Life Cycle Of Construction Project Research Articles

FACTORS EFFECTING THE COST MANAGEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

Cost management is an important stage in construction project life cycle, construction projects need cost management in the first stage to finish the project within required cost, time and quality, it's considered as the most factors affecting in the success of construction projects in all developing and developed countries. Many researchers focused to studying the factors affected in cost performance in construction projects in different countries, because cost is an important attribute in construction projects. The project considered as success project when it finished within limited cost and time with required quality, the three items (cost, time and quality) depend on each other, any change in one of them affects the other, whether the effect was positive or negative, the main item of them is cost, so this encourage many researchers to study the factors affected in cost management. This research is carried out to highlight the information on the factors that affected in cost management during the life cycle on construction project, the data collected through 41 reviews focused in studying factors affected in cost performance of construction project. In this research it is to be found different factors in different countries and different projects, the most important factors found through literature review are: design changes, poor management in the site, delay in progress payment by owner, fluctuation in material price.

New Strategy for Enhancing Engineering Practical Teaching through the Development of Infrastructure Learning Hub (ILH)

Site visits to construction projects are considered essential to help engineering students understand many of the topics included in the study courses. Site visits are also important in helping engineering students gain more knowledge about common procedures and materials used during the life-cycle of construction projects, and thus better prepare the undergraduate students for the real work after graduation. However, site visits for undergraduate student groups may include safety risks, in addition to the fact that trainees need to spend a considerably extended period of time for learning during the long life-cycle of construction projects. The aim of this study is to propose a project of a learning centre for engineering students that provides a safe and easy-to-reach site while allowing faster learning of engineering practices. The proposed project is its planning phase and is named Infrastructure Learning Hub (ILH). A questionnaire survey was conducted with 108 under-graduate students from the Faculty of Engineering and Technology at Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan (ZUJ). The questionnaire aims at revealing the evaluation of the engineering students about the training and site visits system currently applied in the University. Also, the questionnaire seeks the engineering students’ opinions about the importance of the proposed ILH and their preferable type for the project. The results of the questionnaires showed high importance for the implementation of the ILH project, and to have better coordination and scheduling for site visits with construction projects and organizations. This study intends to pinpoint the courses which require more practical emphasis in order to improve learning outcomes. The results can be very important for other engineering faculties to enhance the learning process and gain competitive advantages.

Класифікації та логіко-смисловє моделювання в передпроектно-проектних циклах «проектування - будівництво - реконструкція»

В роботі розроблено схеми класифікації та методику логіко-смислового моделювання в передпроектно-проектних циклах підтримки життєвого циклу П-ОБ і принципів застосування концептуальних положень інтеграції можливих способів інженерних і аналітичних розрахункових завдань для інфографічних моделей.

Risk Analysis of Construction Project Life Cycle Information Management Based on System Dynamics

Information is the chain in which the project management system operates. When assessing project risks, traditional methods often have difficulty balancing the integrity of the project. This paper analyses the risk elements of information management in the whole life cycle of construction projects, attempts to use the system dynamics method to establish the causal diagram of each stage, and describes the impact of information risk elements on project schedule, quality, cost and safety. The results show that the negative feedback loops of the whole system is mostly. Besides, the influence between the targets can be transformed, and the system itself can achieve a relatively stable state through self-regulation.

Analiza identyfikacyjna niestabilnych przedsięwzięć budowlanych

Construction project means the arrangement of the implementation of works as well as the erection, reconstruction, assemblage, repair or demolition of the construction object. Within the framework of the project, the life cycle of the construction object is investigated, the feasibility of project is analyzed, the construction object is designed and executed or renovated, or dismantled. In order to ensure a comprehensive analysis and its results, the construction project life cycle has been proposed. This cycle consists stages: feasibility study, designing, implementation, operation and maintenance of the construction object. In each stage are systematically carried out activities related to the implementation of part or whole of the object’s life cycle. This approach provides a comprehensive analysis of conditions, successful designing, implementation, operation and maintenance of the construction object.

APPLICATION OF BIM-TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE NEEDS OF MODELING A CYCLE OF A CONSTRUCTION PROJECT AND ADMINISTRATION OF ITS MEDIUM

Purpose. Development on the basis of BIM-technologies of calculation and methodological tools of organizational and technological modeling and the selection of options for organizing construction and formalized administration of the cycle of a construction development project. Methodology. The basics of applied tools for the organization of construction as part of the life cycle of construction projects, based on engaging BIM models for the needs of preparing and administering such projects in the format of modern development, are applied. Findings. It was determined that in the modern realities of the domestic construction development, it is advisable to coordinate the development system in construction with the requirements and standards defined by the Project Management Institute. The adaptation of the existing models of the organization of construction to the format and content of BIM-technologies, which provide productive visualization and analysis of the cycle of the construction development project, has been completed. For the needs of the successful implementation of construction projects in the development format, the methodological and applied tools of BIM-modeling and construction management have been developed and substantiated. Originality is determined by the originality of the results of the study and their contribution to the development of organizational and technological modeling as a component of the “Construction Management” science and systemic application for the needs of developer management. Practical value. The accomplished improvement of the content of analytical constructive organizational and technological modeling and administration of construction is an important practical tool for successful development in construction and allows for the implementation of advanced organizational, managerial and information technologies for the needs of development of construction projects.

Implications of Construction 4.0 to the workforce and organizational structures

The counterpart of Industry 4.0 in the AEC/FM industry is known as Construction 4.0. Its essence is the digitalization and automation of the AEC/FM industry. As robots and other technologies make their way into the different phases of the lifecycle of construction projects, the concern about the future of jobs and wages will increase. While the use of robotics has the potential to improve productivity and safety, it should not necessarily reduce total employment in the construction sector in the long run. It is expected that existing roles will evolve, and new roles will be created (e.g., in addition to designers there will be a need for employees with digital skills). Focusing on the construction phase of a robotically built concrete wall, the different roles were evaluated. From this study, it was found that there will be a time in which conventional construction and robotic technologies will coexist, leading to a higher job variability and new roles, both at the managerial and operations/execution levels. Although this study is not meant to be an exact representation of how the AEC/FM roles will change as a consequence of Construction 4.0, it opens the debate and research in this area.

Smarter construction site management using the latest information technology.

With rapid developments in building information modelling (BIM) technology, the collection, analysis and sharing of information over the full life cycle of construction projects is becoming increasingly important. This paper proposes an innovative BIM-based intelligent site management model which combines the internet, three-dimensional scanning, digital construction models, virtual reality and augmented reality. The model can be used for smarter human resource management, machinery and resource allocation, supervision of materials, site access, quality control, safety and other important information. Decision-making can be based on live updates which will, in turn, improve productivity and efficiency.

A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF BIM REQUIREMENTS THROUGHOUT A WHOLE LIFE CYCLE OF A PROJECT

A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF BIM REQUIREMENTS THROUGHOUT A WHOLE LIFE CYCLE OF A PROJECT

Onshore Oil and Gas Design Schedule Management Process Through Time-Impact Simulations Analyses

Korean oil and gas contractors have recently incurred significant losses due to improper engineering performance on EPC (engineering procurement and construction) projects in overseas markets. Several previous studies have verified the significant impact engineering has on EPC construction cost and project lifecycle. However, no literature has studied the time impact engineering has on EPC projects, representing a gap in the existing body of knowledge. To fill this gap, a Monte Carlo simulation was performed with the Pertmaster, Primavera risk analysis software for three sample onshore oil and gas projects. From said simulation of all major EPC critical activities, the authors found that the engineering phase is up to 10 times as impactful as the procurement and construction phases on the overall schedule duration. In assessing the engineering activities, the authors found the piping design activities to have the greatest impact on the overall schedule performance. Using these findings, the authors present a design schedule management process which minimizes the delays of project completion in EPC projects. Said process includes the following six steps: (1) Milestone management, (2) drawing status management, (3) productivity management of engineering, (4) interface management, (5) management of major vendor documents, and (6) work front management. The findings of this paper add to the body of knowledge by confirming the design phase to be the most impactful on the overall project schedule success. Furthermore, the presented design schedule management will aid industry with successfully executing the design phase in a timely manner, including examples from case study projects for a greater understanding.

Managing information flow and design processes to reduce design risks in offsite construction projects

PurposeFollowing the increasing need for faster construction, improved quality and evidence value propositions, offsite construction is increasingly being proffered as a viable contender to “traditional” construction approaches. However, whilst evidence supports the move towards offsite, its uptake has been lower than expected. Whilst the precise reasons for this seem to be influenced by a number of issues, including contextual drivers and market maturity; some project stakeholders also view offsite as carrying greater risks. The purpose of this paper is to report on the quality of information flow, in particular, the impact and influence of this on design risks in offsite construction projects.Design/methodology/approachAn existing design risk framework is used as the point of departure for this research. This is further expanded into a specific model for evaluating offsite construction projects design risks, the rubrics of which were informed by two case studies of offsite construction projects in Australia and the UK analysed with a process-tracing technique. Whilst these cases were geographically separated, the constructs were aligned to uncover fundamental design information requirements and concomitant risks associated with offsite.FindingsThe findings of the research reported in this paper include the crucial information feeding into the design process emanating from the lifecycle of offsite construction projects, namely, design, offsite (manufacturing), handling and transporting, site works and installation and also occupancy. These are contextualised within the four categories, namely, client requirements, project requirements, regulation aspects and social aspects and the final outcomes were summarised into a holistic diagram.Originality/valueGiven that the offsite construction has shifted the working paradigm into assigning a significant level of efforts and emphasis at the front end of the construction projects, the importance of its design process and hence design risks management has gone up significantly in construction projects delivered using this technique. This research and paper contributes significantly to the built environment domain by identifying the crucial aspects along the project lifecycle to be considered to minimise the potential occurrence of design risks and hence increasing the confidence of project stakeholders in adopting offsite construction techniques in their projects.

A Fuzzy Group Decision-making Model for Determining the Most Influential Persons in the Sustainable Prevention of Accidents in the Construction SMEs

Safety in the sustainable construction is a game with uncertain reality, with human’s life. Managers in power, involved in the construction project life cycle, create rules for the game and are the main players. The project’s success can be perceived differently by stakeholders. A company’s competitiveness, successful implementation of the projects and effective safety management depends on the strategic allocation of its human resources in order to select a proper project team in alignment with employee capabilities. This requires detailed factors reflecting their role (in line with their interests and attitudes) and knowing which of them has a decisive influence on the successful implementation of the project. The real data describing key factors in this concept can be provided as uncertain conditions. This work presents a novel integrated modified fuzzy group decision-making approach to select and rank the most influential persons ensuring the sustainable prevention of accidents at work in the small and medium-sized construction enterprises. This model includes the Delphi method and fuzzy extensions of Eckenrode’s criteria rating method. The proposed model could be expanded in order to select the most suitable individuals for sustainable management of safety and, moreover, for the effective implementation of safety and health measures.

Computer-aided design of cyber-physical building systems

At present, an increasing number of researchers and specialists in the construction industry come to the opinion that it is advisable to use a number of technologies (BIM, Smart City, Big Data, IOT and others) in the practice of construction (in the broad sense of this concept), which are united by the concept of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The result of the implementation of these technologies in the construction should be the transition to the widespread use of cyber-physical systems. The problem of using information technologies in construction today is not due to the lack of this process as such, but to the lack of consistency and consistency in it. Fragmentary nature of the application, inconsistency of the applied technologies at different levels of management and at different stages of the life cycle of construction projects sharply reduce the potential positive effect of informatization and building automation. At the same time, the concept of cyber-physical systems, that is, the integration at the system level of physical processes and controls has proven effective in industrial production. The approaches to ensuring the processes of designing cyber-physical building systems through the development and application of General mathematical models for the processes of data exchange and management are considered. The presented models of data exchange and management of cyber-physical building systems describe the processes implemented at each stage of the life cycle of cyber-physical building systems. Functional blocks of the considered models allow to describe the processes of data collection, storage and processing on the current and past stages of the life cycle of cyber-physical construction systems. The presented models are the elements of mathematical support of the processes of designing cyber-physical building systems, which determine the processes of information exchange and management between the structures of cyber-physical building systems of different levels of hierarchy in the full life cycle.

Risk Level Evaluation on Construction Project Lifecycle Using Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation and TOPSIS

A risk is a predominant problem in the developing countries construction projects. Although numerous studies have been concerned on risk, there is a limited study on a mechanism to identify the typical risks and effects level. This paper presents an approach for evaluating the risks in case of schedule delays at the various lifecycles of construction projects. The methodology applied is an integrated model of the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE). In this study, common criteria, sub-criteria, and attributes are constructed to make a decision concerning the influence level of risk of delay at the construction project lifecycle. The results showed that the construction stage (44%) is highly influenced, the second highly influenced stage is post construction (37%), and the least risked stage is pre-construction (35%). The construction projects in Ethiopia have faced an average delay risk of 38% at a high and very high-risk level. This work is expected to serve as a tool to assist managers in the management and control of schedule delays to mitigate their risks.

Improving construction industry process interoperability with Industry Foundation Processes (IFP)

With massive amounts of information generated during the life cycle of large-scale construction projects, interoperability among project stakeholders’ information systems is a requirement for effective and timely communication, collaboration, and information exchange, and ultimately for project success. While data interoperability has been substantially improved by initiatives such as IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) standardizing construction industry data, emphasis on process interoperability which facilitates timely and effective exchange of information via interaction of workflow processes is in its early stage. By conforming to a reference model such as IFP (Industry Foundation Processes), project stakeholders can communicate and collaborate using workflow processes while abstracting the information exchange to essential items to preserve their privacy. This paper explores interoperability in the AEC/FM domain, reviews the main components of the IFP system, presents two IFP interoperability models, and discusses their relationships with the IFP system. The models are demonstrated with specific examples and implemented with a process customization framework based on workflow inheritance rules. Interoperability models that conform to the IFP system not only allow seamless information exchange but can also yield active interaction and communication among stakeholders.

Contractual challenges for BIM-based construction projects: a systematic review

PurposeBuilding information modeling (BIM) has been proven to enable outstanding results in construction processes by enhancing knowledge sharing with regard to a building or facility throughout its life cycle from the conceptual design to facility management. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which the use of BIM has impacted the legal and contractual implications of the existing construction contracts for aligning the three sets of relevant development domains: BIM functionality, contract procurement methods, and BIM legal and contractual issues to enhance the efficient use of valuable resources.Design/methodology/approachThis exploratory study was undertaken by analyzing the literature using a novel approach involving a matrix that juxtaposes BIM functionalities for each project life cycle with contract procurement methods. As part of the study, 28 interactions of BIM legal and contractual issues have been identified, as representing positive and negative interactions.FindingsThe interaction matrix framework that juxtaposes BIM functionalities and procurement methods highlights the theoretical and practical relationships identified between the methods. It also simultaneously recognizes the constructive and destructive interactions between these development domains by means of critically identifying the possible interactions of the legal and contractual aspects of both the BIM project procurement and the practical aspects of BIM project delivery.Originality/valueThe present study contributes to the existing literature by extensively identifying the probable interactions of contractual issues within BIM functionality with contract procurement methods throughout the life cycle of a building construction project.

Integration of Lessons Learned Knowledge in Building Information Modeling

AbstractLessons learned systems are vital means for integrating construction knowledge into the various phases of the construction project life cycle. Many such systems are tailored toward the owne...

Research on the application of BIM technology in the whole life cycle of construction projects

BIM technology can realize information sharing, and good BIM application will reduce the whole life cycle cost of construction projects. The popularization of BIM technology challenges the application of BIM technology at all stages of the whole life cycle of the construction project. It will give full play to the value of BIM, if developing a reasonable BIM project execution plan, defining BIM requirements, specifying Level of Development, determining the BIM quality control plan and clearing BIM application content of each stage, and will provide a unified method for project stakeholders, realize the whole life cycle of construction projects, and achieve the desired information sharing in construction project.

Key barriers to the implementation of energy-management strategies in building construction projects

PurposeKnowledge and application of energy management during the life cycle of construction projects are lacking. The purpose of this paper is to identify and investigate the key barriers that are faced by contracting firms in the implementation of energy management during building construction projects focussing on construction plants, as they are considered as the major energy users on site.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire survey was employed and distributed using stratified random sampling to 100 contracting companies operating in the Gaza Strip. The collected data were analysed using the Statistical Programme for the Social Sciences (SPSS; Version 22) to identify the number of components that could represent the 31 identified barriers.FindingsFrom the factor analysis, the barriers were clustered into four factors: economic and financial (which accounted for the largest percentage of variance), knowledge and information, legal and contractual, and organisational and management. This indicates that economic and financial aspects are the most important barrier impeding the implementation of energy management; local contractors should seriously consider this issue when making decisions about energy management during project construction. In addition, the lack of energy-management codes and lack of governmental support are significant obstacles to the implementation of energy management on construction sites.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the objective of this study was achieved, there were some study limitations. This study is limited to the perceptions and geographical boundaries (i.e. the self-governing territory of Gaza Strip in Palestine as a developing country), therefore, it cannot be generalised. However, it could form the basis for useful comparison in the future. A future study may be carried out with a much larger sample size to validate the conclusions of this study. Triangulation research methods could also be employed in future research in order minimise the bias and validate the conclusion. Further study regarding energy management throughout the whole life cycle of the development is recommended.Practical implicationsThis paper has highlighted a number of barriers to efficient energy management during the project construction phase. It is critical for local regulators to take note of the economic and financial barriers to facilitate a more energy-conscious society where incentives (could be via tendering preferences) can encourage both clients and contractors to proactively conserve energy during construction. As for the contractual barriers, the local government should lead by example in including “energy consumption” as a leading indicator for evaluating project performance.Originality/valueThis study also provides practical knowledge for stakeholders so that they can develop effective methods to overcome the identified barriers to attain higher levels of sustainable energy management. This study can contribute to knowledge in the developing countries context concerning energy management and conservation in construction projects.

Editorial

A major project is typically a large-scale investment project costing more than £100 m. A megaproject on the other hand, often considered as a subset of major projects, is typically above US$1 billion. Such projects are not just significant for their cost but often also provide substantial impacts on social, technical, economic, environmental and political (STEEP) dimensions in the short and longer term. They have the ability to transform public services and deliver a robust infrastructure system that can serve generations. Lessons learnt from past projects across the world have identified a need to develop leadership and management capability with regard to management, procurement and law through the life cycle of such large-scale engineering and construction projects.