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Use of new technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), is important to corporations, yet understanding of their successful implementation is insufficiently developed. In this paper a case study is used to analyse the introduction of VR use in a British housebuilding company. Although the implementation was not successful in the manner initially anticipated, the study provides insight into the process of change, the constraints that inhibit implementation and the relationship between new technology and work organization. Comparison is made with the early use of CAD and similarities and differences between empirical findings of the case study and the previous literature are discussed.

Drives to improve industry performance are being hindered by difficulties in managing the construction design process, preventing the UK construction industry from delivering projects on time, to budget and to the specified quality. This paper reports on a research project at a major UK civil and building design and construction company to develop and deploy a training initiative capable of making significant improvements to its design management performance and deliver benefits to many project stakeholders. It describes the development, content and trailing of the training material and a suite of 21 design management tools to drive change throughout the organization. The paper is likely to be of interest to those involved in design management and the development of tools and practices to help the industry improve design management performance.

Organizational issues are inhibiting the implementation and strategic use of information technologies (IT) in the construction sector. This paper focuses on these issues and explores processes by which emerging technologies can be introduced into construction organizations. The paper is based on a case study, conducted in a major house building company that was implementing a virtual reality (VR) system for internal design review in the regional offices. Interviews were conducted with different members of the organization to explore the introduction process and the use of the system. The case study findings provide insight into the process of change, the constraints that inhibit IT implementation and the relationship between new technology and work patterns within construction organizations. They suggest that (1) user‐developer communications are critical for the successful implementation of non‐diffused innovations in the construction industry; and (2) successful uptake of IT requires both strategic decision‐making by top management and decision‐making by technical managers.

Construction is by its nature a data‐rich domain. It is also a competitive market with historically low profit margins. One step towards improving design efficiency is to develop techniques to examine and interpret construction related data. To achieve any significant improvement it is necessary to focus on a given sub‐domain of engineering data. This paper focuses on analysis data, in particular building performance analysis data. This data, generated by performing an analysis of a building or its elements, may be used more efficiently and effectively by improving its visual representation. This is illustrated in this paper by three applications developed to improve the representation of specific building analysis datasets. Each exemplifies a structured and innovative approach to the development of applications used to enable engineers to dedicate more resources to understanding the results of their analyses.

This paper aims to focus on hybrid projects as a type of building adaptation work. It seeks to discuss the hybrid building design process in subsets of information and resulting decisions by highlighting the relationship between them. It also aims to present a conceptual framework which was developed by refining, or customising the RIBA Plan of Work.

Field theory formed the theoretical basis for the approach to mapping the hybrid project process. The conceptual framework itself evolved from a comprehensive literature review, case studies and a practice survey. In total, 11 design and construction professionals evaluated the framework and their comments and feedback are also discussed.

The discussion presents an approach which can be used to manage the delivery of hybrid projects, although it was found that the proposed framework can be applied to a wider spectrum of construction projects.

The evaluation of the framework was limited by the number of participants involved and the limited client representation.

The paper makes an original contribution by further exploring an increasingly relevant area of construction activity; building adaptations. Although the research focused specifically on the design‐specific stages of hybrid project delivery, findings contribute towards process improvement by emphasising the need for early information acquisition, early and precise definition of design intent, and collaborative design decision making. These three factors contribute highly to client/user satisfaction (value) and effective project delivery.

The purpose of this paper is to identify a set of critical success factors, which ensure the effectiveness of knowledge management initiatives, with particular focus on the effect of people‐oriented success factors.

A comprehensive review of knowledge management literature, substantiated by ten qualitative interviews with leading academics and industrial representatives in the field of knowledge management in the construction industry.

The research suggests that organisations need to consider several key areas, in particular, the processes and practices undertaken to understand and define knowledge management, the implementation of dedicated champions, the integration of the initiative into the business, and effective communication of its benefits to members of staff. Each of these factors will have a direct bearing on the level of effectiveness reached by an organisation's knowledge management initiative.

The industry‐based interviewees were all strategic‐level managers. This means that, in relation to the application of knowledge management initiatives, they adopt primarily managerial roles. Further interviews with the practitioners of these initiatives would be beneficial in reflecting the more “hands‐on” perspective of knowledge management implementation.

A holistic overview of the best‐practice for maximising the effectiveness of a knowledge management initiative by addressing the issues, which concern the people involved with its implementation.

The paper proposes addressing the design and implementation of a web‐based risk assessment system that enables remote project team members to assess the risks at the conceptual design stage.

The prototype system is based on a client/server architecture and uses fuzzy logic and web‐based technology. A risk assessment scenario is used to demonstrate the operation and benefits of the prototype system.

The research found that the use of a web‐based risk assessment system for distributed project team members has major benefits in terms of use of linguistic terms to express risk assessment, ease of communication, ease of maintenance, and greater consistency, among others.

There is scope for enhancing the system through the development of a risk management module, improving the user interface and making specific provisions for different project types.

The move in industry towards collaborative working practices is supported by systems such as this. Risk assessment is an important area that requires the input of all team members, if evenly distributed.

This paper has presented an innovative approach to risk assessment for distributed project teams. It will be of interest to all parties involved in construction projects, particularly those involved in risk assessment.

Client satisfaction is a key element of repeat business and for securing future work in the construction industry. There are areas still in need of improvement for contractors; these areas include the handover process to clients and the subsequent aftercare and organisational learning. Post‐occupancy evaluation (POE) offers an opportunity for a holistic perspective towards continual improvement in construction. While the challenges of POE have been well documented in the design phase, the role of the principal contractor in this area has been under‐researched. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of the contractor in the POE process and to identify good practice in improving the building environment for the end users.

The research comprised a comprehensive review of current literature with a focus on existing practices. The review highlighted a need for further research into contractor involvement in POE in the UK construction industry. An electronic questionnaire survey was produced and distributed to the United Kingdom Contractors Group. Subsequent semi‐structured interviews were conducted with willing participants from the survey, to further investigate the responses to the survey.

The key findings from the research highlighted the lack of contractor involvement in POE and insufficient knowledge on how or when to conduct POE on a project. Many of the barriers to POE identified by previous research are not applicable to contractor involvement in POE. The majority of construction professionals believe that POE is time intensive and that there is difficulty in interpreting the information collected from POE. Dissemination of information internally and externally has the potential to offer significant value to organisational and individual development of all stakeholders involved in the process.

The findings are likely to be of interest to designer's facilities management professionals and those involved in construction. Contractors should view POE as a business opportunity to improve the end output for the client and end‐users and not as another expensive problem.

This paper addresses the perceptions of POE within the major UK contractor group. It identifies relevant barriers to POE in the construction process and highlights the lack of POE penetration into the wider construction industry. The research has highlighted that POE has the potential to improve contractor performance and add value to end users of new projects. It has identified that previous research has focused on consultant‐led research as opposed to contractor‐led.

Legions of projects fail to attain their time and cost objectives due to ineffective coordination. This is often due to a lack of essential learning from projects because of insufficient communication and working experience. One of the key reasons why this occurs is that managers are unaware of what knowledge needs to be retained. In contrast with knowledge management research, which mostly focuses on the systems and processes for capturing, storing, and retrieval of knowledge, this paper investigates the nature of project communication and learning and their role on project time and cost control.

A stratified proportional purposive sampling approach was adopted in choosing the interview participants for the study. They are experienced industry practitioners working on building construction projects in Malaysia. Content analysis was then performed on the interview data. The identified variables were further validated by 11 industry experts from the three primary construction stakeholders.

The results of a series of 12 in-depth interviews with industry practitioners are provided to reveal the effective communication tools for sharing and learning in a project-based environment, the learning inducing situations involved, and the use of reusable project experiences to improve project time and cost control.

A possible limitation of the study is its focus on a small group of Malaysian practitioners delimits the generalizability of the findings.

A two-phase model with three-step project management process of input, tools, and output is developed from the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide as an aid for more effective knowledge reuse in project time and cost control in the future.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the development of a platform-based project execution in the industrialised construction sector, with a focus on systematically balancing cost and value. Offering custom-tailored buildings at reasonable costs has been a growing concern for many construction companies. A promising approach adapted by operations management and design theory regards individual building projects as the adjustment and recombination of components and processes from a set of predefined platforms, while configuration systems assure feasible building solutions.

After adapting some of the underlying assertions of platform design to the engineer-to-order (ETO) situation in construction, the practical implications are evaluated on a case study of a precast manufacturer using high performance concrete.

Based on empirical findings from three distinct platform strategies, this research highlights key aspects of adapting platform-based developed theory to industrialised construction. Building projects use different layers of product, process and logistics platforms to form the right cost – value ratio for the target market application, while modelling methods map structural platform characteristics so as to balance commonality and distinctiveness.

This paper proposes a general theory of platform-based development and execution in the industrialised construction sector, which goes beyond concurrent approaches of standardising and systemising buildings projects. It adapts and extends established frameworks for platform development to the ETO situation in construction and empirically validates their cost and value effects.