Project Performance Control Research Articles

A Concept for Automated Construction Progress Monitoring: Technologies Adoption for Benchmarking Project Performance Control

Despite recent advances in technologies and equipment for automated progress monitoring, most construction companies worldwide do not utilize them for their projects. This can be due to many reasons, such as the high cost of technologies and equipment, need for skilled staff, and lack of sufficient information about the impact of automated progress monitoring on project performance control. The aim of the present research is to investigate the impact of automated progress monitoring on key project performance indicators: time, cost, and quality. This study prepared based on a survey of contracting and engineering consulting firms in North America, Europe, and the Middle East. In the first part of this study, structural equation modeling is used to identify the relations of different factors of project progress monitoring (both conventional and automated) with project performance control. In the second part of the study, a benefit analysis is evaluated based on the sixteen (16) journal and international conference papers and also twenty-four (24) international construction projects for which automated progress monitoring was employed. The research findings validate the positive impact of real-time, accurate, and cost-effective automated progress monitoring environments and reveal how automated progress monitoring affects construction project success.

Probabilistic Control of Project Performance Using Control Limit Curves

This study introduces a new probabilistic project control concept to assure an acceptable forecast of final project performance, in terms of not exceeding planned budget and schedule risk levels. This concept consists in the implementation of performance control limit curves for both actual cost and elapsed time, obtained with a probabilistic approach and a graphical representation referred to as Stochastic S curves (SS curves). In order to facilitate the project control process, control limit curves can be used to display and evaluate actual project performance status without the need of actualizing at completion performance forecasts. Three different approaches (quality, benchmarking, and incremental variance) are proposed in this paper for obtaining the project performance control limit curves. In order to find the control limit curve definition with more conservative acceptable performance variations, these approaches are tested in an example project. A further managerial advantage is found in the recommended approach, as it allows monitoring the use of both cost and scheduling contingencies, along the project execution.

Assessing research issues in Automated Project Performance Control (APPC)

The temporary nature of construction sites and project organizations makes the use of standard industrial monitoring systems impractical for construction. The current practice of manual collection of monitoring data is expensive, inaccurate and inefficient. Automated data collection for project performance control, on the other hand, enables construction activities to be controlled and managed in a real-time and in a closed loop. Many new automated data collection technologies have become available, and as a result, most construction control automation research has been technology-driven. The authors propose an alternative approach, whereby research focuses first on the needs for control information. The paper presents a new tool with which the gap between the desired functionality of control information systems and that provided in current construction practice can be identified. The tool can be used to identify the gaps in this area within individual companies, or at an industry level. The results of testing the tool with a select group of 26 professionals, serve to define research issues aimed at closing the aforementioned gap.

Automated project performance control of construction projects

Real-time control of on-site construction is a growing field still in its infancy. The most impressive developments to date are in the area of earthmoving operations where quality control tools and tools to support the functionality of earthmoving equipment operators have been introduced—the main ones are described in this paper. A number of research efforts to fully automate project performance control of various project performance indicators have been carried out at the Technion in recent years. These are also briefly described together with the concept of measuring indirect parameters and converting them into the sought indicators. These are (1) labor and earthmoving productivity based on measuring the location of workers or earthmoving equipment at regular time intervals; (2) progress based on the above data or data collected from a tower crane; (3) a comprehensive control of construction materials starting by monitoring orders and purchasing up to the movement of the materials on site; and (4) monitoring the status of guard rails to prevent falls from heights.

Monitoring labor inputs: automated-data-collection model and enabling technologies

The work presented in this paper is part of a larger initiative to meet a major challenge faced by the construction industry, namely measuring project performance automatically. The idea leading to the present development is that measuring the location of workers at regular time intervals, using Automated Data Collection (ADC), enables the generation of labor-input data automatically. The paper presents the difficulties and challenges of developing such an Automated Project Performance Control (APPC) system, and proposes a solution using ADC. Enabling technologies for ADC are identified and systematically evaluated. Based on the findings, a theoretical ADC model is presented. The main finding of the paper is that an ADC system is feasible using three different technologies. A number of additional applications of the principles presented in the paper are also discussed.

The design of the investment post‐audit process in large organisations: evidence from a survey

Focuses on the possible benefits and problems generated by the implementation of a post‐auditing (PA) system. This research work was structured as follows: first, an integrated model for the design of a firm PA system has been elaborated, based on the critical re‐elaboration of specialised literature; an empirical investigation (a survey) has been conducted in a sample of large companies operating in Italy, to analyse the most common configurations of PA systems. The aims were: to understand the behaviour of firms, with respect to the design variables identified in the previous section; to identify common patterns and possible correlationships between the solutions adopted in the different parts of the PA system. The results of the empirical analysis show a substantial alignment between the model and the configuration of PA systems implemented by firms (with some important exceptions), which seem to be influenced to a great extent by the objective with which the PA system has been implemented (project performance control vs learning).

Project Performance Control in Reconstruction Projects

Cost, schedule, and quality are the main indicators of performance in construction projects. These indicators are highly interrelated and require some balance and trade-off among them to achieve efficient overall control over project performance. Focusing on these performance indicators, the primary objective of this study is to investigate the use of conventional control techniques in projects involving reconstruction of occupied buildings. To facilitate this analysis, performance data have been collected, using a questionnaire survey, from 25 reconstruction and 15 new construction projects. The survey was followed by structured interviews with construction practitioners and project participants to elicit success-related factors and to identify some of the unique problems affecting the control of reconstruction projects. Using the collected data, performance comparison was conducted between new and reconstruction projects along with a detailed analysis of the suitability of existing techniques for the control of the cost, schedule, and quality in reconstruction projects.