Search results

Early contractor involvement (ECI) faces many barriers when it is implemented in public procurement, given that it is different from traditional business practices. Primarily, public owners face a major challenge, as they should treat all bidders equally. The purpose of this paper is to explore suitable ECI approaches that public owners could use.

In addition to a literature and document study, 14 semi-structured in-depth interviews with key personnel from 11 cases selected from Norwegian public bridge projects were carried out.

In all, 23 unique approaches of ECI were identified during this research (16 from literature and 7 new from case projects). The findings provide a new direction to ECI through introducing new approaches of ECI from the case projects.

This paper for the first time presents several alternatives of ECI approaches for public owners with the intention of illustrating ECI is actually possible in the public project procurement. Furthermore, it presents for the first time success factors of ECI with the intention of increasing the understanding of ECI concept from a public procurement perspective.

Traditionally, in the Netherlands, the procurement procedure for infrastructure does not start until the public decision-making procedure is fully completed. In the new procurement strategy, early contractor involvement is applied by carrying out the procurement procedure and the public planning procedure simultaneously. This article explores the first experiences and lessons learned with early contractor involvement in four Dutch infrastructure projects. It can be concluded that the new strategy adds value in terms of time gains, improved project control and more innovative solutions. However, to optimize early contractor involvement, the differences between the competitive procurement procedures and the open, cooperative public planning procedures need to be bridged.

Early contractor involvement (ECI) faces many barriers because it differs from traditional business practices. Public owners, especially, face a major challenge because they must comply with international and national legislation. The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework that illustrates the various approaches that public project owners can take to implement ECI.

In addition to a literature review, three groups of case studies were carried out. The case studies were based on 54 semi-structured in-depth interviews with key personnel from 21 Norwegian public projects and document study.

In all, 25 approaches to ECI were identified during the research. Twelve of these were used in the cases studied.

There are several approaches to ECI that are suitable for public owners. However, the contractor’s contribution depends on which approach is implemented and how it is implemented.

As original contribution, this study presents a novel framework that defines options for implementing ECI in public projects. Furthermore, this paper provides insights on how ECI can be implemented in public projects based on Norwegian experiences. Although the empirical data of the study is limited to Norwegian public projects, this study contributes to knowledge about how to implement ECI internationally.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the perception of a contractor on early contractor involvement (ECI) type of construction project delivery approach in terms of its benefits and drawbacks.

A questionnaire survey was conducted on various professionals of a contractor, who had extensive experience of working in ECI.

The ECI approach increases the opportunity for better relationships among the parties, which assist the design process from contractor's input and eventually lead to successful delivery of the project. On the other hand, unequal commitment and lack of win‐win attitude between the parties are seen as the most important drawbacks that hinder integration in ECI approach. It is also observed that benefits from ECI are likely to outweigh the drawbacks.

Construction projects are different, requiring adjustments, even within generic procurement or delivery approaches, in order to build a harmonious team, to allow project participants to work together and deliver an improved project. This study contributes to devising and demonstrating such a strategy, focusing on ECI approach.

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.

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.

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.

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.

As with many other procurement management concepts, the early contractor involvement (ECI) strategy provides an opportunity to tap on contractors’ specialist knowledge in the design stage, in order to address and forestall problems before moving onto the construction stage. Such practices have been shown to be quite successful, and are also advocated in the lean construction practice. Following this benefit, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between the operations of ECI and the principles of lean construction for productivity enhancement.

Based on the literature review of 11 principles of lean construction and ECI, various relationships were proposed seeking to integrate the two domains. A questionnaire survey was conducted with different stakeholders in Singapore’s construction industry to measure the strength of the relationships. Interviews were also conducted to gain an understanding of the constraints, reluctance, and possible methods for implementing ECI in Singapore with a convergence with lean construction principles.

The results revealed that, when employing lean construction principles as a yardstick, ECI does contribute to elevating the productivity outcomes of some lean construction principles – in particular, for reducing variability, reducing cycle time, minimizing steps, and increasing output flexibility.

It is promising to marry ECI with lean construction, and that the former does appear indeed able to aid in the productivity improvements of a construction project by embracing the latter. However, it requires the building professionals to raise their awareness of both lean and ECI, so that the implementation of ECI can be carried out in a more effective manner.

In the context of the Singapore construction industry’s push for improvements in productivity, this study posits that productivity benefits in particular can be realized through establishing the linkage between ECI and lean construction principles. The lessons from this study can likewise be adopted by other countries.

The purpose of this research is to determine the perceptions of a public sector agency’s representatives who are involved in the selection of procurement methods about the benefits and barriers of implementing early contractor involvement (ECI). There have been widespread calls for the public sector to use of non-traditional delivery methods so as to obtain better “value for money”. ECI is one form of delivery approach that has begun to attract the attention of many Australian State Governments, as it allows a contractor to proactively participate in design development, risk management and the construction programming processes. Design and construction processes can also be integrated which, therefore, overcome the impediments and barriers that have conventionally existed between designers and contractor. Within Western Australia, the use of ECI has been limited and therefore perceptions about its potential application are obtained.

Using questionnaire surveys and follow-up semi-structured interviews, the research sought to determine the perceptions of a public sector agency’s representatives who are involved in the selection of procurement methods about the benefits and barriers of implementing ECI.

It is revealed that a significant proportion of contractors did not have the capability and experience to be involved within an ECI approach. Their preference was the use of a traditional lump-sum method. Where there was limited scope for using competitive tendering, particularly on large complex projects, then ECI could be a preferred option for future projects.

To date, there has been limited empirical research that examined the public sectors views on the use of ECI despite the calls for the greater use of integrated procurement methods of this nature. The research indicates that there is a need to develop strategies to better educate public sector clients, designers and contractors about how ECI can contribute to the development of innovative solutions and better value for money.

This study aims to explore the experiences of using competitive dialogue (CD) as a procurement procedure and the freedom it provides to the contracting parties in Norway.

This study opted for qualitative research design. Data were collected from four case projects through document reviews and in-depth interviews with procurement experts and key contract partners of the projects.

Results indicate that CD has some room for maneuver that is worth trying. Furthermore, the research identified several measures that can be implemented to use the procedure effectively. Contracting parties that have used the procedure have had various positive experiences.

The findings have implications in improving project outputs, building better trust and cooperation between the contracting parties and better use of public money on projects that have lasting outcomes for the society.

The authors studied four actual projects that used CD as a procurement procedure and aimed to provide first-hand information on the degree of freedom that it offered to the contracting parties.

Cost overrun is a significant issue in construction, an undesirable feature the industry has long been associated with. Poor procurement practices are often blamed for subsequent cost overruns in construction, especially with conventional procurement methods leading to outrageous cost overruns. The purpose of this study is to review the features of the new models of construction procurement (NMCP) and assess their potential to reduce cost overruns in construction projects.

A literature review was conducted to identify the issues of procurement leading to cost escalations. Primary data were obtained through exploratory, semi-structured interviews using a case study approach.

Clients’ lack of knowledge was highlighted as a key issue in procurement that interlinks with many factors causing cost escalation. The findings suggest that the features contained within the NMCP, such as early contractor involvement and collaboration throughout the project team, have the potential to make a positive contribution to addressing cost escalation in construction.

The primary research was undertaken as an exploratory study and presents the contractor's perspective. Further research is therefore suggested, with multiple organisations representing all key stakeholders in a construction project, including clients, consultants, sub-contractors and suppliers.

The study recommends awareness of the NMCP be raised throughout the industry, and simplified information must be made available to help widen uptake of these contemporary procurement methods.

Addressing the dearth of research concerning the use of NMCP within the industry, this study makes a niche contribution to the body of knowledge on construction cost management by illustrating the potential offered by these new procurement methods for addressing cost escalation. For an industry where collaboration is accepted with reservations, this case study demonstrates how novel collaborative strategies such as open book costing, project bank accounts and shared pain and gain mechanisms can be implemented as part of the procurement strategy and how such strategies can contribute towards minimising the cost escalation inherent in construction projects.

The purpose of this paper is to review the use of various construction procurement systems in the past and present, specifically within the Australian construction industry and to overview the historical development of procurement both globally and in the Australian context through the existing literature.

The paper is an in-depth literature review of various construction procurement systems used in the past and present, both in general and within the context of Australian construction industry.

The findings suggest that even though relationship-based procurement (RBP) systems offer significant benefits to all project participants, they are unproved by many decision makers because of lack of robust theoretical concept and inability in demonstrating value for money (VfM) for public projects, which would be one of the factors causing move away from RBP in the future.

This review is one of its kind. There is no such review done before within the context of Australian construction industry in such a detail. This review is a part of a recently completed PhD study.