Search

Purpose – Construction research comprises quality contributions to the Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) context in terms of their benefits and relative advantages. However, the uptake of MMC is yet deemed very low in the public sector. Knowing that public clients acquire the purchasing power and the influential status to drive industry change, understanding their low MMC uptake is necessary. Design/methodology/approach – A systematic review of literature has been chosen to extract the key variables contributing to the limited adoption of MMC across the public sector, reinforced by a qualitative semi-structured interview with twelve industry leaders and public clients. This methodology enables the authors to explore works from the past decade, paving a direction for an adequate empirical investigation by reviewing and critically analysing forty-nine academic articles and interviewing twelve industry leaders and public clients. Findings – The study captured and argued the characteristics that have an influence on public clients’ decision, inhibiting the extraction of values associated with greater MMC deployment. A critical analysis resulted in identifying 13 characteristics under 4 main themes, providing a new argument to existing knowledge by calling on the need to better understand public clients and the influence of their own characteristics on their MMC uptake. Originality/value – This paper utilises the Diffusion of Innovation theory (DOI) which offers constructs that help explain the influence of the characteristics of a decision-making unit. Our knowledge on public construction clients is limited, and more research in this direction may help in better aggregating construction demand. Overall, arguments provided in this paper enable relative improvements in contractors’ business models when approaching the public market. The study is believed to be in support of the relative governmental efforts to shape effective policies that can enhance innovation uptake

Purpose: Amidst all solutions posited to address sustainable construction practices in Nigeria, the implementation plans are repudiated by sustainable barriers. This study examines and confirms the strategy with the most significant impacts on the identified barrier to Sustainable Construction Practice (SCP). Design/Methodology/Approach: The study deployed a questionnaire survey to evaluate the perspective of 100 construction actors on the barriers and strategies of sustainable construction practice in Nigeria. Factor Analysis was employed to categorize key barriers and strategies into their underlying clusters for further analysis. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to confirm the constructs significant relationship and magnitude, thereby establishing the strategies with the highest impacts on the barriers to sustainable construction practices. Findings: The findings revealed three clusters of barriers and four groups of strategies to SCP, including techno-politic barrier, perception and awareness barrier, and sociocultural barrier. For the significant strategies, education and training, stakeholder regulation, incentive support and government and legislative support strategies were established. Overall, education and training strategy was identified as the most dominant and effective strategy to mitigate the barriers of SCP in Nigeria. Originality/Value: The paper establishes education and training as the key strategy to achieving sustainable quest in the AEC industry. The practical implication is that policy makers, educators and professional bodies can harness sustainable knowledge transfer through education and training to improve sustainable construction practices in Nigeria.

The benefits of integrating immersive technologies (ImTs) within a construction safety context are acknowledged within the literature, however its practical application on construction sites remains low. Whilst research into the integration of ImTs within the construction industry is underway, most have viewed this from a broader adoption context or within educational settings, and not specifically from a practical on-site safety perspective. Therefore the purpose of this study is to address the contributing factors to its integration within on-site safety processes, using the experiences of active construction professionals. This study adopts a qualitative approach. Data was collected through online focus groups involving UK based construction professionals with experience in using ImTs, recruited using selective sampling. Data sets were subsequently analysed using inductive thematic analysis and are presented within key themes. The results showed that amongst the experienced construction professionals, the use of ImTs specifically for on-site safety applications (including inductions/training/workshops) was rare on projects. The findings identified various contributing factors related to the integration of ImTs, including the potential improvements in on-site safety practices such as enhanced communication of hazards, safety planning, engagement during training and more accurate risk assessment. Critical challenges, concerns and frustrations included a lack of engagement from senior level management, inadequate leadership, limited investment, a need for digital expertise, fear of complacency and the acceptance of ImTs within existing safety processes from the wider project team. This study provides a fresh perspective to this field by using practical accounts from active and experienced on-site construction professionals. This study supports the integration of ImTs within the construction industry, presenting key contributing factors influencing its integration wi

The staggering demand for construction projects to meet a spectrum of public needs is projected to outstrip the industry’s supply capability. The Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), are methods that relies on shifting key construction processes offsite, a transformation from traditional practices that offers wider control, transpiring as a critical necessity. Public clients play a significant role as drivers for innovation and as the industry’s purchasing power, however, their uptake of MMC projects is still low, despite the associated benefits. The purpose of this study is to reveal the reasoning behind such low adoption. The research gap, herewith, is our lack of understanding on the perception of public clients from MMC, and how the same is contributing to their adoption’s indecision. This study utilised a qualitative approach to investigate the motives behind the public sector’s low MMC adoption. Semi-structured interviews with 14 of the United Kingdom’s public sector’s decision-makers, industry leaders, and experts have been conducted. Perspectives were argued against the Diffusion of Innovation theory (DOI). Overall, the innovation’s attributes informed the authors of the positive perceptions from the public sector, demonstrating that the low adoption of MMC is not linked to any embedded issues with the innovation itself rather being predominantly related to the dynamics between supply and demand. The former (supply), reflected a failure in communicating confidence, and the latter (demand), attained characteristics that are limiting wider uptake. This is the first study to apply the Diffusion of Innovation theory to reveal the relationship between UK public clients’ perceptions and their decision-making. Moreover, this paper addresses the scant attention to the use of theories to explain the flow of innovations in the construction context.

Purpose – In the past decade, transforming key processes and activities towards a more digital nature has been the focus of most industries due to the associated advantages. Despite that, organisations in the construction sector are lagging the list of early adopters. The slow rate of a fundamental digital transformation is linked to the challenges facing an effective leadership. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to shed light on the barriers to digital leadership enactment in the construction industry. Limited research has empirically analysed and discussed these barriers to explain the low transformation rate in the existing body of knowledge. Design/methodology/approach – This paper empirically investigates the perspectives of construction industry professionals acquiring various roles in the industry. Overall, the study comprises the views of 38 participants, adopting a qualitative methodological approach to explore relative barriers and explain the slow digital transformation rate. Findings – Findings are grouped into five themes: leadership characteristics, management and organisational issues, resource constraints, technological issues, and risk perceptions. The findings are helpful to business leaders, researchers, trainers, and educators to develop measures to encourage leaders in the industry to be at the forefront of digital transformation in their organisations. Originality/value – Literature, however, is discreet in reflecting the challenges and barriers facing today’s leadership in facilitating digital transformation among construction stakeholders. This paper provides insights into the variables that may be undermining wider digital adoption across the construction sector’s organisations.

Due to the practical complexity and fragmented nature of the construction industry, digitalisation, like other innovations, is not easily achieved. This study aimed to explore organisational influences on digitalisation within construction firms. Due to the practical complexity and fragmented nature of the construction industry, digitalisation, like other innovations, is not easily achieved. This study aimed to explore organisational influences on digitalisation within construction firms. Construction professionals from twenty-two organisations provided their perspectives on digital transformation and their organisations. Under four constructs- structure, culture, leadership, and internal processes, findings uncovered sixteen determinants critical to digitalisation in construction firms. The study offers a offers a theoretical perspective supported by empirical data to explore the complex dynamics and internal interactions of organisational influence on the uptake of digitalisation in the construction industry. This paper offers arguments from a theoretical lens by applying the organisational influence model and capturing the variables under each construct in an exploratory manner to highlight the reasoning behind the low digital uptake in construction firms. This research aids academia and practice on the pressure points responsible for enhancing, or undermining, digital uptake in construction firms at an organisational level.

Purpose – Challenges to energy access in Nigeria have resulted in the widespread use of fossil fuel generating sets (generators) despite their renewable energy (RE) potential. Given the climate crisis, combined with the country’s rapid population growth and expected rise in energy and building demand, transitioning to low-carbon electricity using REs like solar photovoltaic (PV) presents opportunities beyond securing its energy future. While PV use is growing in Nigeria, this is focused on the residential sector despite the identification of the commercial sector as a high energy consumer and a key platform for its integration. This paper investigates the challenges in transitioning to solar PV in commercial buildings from a building professionals perspective Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative approach in line with grounded theory was adopted using in-depth face-to-face interviews with industry experts. Findings – Two distinct but interrelated categories emerged: being held captive and being a saviour that represented a duality of systems, and/or processes formed the core category ‘Hostage Syndrome’. The core category (theory) was generated based on the explanations and expressions by participants about their concerns, interests, and the conditions under which they operate. The findings reveal the value attributed to generators beyond an operational role and the adjustments or mechanisms adopted by building professionals during their practice. It suggests a sphere of influence beyond the obvious financial and/or institutional aspects, as determining factors to what is viewed as sustainable which will be key to transitioning to REs. Originality/value – This paper provides new and in-depth insight into understanding the conditions under which building professionals operate associated with their interpretations of ‘being sustainable’. The study highlights the need to consider psychological and cultural factors in the development of interventions, strategies, a

While previous studies have highlighted the importance of incorporating environmental sustainability in building designs, there is a paucity of studies which assess the extent to which design teams in developing countries consider environmental sustainability at the building design stage. Therefore, using Zambia as a case study, this study examined the extent to which infrastructure design teams in a developing country consider environmental sustainability at the design stage. The study employed a qualitative research approach using structured interviews because there are hardly any studies which have explored the extent to which designers incorporate environmental sustainability in infrastructure designs in developing countries. The data were analysed thematically using the ATLAS.ti software. The results show that environmental sustainability is not an important design consideration because it is secondary to functional, technical and aesthetic considerations. Environmental considerations are also made in an ad-hoc manner and when it is cost effective for the project. Regulatory requirements pertaining to environmental protection are adhered to without any cost considerations. It was therefore theorised that building design teams in developing countries make technical, functional and aesthetic consideration during the infrastructure design stage ahead of environmental considerations. There is a paucity of studies that have investigated whether building infrastructure designers consider issues of environmental sustainability at the design stage in developing countries. The findings have practical implications on how developing countries can foster environmental sustainability at the design stage and avoid generating a building infrastructure stock that will require environmental resilience adaptation in the future.

Due to the practical complexity and fragmented nature of the construction industry, digitalisation, like other innovations, is not easily achieved. This study aimed to explore organisational influences on digitalisation within construction firms. Due to the practical complexity and fragmented nature of the construction industry, digitalisation, like other innovations, is not easily achieved. This study aimed to explore organisational influences on digitalisation within construction firms. Construction professionals from twenty-two organisations provided their perspectives on digital transformation and their organisations. Under four constructs- structure, culture, leadership, and internal processes, findings uncovered sixteen determinants critical to digitalisation in construction firms. The study offers a offers a theoretical perspective supported by empirical data to explore the complex dynamics and internal interactions of organisational influence on the uptake of digitalisation in the construction industry. This paper offers arguments from a theoretical lens by applying the organisational influence model and capturing the variables under each construct in an exploratory manner to highlight the reasoning behind the low digital uptake in construction firms. This research aids academia and practice on the pressure points responsible for enhancing, or undermining, digital uptake in construction firms at an organisational level.

Purpose: This study investigated the suitability and cost-benefit of using copper tailings as partial replacement of sand in concrete production. The study was motivated by the accumulation and non- utilisation of Copper Tailings in dams among them Tailing Dam 25 also known as TD 25 in Kitwe city of the Copperbelt province in Zambia that take up approximately 111 hectares of unutilised land. Design/methodology/approach: Laboratory experimental approach of concrete production based on water/cement ratios of 0.3 and 0.5 was used because this was an exploratory study designed to establish the primary performance of .concrete. 30 concrete cubes were cast based on the two water-cement ratios. 0% to 30% partial sand replacement with copper tailings was used in both mixes with the 0% copper tailings replacement being the control mix and reference point. Other concrete tests included workability, density, compressive strength and element composition analysis. Findings: Results revealed that copper tailings from TD 25 were suitable for partial replacement of sand in concrete. 30% of sand replacement with copper tailings was established as the maximum replacement amount in order to produce optimum compressive strength values from both mixes. The drier mix of 0.3 water-cement ratio produced higher compressive strength results of 23 MPa at 28 days of concrete curing with 2.34% as optimum concrete cost reduction. Originality/Value: The study provides guidance on optimum concrete grade produced and cost reduction details of copper tailing-based concrete to support for local authorities in suitable land wand waste management using real data.