Public Construction Projects Research Articles

A Leap from Negative to Positive Bond. A Step towards Project Sustainability

Departing from the normative formulation of stakeholder theory and building upon the current body of knowledge, this study aims to advance understandings on the benefits and challenges towards a more holistic approach to stakeholder management at the local level of major public infrastructure and construction projects (MPIC). Major construction projects, project managers, and the local community stakeholder are deemed to operate within a ‘negative bond’. This interaction is elucidated through the attribution theory lens, which shape the conceptual framework of the study. This paper illustrates that a broader inclusiveness of stakeholder views into managerial decisions can initiate to break this negative bond and shift it towards positive relationships. An organization’s conscious approach towards transparent communication with the local community stakeholder might help to shape a long-term perspective for better project benefits realization either at the national, regional, or local level. By ‘exceeding stakeholders needs and expectations’, project managers and local communities can better collaborate in order to achieve sustainable development over time.

Causes of delay in Saudi public construction projects

When executing construction projects, delays are among the challenges that must be faced. In Saudi Arabia, numerous public construction projects have been undertaken as part of the government’s national development plans over the last three decades. One of the critical problems concerning these projects is the frequent and lengthy delay that occurs. This paper investigates the causes of delays in Saudi public construction projects. The causes of delay were categorized based on the different stages of a construction project, namely (1) factors before the award of tenders, (2) factors during the award of tenders, (3) factors after the award of tenders, and (4) general factors. This study identified 50 delay factors by conducting a focus group. A questionnaire was administered and distributed to 211 participants from construction industry. The top 20 causes of delay were identified. A final simplified formula was developed to calculate the effect of each cause of delay on site. A case study was carried out to show the time delay percentage compared with its master schedule using the developed simplified formula. The findings of the study are intended to provide those involved in public construction projects with appropriate solutions for countering any delays.

Life Cycle Costing of Public Construction Projects

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the role of life cycle costing in the preparation phase of public construction projects. Life cycle costing is a method of economic analysis directed at all costs related to constructing, operating, and maintaining a construction project over a defined period of time. In the early phase of construction projects, an enormous benefit in life cycle costing can be achieved. The commonly used construction cost minimization approach should be substituted for life cycle cost optimization. In order to gain the maximum value for money, all costs incurred over the whole life span must be estimated. The optimization of the life cycle costs of a construction project is essential for a complex decision making process. All taken into consideration, the solution with the minimum value of life cycle costs can be chosen. Public investors are required to meet the objectives of sustainable building, and as a group they face limited financial resources and frequently a very strict institutional framework including procurement procedures. The quantification of life cycle costs, when deciding on a construction project, is required by the public sector in the Czech Republic. In addition, the estimated amount of life cycle costs has become a criterion in public tenders. The paper summarizes experience in building design valuation in terms of these life cycle costs.

Assessing supplier capabilities to exploit building information modelling

PurposeA number of governments are making building information modeling (BIM) a mandatory requirement for all public works construction projects. While main contractors may be ready to comply with such requirements, the supply chain as whole may be vulnerable as lower-tier suppliers may not be able to adopt BIM. There is currently no objective approach to assessing BIM maturity; hence, this paper aims to develop a new approach to determine suppliers’ current vision and execution-based capabilities to exploit BIM and their capacity to reach a higher maturity level.Design/methodology/approachBased on UK Government BIM maturity levels, the authors exploit a unique data set made available by a main contractor, to determine a data-driven approach, using K-means, to assess the capabilities and vision of its supply base.FindingsThe authors find a direct comparison between our suggested K-means clusters and the UK Government’s BIM maturity levels. However, in interrogating specific cases, the authors find that using a subjective approach would have wrongly categorized certain companies. The authors also determine what capability and strategic developments are required for companies to move to a higher level.Research limitations/implicationsThe method aligns with the existing UK BIM maturity model and enhances the model by determining the likelihood of a supplier in progressing to a higher level of maturity. The research was with a single case company, exploiting their existing survey instrument and data. A more comprehensive study could be adopted with a generic survey questionnaire.Practical implicationsThe research may be exploited by companies to take a strategic approach to assess suppliers in BIM adoption and to establish supplier development mechanisms.Originality/valueThe data-driven approach avoids ambiguity of categories and mis-categorizing suppliers.

Cost overruns of public sector construction projects: a developing country perspective

PurposeCost overrun of construction projects has been a key concern for all stakeholders of projects for many decades now. Many studies have been done in the past and continue to be done currently to understand the underlying causes of construction project cost overruns. However, the empirical evidence of the causes seem not be clear due to the silo approach in understanding the causes of construction project cost overruns. The purpose of this paper is to take the debate a step forward by providing an understanding of the causes of project cost overrun from a system’s perspective, especially from a less researched environment.Design/methodology/approachData were collected and analysed from 131 respondents who were mainly involved in construction works in public procurement entities in Ghana. A two-staged approach was employed in collecting data from the respondents. The first stage involved an interview session with key informants in the construction industry in Ghana to ascertain the detailed causes of cost overrun of construction projects. The second stage focussed on the validation of these detailed factors by a wider stakeholder group through questionnaires. Factor analysis was employed to consolidate these detailed factors into major causes of construction project cost overruns.FindingsThe results show that there are primarily four major causes of most public sector construction projects cost overruns. These four major causes of cost overruns are poor contract planning and supervision; change orders; weak institutional and economic environment of projects and lack of effective coordination among the contracting parties.Originality/valueThe study provides more insights as to the critical and major factors that underpin public sector construction projects cost overruns and more importantly provides a basis for common treatment of the multiple risk factors engendering public sector construction projects cost overruns.

Evaluation of Construction Delay of Public Projects in Erbil Governorate

Delay is one of the greatest challenges facing the implementation of construction projects. The completion project time is considered one of the measure indicators for assessing the success of any project. Delays usually have negative impacts of financial and social to all parties involved in the projects. The aim of the study is to find the most important causes of delay by evaluating the common causes of delays in terms of frequency, severity, and important indices in implementation of public construction projects in Erbil Governorate related to owners, contractors, consultants, and external factors. The data gathered through conducting a questionnaire for perception various parties involved in implementation of public construction projects. For these purpose, 104 forms of questionnaire were distributed to various parts to identify the delay causes in accordance with their opinions. It was concluded that the most significant factors causing the delay in construction of public project in Erbil Governorate related to the owner were “variation orders by owner during the construction” which came in the first rank, while the cause of delay related to the consultant that came in the first rank was “unclear and inadequate details in drawings,” whereas the factor related to the contractor which came in the first rank was “selecting incompetent contractor.”

Causes of Delay in Public Building Construction Projects: A Case of Addis Abeba Administration, Ethiopia

The time overrun in construction projects has become one of the most common problems in the industry that cause multitude of negative effects on the projects and its stakeholders. This study focused on assessing the main causes of delay in public building construction projects in Addis Ababa Administration mainly undertaken by grade one contractors. In these projects, 42 delay causing events in the Addis Ababa public building construction projects were identified and categorized in to five main category groups, and the most important and critical causes of public building construction delay causing factors were evaluated and ranked based on the RRI(Ranking and computation of relative importance index)values from the data collected in a questionnaire survey of three groups of respondents- clients, consultant and contractors in the construction industry. The survey findings revealed the top ten factors that cause construction delays in the public building construction projects in Addis Ababa are: (1) Difficulty in project financing (poor financial system); (2) Poor Project management system;(3) Delay in issuance of designs and working drawings; (4) Shortage of availability of imported construction materials and goods on market; (5) Design errors and complexity of designs;(6)Delay in progress payments for completed works; (7) Late start & resource mobilization to site; (8) Financing problems; (9) Inaccurate Site investigation Report;(10) Price Inflation. Furthermore, the ranking of the factors tested the agreement among the respondents and finally agreement test reveal that there appears a positivecorrelation between the groups in noticing and ranking the set of delay causes. The study recommended in general and particularly to all the parties for mitigating factors causing time overrun.

Managing relationships in large public projects: comparative study of China and Singapore

Purpose One of the solutions to manage large public projects that are complex and difficult to manage is through relationship management. Although formal and relational approaches have been adopted in managing relationships, it is widely recognized that participants from developed and developing economies have different mindsets toward these two approaches. The purpose of this paper is hence to elucidate the more effective practices for managers to manage relationships in large public projects that are in countries of different sizes and stages of development. Design/methodology/approach A structured questionnaire survey was conducted. Multiple stakeholders involved in public construction projects in Singapore and China that include public sector clients and consultants, private sector contractors and conszultants, were approached for data collection to provide information on one of their completed large public project. Findings Both Singapore and China primarily adopt contractual governance by making rational decisions, pursuing profit and using the contract to guard against trouble. Participants in Singapore are more deeply committed and work more collaboratively than their counterparts in China. Project partners in China build stronger relationships, which may be due to the importance of “guanxi” to conduct business activities there. Originality/value The comparative study provides managers with different sets of governance practices to adopt to improve the relationships with public clients in large public projects under different environments. In large public projects in developed countries, participants should rely more on relational practices that show commitment and teamwork, while those in developing countries participate in activities that build up their social networks.

‘Gaya Hidup Digital’: Idea Dan Penghasilan Arca Awam Dalam Projek ‘Publikart’ Di Iskandar Puteri, Johor Baharu, Johor

'PublikART' is a public statue construction project carried out in Iskandar Puteri, Johor Baharu, Johor. This project was held in conjunction with Iskandar Malaysia's tenth anniversary. The objective of this project is to create an art space that is part of the way people experience the public spaces and express their Malaysian cultural identity, especially in Johor Baharu. This project involves the method of investigating the art of studio practice. It refers to Critical Self-Reflection approach and the collaboration between the statue artists and a group of project organisers such as Khazanah Nasional Berhad (KNB), UEM Land Berhad (UEML) and Creative Direction & Lead Consultant (labDNA). The main objective is that Publikart can help create better sites by making them unique and interesting. Public art indirectly involves the appreciation of the local community to attract interest and tell local stories about the place and become a joint venture to establish the spirit of brotherhood (ukhuwah) among new residents. Public Art also helps to liven up public spaces by becoming a foundation that can create spaces for interaction and social gatherings. The current phenomenon, namely the 'Digital Lifestyle', became the theme in the process of making this Public Statue.

Comparison of Quebec’s Project Delivery Methods: Relational Contract Law and Differences in Contractual Language

The province of Quebec, Canada, seeks to implement relational alternate project delivery methods to achieve sustainability and energy efficiency in public construction. However, the relational differences between the formal written parts of different delivery methods have yet to be analyzed and understood, as is the case with the relational aspects of contracts and the achievement of sustainable and energy-efficient infrastructure. Using a hermeneutic interpretation of Macneil’s relational contract norms and grounded theory, 26 contracts involving Quebec’s largest public client of vertical infrastructure and representing three different types of project delivery methods (design–bid–build (DBB), design–Build (DB), and construction manager–general contractor/integrated project delivery (CMGC/IPD)) were analyzed using NVivo. It was found that CMGC/IPD is the most relational project delivery method available to Quebec’s public clients, namely because of the public client’s active involvement in the realization process, the increasing complexity of roles, the multitude of common management structures, and the internalization of sustainability measures and conflict resolution. Furthermore, Quebec’s CMGC/IPD was found to be an IPD-ish delivery method, lacking the early involvement of the construction manager and the risk/reward sharing mechanisms necessary to achieve pure IPD status. The findings and theoretical considerations discussed here will help policymakers, contract drafters, and public clients interested in implementing relational contracting practices in public construction projects.

Value management / value engineering (VM/VE) application in Malaysian public construction projects: application of VM/VE study improved roads project sustainability

The application of Value Management/Value Engineering (VM/VE) in project development has a significant impact on the sustainability of a project. There is a relationship established between VM/VE methodology/process with the sustainability concept, which enables to enhance and achieve the intended project values. As such, to ensure value for money projects, the Malaysian Government has introduced the application of VM/VE in the development of public projects. Public Works Department (PWD) Malaysia is the organization responsible for VE application in public project development. In relation to sustainability, PWD has developed a sustainable rating tool known as Penarafan Hijau JKR (pH JKR) as a mean to determine the sustainability level of projects. This paper elucidates the relationship of the application of VM/VE towards sustainability of road projects by using selected VE case studies. Verification was done between the findings of VE for the selected case studies with the sustainability criteria of pH. It shows a significant result whereby VE findings improved the sustainability of road projects. It also provides evidence that the application of VE contributes to the sustainability of the project.

Success factors for implementing Uganda’s public road construction projects

The construction industry is known for its underperformance. Globally, construction projects are often delayed and completed above-estimated budgets because of inferior works and contract variations. These in turn negatively affect the goals set by public sector client. Many studies aim to establish factors for successful construction projects that include public road construction projects. However, challenges remain. Using institutional theory, this research focusses on success factors for implementing public road construction projects in Uganda. Loss of funds in such projects significantly affects and stalls the implementation process. This study is cross-sectional and structured self-administered questionnaires are used with Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) data analysis by Smart-PLS3 subsequently conducted. The findings reveal that professionalism, monitoring activities, familiarity with regulatory framework; perceived inefficiency of regulatory framework and compliance with these frameworks significantly enhances successful implementation of public road construction projects. However, sanctions on staff and contractors’ resistance to non-compliance are insignificant predictors. Governments should emphasize and embark on improving monitoring mechanisms and staff familiarity with public procurement regulatory frameworks to avoid manipulations by unethical project stakeholders especially on contract cost variation during implementation. These regulatory frameworks should be written in a less technical language that is easily interpreted by stakeholders. Recruitment of qualified staff is paramount.

Classification of Conflicts Encountered in the Public Construction Projects

Kamu insaat projelerinde karsilasilan ihtilaflar genellikle cok sayida karmasik ve birbirleriyle iliskili faktorleri icermekte ve cogu zaman bu durum taraflar arasinda anlasmazliklarin cikmasini neden olabilmektedir. Genellikle yargi sistemindeki cozum sureci maliyetli olmakta ve cok uzun zaman almaktadir. Bu durum insaat projesinin tamamlanma suresinin dolayisiyla da planlanan kamu hizmetlerin gecikmesine, projeden beklenen kalitenin elde edilmemesine ve projenin maliyetinin artmasina neden olur. Calismamizin amaci, ihtilaflari siniflandirarak karmasik yapiyi kolay gorulebilir yapmak ve her iki tarafin gorusu dogrultusunda sebep ve sonuc iliskisini ortaya cikarmaktir. Boylece benzer durumlarda, ihtilafin taraflari hakli ve haksiz olduklari yanlarini gorebileceklerdir. Calismamizda ayrica yapay zekâ temelinde bir ihtilaf cozum modeli gelistirilerek gercek durumlarda pratik olarak uygulanabilmesini saglamak amaclanmistir.

Comparison of Efficiency and Satisfaction Level on Different Construction Management Methods for Public Construction Projects in Korea

Selecting appropriate construction management method in construction projects based on owner’s project management capacity can be a make-or-break element. Given the accelerated change in the construction environment, the need for an efficient project management of public construction projects is ever more important, as is the need to select an appropriate construction management method. However, most public project owners find it difficult to select construction management method that perfectly coincides with their capacities or project characteristics since they lack information on the efficiencies of various construction management methods. Under this context, construction management method is usually selected for the sake of convenience or to comply with regulatory requirements. As such, this study aims to provide a basis for project owners to select the most appropriate construction management methods for the projects concerned by analyzing the efficiency of various methods currently applied to domestic public construction projects and also by comparing and analyzing the degree of satisfaction of project participants under each construction management method. In terms of allocated manpower and costs, the inspection supervision method and the construction supervision method incurred additional costs of 42% and 52%, respectively, compared to the direct supervision method. In addition, as for time spent processing tasks, other supervision methods took more time than that of the direct supervision method leading to the conclusion that the direct supervision method appeared to be the most efficient construction management method.

EVALUATING THE COSTS, QUALITY, AND VALUE FOR MONEY OF INFRASTRUCTURE PUBLIC‐PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

ABSTRACTPublic‒private partnerships (PPPs) are often promoted as a means to lower the costs and increase the quality and value for money (VfM) of public construction and infrastructure projects. While the increasing capital stock of PPPs warrants evaluation of their performance there has until now been limited systematic assessment of PPP versus conventional public procurement. This article contributes to the literature by presenting the findings of a systematic review of empirical peer‐reviewed studies comparing the costs, quality, and/or VfM of infrastructure PPP projects with conventional public procurement. The international literature suggests that PPPs are on average more costly and provide approximately similar VfM as conventional procurement. The number of empirical evaluations is limited, however, and evidence on the quality of infrastructure facilities is particularly scarce. While infrastructure PPPs continue to proliferate, systematic assessment of their performance is warranted to assist policy‐makers in choosing the procurement method that offers best value for taxpayers, users and society.

Small-Scale Public Rental Housing Development Using Modular Construction—Lessons learned from Case Studies in Seoul, Korea

Modular construction, which involves factory-based modular unit manufacturing followed by installation at a construction site, has been recognized as one of the sustainable construction methods. Its advantages are known to be implemented through (1) standardized design, (2) standardized production method, and (3) large-scale development (mass production system). These three conditions are basic requirements for modular construction market expansion, but it is difficult to define that these conditions are a prerequisite for judging whether modular construction applied or not. Nevertheless, public development companies in regions or countries where modular construction has just begun thought that modular construction should meet all three conditions that are suitable for applying public construction projects. This is because it is difficult to compare conventional construction projects with similar conditions to modular construction projects. This paper analyzes the cost and duration data of three small-scale public construction rental housing (PCRH) projects involving modular construction in Korea. These cases presented herein include a public college student dormitory, public low-rise rental housing, and public mid-rise rental housing in small-scale development projects. Those were applied not standardized design (common design and regulation), but were reflected in each project’s demands (different design and regulation). To compare it, this paper analyzed 91 public housing provision projects’ construction data from 2011 to 2017 from one of the public rental housing provision companies in Korea. Among them, 19 small-scale public rental housing data were extracted for comparing with modular construction project data. The results show that, even if not standardized, the design and production process, and modular construction durations, were more effective—but costs were similar or expensive. Based on the conclusion drawn from three cases, this paper presents important considerations for the application of modular construction in other small-scale public construction rental housing projects from the perspective of public development companies.

Identification of Social Responsibility Factors within Mega Construction Projects

Mega construction projects create buildings and major infrastructure to respond to work and life requirements while playing a vital role in promoting any nation’s economy. However, the industry is often criticised for not balancing economic, environmental and social dimensions of their projects, with emphasis typically on one aspect to the detriment of the others. This has resulted in many negative impacts including environmental pollution, waste throughout the project lifecycle, low productivity, and avoidable accidents. The identification of comprehensive Social Responsibility (SR) indicators, which combine social, environmental and economic aspects, is urgently needed. This is particularly the case in the context of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), which often has mega public construction projects. The aim of this paper is to develop a set of wide-ranging SR indicators which encompass social, economic and environmental aspects unique to the KSA. A qualitative approach was applied to explore relevant indicators through a review of the existing literature, international standards and reports. A list of appropriate indicators was developed, and its comprehensiveness was corroborated by interviews with experts on mega construction projects working with SR concepts in the KSA. The findings present 39 indicators and their metrics, covering 10 economic, 12 environmental and 17 social aspects of SR mapped against their references. These indicators are a valuable reference for decisionmakers and academics in the KSA to understand factors related to SR in mega construction projects. The indicators are related to mega construction projects within the KSA and require validation in a real case scenario or within a different industry to demonstrate their generalisability.

The feasibility study of investment in public hospital construction project using the real options model.

BACKGROUND:The investment decision can be affected by changing levels of uncertainty and risk. The main objective of this research was to identify, characterize, and quantify the parameters which are essential in evaluation hospital construction projects and provide useful modeling techniques to give the best investment decisions for investors in Iran's health-care projects investment.MATERIALS AND METHODS:The methodology of this study was employing discounted cash flow (DCF) and real option valuation to investigate the feasibility investment in the public hospital construction project. The Islamshahr, Mashhad, and Fardis hospitals were included in the analysis. Economic indices of DCF methods were internal rate of return (IRR) and net present value.RESULTS:The economic evaluation of the Black–Scholes model was almost as same as the binomial tree model, but there was a significant difference between the real options model and traditional methods. According to the traditional methods, the profitability with IRR for Islamshahr, Mashhad, and Fardis hospital projects was 35%, 43%, and 26%, respectively. Black–Scholes model showed profitability only for Islamshahr and Mashhad hospitals, and there was no adequate profitability for investors of Fardis Hospital project during the study.CONCLUSIONS:The methods derived from the real options valuation could provide a more flexible and reliable indices for investors in dynamic and high revolution economic conditions. On the other hand, dynamic economic evaluation models can be applied to correctly evaluate the projects because of Iran's health revolution and its health plans.

Identifying client project manager competency in Indonesian construction project

The influence of active client involvement towards project construction success is gaining recognition in the last few decades. The growing concern on the client involvement has drifted the perception towards client away from the passive role into contributor of project success. During client involvement in the construction project, a representative from client or client project manager (CPM) should be complemented with certain competencies in order to succeed in commissioning construction projects. Evidence shows that some public construction projects in Indonesia failed due to the lack of competency of client project managers. Whilst most of the previous studies concern on the competency of general project managers, this paper specifically investigates competency of project manager from client side who works as a civil servant, and commissioning public construction sectors. This paper aims to identify the important competencies required by CPM in construction projects in Indonesia and examine current Indonesian CPM competency standard. Relative Importance Index (RII) was employed to assess the important level of competencies. The findings will enrich understanding on client project manager competency and become a basis to undergird further empirical research in client project manager development areas.

Contractual Aspects in the Utilisation of Level Two Building Information Modelling (BIM) within Malaysian Public Construction Projects

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a technology and process that are transforming way of designing, constructing, operating and using the building or facility. In essence, BIM models is a platform for collaboration as it encourages intensive communication and interdependence among multidisciplinary project members. In Malaysia’s BIM Guide, this collaborative process can be seen in Level 2 BIM Maturity which all designers engaged in projects work together to create a single computer-generated 3D Model. From this process, many benefits that BIM promises such as clash free construction, quality of design and greater certainty could be achieved. Therefore, the Malaysian Government announced the implementation of at least 40% of Level 2 BIM for public projects costing RM100 million and above in 2019. However, despite mutual understanding between construction players, the full integration of BIM in the project lifecycle seems to be a daunting task. In the context of the Malaysian Public Sector, many uncertainties could arise pertaining to legal and contractual matters i.e. whether or not the existing contractual instruments are able to support the collaborative environment and digital information sharing that Level 2 BIM engenders. This paper presents a narrative review of published literature on the concept of Level 2 BIM and contractual consideration based on the utilisation of BIM within Malaysian Public construction projects, which includes books, government publications, conference presentation slides, newspaper articles and paper-based journal articles. This paper concludes that in order to legitimise multidisciplinary collaboration and integration of information in BIM within existing standard forms of contract, the development of a contract protocol and suitable procurement model are necessary.