previous literatures and one-to-one meetings with technical experts, a list of 37 delays attributes were identified. These factors were categorised in 8 groups and distributed through an online questionnaire portal to sport facility professionals. 101 completed responses were collected and analysed through different ranking approaches and multi criteria decision making methods (Relative Importance Index (RII), Spearman’s Rank Correlation, T-Test and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The analysis of AHP concluded that “low level of consultant experience”, “low level of contractor experience”, “shortage of construction materials” and “difficulties in financing the project by contractor” were the most critical delay factors, while “delays related to contractor capabilities” was the most critical delay group. The value of this paper is to provide the industry professionals with the most significant delay factors in construction of sports facilities to take proper managerial actions to reduce delays.

The analysis of supply chain risk logistics in implementation of West Sumatera - Riau toll road development

The aim of this research is to develop a risk mitigation strategy in supply chain process of West Sumatra-Riau toll road pavement material. Data for this study was obtained through brainstorming techniques, questionnaires, field surveys and literature review. The data was analyzed using House of Risk (HOR) method. There were 18 items of risk event’s and 21 items of risk agent’s identified from the HOR phase 1, whereas risk agent handling priority data and risk mitigation actions are 19 items by using HOR phase 2. The results show that there are 2 (two) risk agents ranked 1 and 2 for the most critical, namely A1 (poor supplier performance) with ARP of 860 and A2 (Low of Contractor Capability) with ARP of 507, which can cause ± 80% of risk events where the remaining 20% is caused by other agents. There are 2 (two) mitigation actions were obtained from HOR phase 2, namely PA1 (appropriate supplier selection method) and PA4 (appropriate contractor selection method) which can prevent the emergence of ± 80% of these risk agents and ± 20% is overcome by 17 other mitigation actions.

Green Construction Capability Model (GCCM) for Contracting Companies

Construction project has been considered as one of the contributors to the environmental destruction, therefore green construction becomes the important issue in many countries including Indonesia. However, the success of green construction implementation depends on the capability of contractors, therefore model to assess the capability of contractors to build the projects based on green construction approach becomes important need to be developed. This study is aimed to develop a model to assess capability level of contractor to implement green construction. The model has adopted the concept of Capability Maturity Model (CMM). The model assesses the capability level of contractors based on 16 factors that are categorized into seven aspects of green construction. Those aspects are energy conservation, water conservation, safety and health, environment management, appropriate land use, air quality, sources and cycle of materials. While the capability of contractors to implement green construction is classified into five levels: initial, repeatable, defined, managed and optimizing. Finally, the assessment model named Green Construction Capability Model (GCCM) is proposed as a tool to assess the capability level of contractors to implement green construction.

Understanding the role of contractor capability in risk management: a comparative case study of two similar projects

In the construction industry, contractor prequalification is used for measuring contractor capability and selecting capable contractors for the successful execution of projects. Research emphasizes that contractor capability and risk management are critical for project success and have a correlation. However, observations suggest that risks are not considered during prequalification and even prequalified contractors perform poorly causing project failures. Such observations indicate a research gap for which this research explores the role of contractor capability in risk management at the project level. The analysis uses a comparative case study of risk management in two similar ongoing projects having different contractors. It reveals that the contractor capability assessed during prequalification is an attribute of an organization; while the capability required to mitigate risks and execute work is an attribute of a project. When risks materialize, the capability of a contractor may reduce and the capability required to mitigate risks in a project may increase. This will create a deficit of resources resulting in poor performance by the contractor. Therefore, criteria for prequalification must be decided considering risks scenarios for projects and contractors to screen out marginally qualified contractors and increase chances of project success.

Ascertaining the impact of contractors pre-qualification criteria on project success criteria

PurposeThe selection of a suitable contractor for a project has a significant impact on project success. In order to avoid the selection of an incapable contractor, the capabilities of contractors must be assessed prior to tendering through pre-qualification. However, the pre-qualification process is characterized by partiality and ambiguity. In view of this, numerous models have been developed to solve the pre-qualification problems. Prior to the development of such models, it is very important to assess how the pre-qualification criteria impact project success criteria so as to aid in the selection of pre-qualification criteria while considering the project and client’s objectives. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to ascertain the relationship between contractors’ pre-qualification criteria and project success criteria.Design/methodology/approachThe study utilized explanatory research design in testing 35 hypotheses. The views of 121 practising quantity surveyors were solicited using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using the partial least square structural equation modeling to validate the hypothesis.FindingsIn all, 13 of the 35 hypotheses were not supported. The findings indicated a clear relationship between contractors’ pre-qualification and project success.Practical implicationsTherefore, it is evident that the practice of lowest evaluate bidder is not adequate for providing a satisfactory project outcome. It is, therefore, suggested that more emphasis should be placed on contractor’s technical abilities, health and safety and management capabilities as they have proven to have a significant correlation with the project success.Originality/valueThis study provides insights to the how various pre-qualification criteria can impact the project success criteria and further contributes to the symbiotic that exist in the literature on pre-qualification and project success.