Performance Of Building Projects Research Articles

Cost Performance and Change Management Capability Level of Contractors: A Relational Quantitative Study

Project changes are very common and inevitable; hence they constitute high level of risk that contributes to projects failure. However, project change cost is observable to be one of the most sensitive aspects of construction project management and it is also one of the most difficult to control. It has been recognized that higher capability maturity levels leads to better and consistent performance and that projects that adopts change management capability maturity level as a criterion for contractor’s pre-qualification incurs lower costs overrun on project budgets. Therefore, examining the relationship between the change management capability maturity level of contractors and cost performance of building projects is the focus of this research. Adopting a questionnaire survey, data collected from respondents were analyzed using importance index, fuzzy synthetic evaluation, spearman’s rank correlation and multiple regression to investigate the impact which overall CMCML of contractors will have in mitigating project cost overrun. The research findings reveal that the project cost overrun is negatively related to CMCML of contractor as evidenced by the co-efficient of determination R 2=–0.305 (i.e., as CMCML increases, project cost overrun decreases). In addition, the result further indicates that there is a strong negative relationship between CMCML and project cost overrun going by the spearman’s rank correlation coefficient value of -0.618. The established model is capable of predicting contractors’ CMCML thus making it possible to forecast contractor’s likelihood of performance in terms of cost. Moreover, the developed model will enhance easy elimination of incompetent contractors prior to contract award thus creating a fairer competition among contractors.

Performative Microforests: Investigating the potential benefits of integrating spatial vegetation environments into buildings, in regards to the performance of buildings, their occupants + local ecosystems

Performative Microforests: Investigating the potential benefits of integrating spatial vegetation environments into buildings, in regards to the performance of buildings, their occupants + local ecosystems

Performative Microforests: Investigating the potential benefits of integrating spatial vegetation environments into buildings, in regards to the performance of buildings, their occupants + local ecosystems

Performative Microforests: Investigating the potential benefits of integrating spatial vegetation environments into buildings, in regards to the performance of buildings, their occupants + local ecosystems

Performative Microforests

Performative Microforests

비정형 건축물 공사의 생산성 분석 및 향상방안 - 노출콘크리트 공사를 중심으로 -

2007년 독일의 건축 잡지 바우넷에서 선정한 세계 5대 설계사들의 2006 ~ 2010년 설계한 전체 설계 중 25%가 비정형 건축물로, 비정형 건축물은 도시, 국가의 랜드마크로서 그 사회적, 경제적 파급효과가 매우 크다. 국내 또한 인천세계도시축전 기념관, 킨텍스 제2전시관, 동대문디자인 플라자 등 비정형 건축물이 증가하고 있다. 그러나 이러한 설계 트렌드 및 증가하고 있는 비정형 건축물의 수요에 반해 이를 충족할 만한 비정형 건축 프로젝트의 설계 및 시공 관리 경험 부족으로 인해 비정형 프로젝트는 수익성을 기대하기 어렵고, 완공 후에도 많은 문제들이 부각되고 있다. 특히 국내 인력의 비정형 프로젝트 수행 경험부족으로 인해 불확실한 공사비 예측, 설계 과다변경 등으로 인해 완공 후에도 품질 문제를 비롯한 공사비 상승 관련 문제들이 계속 발생하고 있으며, 이와 같은 비정형 건축물의 특성을 고려하지 못한 초기 계획은 프로젝트 수행 시 실제와 그 차이가 커 프로젝트 관리 리스크로 작용하지만 아직 비정형 건축물 프로젝트 관련 실적자료나 사례분석 자료 구축은 미비로 인해 어려움을 겪고 있는 실정이다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 비정형 건축물 공사 중 생산성이 낮은 공종을 선정하여 작업 프로세스 분석 및 실제 현장 생산성 자료 분석을 통해 실질적인 생산성 자료 구축 및 비정형 건축물 공사 생산성 향상 방안을 제시하고자 한다. The Global's top five Design Firms selected from BauNetz a German architectural magazine in 2007 designed free form building design which was 25% of the overall design by 2006-2010. Free form building is a landmark of the city and the country so its social and economic impacts are very large. In case of Korea, free form buildings such as Tribowl in Incheon, KINTEX Exhibition hall 2 and Dongdaemun Design Plaza have increased. However, those the increase in design trends and, the needs due to the lack of free form building design and construction management experience, free form building projects can't be expected to profitability and have a number of problems after completion. Especially, there are many excessive quality problems and the rising cost due to design changes frequently and lack of experience and data. Thus an initial plan regardless of considering of free form building's characteristics can be a huge risk because of the difference with the plan and actual projects, yet there aren't free form building project's performance data and case studies related to productivity. In this study, through selection of low-construction productivity works and an analysis of the work process and productivity data, hope to propose an actual field productivity of free form building and the ways to improve productivity.

Impact of environmental factors on building project performance in Delta State, Nigeria

The concept of construction project development may be impaired without a good knowledge and successful management of the impact of environmental factors influencing the performance of such projects. This study aims to assess the impact of environmental factors on building project performance in the Delta State, Nigeria. The instrument used for the data collection was structured questionnaire and the target population consisted of clients (government and private developers) and four groups of professionals who were architects, builders, quantity surveyors and engineers. The tools employed were Mean Score, Spearman correlation, Kendall’s coefficient and Chi-Square. Twenty-nine variables were identified as factors having an impact on building project performance and they were categorized under clusters; political, legal, construction technological and resources, economic and financial, socio-cultural and physical. The result of the Spearman correlation analysis of time and cost overruns with the identified factors affecting project performance revealed that the clusters of Economic and financial and Political had significant relationship with time overrun on p-values of 0.004 and 0.011, respectively, while the cluster of Social and cultural had significant relationship with cost overrun with a p-value of 0.007. The research recommended that stakeholders should take cognizance of the variables under these three clusters for proper management and prevention of cost and time overruns.

Exploring the interactive effects of safety investments, safety culture and project hazard on safety performance: An empirical analysis

This study aims to explore the interactive effects of safety investments, safety culture and project hazard on construction safety performance. Data were collected using multiple techniques from 47 completed building projects in Singapore. Data were analyzed using correlation analysis, regression analysis, moderation analysis and mediation analysis. The results show that: (1) safety performance improves when there is a higher level of safety investments, a higher level of safety culture or a lower level of project hazard; (2) the effect of any individual factor on safety performance varies with the changes in other factors; (3) the effect of voluntary safety investments on safety performance is mediated by safety culture; and (4) the relationship between accident frequency rate and accident severity rate is moderated by project hazard level. The study suggests that safety performance of building projects is determined by the synergy effect of safety investments, safety culture and project hazard.

Contractors Perceptions of Effects of Project Overhead Costs on Building Project Performance in South-South of Nigeria

This study assesses 12 types of project overhead costs, 6 methods of allocation and 15 factors which affect project overhead costs in South-South of Nigeria. The objective is to compare small and medium contractors’ perception of the methods of allocation, factors affecting project overhead costs and the effect of the types of project overhead costs on cost, time and quality of the projects. Data were obtained through 501 structured questionnaires administered to small and medium contractors and analysed using mean item score, and Mann-Whitney U test. The results reveal that contractors perceive that supervision costs, cost of rework, equipment management costs, general field expenses, and temporary works costs were prominent overheads affecting cost, time, and quality performance of projects. There is no difference in the contractors’ perceptions of issues affecting overhead costs. It is recommended that contractors should give adequate priority to significant project overheads and their influencing factors.

Effect of safety investments on safety performance of building projects

The construction industry is increasingly reliant on the voluntary effort of contractors to reduce accidents on construction sites. This study aims to investigate the effects of contractors’ safety investments on safety performance and identify the factors influencing the effects of safety investments on safety performance. To fulfill the research aims, a regression/correlation research design was adopted. Data were collected using multiple techniques (structured interviews, archival data and questionnaires) with 47 completed building projects. Bivariate correlation and moderated regression techniques were used to analyze the data collected. The results show that the effect of basic safety investments on safety performance does not hold constant under different project conditions. Basic safety investments have a stronger positive effect on accident prevention under a higher safety culture level and a project hazard level; while the effect of basic safety investments on accident prevention might not be positive if the project hazard level and safety culture level of the project were low. The implication of the findings is that more protection and safer environment do not always produce better safety performance without the improvement of safety culture. To achieve better safety performance, contractors need to implement the interventions that synthesize physical protection with cultivation of positive safety culture. The findings of this study offer a better understanding of the theory behind the role of safety investments in accident prevention and provide the theoretical basis to support contractors’ decisions to invest in safety.

The Influence of Clients’ Qualities on Green Design Performance of Building Projects in Malaysia-Descriptive Study

Problem statement: In the construction industry, success of building projects greatly depends on the client’s performance. The performance of clients is crucial since decisions made will influence the overall project performance. Typically, clients are represented by managerial and technical representatives during the design process. They play major roles in conveying required information to the design team regarding their future project. The quality of clients’ representatives has potential influence on design team performance. In designing green buildings client’s attributes are critical factors to high performance of building projects. Attributes such as knowledge and experience on green buildings, commitment level to green and clients’ ability to participate and manage design process are the key factors to produce green design. The propose of this study to identify current performance level of clients of building projects and establish key clients’ attributes influencing green design performance. Approach: To achieve mentioned aim a questionnaire survey was conducted to collect dada required. A sample of 274 respondents has been covered under the study, including architects and engineers practicing design and consultancy building sectors. Prior to analysis of data WINSTEPS software were used for Rasch modeling to determine validity and reliability of date. Descriptive analysis data includes quantitative and qualitative. Results and Conclusion: Client qualities in general were low, client communication with design team; client involvement and ability to coordinate design process were moderate. However, Knowledge and experience on green design, client organization commitment to green and commitment in financing green design were low. The result indicates that most building clients have inadequate knowledge to manage design green buildings. Therefore, more education and training courses on green building are needed to cope with green design requirements. The client requires improving the coordination and involvement level to ensure all client requirements were identified. Regular meeting is the efficient method to communicate with a client.

The Influence of Design Team Attributes on Green Design Performance of Building Projects

The design phase is the most important phase in determining the green performance of building projects. The performance of the design team is crucial. The growing importance of sustainability globally necessitates the inclusion of green criteria in the design team selection process. Therefore, a competent design teams is required to have a range of attributes as the basis for design decisions. The propose of this study to identify current green design performance level of design teams of building projects and establish key design attributes influencing green design performance. To achieve mentioned aim a questionnaire survey was conducted to collect dada required. A sample of 274 respondents has been covered under the study, including architects and engineers practicing design and consultancy building sectors. Prior to analysis of data WINSTEPS software were used to determine validity and reliability of date. Descriptive analysis data includes quantitative and qualitative. In general, design team attributes were moderate (3.32). The general design team attributes were high such experience (3.81), communication (3.43) and leadership effectiveness (3.48). However, green attributes of design team were moderate such as green knowledge (2.98), green skills (3.13) and green initiatives (2.84).The result indicates that most design teams have inadequate knowledge and skills to produce high green design performance of building projects. Therefore, to overcome green design complexity, careful selecting design team members and more education and training courses on green building are required to deal with green design requirements.

Critical Project Management Factors of AEC Firms for Delivering Green Building Projects in Singapore

In recent years, greater environmental awareness had induced the managers of building projects to “go green,” and several studies have been conducted on the project delivery of green building. However, there is no comprehensive study that explores the important project management factors from the perspective of architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) firms, whose decisions can significantly affect the environmental performance of building projects. In Singapore, Green Mark, a certification for green building, has become a compulsory requirement for all new buildings. AEC firms are now facing challenges on how best to attain Green Mark certification with minimum cost and resources. The purpose of this research is to identify the controllable critical project management factors for delivering Green Mark certified projects to achieve higher Green Mark ratings. Nineteen controllable project management factors were first identified from related literature, and then a survey was carried out to collec...

The indirect effect of safety investment on safety performance for building projects

Despite growing evidence supporting the positive impact of safety investment on safety performance, little is known about how safety investment impacts safety performance in construction sites. We still need to better understand the causal relationship between safety investment and safety performance. To address this need, this article examines the ways in which safety investment impacts the safety performance of building projects. This study was conducted by means of structured interviews with project managers or safety officers of building projects. The survey results show that both direct and indirect relationships are found between safety investment and safety performance. Part of the effects of safety investment on safety performance is mediated by safety culture. A graphic model is proposed to describe the causal relationship between safety investment, safety culture and safety performance. The findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of the role of safety investment in determining the safety performance of building projects.

The impact of contractors' management capability on cost and time performance of construction projects in Nigeria

PurposeManagement capability is one of the major criteria for evaluating construction contractors during prequalification and tender evaluation This paper aims to investigate the impact of contractors' management capability as a prequalification criterion on cost and time performance of selected building projects.Design/methodology/approachPrequalification assessments of management capability of wining contractors as well as cost data relating to 77 completed building projects executed between 2004 and 2007 are obtained. The data obtained from a questionnaire and archival data are analyzed using one‐way analysis of variance and multiple regression.FindingsThe results reveal that contractors' management capability has significant impact on cost and time performance of building projects as evidenced by p‐values of 0.042 and 0.039, respectively.Practical implicationsThe research could be of significant benefit at the research implementation stage of public procurement practice especially in relation to the construction industry in Nigeria. Construction practitioners involved in prequalification and tender evaluation should continue to seek relevant information relating to management capability from the candidate contractors during prequalification and tender evaluation.Originality/valueModels capable of predicting the final cost and duration of building projects are eventually derived based on prequalification assessment of contractors on management capability, proposed contract duration and the initial contract figure. The goodness of fit of the models as defined by the value of R2 is found to be 96.2 percent and 90.01 percent for cost and time, respectively; thus signifying high predictive efficacy of the models.

Improving building project performance: how buildability benchmarking can help

Although the buildability of building designs has not been commonly taken as an important parameter in design quality assessment, previous studies have linked buildability to time, cost, quality and safety performance in many ways. Based on this observation, the question arises of how buildability can be benchmarked and which aspects of project performance can be improved. After identifying available benchmarking tools, the relative correlations are investigated between different buildability attributes and construction performance in terms of time, cost, quality and safety. Based on a questionnaire survey, it was found that construction time performance has strong positive correlations with buildability in the design of external wall elements, simplicity of assembly and installation considerations, while other design attributes affect cost, quality and safety performance to varying degrees. With this understanding, it is postulated that best practice can be promoted among design teams for enhancing buildability, which would in turn raise project performance. Three experienced practitioners have been interviewed for verifying the practicality of buildability benchmarking. As an incentive to improve buildability, benchmarking would help construction stakeholders reap their desired benefits by focusing on the related design attributes in the pre‐construction stage, particularly for functionally oriented buildings.

Relationship‐based determinants of building project performance in China

The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship‐based factors that affect performance of general building projects in China. Eight performance metrics that may be used to measure the success level of construction projects are defined and categorized into two groups namely ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ performance. Eight indicators of risks inherent in relationships and seven indicators of tools expected to facilitate relationship building that may affect project success are identified. Data of different projects were collected in China via a self‐administered postal survey. By using structural equation modelling techniques, a structural model is developed to help explain the relationship among different variables. It has been found that relational risk has negative influence on project performance. It is recommended that firms in the Chinese construction industry manage the relationship‐based factors that are significant in the model so as to achieve project success.

Space use optimisation and sustainability—environmental assessment of space use concepts

In this paper, as part of a diptych, we discuss the factor space as a means of improving the environmental performance of building projects. There are indicators for space use efficiency and several more or less broadly supported methods for assessment of environmental issues such as ecological quality, use of building materials and energy consumption. These are discussed in this paper. Assessment methods coupling space use to environmental indicators had not been available until now. Beforehand, plans with different spatial properties could therefore not be environmentally compared. We present a method for the implementation of space use in assessments concerning sustainability. This method was applied to the urban case study presented in our second paper in this journal. In this paper, we also present solutions for improved environmental performance through intensive and multiple use of space in the second, third and fourth dimension.

Measuring the effect of project management on construction outputs: a new approach

The precise nature of the influence that project management has upon building project performance in terms of time, cost and quality outputs is not well defined. In this paper we present a new approach to the measurement of the effect of Building Project Management (BPM) on these key outputs using 15 `cases' derived from UK data. Within the UK construction industry there is doubt as to the added value of BPM. We argue that it is essential that an objective analysis of the value added potential of BPM is undertaken with a view to demonstrating whether BPM in the UK does or does not improve the efficiency of the construction process and thereby add value to the output. The modelling strategy adopted attempts to achieve this. The evaluation undertaken in this paper demonstrates that BPM as it is presently implemented in the UK fails to perform as expected in relation to the three predominant performance evaluation criteria; time, cost and quality. If these criteria are considered to be joint products, the results presented suggest that BPM does not represent added value for UK construction clients.

Forecasting construction durations for public housing projects: a Hong Kong perspective

The past thirty years have seen a great surge of international attention and discussion in the domain of construction time performance of building projects. Demand for residential construction has been continually increasing in Hong Kong since the 1950s, while an accelerated demand has been envisaged in the next few years up to 2001. This paper is based on the findings of the third survey in an investigation which aimed at determining a group of critical factors that affect construction durations of building projects in Hong Kong. This stage of the study attempted to generate standards (norms) for overall completion periods of public housing blocks, by modelling the durations of the primary work packages in the building construction process, i.e. piling, pile caps/raft, superstructure, EandM services, finishes and their respective sequential start-start lag times, in terms of the identified sets of critical factors (significant variables). Data from 15 case studies of standard New Cruciform type housing blocks was collected from the client and contractors. Multiple Linear Regression was applied in analyzing the project data and formulating a construction duration model. The forecasting performance of the model was next evaluated using an independent (new) set of project information from the client, in terms of a relative measure known as the Percentage Error. Both the general applications and drawbacks of the model are briefly presented and examined herein. The low values of percentage error (less than about ±10%) for overall construction durations confirmed that the model can be a reliable tool for predicting the construction durations of public housing projects in Hong Kong; and the research methodology used could well be extended to similar studies and duration forecasts in other sub-sectors in Hong Kong, as well as in other countries.