Construction Economics and Building

Editorial: passing the baton

Graham Brewer — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 11:05:35 +1100

Challenges Faced by Women in New Zealand's Construction Industry: Impact of Demographic Factors

Thu, 03 Oct 2024 10:04:21 +1000

Diversity and inclusion of the construction workforce are considered fundamental to disrupting the perception of the male-dominated construction industry. Despite efforts to increase diversity and inclusion, the construction industry continues to record a slow increase in women’s representation, resulting in the industry missing significant potential talent. Therefore, identifying women's work environment challenges is vital for promoting construction careers. This study examines three categories of challenges: benevolent sexism, hostile sexism, and job conditions and the influences of demographic factors. The study adopted a quantitative research method, with 65 structured questionnaires completed by women working in the industry. The study found that benevolent sexism challenges, such as stereotyping and pressure to prove oneself and hostile sexism challenges, like masculine culture, sexual harassment, and lack of respect, are significant for women in construction. A lack of female role models and work overload are two job condition-related challenges that affect women in the industry. The findings from this study are an important contribution to the existing literature, as they highlight the need to consider demographic factors when creating initiatives to address the challenges faced by women in the construction industry.

Takt complementing Last Planner® System on residential construction projects.

William Power — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 09:50:10 +1000

Ireland is experiencing a national housing crisis, and this is replicated across many developed economies. This challenges governments and housebuilders to increase production whilst balancing challenging human resource and supply chain constraints. Lean construction methodologies have enhanced project delivery in other sectors of the industry. This study evaluates the outcomes of Last Planner System and Takt planning implementation on two residential projects.

The study adopted a mixed methods approach utilising case study design and data collected from a literature review, site observation diary, site documentation analysis, and semi-structured interviews. Findings demonstrate schedule reduction opportunities through higher and more consistent PPC, reduction of cycle times, and enhanced adherence to start and finish dates. The study proposes a more holistic focus is needed on productivity improvement initiatives on the entire project scope as opposed to singular exercises on aspects like internal finishes alone. Increased inter-contractor communication and engagement led to a positive working environment with greater focus on the softer aspects of collaborative working. This study posits the discipline, detail, and diligence of Takt complements LPS to deliver an enhanced production-system that betters traditional schedule milestones in residential project delivery.

Impact of modular integrated construction indicators on sustainable performance metrics in Nigeria

Akinsanmi Akindeinde, Joseph Akinola, Lekan Ojo, Augustine Okechukwu — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 09:39:38 +1000

The Nigerian construction industry is faced with environmental degradation, economic and social-related challenges, in which Modular Integrated Construction (MiC) could be regarded as practical solution. Sadly, many construction professionals and stakeholders are reluctant to adopt this innovative approach in developing countries like Nigeria. This informs the necessity to investigate the relationships between MiC indicators and performance metrics with a survey of professionals with practical experience in the use of MiC in executing infrastructure in Lagos and Abuja, Nigeria. The data retrieved from the respondents were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Pearson correlation was used to determine the relationships between MiC indicators and performance in this study. The results of the analysis revealed that both procedural and internal MiC indicators are significant to enhancing economic, environmental, and social performance. In addition, it has been demonstrated that the impact of MiC is extremely beneficial in all construction ramifications for sustainable practice. Based on the findings of this study, it is suggested that massive awareness campaigns regarding the necessity of using technology in construction activities be launched among professionals and stakeholders in the construction industry to enhance the use of MiC in the Nigerian construction industry.

A Systematic Review of Challenges Undermining the Efficacy of Construction Health and Safety Regulations in Major African Countries

Oluseyi Julius Adebowale, Justus Ngala Agumba — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 14:39:48 +1000

Construction activities in many African nations are characterized by accidents and fatalities, leading to substantial human casualties and financial losses. This situation is partly attributed to the inadequacies within the construction health and safety regulations in the region. This study investigates the key obstacles undermining the effectiveness of construction health and safety regulations in African countries. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines, a literature search was conducted across Scopus, Web of Science, and Journal of Safety Research databases. Initial screening identified 198 articles, with 51 articles published between 2014 and 2023. The 51 articles, published between 2014 and 2023, were reviewed. Findings reveal social, political, legal, and environmental factors as primary barriers to effective construction health and safety practices in African countries. A significant impediment is the fragmented nature of safety regulations, with African countries lacking dedicated legislation or operating with disjointed laws, hindering adherence to global best practices. The challenges reported in this study are crucial for policymakers to formulate targeted strategies to enhance health and safety practices on construction sites, and ultimately mitigate human and financial costs. Research on construction health and safety regulations in African countries typically explores the prevailing situations within individual nations. However, there is a notable lack of studies examining health and safety regulations across major African countries as a collective entity. This study provided insight into the broader African reality rather than focusing solely on individual countries.

Factor analysis of risk allocation criteria (RAC) in public-private partnership (PPP) projects: A case of New Zealand

Nasir Rasheed — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 14:37:06 +1000

The utilization of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) has become widely prevalent as an innovative approach for procuring public infrastructure projects. Risk transfer/allocation is one of the main reasons for this widespread adoption and considered a critical success factor for a PPP. Given the importance of equitable risk allocation, this study identified and analysed 10 key risk allocation criteria. Experts with experience in PPP projects in New Zealand were surveyed through an empirical questionnaire to obtain industry-wide data. Mean score analysis and factor analysis were then used to analyse the collected data. In order to ensure the validity of the analysis results, appropriate statistical tests such as Cronbach’s Alpha, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) statistic and Bartlett’s test of Sphericity were conducted. Result indicate that the most important criteria for risk allocation are “risk foresight”, “minimize risk loss” and “response to risk”. Furthermore, factor analysis showed that the identified RAC can be classified into three component groups namely “risk management expertise”, “core risk management capability” and “risk management strategy”. This study aims to provide PPP stakeholders with useful insights into the most effective measures for achieving equitable risk allocation. To achieve this, the study recommends to consider the risk management capabilities of both the public and private sectors in light of the identified RACs/groupings. The results of the study are expected to assist PPP stakeholders in developing strategies that can enhance risk management and achieve a fair distribution of risks.

State of Market Intelligence Activities in Ghanaian Construction Firms: A Preliminary Study.

Joseph Asante, Ernest Kissi, Alex Acheampong, Edward Badu — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 14:33:13 +1000

In the highly competitive business environment intelligence-gathering is key to the success of every strategy. This study assesses the current state of Market Intelligence (MI) activities in the construction firms (CFs) in Ghana. The data was collected through structured interviews with a sample of 56 CFs, each represented by either CEOs or top managers. To provide a clear perspective on the state of MI activities in CFs, the findings were evaluated using "The World Class MI Roadmap" framework developed Global Intelligence Alliance (GIA). It revealed that the current approach to MI activities in Ghanaian CFs can be described as reactive or "firefighting" in nature. This implies a lack of proactive strategic planning and a potential loss of business opportunities. Based on the results, it is evident that further research is needed to explore the specific types of MI monitored by CFs, establish indicators for assessing the effectiveness of MI utilization, and identify enabling measures to enhance the MI culture within CFs. It is worth noting that this study was limited to CFs in a single administrative region in Ghana, and generalizing these findings could benefit from the inclusion of more CFs from other regions. Meanwhile, CFs should work on fostering a culture that places a high value on MI acquisition, dissemination, and utilization across all phases of the project marketing life cycle.

Research Trends on Early Contractor Involvement in Construction Projects: A Bibliometric Analysis

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +1000

The present study aims to highlight most significant journals in ECI research, most productive authors on ECI studies and territories, geospatial network of the active ECI research countries, current trend in ECI studies, and the most relevant keywords and co-occurrence networks in ECI studies. This study comprehensively examined the ECI research field by conducting a bibliometric analysis of 210 journal articles between 1992 and 2023 from the Web of Science (WoS) database. The findings showed that, Transportation Research Record, Construction Management and Economics, Journal of Management in Engineering, and Journal of Construction Engineering and Management are the most represented journals. Per Erik Eriksson is the most productive author identified in this study. United States of America, England and Australia are the most productive countries on ECI research. Current trends in ECI studies include ECI and project delivery, ECI as critical success factors, ECI in design and its impact on construction schedule performance, and overcoming cost-related issues through ECI. The highest co-occurred keywords are "procurement", "early contractor involvement", “performance”, and “construction”. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to conduct bibliometric analysis of past studies on ECI. As a result, the study contributed to the existing knowledge by identifying the pattern and trend of ECI research area, revealing its broader themes of research and clusters, mapping the network of key ECI authors and territories and recommending areas for future research.

Danish contractor’s application of the budget

Søren Lindhard — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +1000

The construction contractors compete in a low-profit industry, this makes cost-performance and the accuracy and the application of the budget critical. Despite the importance of a highly effective cost management, no studies have currently examined how construction contractors apply the budget. To determine how construction contractors apply budgets, a questionnaire study has been conducted, which included 128 construction professionals, from varying job-positions of whom 67 completed it, corresponding to 52.3%. The participants rated their budget application with regards to six categories. Afterwards a statistical analysis was applied to identify ranks, differences and correlations between categories and across job-positions. A Kendall’s Tau correlation test revealed a positive correlation between the categories and their application, and a Friedman’s Rank test identified the following rank between the categories: Management, Control, Planning, Motivation, Communication and Coordination. Finally, a multinomial regression analysis revealed that a higher hierarchical position entails a higher application of the budget for all categories but motivation. The new insights to budget application are highly relevant for construction professionals carrying out cost-management. The findings can be to make a better fit between application and the presentation of the budget, thereby strengthening the managerial capability of the budget.

Design–build with a development phase: An initiation and the first trials

Pertti Lahdenperä — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 10:43:58 +1000

Design–build (DB) is a much used project delivery system with operational variations for different needs and situations. Yet, novel applications have to be strived for as all of the current applications have some drawbacks. Accordingly, this study focuses on a DB procedure that exploits the parties’ collaboration in order to improve the economic efficiency of construction projects. It is called “design–build with a development phase” (DBd). In the procedure, the owner and the selected contractor continue the development of the project solution in co-operation, adhering to the principle of benefit sharing, which is enabled by the benchmark solution, formed as a result of price-inclusive contractor selection. More precisely, this paper presents the DBd procedure and how it was initially constructed and eventually applied in a few infrastructure projects. The paper also reports the related experiences, which were positive based on the improved value for money in the trial projects. Thus, the paper contributes by disproving the dominant view, which has been guiding the formulation and use of the current project delivery practices, that price-inclusive competition and collaborative development thereafter could not be matched successfully.