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PurposeThis paper reports the developments of a project cost control system (PCCS) for construction projects to (1) measure its current level of cost control maturity, (2) examine the relationships between elements within PCCS processes and (3) identify improvement areas.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts a mixed approach of descriptive analysis and partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to measure the current maturity level of PCCS and evaluate the relationships between elements within PCSS to identify improvement areas. Further importance-performance matrix analysis (IPMA) of priority constructs was conducted to improve a target construct and identify the most important areas of specific actions at indicator levels. The results of IPMA revealed the contrast that has the greatest importance on the performance of others so that the recommendations can be made accordingly. Data collected in New Zealand were used to develop the research model.FindingsThis study develops structural and measurement models with the constructs including pre-control, in-control and post-control processes, enablers and their proposed interrelationships. Then, data from survey of 184 experienced project cost control team members reveal that post-control has the lowest maturity or weakest areas in the PCCS. Data analysis facilitated by PLS-SEM confirmed that all the constructs in the structural model have positive and significant relationships with each other and suggested that systematic cost analysis reports, communication, skills and experience, defining roles and responsibilities, and top management's support should be the highest priority for improving the PCCS in a more effective manner.Originality/valueThis study presents one of the earliest attempts to develop and test an integrated model that links sub-processes in PCCS and their enablers. Secondly, this research adds to the construction project management literature by empirically verifying the roles of enablers in enhancing maturity level of PCCS.

PurposeThe development of prefabrication into full-scale offsite manufacturing processes in the construction industry is paradigm-shifting. Moreover, Building Information Modelling (BIM) is becoming the primary mode of communication and integration in construction projects to facilitate the flow of information. Although research has been performed on BIM and Offsite Construction (OSC), integrating these two concepts remains ambiguous and complex and lacks documentation and structure, especially in New Zealand. Therefore, this paper develops a robust framework for OSC and BIM integration. The study focusses on identifying integration challenges and proposes strategies for overcoming these challenges.Design/methodology/approachThis study applied scientometric analysis, a systematic literature review (SLR) and semi-structured expert interviews to investigate OSC and BIM integration challenges. Multiple themes were investigated and triangulation conducted in this research supports the creation of applicable knowledge in this field.FindingsMultiple gaps, research trends and the pioneer countries in the paper's scope have been identified through scientometric analysis. Then, a classified cluster of challenges for OSC and BIM implementation and integration strategies of OSC and BIM were demonstrated from the findings. The interviews provided comprehensive and complementary data sets and analyses. The findings from the Systematic Literature Review and interview structured the integration framework.Originality/valueThe contribution of this paper to existing knowledge is a developed framework that serves as a guideline for the OSC stakeholders. This framework can assess OSC's alignment with BIM and consolidate strategies for incorporating OSC into a BIM-based project delivery process. The framework consists of 23 strategies categorised into 8 clusters: a policy document, training and professional development, documentation, technology management, governmental development, contract development, accurate definition and detailing and communication. The proposed strategies will streamline integration by reducing potential challenges, thus enhancing project productivity.

Purpose This paper aims to identify and examine the factors that influence construction industry-university (IU) collaboration and develop the likelihood model of a potential industry partner within the construction industry to collaborate with universities. Design/methodology/approach Mix method data collection including questionnaire survey and focus groups were used for data collection. The collected data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods to identify and examine factors. These findings were then used to develop the likelihood predictive model of IU collaboration. A well-known artificial neural network (ANN) model, was trained and cross-validated to develop the predictive model. Findings The study identified company size (number of employees and approximate annual turnover), the length of experience in the construction industry, previous IU collaboration, the importance of innovation and motivation of innovation for short term showed statistically significant influence on the likelihood of collaboration. The study also revealed there was an increase in interest amongst companies to engage the university in collaborative research. The ANN model successfully predicted the likelihood of a potential construction partner to collaborate with universities at the accuracy of 85.5%, which was considered as a reasonably good model. Originality/value The study investigated the nature of collaboration and the factors that can have an impact on the potential IU collaborations and based on that, introduced the implementation of machine learning approach to examine the likelihood of IU collaboration. While the developed model was derived from analysing data set from Western Australian construction industry, the methodology proposed here can be used as the basis of predictive developing models for construction industry elsewhere to help universities in assessing the likelihood for collaborating and partnering with the targeted construction companies.

PurposeThe more contemporary views on managing projects recommend stakeholder engagement as an important part of the process. Challenges have been reported when attempting to involve project stakeholders in a construction project due to the complexity of the processes. In projects such as refurbishment projects, the efforts to incorporate end users' needs and preferences into spatial environmental functions increase the complexity of stakeholder engagement during the journey of the project. This paper presents a unique technique used to integrate different tools within the system enquiry methodology in modelling the project stakeholder engagement process for refurbishment projects.Design/methodology/approachAiming to address the problem, system dynamics (SD) has been selected as the most suitable method for modelling the dynamic behaviour of this complex system over time. A tool known as a rich picture diagram (RPD) is proposed as the precursor of the development of a causal loop diagram (CLD) to facilitate a more holistic abstraction for applicable solutions. An example of a single case study involving the refurbishment of a higher education building project is presented to explain the analysis undertaken in the process of developing the CLD that models the dynamic behaviour within end-user stakeholder engagement.FindingsThis paper demonstrates the complementarity capabilities of the soft and hard systems of enquiry in modelling stakeholder's dynamics within the refurbishment construction contexts. The RPD soft system tool was found useful to congregate diverse stakeholder expressions and experiences of a complex system in a holistic manner. Subsequently, the development of the CLD was fully guided by the information and relationship captured and presented in the RPD to yield a representative system model. Furthermore, this paper also reports the dynamics of the actors, situations, events and their inter-relationship found in the presented refurbishment project.Originality/valueThis paper enriches the techniques within the system enquiry methodology by integrating hard and soft system tools for dynamic process modelling purposes. This is particularly achieved by utilizing the RPD as the precursor of SD that provides a useful way for researchers and stakeholders to fully understand the dynamics and develop robust systemic interventions to optimize end-user stakeholder engagement during the journey of refurbishment projects, particularly of higher education buildings.

One of significant advancement of techniques in the construction industry is off-site construction (OSC) technique that has existed for long but only recently gaining leverage from the advances in ...

Using drones to monitor construction site is a flexible approach with low manpower costs. We study a drone scheduling problem in which a drone flies on a fixed path over a construction sit...

PurposeOff-site manufacturing (OSM) application in vertically higher and spatially larger projects within Western Australian (WA) commercial sector has demonstrated the potential of benefitting from such a construction technique, but introducing a new methodology to a traditional sector such as commercial sector is not always straightforward. The acceptance of the new methodology, level of awareness of the stakeholders involved and the readiness of the supply chain to deliver, for instance, may influence the success of its implementation. Given the infancy of such methodology in the WA construction industry, this research project aims to analyse factors influencing the implementation of OSM construction method in WA.Design/methodology/approachFollowing a thorough literature review, an existing research agenda in OSM was used to inform the direction of this research, i.e. focussing on external macro aspects of the decision making to implement OSM. Three projects in WA were studied, and the data collection was facilitated through archival study and semi-structured interviews with construction practitioners who were the stakeholders of the three projects. Data analysis was conducted through content analysis to draw the findings and conclusion of this research.FindingsThe analysis of the studied cases revealed relevant economic/financial, technological and regulatory factors, as well as social factors influencing the implementation of OSM, particularly in WA commercial projects. These findings were then used to develop an overall understanding of the external macro factors influencing decision making in implementing OSM that forms a formal research agenda aimed at enabling successful implementation of OSM in WA construction industry, particularly in its commercial sector.Originality/valueThe research findings presented in this paper identified factors that significantly influence the implementation of such alternative technology in a traditional sector. These factors were then structured to form the subsequent research agenda to continuously pursue the implementation of OSM in the sector. While the research agenda takes into account the unique characteristics of the WA construction industry, it contributes to the global and the Australian national research agenda, and the research methodology reported in this paper can be used to develop similar research agenda elsewhere.

Co-generation of energy derived from human movement is not new. Intentionally accumulating energy, from mass urban-mobility, provides opportunities to re-purpose power. However, when mass-mobility is predictable, yet not harnessed, this highlights critical gaps in application of interdisciplinary knowledge. This research highlights a novel application of geostatistical modelling for the built environment with the purpose of understanding where energy harvesting infrastructure should be located. The work presented argues that advanced Geostatistical methods can be implemented as an appropriate method to predict probability distribution, density, clustering of populations and mass-population mobility patterns from large-scale online distributed and heterogeneous data sets published by the Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network. Where clear urban spatio-behavioural relationships of density and movement can be predicted – understanding such patterns supports cross-disciplinary city planning and decision-making. A data-informed – predictive spatial decision-making framework is proposed – facilitating the endeavour of cogenerating kinetic human energy within a prescribed space. This novel proposition could further sustainability strategies for compact living for cities such as in Perth, Western Australia which is increasingly economically and geographically pressured to densify. This research argues that surveillance data elucidate a capacity to interpret and understand impacts of densification strategies, efficacy of CCTV networks in existing and emerging cities.

Over the last few years off-site construction (OSC); which is essentially manufacturing different components in a controlled environment, has become popular in the construction industry. This method has the advantages of simplicity, speed, reducing project duration, and minimising construction waste. Therefore, a growing body of literature recognises the importance of OSC to gain better project performance. While OSC has received considerable critical attention, to enhance OSC applications, integrating advanced technologies such as building information modelling (BIM) is essential. There is a lack of research addressing the integration of BIM and OSC, particularly in New Zealand, and few studies investigated the current subject. Therefore, this study focuses on finding the existing OSC and BIM integration challenges within the New Zealand construction sector. The objective of this study has been investigated through literature review and interviews with experts. The common challenges of OSC and BIM integration were identified and classified. Human resources, documentation, managerial, and organisational are the main challenges. This paper is dedicated to exploring OSC and BIM integration in New Zealand, an essential step for the OSC application strategies within the construction sector. This study findings will lend to the construction sector expanding capabilities to improve the status quo and optimise OSC applications through advanced technologies.

CanConstrucNZ is a partnership programme between New Zealand universities, government agencies, and professional bodies to develop a smart system that enables mapping future pipeline projects with the industry capacity and capability to advise the stakeholders whether the sector will be capable of delivering the proposed construction projects. Defining the scope of the construction sector itself is the first step of the programme that helps measure the construction sector capacity. This paper compares different definitions and approaches of the construction sector boundaries and discusses similarities and differences in the selected classification systems, usually used to define, collect, and generate data for measuring the construction sector. The findings highlight the need for a more comprehensive classification to help generate the correct level of data for measuring the construction sector’s true scope and size, resulting in better policy initiatives, and informing changes in the industry. The findings of this study recommend future research to develop a customised classification system to represent the value of the New Zealand construction sector in a holistic manner.

Modular construction has been reported to lead to a number of advantages when contrasted with conventional construction approaches, including time and cost savings, along with reduced environmental...

Purpose Following the increasing need for faster construction, improved quality and evidence value propositions, offsite construction is increasingly being proffered as a viable contender to “traditional” construction approaches. However, whilst evidence supports the move towards offsite, its uptake has been lower than expected. Whilst the precise reasons for this seem to be influenced by a number of issues, including contextual drivers and market maturity; some project stakeholders also view offsite as carrying greater risks. The purpose of this paper is to report on the quality of information flow, in particular, the impact and influence of this on design risks in offsite construction projects. Design/methodology/approach An existing design risk framework is used as the point of departure for this research. This is further expanded into a specific model for evaluating offsite construction projects design risks, the rubrics of which were informed by two case studies of offsite construction projects in Australia and the UK analysed with a process-tracing technique. Whilst these cases were geographically separated, the constructs were aligned to uncover fundamental design information requirements and concomitant risks associated with offsite. Findings The findings of the research reported in this paper include the crucial information feeding into the design process emanating from the lifecycle of offsite construction projects, namely, design, offsite (manufacturing), handling and transporting, site works and installation and also occupancy. These are contextualised within the four categories, namely, client requirements, project requirements, regulation aspects and social aspects and the final outcomes were summarised into a holistic diagram. Originality/value Given that the offsite construction has shifted the working paradigm into assigning a significant level of efforts and emphasis at the front end of the construction projects, the importance of its design process and hence design risks management has gone up significantly in construction projects delivered using this technique. This research and paper contributes significantly to the built environment domain by identifying the crucial aspects along the project lifecycle to be considered to minimise the potential occurrence of design risks and hence increasing the confidence of project stakeholders in adopting offsite construction techniques in their projects.

Purpose Offsite construction approaches and methodologies have been proffered a potential solution for controlling “traditional” projects, especially where high levels of complexity and uncertainty exist. Given this, locations such as Western Australia (WA), where there are unique housing provision challenges, offsite construction method was considered a potential solution for not only addressing the complexity/uncertainty challenges but also alleviating the housing shortage. However, whilst acknowledging the benefits of offsite construction, recognition was also noted on perceived barriers to its implementation, primarily relating to cost uncertainty. This recognition is exacerbated by very limited offsite construction cost data and information available in the public domain. In response to this, this paper sims to provide detailed cost analysis of three offsite construction projects in WA. Design/methodology/approach To hold parameters constant and facilitate cross-case comparative analysis, data were collected from three embedded case studies from three residential housing projects in WA. These projects represent the most contemporary implementation of offsite in WA; where two were completed in 2016/2017 and the third project was still ongoing during the data collection of this research. The research methodological approach and accompanying data analysis component engaged a variety of techniques, which was supported by archival study of project data and evidence gathered from the offsite construction provider. Findings Core findings revealed three emerging themes from residential offsite construction projects pertinent to cost. Specifically, the overall cost of delivering residential housing project with offsite construction techniques, the cost variability of offsite construction residential housing projects as impacted by uncertainties and the cash flow of residential offsite construction projects based on the payment term. These three major cost drivers are elucidated in this paper. Originality/value This research presents new cost insights to complement the wider adoption of offsite construction techniques. It presents additional information to address the limited cost data and information of offsite construction projects available in the public domain particularly for residential housing projects (within the bounded context of WA). It also highlights the further stages needed to enhance data validity, cognisant of universal generalisability and repeatability, market maturity and stakeholder supply chains.

The refurbishment of building facilities needs to incorporate end-user engagement to ensure refurbished building facilities outcomes that include user-responsive learning spaces and satisfy users’ learning needs. However, existing refurbishment design process frameworks neglect to show the engagement process. A new framework for engaging end users in the refurbishment design of building facilities in higher education is presented. A qualitative research methodology was employed to obtain and analyse interview data from twenty-one design team stakeholders involved in two cases of refurbished building facilities in higher education institutions in Australia and New Zealand. The findings revealed four core themes which indicate the context and phases in the refurbishment design process where end-user engagement should be taken seriously. They are the higher education context, early design, user engagement in the design process and post-design phases. In addition, the findings revealed six specific strategies for end-user engagement in the refurbishment design of building facilities in higher education institutions. They are identifying stakeholder value systems, capturing end-user needs, communicating and integrating. Others are the setting of engagement boundaries and surveying of end users. This study modified the project heartbeat originally developed by Stanford University in 2010 for the refurbishment design process in a higher education context. The new framework bridges the gaps in the current literature between stakeholder theory and refurbishment design, and, by incorporating the refurbishment design processes, the framework can be employed in wider education and other project contexts to facilitate the balanced involvement of end users.

Purpose The paper aims to investigate the employee–stakeholder engagement on business performance. A psychosocial approach was used to evaluate employees’ perception and role engagement on organisational performance, cognisant of: strategy development; leadership; fiscal acuity; employees’ skills, empowerment; supply chain relationships; external stakeholders and wider societal beneficiaries. Design/methodology/approach This research is context-bound to the Turkish construction industry. Findings generated from literature established a set of evidenced-based priorities for further investigation. A case study approach was conducted with three large architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) organisations to define psychosocial diffusion indicators and priorities for future uptake. Findings Initial findings on psychosocial diffusion indicators and their impact on business performance are presented through a psychosocial diffusion model. Three interconnected facets are proffered for future uptake: capability (responsiveness), capability (flexibility) and capability (competence). Research limitations/implications Findings are exclusively bound to the sample frame in question. No attempt has been made to undertake detailed cross-analysis/correlation to support internal/external consistency, validity or reliability. Practical implications Organisations are able to reflect on their core business strategy to appreciate how psychosocial diffusion can be operationalised. Social implications This work impinges on social factors embedded within (and across) organisational boundaries, including the AEC supply chain. It also relates to employer/employee relationships, psychological functioning and employee well-being. Originality/value Originality rests with the identification of construction-related psychosocial indicators. It contributes to the wider body of knowledge on embedding psychosocial indicators into organisational systems and processes, adding further insight into systems thinking and business transformation.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate ways of transferring knowledge and information during the life-cycle phases of construction projects, particularly between the construction and occupancy phases, and to find an approach to minimise knowledge and information gaps during the handover process. Design/methodology/approach The study applied a qualitative approach involving a literature review and an archival analysis of information flow in the studied cases of a construction project, followed by a cross-cases analysis and expert interviews. Data on information flow were collected from three cases of building construction projects in Perth, Western Australia. In addition, a total of 18 local facilities management experts were interviewed to identify the key reasons of knowledge and information gaps and to propose an effective knowledge flow model. Findings The findings of this study indicated a significant knowledge and information gap, which exists during the handover process in construction projects in Western Australia. The findings of case analysis and expert interviews identified that the project handover guidelines were often ignored in construction projects in Western Australia, and the handover phase was not given the same priority as the design and construction phases by most of the project stakeholders, which led to information and knowledge gaps between the project construction and post-occupancy phases. The study conducted, integrated knowledge and information flow modelling to analyse the knowledge and information gaps followed by mapping the gaps against existing knowledge sharing frameworks (KSFs) before proposing an integrated knowledge sharing conceptual model to improve current practice and to enhance the information flow during the various phases of the construction project life cycle. Research limitations/implications The study is based on three cases in Perth, Western Australia, and thus the findings and recommendations are contextual. Whilst laying a good foundation to do so, further research is needed to investigate more cases in Western Australia and beyond to fully generalise the findings from this study. Originality/value The study contributes to improve the handover process and information flows in project life-cycle phases in Western Australia and develop an information flow model followed by bringing together existing KSFs, namely, the open communication channel (OCC), soft landing framework (SLF) and building information modelling (BIM), to propose an integrated knowledge sharing conceptual model. The methodology used here to analyse the information flow in a diagrammatic manner, the mapping of FM issues against the KSFs’ capabilities and a conceptual model to facilitate change in the industry’s silo mindset are the main contributions of this paper.

Purpose This paper aims to disseminate the knowledge integration process modelling throughout the phases of the early contractor involvement (ECI) procurement methodology, to optimise the benefit of ECI procurement method. The development of the model was aimed at taking advantage from the associated benefits of integrating knowledge and of ECI procurement. ECI provides contractors with an alternative means to tendering, designing and constructing projects. Thus, this paper explores knowledge interconnectivity and its integration involving numerous disciplines with various stakeholders to benefit from the collaborative environment of ECI. Design/methodology/approach The methodology implemented in the research includes a thorough literature review to establish the characteristics of the ECI tender stage as well as the characteristics of knowledge to be integrated in an ECI setting. Following this, an embedded case study research methodology was used involving three healthcare ECI projects undertaken by a Western Australian commercial contractor through 20 semi-structured interviews and project archival study, followed by the development of knowledge integration process models throughout the ECI process of the studied cases. Findings The research findings provide the basis to develop a knowledge integration process model throughout the ECI stages. The tender stage was found to be the most crucial stage for knowledge integration, particularly from the main contractor’s perspective to impart change and to influence the project outcome. The outcome of this research identifies the richness and interconnectivity of knowledge throughout the knowledge integration process in an ECI project starting from the intra-organisational knowledge integration process followed by the inter-organisational process of knowledge integration. This inside-out perspective of knowledge integration also revealed the need for mapping the implementation of knowledge integration from instrumental to incremental approach throughout the ECI stages in optimising the intended benefits of integrating knowledge. Originality/value This paper reports the development of a knowledge integration process model with the view to optimise the management effectiveness of integrating knowledge in ECI projects. Although knowledge integration and ECI can be considered existing and widely accepted concepts, the novelty of this research lies in the specific use of the knowledge integration process to analyse the knowledge flow, transformation and, hence, management in ECI projects. As it has been acknowledged that knowledge integration is beneficial but also a complex process, the methodology implemented here in modelling the process can be used as the basis to model knowledge integration in other ECI projects to further capitalise from ECI as a collaborative procurement method.

Purpose This study aims to support the development risk management strategies towards improving the resilience of assets located in the estuary and lower level of the Swan River, Western Australia. The study evaluated the key role of Federal/State policies in adaptation planning and the communication and interface between various stakeholders, including State/Local governments, construction professionals, property developers and landowners. Design/methodology/approach The study applied a mixed research approach through a questionnaire survey followed by an in-depth interview involving local construction experts. Collected data were analysed following the grounded theory methodology style of data analysis. Findings The findings revealed a convoluted understanding of communication networks and responsibility for owning the future risks between relevant stakeholders. As a result, a framework illustrating clear process and roles in mitigating risk and implementing adaptive asset management measures has been formulated and presented in this study. Originality/value Scientific evidence suggested that sea-level rise and increased frequency of major coastal flooding events are inevitable as early as 2100, and having a comprehensive risk management plan of assets to anticipate climate risks and to improve urban resilience is essential. The proposed framework is aimed at local stakeholders in improving current state of communication and adaptation planning as a pathway to develop a robust risk management strategy.

The commercial refurbishment sector is widely gaining popularity, particularly in industries such as the Western Australian construction industry in order to effectively house commercial businesses...

The concept of green building has gained rapid recognition recently. Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is one of the most successful green building rating systems. Understanding the performance of LEED certified buildings on various LEED credits is therefore important for practitioners and regulatory authorities. This paper analyses the use of LEED 2009 and investigates the credit allocation pattern of 3416 LEED 2009 certified projects. The results show that compared to its previous version LEED v2.2, the point chasing problem in innovation related credits is mitigated. However, energy-related and material-related credits remain difficult for developers to obtain. LEED 2009 certified projects perform differently in water efficiency at the country level. At the state level, the projects perform differently in water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, material and resources, as well as indoor environmental quality. Varied credit achievement patterns are also identified on cross-certification and cross-sector levels. The study offers a useful guidance for practitioners to achieve relevant certification levels and for regulatory authorities to continuously improve the rating system.

The impact of worsening global weather conditions has led to a growing awareness of the importance of sustainability in the global context, including in Malaysia. As a consequence, the Green Building Index rating tool was adopted in Malaysia from 2009 as a yardstick to guide the green buildings. The research aims to identify the initial cost premium for a residential green building to achieve certified green status with the use of basic green options. The primary data were mainly collected from bills of quantities, semi-structured discussions with project personnel, cost experts and suppliers. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is also carried out to analyse the impact of incremental costs to the changes in prices of green material. The findings show an incremental cost of 2·2% of the contract sum to develop a certified residential green building with basic green options. The research provides cost guidelines about the actual premium needed to embark on green building projects. The outcomes of this research can support the decisions of the developer to promote a greener-built environment.

Instead of physically visiting all locations of concern by manpower, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with cameras are a low-cost low-carbon alternative to carry out monitoring tasks. When a UAV flies to conduct monitoring tasks, it does not have to fly at a fixed speed; instead, it should fly at lower speeds over objects of higher concerns and vice versa. This paper addresses the UAV planning problem with a focus on optimizing the speed profile. We propose an infinite-dimensional optimization model for the problem and transform the model into a linear programming formulation based on characteristics of the problem. Our case study shows the managerial insight that the UAV flies at low speeds on important segments of the path and at its highest speeds on less-important segments. This means more durable batteries should be designed for drones that need to carry out elaborated monitoring tasks. This finding further provides guidance for drone users when purchasing and renting drones.

Delays can be considered a common problem within public and private construction projects around the world but the problem is endemic in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) where massive public funds are lost every year as a result. Delays may have significant negative impact not only to the KSA public construction projects but also on its economic and social status. Although several studies have examined the factors influencing delays in public construction projects in KSA, little attention has been paid to how project management tools and methods have made any impact to the incidence of project delays. This paper aims to develop the mapping and the guidelines using the principles of Project Management, after reviewing the critical factors for delays in public construction projects in the KSA. A careful attention was given to investigate the critical factors that are causing delays in building projects within public sector in KSA and the current practices of project management applications in order to develop guidelines to effectively mitigate construction delays in KSA. This review paper reports the top critical factors associated with delays in construction projects in KSA. It also identify project management tools and techniques that if implemented properly have the potentials to address the main factors contributing to the occurrence of delays. Following this, a new guideline to utilize Project Management tools and techniques in addressing the identified delay factors is also provided here with the view to help practitioners to minimize the potentials of construction delays in the KSA public projects.

Offsite construction techniques continue to receive considerable attention in academic/research discourse. Whilst discourse in seminal literature critique the positive and negative aspects of offsite; on balance, the benefits outweigh the barriers, especially when fully integrated and managed. From a project management perspective, the techniques applied to construction projects typically commence in determining the project’s work breakdown structure (WBS). Whilst the WBS is applicable to offsite deliverables, reflecting site-based construction activities and concomitant dependencies with the manufacturing processes, there are slight discrepancies in processes, and equally, some areas of repetition and duplication. This mismatch has a fundamental impact on integration, creating pockets of confusion, where less seamless (sub-optimal) synergy between offsite and onsite works is lost. This is an acknowledged challenge. There is, therefore, a real need to retain the product breakdown structure, whilst ensuring a seamless interface with the onsite works is maintained. This is a challenge. Whilst the WBS-matrix has been implemented in the project management domain to bridge the ‘products’ and ‘activities’, this arrangement has not yet been developed for offsite building construction projects. This paper reports an on-going research project set up to implement WBS-matrix for offsite construction projects. Two cases of recently completed offsite construction building projects were studied to analyse current practices – to inform the way forward to further develop the WBS-matrix. Findings from this research provide clear guidance for practitioners involved in offsite construction projects; particularly on the development of the WBS-matrix for manufacturing deliverables/activities in order to more effectively manage offsite construction projects.

Building information modeling (BIM) has entered into another phase of maturity, especially in countries that have been actively adopting and using BIM including in Taiwan, Republic of China...

[EN] The earned value management (EVM) method is internationally considered a standard tool in the project management field, enabling professionals to plan and control cost and schedule in an integrated manner. However, evidence indicates that EVM is not typically implemented by contractors when the payment agreement is based on unit-prices. In this payment approach, the owner pays the quantities actually executed according to the preagreed rate established in the contract for each unit or task; the income received by the contractor from the owner (generally named production) is neither proportional to costs nor fixed a priori, as in cost-reimbursable and lump sum contracts, respectively. Therefore, contractors have to control not only cost but also production. The current formulation of EVM does not allow controlling production; an additional baseline is needed. In response, this paper presents a proposal for adapting EVM to contractors when using the unit-prices payment agreement. Using a case study to illustrate, an additional baseline to account for production and profitability, as well as new indicators, is applied to allow contractors using EVM with this payment approach; this is the contribution of this paper to the body of knowledge. The proposed EVM formulation provides information not only in terms of cost (as in the traditional EVM approach) but also in terms of production., This research was supported by the Universitat Politècnica de València, which funded a visiting scholarship for Dr. Monty Sutrisna (Action 19701344)

Purpose – This paper reviews the normative literature of performance measurement within the context of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of current ex post evaluations of PPPs and identify a feasible direction to comprehensively and effectively measure the performance of PPP infrastructure projects. Design/methodology/approach – An in-depth literature review is conducted in this paper. The focus of the review is associated with the general performance measurement and performance measurements of PPPs. Findings – This paper identifies that conventional ex post evaluation is not robust enough to measure the performance of PPP projects. Based on the characteristics of PPPs, the life-cycle (process-based) evaluation under performance measurement system is a promising approach to comprehensive and effective PPP performance measurement. Practical implications – The outcomes of this paper can be used as a theoretical base for the development of PPP performance measurement framework. Originality/value – Performance measurement is essential to business success, whether it is at the organisation or project level. Limitations on public funds have encouraged more and more governments across the world to use PPPs to procure economic and social infrastructure projects. Similar to traditional procurement, ex post evaluation is being widely used in PPP projects. However, PPPs are more complicated than other traditional procurement approaches. Exploration of literature suggests that limited research has been undertaken to examine if conventional ex post evaluation is sufficient to measure the performance of PPPs. This paper will bridge this significant knowledge gap.

Climate change as a major issue in the 21st century has seen the rise of the sea level and worse storm surges. This has impacted on the further distribution of salinity and flooding of low laying areas even in further inland areas. As the consequence, buildings in the proximity of riverbanks are left susceptible to potential damages and shortened life cycles. Thus, there is a real need to change the way buildings in these areas to be designed and how risk of damages can be mitigated and managed. The city of Perth in Western Australia, like many other cities around the world, is laying on the riverbank of a large river, the Swan River. As the population of Perth increases dramatically, it will become important to ensure sustainability of its buildings to support the ever growing populations and hence its needs. There are myriads of approaches in mitigating and managing these risks. This research project aims to investigate the contemporary risk management practices in mitigating flooding risk in buildings adjacent to the Swan River and bring them together as a holistic risk management approach. The findings of this research can be proposed to the Western Australian government to assist them in developing further policies in ensuring sustainable buildings fit for the future. At this point of writing, the research project is on its early stage of conducting literature review and designing the research methodology. It is intended to conduct a pilot survey, followed by case study approach of contemporary buildings adjacent to the Swan River to contextualize the research. This paper presents the current progress of this research.

In construction, delay claims resolution is at the center of apportioning liabilities between the claiming party and the defending party. This process generally consists of two phases of causation: (1) establishing each party’s potential liability for the claimed occurrence; and (2) determining the quantum of the effect flowing from that liability. However, a lack of consensus among the practitioners of disputing parties as a result of the existence of various theories, concepts, and methodologies for apportioning liabilities has been acknowledged as an obstructing factor in delay claims resolution. When determining the quantum of the effects flowing from a liability, one potential main obstacle in apportioning liabilities is the existing dichotomous use of method of delay analysis (MDA), which can be responsible for the inconsistent outcomes of delay analyses and result in distrust among the disputing parties. Aiming to address this problem, the research project was set to develop a decision maki...