Search results

This paper aims to present the result of an assessment of the potential effect of building information modelling (BIM) adoption on the reduction of construction waste (CW) from a developing country's perspective. This was done with a view to reducing the waste generated in construction projects particularly at the design and pre-contract stages.

The study adopted a post-positivism philosophical approach, which informed the use of a quantitative research design and a questionnaire as instrument for data collection. The data gathered from construction professionals in the Nigeria construction industry were analysed using an array of statistical tools such as frequency, percentage, Kruskal–Wallis H-test, Kendall's coefficient of concordance, chi-square and exploratory factors analysis.

The study revealed five major groups of factors causing CW at the design and pre-contract stages that can be avoided or minimised through BIM implementation. These are; (1) errors in design and documentation, (2) specification and quality factors, (3) estimating and site condition factors, (4) planning of work factors and (5) procurement related factors.

The findings of the study offer practical insight for industry participants on the need for BIM implementation to reduce CW by identifying the diverse areas responsible for these waste generation.

While there has been significant literature on BIM implementation, contributions on the effect of this technology in reducing waste generation particular at the design and pre-contract stages in developing countries has been almost non-existent. This study strives to fill in this gap by showcasing the major waste generating activities that can be avoided through the use of BIM.

While stress, anxiety and depression rank as the second leading cause of work-related ill health in the UK construction sector, there exists a scarcity of empirical studies explicitly focused on investigating the sources of occupational stress among construction workers and professionals at both the construction project and supply chain levels. This study seeks to identify and investigate the primary stressors (sources of stress) in UK construction projects and to propose effective strategies for preventing or reducing stress in this context.

The study adopted a qualitative multi-methods research approach, comprising the use of a comprehensive literature review, case study interviews and a focus group. It utilised an integrated deductive-inductive approach theory building using NVivo software. In total, 19 in-depth interviews were conducted as part of the case-study with a well-rounded sample of construction professionals and trade supervisors, followed by a focus group with 12 policy influencers and sector stakeholders to evaluate the quality and transferability of the findings of the study.

The results reveal seven main stressors and 35 influencing factors within these 7 areas of stress in a UK construction project, with “workflow interruptions” emerging as the predominant stressor. In addition, the results of the focus-group, which was conducted with a sample of 12 prominent industry experts and policy influencers, indicate that the findings of the case study are transferrable and could be applicable to other construction projects and contexts. It is, therefore, recommended that these potential stressors be addressed by the project team as early as possible in construction projects. Additionally, the study sheds empirical light on the limitations of the critical path method and identifies “inclusive and collaborative planning” as a proactive strategy for stress prevention and/or reduction in construction projects.

The findings of this study are mainly based on the perspectives of construction professionals at managerial and supervisory levels. It is, therefore, suggested that future studies are designed to focus on capturing the experiences and opinions of construction workers/operatives on the site.

The findings from this study have the potential to assist decision-makers in the prevention of stress within construction projects, ultimately enhancing workforce performance. It is suggested that the findings could be adapted for use as Construction Supply Chain Management Standards to improve occupational stress management and productivity in construction projects. The study also provides decision-makers and practitioners with a conceptual framework that includes a list of effective strategies for stress prevention or reduction at both project and organisational levels. It also contributes to practice by offering novel ideas for incorporating occupational stress and mental health considerations into production planning and control processes in construction.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first, or one of the very few studies, to explore the concept of occupational stress in construction at the project and supply chain levels. It is also the first study to reveal “workflow” as a predominant stressor in construction projects. It is, therefore, suggested that both academic and industry efforts should focus on finding innovative ways to enhance workflow and collaboration in construction projects, to improve the productivity, health and well-being of their workforce and supply chain. Further, it is suggested that policymakers should consider the potential for incorporating “workflow” into the HSE's Management Standards for stress prevention and management.

The equability of environment, social and economic elements becomes a major issue to be achieved as to attain sustainability in the development of a construction project. As to cater to social sustainability, the Guidelines on Occupational Safety and Health in Construction Industry (Management) also known as OSHCIM has been introduced by the government to improve safety practices amongst Malaysia’s construction practitioners. The basic principle adopted in OSHCIM is Prevention through Design (PtD), which enhances the elimination of hazards during project design stages. This concept is inspired from the implementation of Construction (Design and Management) (CDM) Regulations in the United Kingdom. The concept has also been adopted and practised in many developed countries including Australia and Singapore. The aim of this study is to identify the dominant accident causes in Malaysian construction industry. In this study, the secondary data were gathered from the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) accident statistics. A content analysis and frequency distribution analysis were adopted to determine causal factors that contribute to the fatality. The findings show the existence of design-related causal factors, which is also incorporated with other causes of accidents. This is true as every accident occurs due to more than one factor. Thus, these inputs will recommend further exploration to determine the design-related causal factors. This may help the industrial players, including stakeholders, practitioners and researchers, to have more focussed efforts and resources in ensuring the success of OSHCIM’s implementation to reduce the accident statistics in Malaysia.

Despite endeavors to alleviate construction and demolition waste and the indications that the process of deconstruction has the potential to steer waste reduction initiatives, there has not been a progressive increase in the adoption of Design for Deconstruction (DfD) in the global south, especially Ghana. This paper aims to identify and analyze the barriers to implementing DfD in developing countries.

A structured questionnaire survey was used to solicit the views of 240 design professionals in the Ghanaian construction industry (GCI). The questionnaire was developed by reviewing pertinent literature and complemented with a pilot review. Data were analyzed using descriptive and nonparametric statistics.

The findings revealed ten (10) significant impediments to implementing DfD within the construction industries in developing economies. These impediments revolve around cost, legal matters, storage, incentive and design-related matters. Key among these barriers is “For recovered materials, there are little performance guarantees,” “The absence of strict regulations regarding design for deconstruction,” “Lack of a large market enough for components that have been recovered,” “The need for building codes that address how to design with reused materials” and “Lack of effective design for deconstruction tools.”

The results of this research shed light on a relatively unexplored area within the construction sector, particularly in a developing country like Ghana. Furthermore, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study contributes fresh and supplementary knowledge and perspectives regarding the challenges in implementing DfD practices.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the adaptation of lean production and assess its current state of practice in selected plants in electronics, telecommunication, wireless, computer, food/beverage, garment, pharmaceutical, chemical, petroleum, printing, A/C and heating, and a few others in China.

An assessment tool is used to evaluate actual manufacturing practice related to key areas of inventory; team approach; processes; maintenance; layout/handling; suppliers; setups; quality; and scheduling and control. Manufacturing executives at manufacturing plants answered 40 questions in the assessment. Each response in the assessment is scored and a total score for each plant is recorded by adding average scores for all areas.

Application of lean production in China started in the late 1970s in the automotive industry, much earlier than by American and European manufacturers. The results of assessments show that the petroleum industry is in lead among all industries, followed by computer, telecommunication/wireless, and electronics industries. The findings from lean production system design‐related questions show low scores in layout design, volume/mix flexibility, setup, visual factory, and point‐of‐use delivery. However, plants earned high scores in materials flow, scheduling/control, on‐time delivery of finished goods, and overall defect rate. The findings have some similarity with recent studies about Chinese manufacturing firms' performance and competitiveness.

Research findings are from some selected manufacturing plants in China and they should not be interpreted as an indicator of that particular sector in China.

This study investigates actual lean manufacturing practice and performance in Chinese plants.

The puropse of this paper is to explore the extent to which principles of lean product development are applied to product design and engineering at automotive companies in South Africa (SA). Survey, interview and observational data form the basis for an adaptation of Toyota’s lean product development system (LPDS) (Morgan and Liker, 2006) to the South African automotive product engineering context.

All seven automotive manufacturers then operating in SA (including Toyota) were investigated, together with sample of those suppliers carrying out product engineering and/or design locally. A questionnaire based on the LPDS, and follow-up interviews were used to ascertain the extent to which lean principles informed product engineering, and identify areas where there was scope for improvement.

The survey established that while SA automotive companies have a strong manufacturing focus there is very limited local product design and development (PD&D), as this tends to be carried out centrally for multinationals. However, global product designs require modifications to suit local conditions and many decisions about manufacturability are taken locally. This broad area of design-related activity will be termed product engineering. The study found considerable scope for increasing the extent to which aspects of product engineering were influenced by lean thinking. An adapted version of the LPDS is proposed to aid lean thinking in product engineering in this context.

This study provides information on the application of lean thinking in product engineering, an area that has attracted far less attention than manufacturing and PD&D. Furthermore it addresses a significant sector of an important emerging economy, and contributes a practitioner perspective to what is predominantly a theoretical literature.

Rework is known to contribute to waste and value losses in building design and construction. Studies estimate its magnitude between 2 and 25 per cent of construction contract sums. Rework‐related waste could, however, be higher if the whole life cycle of building facilities is considered. Rework occurrences are increasing in Uganda and yet the National Development Plan 2010/11 – 14/15 intends to construct additional public buildings. With insufficient information regarding rework causality and magnitude, wastage arising from rework during the implementation of the National Development Plan could be substantial. The problem of rework occurrence in Uganda will require determining rework causality and magnitude. This paper seeks to address these issues.

An exploratory study on rework in public building construction was undertaken through a case study to understand its causality and the timeframe over which it occurs. This preliminary research is characteristically qualitative with the aim of investigating rework causality in public building construction in Uganda. The case study was based on a project that rehabilitated and constructed new buildings in 15 nursing schools across Uganda. Semi‐structured interviews, contract documentation and archival records were used as sources of information on rework causality. Selective coding and subsequent categorisation of rework data was undertaken to support analysis of rework causality.

The findings supplement limited previous research that shows rework as a phenomenon existing into the operation and maintenance stage of building facilities. Rework‐related costs during this stage for the case study, referred to as operation‐related rework costs, were on average 0.25 per cent of construction contract sums. Significant causes of rework were ineffective stakeholder management, insufficient works supervision and use of non‐compliant building materials.

The paper highlights the need for improved design management, effective stakeholder management and a whole life value philosophy in order to reduce rework in public building construction.

The purpose of this paper is to explore and provide empirical evidence for the combined effects of individual characteristics, training design factors as well as environmental factors (as pre-training factors) on training transfer.

Primary data were collected from 235 managerial-level full-time employees in two phases with a temporal gap of two months. Both procedural and statistical measures were used to minimize the common method variance problem. Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to analyze the data.

The results of this study clearly point out that all four predictor variables (voluntary participation, prior training information, training needs identification and training evaluation) positively and significantly influence training transfer.

The study contributes to the training transfer literature in three ways. One, the authors have shown the positive influence of pre-training factors (together as well as independently) on training transfer. The study is grounded in a strong theoretical framework, thus fulfilling the previous gap. This study brings more clarity to those variables (such as voluntary training) which are having contradicting views in the extant literature.

The study has significant findings for the organizations operating in the current business scenario in their endeavor to enhance learning transfer, which is very low and a major cause of concern for every organization. If management is aware of the success factors of training transfer, they can ensure a better training transfer.

The training transfer literature showcases two significant gaps; first of all, it lacks in using appropriate motivational theories, and second, there is variability in the results. This paper bridges both the gaps and attempts to advance our understanding of training transfer grounded in the theoretical framework by focusing on the role of individual, motivational and situational factors of training transfer to understand better which predictor variables can improve training transfer.

This paper aims to identify and examine valid project termination reasons and the rebidding strategies of road construction project. Rebidding strategies is one of the measures to restructure terminated/troubled road construction project.

An instrument which comprised 82 items entitled “Project Termination and Rebidding Strategies in Road Construction Projects in Nigeria” (PTRS) was developed to evaluate 60 randomly sampled road projects using qualified project/site managers and engineers as project respondents for the purpose of securing valid information on the terminated and rebid road construction projects. Mean, standard deviation and factor analysis shall be used as analytical tools in identifying valid termination reasons and rebidding strategies and as well as the relationship between them through regression analysis.

The paper’s findings revealed major project termination reasons and rebidding strategies. It further indicated significant relationship between variables which constitutes project termination reasons and rebidding strategies through regression analysis.

The outcome of the paper could be of immense benefits during the procurement phase of public project, especially regarding road construction. Stakeholders involved in the road procurement should seek relevant information concerning the road project reprocurement from the expert prior to contractual obligations.

Major challenges confronting the road construction project involve inappropriate procurement practices which frequently culminate into late deliveries of project. Rebidding strategies serve as a model through which cost, time and quality needs of the project client can be reassured in restructuring a terminated/troubled project.