UK Construction Industry Research Articles

Optimisation of resource management in construction projects: a big data approach

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify challenges faced in resource management in the UK construction industry and to propose some solutions to these problems. Design/methodology/approach Based on a qualitative research methodology, 14 experts from the UK construction industry were chosen to be participants in the study. The participants were equally divided into two focus groups to discuss resource management using five projects as case studies. Thematic analysis of the discussion reveals seven key factors that affect resource management. Findings The results show that most of the problems identified are due to poor data management processes and the practice of having data in silos. Overcoming this challenge requires the adoption of big data approaches for resource management to allow the integration of large and different forms of data. Originality/value This study seeks to bring to the fore challenges faced in resource management by the UK construction industry and to outline some solutions to address them.

Dynamic behaviour of bio-based and recycled materials for indoor environmental comfort

Abstract UK construction industry contributes 120 Mt of waste every year. Bio-based building materials may be a solution for this problem, as they combine re-use and recycling abilities together with hygroscopic characteristics, leading to buildings energy savings. For the first time, the dynamic response to hygrothermal changes of bio-based materials is examined in terms of Moisture Buffering Value (MBV), dry/wet thermal conductivity, microstructure, density and latent heat through daily cycles. It is shown that MBV is a useful tool for characterisation but needs to be combined with the shape of the change in mass of the final hygrothermal cycle. Mastering this is required to obtain significant improved indoor environment quality in buildings. Ten samples of bio-based insulation materials and one thermoplastic recycled polymer were analysed (wool, hemp, saw mill residue, wood, straw, cork and polyethylene terephthalate). Saw and wool are the most promising, as materials exhibit dynamic response to hygrothermal changes. Only half the amount of samples revealed equivalent efficient moisture transfer to be able to desorb the adsorbed quantity of water. Latent heat of vaporisation and condensation tests led to the conclusion that samples of wool and saw mill residue can qualify as bio-based materials for ‘green’ panels.

Kier Group Plc: Business and Financial Performance Analysis and Evaluation

The subject matter of this paper is the analysis and evaluation of the business and financial performance of the Kier Group Plc over the three year period 2012–2014. The company is analysed against the comparator undertaking Balfour Beatty Plc and the average numbers of the UK and international construction industry. The financial analysis is performed over the range of financial ratios commonly applied in undergraduate and graduate business studies. For the purposes of the business analysis, the SWOT Model and the PESTEL Framework are used. The research reveals that due to diversified divisions and a high market share the Kier Group Plc is able to generate growing revenues, albeit at the high administrative costs and with an extending operating cycle. Further, revenue growth is not accompanied by improved liquidity. The growing social diversification among residential customers, the steady technological change and the increasing demand for sustainable construction place additional challenges to the Group. The results obtained are of interest for the construction industry researchers, financial analysts and financial and business analysis students.

Evaluating social value in the UK construction industry

A comparative study of contracts tendered in England, Wales and Scotland was conducted to determine the impact of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 (‘the Act’) on public sector construction contracts. This paper builds on the literature review paper already published by the authors, which set out to define what social value means in the context of public sector works in the UK and under the Act, by assessing the impact on public sector procurement in the UK. A broad method of measurement for social value in public sector construction contracts is developed before reviewing published contracts (tendered and awarded) on the Official Journal of the European Union website. The study has found that the Act has had little impact on England, where social value was already being considered; however, there has been a significant increase in attempts to incorporate social value associated with construction projects in both Wales and Scotland.

Arget Cost Contracts and The Development of Collaborative Behaviours and Value for Money in The UK Construction Industry

TCCs are seen to be a procurement model capable of achieving value for money through aligning the objectives of the parties to reduce costs. The use of Target Cost Contracts (TCCs) within the UK construction industry has increased dramatically over the past few years. TCCs have been employed successfully on recent large scale projects such as Heathrow Terminal 5, Crossrail Procurement Strategy and the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Infrastructure. Due to the success of TCCs over recent years, many clients are now turning to them in a bid to obtain value for money. However, it seems that they do not always drive parties to minimise costs and provide value for money. This research paper investigates the extent to which TCCs promote collaborative behaviours and provide value for money within the UK construction industry. More particularly, the research explores the following: which projects TCCs should be used on and how the maturity of the design when agreeing the target cost can affect value for money; how setting both the target cost and the pain/gain mechanism can affect the incentivisation of the contractor to minimise costs; the extent to which TCCs promote collaboration between the contractor, client and supply chain; and what is required to manage a TCC post-contract to ensure that incentivisation is maintained. It has become apparent from the research that TCCs are complex procurement models which require extensive consideration and management to ensure parties are incentivised to minimise costs. The research reveals that although TCCs can promote collaborative behaviours and provide value for money, there is a prerequisite to doing so: developing and managing the TCC correctly to ensure that the objectives of the parties are aligned.

Цифровые технологии и их влияние на занятость в секторе строительства (на примере строительной отрасли Великобритании)

Цифровые технологии и их влияние на занятость в секторе строительства (на примере строительной отрасли Великобритании)

Second-generation gender bias

Purpose The eradication of gender discrimination at work has been a prominent feature of the UK political and business agenda for decades; however, the persistent business gender leadership gap remains. The concept of second-generation gender bias has recently been proposed as the primary cause. This paper aims to evaluate how women experience second-generation gender bias in construction organisations. It examines key manifestations of second-generation gender bias and how it impacts women’s career progression into leadership positions in the UK construction industry. Design/methodology/approach This paper adopts a broad feminist interpretative lens aligned with the general aims of feminist critical inquiry through semi-structured interviews with 12 women experiencing career journeys of at least five years in the construction industry. Findings This paper reveals that second-generation gender bias hinders the career development and leadership identity of some women and the persistent business gender leadership gap is unlikely to change without addressing it. Originality/value There is little or no research that speaks exclusively to the experience of second-generation gender bias and female managers working within the UK construction. This paper provides further insight into the barriers women face when attempting to progress into senior management roles, particularly in construction.

Avoiding the revolution: Will offsite manufacturing leave the UK construction industry behind?

A recent survey of UK construction executives by law firm Clyde & Co revealed very low investment to date in offsite manufacturing, and few expectations that offsite would have much impact within f...

Temporary multi-organizations: Constructing identities to realize performance improvements

This article applies organizational identity theory to explore how temporary multi-organizations (TMOs) construct their identities as learning organizations. The study draws on 33 in-depth interviews from TMOs in the UK construction, engineering, and infrastructure industries. Interviews were further triangulated with data from a series of industry events and workshops. The investigation explores key characteristics of learning in TMOs and their impact on performance. The research demonstrates the shift towards informal ways of learning and importance of narratives about the purpose of TMOs. Boundary spanners actively engage in sharing learning through stories about lessons learned from past experiences in managing TMOs.

Aligning carbon targets for construction with (inter)national climate change mitigation commitments

In the face of a changing climate, a growing number of construction firms are adopting carbon reduction targets on individual projects and across their portfolios. In the wake of the Paris Agreement, some firms are seeking a means of aligning their targets with sectoral, national and international mitigation commitments. There are numerous ways by which such an alignment can be achieved, each requiring different assumptions. Using data from the UK construction industry, this paper reviews current company commitments and progress in carbon mitigation; analyses the unique challenges in aligning construction targets, and presents a series of possible sectoral decarbonisation trajectories. The results highlight the disparity between current company targets and the range of possible trajectories. It is clear that a cross-industry dialogue is urgently required to establish an appropriate response that delivers both a widely-accepted target trajectory and a plan for its delivery. This paper is intended to stimulate and support this necessary debate by illustrating the impact of different methodological assumptions and highlighting the critical features of an appropriate response.

Materiality and external assurance in corporate sustainability reporting: an exploratory case study of the UK construction industry

The aims of this paper are to provide a preliminary examination of the extent to which the UK's leading construction companies are reporting embracing materiality and commissioning independent external assurance as part of their sustainability reporting processes and to offer some wider reflections on materiality and external assurance in sustainability reporting. The information for the paper is drawn from the top 20 UK construction companies' corporate websites. The paper reveals that only a minority of the UK's top 20 construction companies had embraced materiality or commissioned independent external assurance as an integral part of their sustainability reporting processes. This can be seen to reduce the reliability and credibility of the construction companies sustainability reports. The paper provides an accessible review of the extent to which the UK's leading construction companies are currently reporting embracing materiality and commissioning external assurance as part of their sustainability reporting processes.

Materiality and external assurance in corporate sustainability reporting: an exploratory case study of the UK construction industry

The aims of this paper are to provide a preliminary examination of the extent to which the UK's leading construction companies are reporting embracing materiality and commissioning independent external assurance as part of their sustainability reporting processes and to offer some wider reflections on materiality and external assurance in sustainability reporting. The information for the paper is drawn from the top 20 UK construction companies' corporate websites. The paper reveals that only a minority of the UK's top 20 construction companies had embraced materiality or commissioned independent external assurance as an integral part of their sustainability reporting processes. This can be seen to reduce the reliability and credibility of the construction companies sustainability reports. The paper provides an accessible review of the extent to which the UK's leading construction companies are currently reporting embracing materiality and commissioning external assurance as part of their sustainability reporting processes.

Bio-Composites to Tackle UK Built Environment Carbon Emissions: Comparative Analysis on Load-Bearing Capacity, Hygroscopic and Thermal Performance of Compressed Earth Blocks with Addition of Industrial Hemp Waste

Background:The built environment contributes up to 47% of the UK’s CO2emissions. Typically, building materials have an energy intensive life cycle. The UK construction industry generated 100 million tonnes of total waste in 2012. Only half of this was diverted from landfill. Facing this scenario, a mainstream transition towards biological materials in the building sector is encouraged to reduce embodied energy and carbon and to divert construction waste from landfill.Objective:This research aims to inform UK producers that there are available bio-composite materials for construction that can meet the mainstream requirements.Method:This paper analyses the effect of the addition of waste from industrial hemp agriculture to Earth Blocks on the performance of building products. To avoid potentially negative consequences of food displacement, an agricultural by-product from industrial hemp production was used. Hemp was also selected due to its known superior hygrothermal performance.In the study, fine hemp shiv was added to Compressed Earth Blocks’ mix following three different Earth/Hemp ratios (75/25; 62.5/37.5; 50/50) also a control series. The compressive strength, conductivity and moisture performance were tested, analysed and then compared with the mainstream values.Results:The results revealed that blocks’ load-bearing capacity reduced and thermal conductivity also reduced, hence increasing its insulation capacity. The moisture performance also reduced as hemp ratio increased. In comparison with the mainstream products, the results comply with the standard requirements. Thermal capacity overperformed mainstream products.Conclusion:A closed loop approach for the construction industry is possible. Bio-composite materials offer the industry an option for the reduction of embodied energy, carbon emissions and construction waste, while meeting industry standards and building regulations.

Forecasting Corporate Business Failure with an Innovative Model: An Application on UK Construction Companies

This research focuses on developing a bankruptcy prediction model in the UK construction industry. It fills the gap of previous researches which did not focus on the construction industry and in the UK. The aim of this research is to establish accurate model which successfully classify firms into their respective financial status of failed and non-failed. This research analyses financial variable extracted from FAME database by Bureau Van Dijk for the development of bankruptcy prediction model. Ranging from SIC trade codes of 41100 (Development of building projects), 41 (Construction of buildings), 42(Civil Engineering), 43 (Specialised construction activities), 68 (Real estate activities), and 71(Architectural and engineering activities and related technical consultancy). Then the model is tested against the collected sample and compared with two other Z-score model. These models have an average accuracy of 80%. The model with the strongest predictive power (SIC 42) correctly predicts 93.2% (non-bankrupt) and 90.9% (bankrupt) while the weakest model (SIC 68) classify 51.2% (non-bankrupt) and 70% (bankrupt) correctly into their respective group. The developed model is far superior in classifying firms into their financial status when compared to the other two prediction models. Furthermore, the established model is robust enough that it has an average classification accuracy over the years of 70%. A practical case study is conducted utilising the developed Z-score model and ratio analysis. Macroeconomic variable is then analysed where long term interest rate, inflation, 3 months’ treasury bills has a negative impact on the firms Z-score. However, construction output and gilt repo interest rate has a positive relationship to the Z-score of companies. The estimate of covariance is also seen to build up from the year 2006 which acts as a warning sign that a financial crisis is emerging. This result point towards the fact that both macroeconomics and microeconomics contributes significantly to business failure. The developed bankruptcy prediction model serves as a warning sign for management to pay attention to. As firms enter the “grey zone”, management should act to save firms from defaulting. Ultimately, this model is applicable widely for other industry of world economies.

Brexit: measuring the impact upon skilled labour in the UK construction industry

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present an understanding of the potential impact of Brexit upon the UK construction industry. Specifically, the work analyses the construction industry’s reliance upon European Union (EU) skilled labour and seeks to determine the potential impact that Brexit poses upon EU skilled labour entering the sector.Design/methodology/approachA perceptual questionnaire survey was used to elicit responses from construction professionals using the two techniques of opportunity and snowballing non-probability sampling. Summary statistical analysis of Boolean and Likert item scale data accrued was employed to elucidate upon respondents’ perceptions.FindingsThe majority of survey participants either “strongly agreed” or “agreed” that the UK construction industry relies upon EU skilled labour and that a career in the sector would not be attractive for foreign skilled labour post-Brexit. Future research proposed includes: predicting future trends in labour supply and demand and deriving new policies to address skills shortage imbalances that may be created by Brexit.Originality/valueOriginal insight into an historic and unprecedented moment for the UK construction industry is presented. The work also provides pragmatic recommendations to policy makers and Higher Education Institutes to prevent the risk of Brexit further exacerbating skilled labour shortages within the industry.

Shaping the discourse of worker health in the UK construction industry

The UK construction industry is in poor health, statistics show rates of occupational illness significantly higher than for workers in any other industry. Recently, the scope of occupational health management on large sites has increased as public health has become included within the organizational remit. Concerns have been raised around the consequences of this development, its close relationships to Corporate Social Responsibility, and how this is now shaping the wider discourse. To explore this phenomenon, a critical discourse analysis of UK “construction worker health” has been carried out, using the public-facing data of ten large UK contractors. Findings show that “public” has now overtaken “occupational”, the latter restricted to legal compliance presented as corporate citizenship, the former championed as evidence of benevolent organizational values. Yet public health concerns are limited to those of lifestyle and individual responsibility, whilst more complex issues around the social determinants of health as associated with work are missing from the discourse, separating organizations from the impacts of their work on their workers. A contemporary mapping of “construction worker health” is developed for consideration by industry and academics to support future health initiatives and research.

How the commitment to disclose in-use performance can transform energy outcomes for new buildings

The paper describes the transformation that has taken place over the last 15 years in the energy efficiency of new office buildings constructed in Australia and considers if and how the UK could follow suit. The success in Australia has been greatest for the ‘base building’: the energy performance of the HVAC services in tenanted spaces and of all end uses in the common parts. It embraces a ‘ design for performance’ culture, supported by the NABERS ‘Commitment Agreement’, where developers and their teams sign up to an in-use performance target. The process is underpinned by advanced simulation, strategic sub-metering and fine-tuning post occupation to help eliminate wasteful deviations. The paper considers the opportunity for the UK to introduce a Commitment Agreement process for new office buildings, integrated with the Soft Landings Framework. It is argued that from a technical perspective base building energy performance in new UK offices could be as good as it is in Australia. However, there are non-technical drivers missing in the UK. To compete with their Australian peers, the UK property and construction industries need a base building energy measurement and rating system, creating the ability to set a performance target and disclose the outcome. Practical application: Design for performance uses a much more realistic building simulation model at the design stage. Although this requires a lot more inputs (details of the building’s proposed chillers, AHUs, ducts and valves, etc. and their controls), it enables the designers to capitalise from computer-aided-design to improve energy efficiency. This process deploys the technology improvement template by which much of the modern world has progressed so fast, and enables innovation to flourish. The more advanced HVAC model can predict target energy budgets for each sub-system (boilers, chillers, fans, pumps, etc.) against which the actual energy used, as measured with sub-meters, can be compared to inform fine tuning during early operation. Although a model’s predictions can be considered the ideal energy performance of the as-built system, there’s an expectation that the base building’s real performance should turn out to be within around 10% of that anticipated from the modelling.

Defining social value in the UK construction industry

This paper evaluates the rationale behind the UK Public Services (Social Value) Act to postulate a definition of ‘social value’ and its application to construction and enable authorities to implement it. A comprehensive literature review has been undertaken and publications on existing methods of measurement have been reviewed and discussed to provide a comprehensive summary. The literature review revealed that communities could benefit from a series of direct and indirect impacts on individual people as well as the social efficacy of the whole community as a result of implementing the Act. The intention of the Act is to provide additional social benefits that provide added value, not in the monetary sense of the word but as a broader impact to the local area. However, these types of contract conditions benefit local contractors, which conflicts with the EU’s single market legislation.

Disclosure of corporate risks and governance before, during and after the global financial crisis: case study in the UK construction industry in 2006–2009

The recent financial crisis highlighted the importance of risk disclosures for investors and the wider society. We examined changes in risk disclosures in three UK-based construction companies before, during and after the financial crisis. The findings suggest that a crisis motivates a rise in the volume and quality of information provided by companies, while during periods of stability, companies generally provide less information and the quality of information is generic and repetitive in nature. Based on our research, a crisis enhances the overall volume of disclosures and this level of disclosure is maintained after the crisis, while any improvements in the quality of risk information are temporary.

An Investigation Into ‘Lean-BIM' Synergies in the UK Construction Industry

This article highlights the advantages of Lean Construction (‘Lean') and Building Information Modelling ('BIM') that have received much attention. Individually, each promises transformative and beneficial effects on the construction process, prompting researchers to consider the possibility of synergies between the two. An early example is the hypothetical ‘Lean-BIM Interaction Matrix' of Rafael Sacks and his collaborators. In this, Lean principles are set against BIM functionality and synergies predicted. Early tests of the proposals were through retrospective case studies. Further promising results have been demonstrated in construction projects in the USA. This suggests that similar results might be possible elsewhere, prompting the present UK study. The methodological approach is case-study based on projects where the contractor purports to be using (i) Lean principles, (ii) BIM, and (iii) both. Evidence will be collected through a variety of means (including interviews, documents, and observation). The research is currently at a stage where data has been collected from the first few case-study projects.