Construction Industry Practitioners Research Articles

Key Design Issues in the Construction Project: Conceptual and Detailed Design Review Phases

The Malaysian construction industry is among the highest ranked industries that contributes to accident and fatality rates. The Guidelines on Occupational Safety and Health in Construction Industry (Management) (OSHCIM) has introduced guidelines for design risk reduction in the construction industry. It involves determining root causes and mitigating the risk by control of the causation of accidents. The objective of this study is to identify the key design issues during the conceptual and detailed design review phases in the construction project. Although some of the design considerations have already been proposed by the OSCHIM guidelines, however, further implementation need to be diverse and versatile by considering the current design practices that are already being practiced by the industry practitioners. The methodology of this research involves document reviews, and a questionnaire survey that was used to collect answers from respondents in the construction industry. According to the results, the key design issues in the conceptual phase involve the site condition, environmental influences, ground or ground water condition, existing structure, demolition, services, adjacent to major infrastructure, traffic disruption, access for works, adjacent to other properties and projects, and site restriction. Moreover, those found in the detailed phase involve the mechanized construction system, installation of prefabrication components, ease of process, structural opening, edge line, fall hazard, accident prevention, layout optimization, ease of activities, permanent safety features, provision of access, and fall hazard. However, it is the duty of the construction industry practitioners to make sure that all other design issues are also included into their construction project risk analysis. As proposed by the OSHCIM guidelines, the review of design risks in the construction project should consider safety in all the stages: during construction, operation, maintenance, modification, and demolition. Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB)

Studying the relationship between causes and effects of poor communication in construction projects using PLS-SEM approach

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a structural relationship model to study the relationship between causes and effects of poor communication and information exchange in construction projects using Smart-PLS.Design/methodology/approachThe first method of this research is to identify the causes and effects factors of poor communication in construction projects from the extant of literature. The data used to develop the model was collected using a questionnaire survey, which targeted construction practitioners in the Malaysian construction industry. A five-point Likert type scale was used to rate the significance of the factors. The factors were classified under their relevant construct/group using exploratory factor analysis. A hypothetical model was developed and then transformed into Smart-PLS in which the hypothetical model suggested that each group of the cause factors has a direct impact on the effect groups. The hypothesis was tested using t-values and p-values. The model was assessed for its inner and outer components and achieved the threshold criterion. Further, the model was verified by engaging 14 construction experts to verify its applicability in the construction project setting.FindingsThe study developed a structural equation model to clarify the relationships between causes and effects of poor communication in construction projects. The model explained the degree of relationships among causes and effects of poor communication in construction projects.Originality/valueThe published academic and non-academic literature introduced many studies on the issue of communication including the definitions, importance, barriers to effective communication and means of poor communication. However, these studies ended up only on the general issue of communication lacking an in-depth investigation of the causes and effects of poor communication in the construction industry. The study implemented advanced structural modeling to study the causes and effects. The questionnaire, the data and concluding results fill the identified research gap of this study. The addressed issue is also of interest because communication is considered one of the main knowledge areas in construction management.

Identifying the Perception Differences of Emerging Construction-Related Technologies between Industry and Academia to Enable High Levels of Collaboration

Emerging technologies play an essential role in improving overall productivity in the construction industry. However, this field has historically been criticized for the slow adoption of these innovative tools. To promote emerging technology adoption, exchanging knowledge and practices through academia and industry collaboration is essential. This paper analyzes the perception differences between academics and construction industry practitioners with regard to 17 emerging technologies through survey data and identifies potential technologies for high levels of collaboration from an academic perspective. The survey was designed to obtain responses about technological use, interest, maturity, implementations, applications, benefits, and barriers. Three technologies, three-dimensional (3D) printing; artificial intelligence (AI), neural networks (NNs), and deep learning (DL); and smart materials, were identified as having the highest potential for enabling collaboration. The findings from this study will allow academic researchers to strategically develop research directions that align with the needs reported by industry practitioners to sustain research funding and foster the adoption of innovative technologies in the construction fields.

TINGKAT IMPLEMENTASI DAN HAMBATAN ADOPSI BUILDING INFORMATION MODELING PADA PELAKU PROYEK KONSTRUKSI DI BALI

Many countries have established implementation strategies for the use of BIM in construction projects which have resulted in the widespread adoption of BIM. To catch up, the Ministry of PUPR has launched the Indonesia Digital Construction Roadmap 2017-2024 through 4 stages, namely the Adoption, Digitalization, Collaboration, and Integration stages. However, currently at the Adoption stage of the Roadmap, it is still focused on only a few PUPR infrastructure projects. This is due to problems such as the unavailability of policies and regulations for implementing BIM for the entire PUPR infrastructure sector, the lack of mastery of BIM from both Users and Service Providers, the project scale is not yet massive so that the price of BIM software is felt to be still burdening the Provider. This study aims to investigate the mastery of BIM through a study of the level of use, implementation, and identification of the dominant barriers to BIM adoption, especially for construction project actors in Bali. This research is expected to help construction industry practitioners to understand the challenges of BIM adoption in Bali. Data collection was carried out by survey method using a questionnaire. Respondents were selected using the purposive sampling method, namely experts in construction projects in Bali. The method of analysis is descriptive statistics which includes central tendency measurement, variability measurement, and the Relative Importance Index (RII). The survey results from all respondents showed that the adoption rate of BIM for construction project actors in Bali was 19%. Level of BIM implementation of construction project actors in Bali were 89% at BIM level 1 and 11% were at BIM level 2. The dominant obstacles in BIM adoption are the high cost of adoption, lack of experts, lack of government role in encouraging BIM adoption, difficulty changing work processes and there is no standard and protocol in applying BIM in the project.

Building Information Modelling (BIM): Contractual Issues of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in Construction Projects

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is an emerging technology that provides a platform for a comprehensive digital representation of a facility to be created by integrating data from design conception until demolition. In seeking the optimum use of BIM, a large degree of cooperation and collaboration among multi-disciplinary contributors are required for the digital data exchange and sharing process to be deployed. This situation, however, brings up new issues in delineating liabilities and limitations of contributors as the demarcation line of each contributor becomes unclear. In Malaysia, there is no known BIM-enabled standard form of contract that preserves the intellectual property rights (IPR) of the BIM projects’ contributors. Therefore, the present study attempts to investigate the issues pertaining to IPR in the context of BIM adoption in the construction project. Qualitative methodology involving literature review, analysis of existing IPR provisions and semi-structured interviews with the experts were conducted. The research identified two major issues related to IPR in BIM projects: copyright ownership of the BIM model and data infringement. This paper is substantial to deliver knowledge to the construction industry practitioners regarding the legal and contractual considerations in the adoption of BIM.

Relationship Embeddedness in Construction Project Teams: The Effect of Social Behaviors on Relational Behaviors

Relational and social behaviors of construction project team members explain relationship embeddedness. The literature review revealed three social behaviors (i.e., past experience, benevolence, and integrity) and seven relational behaviors (i.e., harmonization of conflict, propriety of means, restraint of power, reliance and expectation, contractual solidarity, flexibility, and reciprocity) commonly exhibited by construction project team members. Through a binomial logistic regression, research findings revealed that past experience was a significant (p < 0.01) predictor for five of the seven relational behaviors while benevolence and integrity were each significant (p < 0.01) predictors for three of the seven relational behaviors. Overall, out of the seven relational behaviors, only propriety of means is predicted by all the three social behaviors. Through internal validation, the prediction models performed well based on both positive predictive values and negative predictive values. From a relationship management standpoint, this research introduces relational and social behaviors of team members as triggers of relationship embeddedness. The results contribute to understanding the effect of social behaviors on the relational behaviors found in construction project teams where eleven statistically significant models that predict relational behaviors using the social behaviors were validated. The implication of this is that construction industry practitioners can use these prediction models to predict relationship interdependencies of team members.

Toward an understanding of BPR perception in the construction industry: the employee attitude toward job enlargement and enrichment in Saudi Arabia

PurposeBusiness process reengineering (BPR) is a management improvement tool that entails radical changes to organizations' core processes, culture and legacy systems. Although BPR initiatives are favored by many mangers, employees on the other hand, perceive BPR as a potential threat to lose their jobs. This research aims to enhance the employee perception toward BPR implementation in the construction industry as BPR asks for job enlargement (number of different tasks) and enrichment (degree of responsibility) and doesn’t target the workforce downsizing by itself.Design/methodology/approachThe research is conducted in Saudi Arabia by involving experienced construction industry practitioners in a survey questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to gain an insightful perception toward BPR constituents. BPR asks for job enlargement (number of different tasks) and enrichment (degree of responsibility). The survey questionnaire is verified from the literature related to BPR and pilot study through experienced construction practitioners. The experts validated the findings.FindingsThe findings of this research reveal a general positive acceptance toward BPR constituents in construction industry. Jobs enrichment and enlargement should be approached: by integrating IT with business functions (especially communication); developing flexible management systems; and encouraging and empowering employees to generate value through their jobs with more delegated authority.Originality/valueThe work is one of the few studies to address the concept of Business Process Reengineering in the construction industry. We explore two research questions as detailed in the submission (BPR perception in the construction industry, and how to have a successful BPR by job enlargement and enrichment. The methods can be extended to other industries and in different parts in the world.

Insight into the millennial mind-set: Impact of 4IR and Society 5.0 on the real estate, construction and other industries

The exponential adaption rate of new 4IR technology brings about challenges generally experienced as complex and even threatening by real estate and construction industry practitioners. Now faced with Society 5.0 in which people’s lives are made more comfortable and sustainable by continuously creating new tech driven services and value adds, seasoned practitioners may feel overwhelmed as fringe disciplines encroach on their domain with tech savvy “smart” solutions. The millennial mind-set of practicality, optimism, and confidence could aid our industries in addressing the burning issues we presently face with an underperforming sector due to general economic downturn, further fuelled by COVID-19.

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Toward COVID-19 Among Construction Industry Practitioners in China

The COVID-19 pandemic has put labor-intensive industries at risk, among which the construction industry is a typical one. Practitioners in the construction industry are facing high probabilities of COVID-19 transmission, while their knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) are critical to the prevention of virus spread. This study seeks to investigate the KAP of construction industry practitioners in China through an online questionnaire survey conducted from 15 to 30 June 2020. A total of 702 effective responses were received and analyzed. The results revealed that: (1) although an overwhelming percentage of respondents had the correct knowledge about COVID-19, there were significant respondents (15% of all) who were unsure or wrong about the human-to-human transmission of the virus; (2) practitioners generally showed an optimistic attitude about winning the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic and were satisfied with the governments' contingency measures; (3) practitioners tended to actively take preventive measures, although checking body temperature, wearing face masks, and keeping safe social distance still needs to be reinforced. This research is among the first to identify the KAP of construction industry practitioners toward the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Results presented here have implications for enhancing strategies to reduce and prevent COVID-19 spread in the construction industry.

Construction Waste Minimization: A Narrative Review

Colossal growth of construction waste (CW) generation worldwide, and its consequential environmental and economic impact, has ensured that construction waste minimization (CWM) practice is critical. Notably, the largest proportion of waste generation that can be actively reduced within the sector lies within the construction/on-site activities stage. As such, a number of waste minimization approaches have been utilized during construction, targeted to reduce/eliminate waste with the aim to support a more sustainable construction agenda. This article provides a narrative review of related literature published in leading journals in Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science databases, to understand the fundamentals of CW and to investigate CWM implementation levels and barriers during the construction stage. This will aid in identifying research gaps for future studies and highlight key findings that will help researchers and construction industry practitioners to understand the principles of, and the need for, CWM, as well as the challenges facing its effective implementation in construction projects.

Drivers and Barriers of Using Intrenet of Things for Successful Lean Implementation in Construction Projects in Sri Lanka

With the rising impact of technological advancements within all sectors, there is an increase in interest among construction industry practitioners to integrate novel technologies collaborated with concepts. Lean is one such concept, which has received growing attention of construction companies. However, past researchers have identified many barriers for successful lean implementation in global construction context, where, technological approaches seem to be a success factor. Many experts have identified Internet of Things (IoT) as an enabler for the lean implementation in construction, which is undoubtedly lacking in the Sri Lankan context. Hence, this paper aims to investigate the drivers and barriers for using IoT for successful lean implementation in Sri Lankan construction industry. Seven semi structured interviews with experts in IoT and lean construction were conducted under the qualitative approach for data collection to achieve the research aim. Findings highlighted increased product and process quality; reduced unnecessary delays in construction process; reduced unnecessary costs; enhanced inventory management system; and increased site safety as key drivers, whereas, expensive devises and high cost of implementation; resistance to change; lack of internet coverage, IT facilities and compatibility issues; difficulties to adapt due to lack of knowledge and skills; security and privacy issues; and lack of innovative culture were identified as key barriers of using IoT for successful lean implementation in Sri Lankan construction industry. Findings revealed the several similarities in drivers and barriers of using IoT for lean construction implementation both in global and Sri Lankan context.

Building Information Modelling in Indonesia: Knowledge, Implementation and Barriers

This article aims to identify the status of construction industry practitioners in Indonesia in terms of their knowledge and current practices as well as the barriers for implementing Building Information Modelling (BIM). This study utilises a questionnaire survey, aimed at the construction industry practitioners in Indonesia. The result shows that BIM is still a novelty for the construction practitioners in Indonesia. This is backed with the finding that more than 60% of the respondents was not familiar with BIM terminology or did not have proper knowledge of BIM terminology. More than 70% of the respondents' projects have implemented BIM Level 1, mostly in transportation service, energy production and distribution, roads and bridges, and the building infrastructure category. The five highest ranks of barriers to BIM implementation are lack of BIM training, lack of BIM experience and capability, no client demand, high cost in software and hardware acquisition, and inadequate information technology (IT) facilities. The recommended strategy should be initiated by the government, by conducting a comprehensive familiarisation programme covering BIM knowledge, BIM advantages and BIM implementation in the industry. At the same time, the government should prepare regulations and standards as guidance to BIM implementation in Indonesia.

Practical Value and Development Prospect of Green Building Design in the New Period

<p>Relevant research points out that as one of the lifeblood industries of China’s economic development, the development of construction industry is related to the national economy and people’s livelihood. Therefore, in the new historical period, in order to further realize the rational development of China’s construction industry, a large number of construction industry practitioners have conducted in-depth analysis and exploration on the development direction of China. After analyzing, the researchers said that with the continuous improvement and strengthening of public awareness of environmental protection, in the future, China’s construction industry should focus on energy conservation and environmental protection. Based on this, relevant staff put forward the idea of “green building design”, aiming at effectively guiding China’s construction industry to achieve rational transformation. In this paper, the green building design work is taken as the breakthrough point, and the main problems existing in the green building design work in China in the new period are analyzed reasonably. At the same time, the corresponding optimization strategies are put forward, aiming to guide the construction industry workers to further realize the understanding and understanding of green building design, and then lay the foundation for the development of China’s construction industry.</p>

Communication and Information Flow in Polish Construction Projects

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

A Predictive Analysis on Emerging Technology Utilization in Industrialized Construction in the United States and China

Considering the increasing use of emerging technologies in industrialized construction in recent years, the primary objective of this article is to develop and validate predictive models to predict the emerging technology utilization level of industrialized construction industry practitioners. Our preliminary research results indicate that the company background and personal career profiles can significantly affect practitioners’ technology utilization level. Thus, our prediction model is based on four variables: company size, company type, working experience, and working position. The United States and China are selected as the case studies to validate the prediction model. First, a well-designed questionnaire survey is distributed to the industrialized construction industry practitioners from the two countries, which leads to 81 and 99 valid responses separately. Then, ordinal logistic regression is used to develop a set of models to predict the practitioners’ utilization level of the four main technology types. Finally, the external test dataset consisting of 16 cases indicates the prediction models have a high accuracy. The results also reflect some differences of the technology utilization status in the industrialized construction industry between the United States and China. The major contribution of this research is offering an efficient and accurate method to predict practitioners’ technology utilization level in industrialized construction. Significantly, the models are believed to have a wide application in promoting the emerging technologies in the actual industrialized construction.

Awareness of Factors Contributing to Sustainable Construction in Nigeria

The need to slow down climate change and global warming has made sustainable development major issue among policy makers and world leaders. Awareness on sustainability concept among industry practitioners is crucial in influencing design, materials selection and construction methods. The aim of this study is to examine the level of awareness on key sustainability concepts and factors that influence their adoption during construction by practitioners in Nigeria. Through an online survey, 120 copies of semi-structured questionnaire were administered on built environment practitioners such as architects, engineers, quantity surveyors, and builders working in client, contracting, consulting and academia with 77% response rate. Factorial two-way ANOVA was performed to examine if there are differences in the level of awareness of factors contributing to sustainable construction among the groupings. Also, binomial logit regression analysis was adopted in predicting the factors that significantly influence adoption of sustainability concept among practitioners in construction industry. The study revealed that professionals from client organization recorded highest (3.8) mean score in terms of awareness on sustainability concept followed by those from academia (3.6), consulting (3.0) and contracting (2.2). In terms of factors that significantly influence adoption of sustainability concept during construction, findings from the study revealed that academic qualification (β =2.226, p<0.05) and type of organization (β =1.127, p<0.05) significantly influence adoption of sustainability concept during construction. Practitioners with high academic qualification and those from client organization, exhibited high level of awareness on sustainability concept, this equally influenced their adoption of key elements of sustainability (site planning, energy efficiency, water efficiency, renewable energy, resource conservation, material reuse, indoor environmental quality) during construction. The determination of the level of awareness and adoption of factors contributing to sustainable construction by practitioners will serve as guide to industry practitioners regarding issues to integrate into design and construction project from inception to completion. To improve awareness of sustainable practices in the industry, stakeholders should direct efforts towards organizing seminars, conferences and workshops centered on sustainable construction through the various professional bodies at state and local government levels.

Critical success factors in implementing flexible IT infrastructure in the Malaysian construction industry

Improved IT products and services are continually being introduced around the world. However, although an increasingly common approach in many industries, little is known of the characteristics of flexible IT infrastructure associated with its successful construction industry implementation. To rectify this situation, this study aimed to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) involved in the delivery of Information Technology Infrastructure Flexibility (ITIF) to the construction industry. An initial list of 38 potential factors divided into technical, people, and management dimensions and associated elements were identified by literature review and preliminary interviews with seven Malaysian companies representing a variety of construction industry participants and IT experts. This was followed by a main study comprising a questionnaire survey of 211 construction industry practitioners in Malaysia. Eighteen critical factors contributing to successful ITIF delivery are identified. Of these, two CSFs of hybrid skill and willingness to change appear to be unique to the Malaysian construction industry. Further research is recommended to assess the opinions of a wider variety of experienced practitioners to validate the findings and its applicability in the Malaysian context and beyond.

Development of a tool for measuring building information modeling (BIM) user satisfaction – method selection, scale development and case study

PurposeWith the increasing attention acquired from researchers and practitioners in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry, building information modeling (BIM) has fundamentally changed the approach we design, construct and delivery, as well as operate and maintenance of buildings and civil infrastructures. This study tries to provide an innovative perspective on BIM research. This study aims to analyze the necessity and feasibility of BIM user satisfaction research and define what BIM user satisfaction is, and then to develop a quantitative method for the measurement of BIM user satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachAs it is indicated in the content, BIM user satisfaction is measured by the sum of the user's weighted reactions to a set of factors. To be specific, the entropy method was adopted to calculate the “weighting” of the factors, and the triangular fuzzy number (TFN) method was selected to compute the “scoring” of the factors. Through the literature review, methodology and tool development, as well as case study and discussions, this paper was generated sequentially.FindingsThis study found that the proposed tool for the measurement of BIM success is valid and reliable; it formerly translated the conceptual definition of BIM user satisfaction into an accurate measurement instrument. It also indicated that many factors are affecting the BIM users' satisfaction, and each of the factors inherited various importance and score, and the findings are expected to improve the performance and effectiveness of BIM management.Originality/valueThrough the translation of the conceptual BIM user satisfaction into a valid quantitative measurement instrument, this research provides an excellent framework for the management of BIM from the user's perspective, and it could help to stimulate user's acceptance of BIM in the AEC industry in future.

Exploring the failure factors of Yemen construction industry using PLS-SEM approach

Yemen construction industry has faced significant declination and failure since the political unrest in 2011. The industry development has been suspended, and most of the projects failed to complete. Several factors have significantly contributed to the collapse of the industry. The factors have been identified from the literature and are assessed and applied to the Yemeni construction industry. Therefore, this study aims to use the partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach to investigate and determine the relationships between the factors causing failure to the Yemen construction industry. The structural model was developed and evaluated using SMART-PLS, and the data collected for the model were collected using a questionnaire survey. A total of 62 critical failure factors were identified and assessed by construction practitioners using a 5-point Likert-type scale. These factors were categorized into five groups using factor analysis and these groups are called independent and the dependent variable is a failure of Yemen construction. The developed structural model was thoroughly assessed for both of its component’s measurement and structural model. The model shows that factors under the group of Governmental and Administrative Related Factors have the most substantial impact on causing failure to the Yemen construction industry. The model serves best to the construction industry practitioners and policymakers to understand the causes of failure and consider strategies to rehabilitate the industry.

Handling inter-organisational conflict based on bargaining power

PurposeThis paper aims to reveal the effects of an organisation’s bargaining power on its negotiating behaviours (including integrating, obliging, compromising, dominating and avoiding) in the context of inter-organisational conflict in construction projects and investigate how organisational power distance orientation moderates the relationship between the organisation’s bargaining power and its negotiating behaviours.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a questionnaire survey among practitioners in the Chinese construction industry with the final sample consisting of 219 responses. A structural equation model was used to analyse the data and test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results reveal that an organisation’s bargaining power is positively associated with dominating and integrating behaviours but negatively associated with obliging and avoiding behaviours. Additionally, bargaining power is found to be negatively associated with compromising behaviour when the organisation has a high power distance orientation. Finally, a higher degree of power distance orientation strengthens the positive effect bargaining power has on dominating behaviour.Practical implicationsThe findings can help practitioners to predict the negotiating behaviours of a counterpart according to its bargaining power and the power distance in its organisational culture. This can then enable practitioners to adjust their strategies accordingly and steer the negotiations towards a win–win outcome.Originality/valueThis study applies the approach-inhibition theory of power to inter-organisational negotiations and empirically tests the relationship between an organisation’s bargaining power and its negotiating behaviours in the context of construction projects. Additionally, this study reveals that organisational power distance orientation moderates this relationship.