Jordanian Construction Industry Research Articles

Building Information Modeling Capability in Mitigating Change Orders and Cost Overrun

The Jordanian construction industry faces notable challenges, particularly about variation orders (VOs), contributing to budget overruns and project delays. The Jordan Engineers Association poll in 2020 found that variation orders (VOs) accounted for 23% of cost overruns in construction projects in Jordan. Research undertaken by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing in 2019 found an average of 948 change orders per year, representing 25.5% of the total value of the projects. Our study introduces a highly tailored evaluation method to gauge the effectiveness of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in addressing these challenges. The study assesses the efficacy of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in diminishing variation orders (VOs) by examining sophisticated BIM functionalities. The study employs an intricate case study and diverse construction project data to construct a model that assesses the capacity of BIM to reduce project modifications and enhance cost efficiency. A novel approach has been devised to enhance the optimization of building information modeling (BIM) in the construction industry of Amman, Jordan. The objective of the concept is to minimize variation orders (VOs) and enhance project management. The study employs research approaches, such as semi-structured interviews and questionnaires, to pinpoint the essential abilities contributing to change orders. After comprehensively analyzing BIM's global and Middle Eastern applications, we created the model. The findings indicate that enhancing Building Information Modeling (BIM) capabilities can effectively mitigate the occurrence of variation orders within Jordan's building sector. The approach promotes the cooperation of stakeholders, sets quantifiable benchmarks, and strategically employs BIM for preliminary risk assessment. This research substantially enhances the productivity and cost-effectiveness of construction projects in Jordan, offering vital insights for professionals and policymakers.

Challenges to adopt digital construction technologies in the Jordanian construction industry

Purpose This study aims to examine the challenges facing the construction industry practitioners toward adopting digital construction technologies in the Jordanian construction industry. Design/methodology/approach Quantitative methods were used by reviewing the related literature to include 16 challenges that face the Jordanian construction industry in adopting digital construction. A questionnaire was used to achieve the desired study objectives for 373 respondents from various institutions and companies. The questionnaire was analyzed with SPSS using statistical tests such as mean score, Kruskal–Wallis H test and factor analysis. Findings After collecting the quantitative data, the study showed that the most challenges facing construction industry practitioners toward adopting digital construction techniques are lack of qualified workers, high requirement for computing equipment’s, high initial cost of bringing these technologies to the market and construction firms low investment in research and development. These challenges faced by respondents were divided into three main factors, namely, construction’s nature, financial constraints and poor management support. Originality/value This study provides information and statistics on the challenges that face individuals or companies toward adopting digital construction techniques in Jordan. It proposes recommendations and proper practical implantation strategies to overcome the challenges.

Barriers to the Adoption of Digitalization in the Construction Industry: Perspectives of Owners, Contractors, and Contractors

Construction organizations are moving toward adopting digitalization in response to Industry 4.0. However, the slow adoption of digitalization has been observed. This study aimed to assess the level of digitalization adoption and evaluate the barriers to adopting digitalization in the Jordanian construction industry by all project parties in the public and private sectors. The study targets were achieved through a structured questionnaire using SPSS software for analysis through the following statistical tests: Normality test, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis H, and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). Most respondents used software at the design stage, and less than half did not use any software during the finishing stage. Regarding the barriers, twenty barriers to adopting digitalization were identified and grouped into five factors according to their importance: barriers related to the nature and system of the construction company, barriers related to the project parties, financial barriers, barriers related to system characteristics, and barriers related to construction project characteristics. Decision-makers should take the necessary measures to overcome such barriers depending on their importance. Previous studies have focused on the contractor's adoption of digitalization while neglecting other parties. This contributed to the full adoption of digitalization from the contractor side, with a noticeable delay from other project parties. This study focused on revealing the most critical barriers to adopting digitalization in the Jordanian construction industry from all project parties' perspectives based on their ranks. Furthermore, the study recommends effective strategies to overcome barriers as an update of past research.

Green building, carbon emission, and environmental sustainability of construction industry in Jordan: Awareness, actions and barriers

Despite the numerous benefits of sustainable construction to the climate, it also presents several problems to the professional practice of sustainable building, including awareness, actions, and barriers, particularly in the Jordan construction industry. Accordingly, a study was carried out to examine the level of implementation of sustainable building practices into professional practice, on the other hand, to identify the stage of actions and difficulties of applying sustainable building practices. Methodologically, qualitative and quantitative methods were employed to analyze the proposed objective of the study to ensure the most effective results. Based on survey analysis for the quantitative approach, the study set a descriptive analysis. The findings revealed that there appears to be a decent level of awareness and knowledge across stakeholders. Although, it does not adequately represent the used design and construction processes at present. The findings of this study might fill a critical gap in our knowledge base about the advantages of green building practice, which is lacking in practical research in emerging countries. Encouraging the Jordanian construction industry to incorporate green building specifications into the design and construction of buildings and projects, as well as increasing public awareness of the positive environmental effects of green building, are among several recommendations made in the study. As a result of these findings, it is determined that government must take action to ensure that sustainable green design and building practices are utilized in Jordan.

Investigating building information modelling (BIM) and lean construction: the potential BIM-lean interactions synergy and integration in the Jordanian construction industry

PurposeThe construction industry sector is developing rapidly, especially with the increasing pace of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in this sector. Construction projects can benefit from greater integration and collaboration between their technologies and processes to reap the advantages and keep pace with the recent significant technological and managerial techniques developments. Therefore, this study aims to delve into and investigate building information modeling (BIM) and Lean Construction (L.C.) with a concentration on the potential BIM–lean interactions synergy and integration in the Jordanian construction industry.Design/methodology/approachThis study takes exploratory nature, followed by the deductive research approach, and is designed to be a mono-quantitative research methodology. Moreover, the sampling technique is non-probability convenience sampling, and the research strategy is implemented through a questionnaire used and analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Science to conduct descriptive and inferential statistical analysis and verify the reliability and validity through proper tests.FindingsThe BIM–lean interactions synergy and integration findings revealed that eliminating waste (time, cost, resources), promoting continuous improvement (Kaizen) and standardizing as lean construction principles are the most significant and agreeable toward achieving BIM–lean interactions synergy. On the other hand, “High 3D Visualization Modelling” was the most significant BIM function, followed by “Rapid and Auto-Generation of Documents and Multiple Design Alternatives” and “Maintenance of Information and Design Model Integrity.” Moreover, based on the relative importance index (RII) values, “Lack of Technical Expertise in BIM-LEAN” is the most significant challenge with a 0.89 value of RII, followed by “Lack of Government Direction and Standard Guidelines” with a 0.88 value of RII and “Financial considerations” with a 0.83 value of RII.Originality/valueThis study will help provide a new detailed overview that investigates the effects and expected benefits of integrating BIM processes and technological functionalities with lean construction principles within a synergetic environment. Moreover, the study will increase the awareness of using new technologies and management approaches in the architectural, engineering and construction industry, seeking to achieve integration between these technologies to reach ideal results in terms of the outputs of construction operations.

Addressing the Causes and Effects of Poor Communication in the Jordanian Construction Industry: A Study on Improving Project Performance

Abstract The construction sector in Jordan faces various obstacles, one of the most significant being poor communication, which negatively impacts project performance and can even lead to project failure. The primary objective of this study is to identify and evaluate the causes and effects of poor communication in Jordan. A questionnaire containing 32 causes and 21 effects of poor communication was used to gather data. The top ten causes of poor communication are; possessing different levels of education among construction teams; a lack of communication plan; a lack of an appropriate communications medium; a lack of communication procedures and training; a slow flow of information between parties; diversity of culture among construction teams; construction teams possessing different skill levels; contractual barriers; the unavailability of information at the time of need, and a lack of understanding among parties. Poor communication is a prevalent issue in the Jordanian construction industry, Jordan's construction industry needs to improve its current communication state. Both contractors and consultants are affected by this issue and there is a high level of agreement between them on the causes and effects of poor communication.

An investigation of how stakeholders influence construction project performance: a small and medium sized contractor’s perspective in the Jordanian construction industry

PurposeThis research uses contingency theory and Venkatraman’s concept of moderating fit to explore how key project stakeholders (clients, consultants and suppliers) influence project performance from the perspective of small and medium contractors in the Jordanian construction industry.Design/methodology/approachAn anonymous structured survey was performed comprising 200 key informants including senior project managers, construction managers, engineers and general managers working for small- and medium-sized contractors in the Jordanian construction industry. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the data.FindingsThe results of this study show that consultant-related factors (quality of documentation produced, ability to communicate and technical competencies) are perceived to have the most significant direct effect on project performance, followed by client-related factors (payment promptness, decision certainty and documentation control) and supplier-related factors (supplier performance, defects control and logistics management).Originality/valueThe results contribute new theoretical, empirical and practical insights to existing construction project performance research by highlighting the key performance factors which need to be managed for each stakeholder group to ensure effective project performance from a small- and medium-sized contractor perspective.

Bayesian Network Models for Evaluating the Impact of Safety Measures Compliance on Reducing Accidents in the Construction Industry

Construction is one of the most hazardous industries worldwide. Implementing safety regulations is the responsibility of all parties involved in a construction project and must be performed systematically and synergistically to maximize safety performance and reduce accidents. This study aims to examine the level of safety compliance of construction personnel (i.e., top management, frontline supervisors, safety coordinators/managers, and workers) to gain insight into the top safety measures that lead to no major or frequent accidents and to predict the likelihood of having a construction site free of major or frequent accidents. To achieve the objectives, five safety measures subsets were collected and modeled using six combinations of five different Bayesian networks (BNs). The performance of these model classifiers was compared in terms of accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, recall, precision, F-measure, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. Then, the best model for each data subset was adopted. The inference was then performed to identify the probability of the commitment to safety measures to reduce major or frequent accidents and recommend enhancement regulations and practices. While the context in this paper is the Jordanian construction industry, the novelty of the work lies in the BN modeling methodology and recommendations that any country can adopt for evaluating the safety performance of its construction industry. This research endeavor is, therefore, a significant step toward providing knowledge about the top safety measures associated with reducing accidents and establishing efficiency comparison benchmarks for improving safety performance.

Project performance measurement for small-and-medium sized construction contractors in the Jordanian construction industry

This article addresses a gap in construction project performance measurement research from the perspective of small-medium-sized construction contractors in developing countries. Focussing on small-medium-sized contractors in the Jordanian construction industry, a survey of 231 Jordanian construction professionals was undertaken to investigate how different project stakeholders, intra and extra-organisational relationships and financial and non-financial measures support or hinder the delivery of project outcomes. Using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) an integrated theoretical performance measurement model was developed and tested which contributes to the advancement of construction project performance measurement research in a number of ways. First, it shows that small-medium-sized contractor project performance is a multi-dimensional, dynamic and contested construct which is bounded by environmental and organisational constraints, and inseparable from mainstream business performance. Second, it shows that performance is measured by six project-related constructs (project cost, time, quality, health and safety, environmental sustainability, and socio-economic performance) and three business-related constructs (profitability, client satisfaction and consultant satisfaction). Third, it shows that four intra-organisational groups of variables (leadership, management capabilities, human resource management and technical capabilities, resources and processes) have a significant impact on the overall project and business performance. Fourth, it shows that four extra-organisational groups of variables (client performance, consultant performance, supplier performance and external attributes) have a significant direct impact on project performance, but no moderating impact was found.

INVESTIGATION ON THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF VARIATION ORDERS IN THE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN JORDAN

The construction industry nowadays faces several challenges that prevent it to be completed within the planned budget. the most effected challenge on the project cost is the variation orders, which became common on most construction projects. The variations in construction projects mean any change in quantity or quality of the project work. Based on various studies in the Jordanian construction industry it is found various sources of variation orders. Therefore, it is important to provide suitable recommendations to minimize variation orders during the project lifecycle. The aim of this study is to study the variation orders causes on the governmental construction project in Jordan. To meet that aim, a comprehensive literature review was conducted to locate and study the variation orders causes and its effect on construction projects worldwide. To achieve the study objectively the researcher adopted a structured questionnaire to gather the required data about the causes of VO. The collected data were analyzed statistically using the Relative Importance Index (RII). Based on the results of the study the critical causes of VO in construction projects in Jordan are grouped into main four groups such as causes related to owners, causes related to contractors, and causes related to consultants, causes related to unforeseen circumstances. The findings of the current study revealed that the critical causes of VO in the Jordanian construction industry are: unskilled laborers, inaccurate quantity take-off, shortage of human and equipment Resource, change of scope or plans by owners, absence of construction manuals and procedures , unavailability of the required labor skills , logistic delays , shortage of equipment and tools , technology changes , internal politics .Also, the results show that consultants are responsible for about 50% of the causes, 20% due to owners and unforeseen variations, and contractors are responsible for about 10% of the causes.

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

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

Barriers to Adopting Lean Construction in the Construction Industry—The Case of Jordan

During the last few decades, there has been a greater understanding of the role of lean construction (LC) in achieving better management of construction projects and enabling the application of the fourth industrial revolution in the construction industry (Construction 4.0), which in turn, has the potential to improve the practices and outcomes in the construction industry. This paper aims to identify the barriers to adopt LC practices by taking a case of the Kingdom of Jordan. A questionnaire that included 30 barriers that were resulted from a comprehensive literature review was distributed and filled by 326 respondents from the Jordanian construction industry. The findings showed that the absence of support from the top management, low awareness toward LC, lack of training, and the absence of transparency are amongst the most serious factors that hinder the adoption of LC. The findings in this paper might be helpful to improve the knowledge about LC and support the adoption of new techniques that might improve the performance in the construction industry.

Establishing the synergy between the perceptions of construction professionals and the phases of value management

PurposeThis study aims to lay the groundwork for the potential application of value management (VM) in construction projects. This paper presents a critical review on the status of VM in a developing country and highlights the role of perceptions on critical success factors (CSFs) for the phases of VM studies, as the participants in a VM study should consider CSFs tailored to the local context.Design/methodology/approachA series of interviews and a questionnaire were conducted to understand the drivers, perceptions, barriers, and CSFs of VM in the Jordanian construction industry. Although descriptive statistics were used to analyze the status of VM, a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was adopted to highlight the interrelationships between perceptions and the CSFs of the three phases of VM (i.e. pre-workshop, workshop, and implementation).FindingsThe descriptive analysis revealed conflicting viewpoints for perceptions and drivers. Most practitioners acknowledged little awareness of VM phases, and the SEM results indicated that perceptions of VM, in terms of its capacity in improving the scope and objectives of the project, and reducing overall costs, most strongly influenced the CSFs of the implementation phase in terms of support and clear plan for implementation, and had the least influence on the pre-workshop phase. Further, the perceptions had a moderate effect on the CSFs of the workshop phase and it tended to be positive, highlighting the importance of function analysis in this phase.Originality/valueThis is the first study to reveal the status of VM in Jordan in terms of adoption, drivers, perceptions, barriers and CSFs; no prior studies have investigated how perceptions can affect the CSFs of each phase of VM and the endorsement of VM by the construction industry. The contributions of this study include linking the perceptions of construction professionals with the CSFs of VM.

A Behavioral Framework for Construction Waste Minimization: The Case of Jordan

Construction waste (CW) accounts for approximately 36 percent of the total solid waste received at landfill sites around the world and, therefore, presents a significant challenge to the sustainability of the construction industry, the country’s economy at large, and environmental sustainability worldwide. For Jordan, this issue is pertinent since the construction industry is still suffering from insufficient sustainability practices characterized by poor production, sub-standard performance, and a wasteful culture. Increasing attention has been placed on addressing the role of human factors in construction waste minimization (CWM), as the majority of the causes underlying CW are directly or indirectly affected by the behavior of those working in the construction industry. However, understanding CWM behavior is most challenging and complex, as adopting positive CWM behavior depends on many factors that contribute to its success or failure. This paper describes the development of a behavioral framework (BF) that aims to address this research gap. The Delphi technique, incorporating a series of semi-structured interviews, was chosen as the primary research investigative method, for the discovery and building of the BF. Twelve respondents (the experts’ panel), with extensive knowledge of and experience in the Jordanian construction industry, participated in two rounds of the Delphi study. They were able to offer a well-informed look at the current and potential status of the adoption of CWM behavior among Jordanian contractors. The resulting BF advances a more holistic understanding of the factors influencing the behavior of contractors toward CWM, which will support the adoption of waste minimization in Jordanian construction projects.

Administrative Policies to Reduce the Negative Impact of Variation Orders on Jordanian Construction Projects

Variation orders have been identified globally as important reasons for the poor performance of construction projects in most countries, which has affected their national economic growth. Several variation orders have been identified in the Jordanian construction industry; however, there is a paucity of information on the approaches to minimize their occurrence. Therefore, administrative practices to reduce the negative impact of variation orders in the construction sector in Jordan are highly required. To achieve the objective of the current study, the researchers used the quantitative approach to a structured questionnaire consisting of 10 administrative policies to reduce the negative impact of variation orders. A total of 161 questionnaires were collected against 250 questionnaires distributed among engineers in construction projects. According to the findings of the study, the top five policies for minimizing variation orders include: all involved parties require audit planning before works start on site; ensure that the drawings conform to the required specifications; the owner must be informed of the designs before bidding; checking the specifications required in the contract; effective communication between all parties concerned during the entire stages of the project. Moreover, proper planning before starting the project greatly contributes to reducing potential variation orders. The findings of this research, therefore, contribute to a pool of knowledge that will enable practitioners and researchers in the construction industry to develop effective strategies for minimizing variation orders.

Crucial barriers of building information modelling (BIM) in the Jordanian construction industry

Crucial barriers of building information modelling (BIM) in the Jordanian construction industry

Crucial barriers of building information modelling (BIM) in the Jordanian construction industry

The adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM) has become essential in Jordan to improve the quality and reduce the challenges facing construction projects. Many studies conclude that implementing BIM in construction projects across the global improves quality, minimises errors and reduces project costs and time. In Jordan, adopting BIM will not be easy or smooth as a result of several barriers. Thus, it is essential to identify the crucial barriers to the adoption of BIM in the Jordanian construction sector. Both qualitative and quantitative methods, i.e. interview and questionnaire techniques, were used to achieve this objective. Interviews were conducted at the first stage of data collection, and the results formed the basis of the questionnaire, which was distributed across the Jordanian construction sector. Content analysis was used to analyse the interview responses, while factor analysis, correlation and the Severity Index (SI) were used to analyse the questionnaire results. The findings identified sixteen barriers which obstructing adoption BIM in Jordan. The sixteen barriers were classified into four main categories, namely finance, communication, people and project procurement, with sub-barriers in each category which are related to each other in significant ways and which affect each other.

Factors leading to design changes in Jordanian construction projects

PurposeThe problem of design changes in the construction industry is common worldwide, and the Jordanian market is no exception. The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors causing design changes in construction projects in Jordan in both the public and private sectors. Furthermore, this research will examine the effect of these factors on project's performance during the construction phase.Design/methodology/approachThis research commences by identifying the factors causing design changes in construction projects worldwide through an intensive literature review. The identified factors were then filtered to those applicable to the Jordanian construction market based on the results obtained from a questionnaire survey and real case construction projects. In total, 252 professionals from the Jordanian construction industry and 10 completed and/or ongoing construction projects in different parts of Jordan were compared.FindingsThe results find that the top major factors affecting design changes are owner's requirements; design errors and omissions and value engineering. The research also studies and documents the impacts of design changes on project cost, schedule and quality.Originality/valueThe results obtained from this research will assist the construction professionals representing owners, consultants and contractors in applying control measures to minimize the occurrence of the identified factors causing design changes and to mitigate their sever impacts on projects in terms of cost, schedule and quality.

The Sustainable Development Practices Role and Transformational Leadership: Interaction and Impact on the Financial Performance

The purpose of this study is to explore the direct relationship between sustainable development practices and financial performance. It also examines the moderating effect of transformational leadership approach on this relationship. Using primary data sources, this study presents a case study of the Jordanian construction industry. A survey of 290 managing directors or his appointed representative for 1113 construction companies in Jordan. Data were collected from October 2017 until April 2018. The multiple regression analysis and hierarchical multiple regression analysis are used to verify the hypotheses of this study. Analyzed data reveals a positive relationship among sustainability development factors (i.e. environmental, economic, social aspects) and financial performance. Furthermore, the result of hierarchical multiple regression has shown that the moderating effect of transformational leadership is significant only on the relationship between Environmental aspects and financial performance. Also, the transformational leadership does not moderate the impact of “Economic aspects and Social aspects” on the financial performance. This work strengthens the previous findings in the available literature as to how sustainability practices enhance the construction firms' performance. Moreover, this study involves the moderating role of transformational leadership on the main relation which also proves and supports the existing knowledge on performance measurement and performance of organisations. This study also contributes to practical aspects, by providing contractors with insights into implementing sustainability practices and tools to measure the sustainable construction firms' performance.

Knowledge transfer for sustainability

PurposeKnowledge is a fundamental source for sustainability and transfer as it plays a vital role in gaining and maintaining competitive advantage; thus it is imperative to investigate the factors that might impact knowledge transfer (KT). Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the association between knowledge enablers (organizational culture (OC), information technology (IT) knowledge leadership (KL) and knowledge strategy (KS)) and KT in the Jordanian construction industry.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative research approach was adopted, and structured questionnaire was sent to the employees in the construction industry. An aggregate of 250 surveys were distributed and out of them 195 were obtained, which represented a response rate of 78 percent.FindingsThe results of this paper showed that KS, OC, IT and KL has positive and significant impact on KT.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the literature by empirically testing the antecedents of KT in the Jordanian construction industry. To the best of authors’ knowledge, there are not many studies that incorporate these factors in single model, especially in Jordan.