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Specialty contractors have knowledge to contribute to the early design of architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) products. In current practice, however, they are seldom involved in early design, but evidence suggests that their early involvement is increasing. Lean construction theory advocates such involvement. The practice of involving suppliers in product development efforts and manufacturing has proven to be highly successful. The paper reports on empirical research that identified the contributions of specialty contractor (SO knowledge to early design, which led to gains in process efficiency and improvements in product quality. These contributions are categorized and illustrated by means of examples that stem from current practice or present potential opportunities for improvement. Reasons are given why SC knowledge is often ignored in design. Changes in AEC practices nevertheless suggest that organizations are creating conditions to increase interaction between designers and SCs. Such interactions will help AEC organizations to retain and share the knowledge of individuals as well as learn to develop new knowledge.

Traditionally, progress in detail engineering in construction projects is reported based on estimates and manual input from the disciplines in the engineering team. Reporting progress on activities in an engineering schedule manually, based on subjective evaluations, is time consuming and can reduce accuracy, especially in larger and multi-disciplinary projects. How can progress in detail engineering be reported using BIM and connected to activities in an engineering schedule? The purpose of this paper is to introduce a three-step process for reporting progress in detail engineering using building information modeling (BIM) to minimize manual reporting and increase quality and accuracy.

The findings of this paper are based on the studies of experiences from the execution of projects in the oil and gas industry. Data are collected from an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor and two engineering contractors using case study research.

In the first step, control objects in building information models are introduced. Statuses are added to control objects to fulfill defined quality levels related to milestones. In the second step, the control objects with statuses are used to report visual progress and aggregated in an overall progress report. In the third step, overall progress from building information models are connected to activities in an engineering schedule.

Existing research works related to monitoring and reporting progress using a BIM focus on construction and not on detail engineering. The research demonstrates that actual progress in detail engineering can be visualized and reported through the use of BIM and extracted to activities in an engineering schedule through a three-step process.

In construction projects, engineering variations are very common and create breeding grounds for opportunistic claims. This study investigates the complementary effect between an inspection mechanism and a reputation system in deterring opportunistic claims, considering an employer with limited inspection accuracy and a contractor, which can be either reputation-concerned or opportunistic.

This paper applies a signaling game to investigate the complementary effect between the employer's inspection and a reputation system in deterring the contractor's possible opportunistic claim, considering the information-flow influence of claiming prices.

This study finds that in the exogenous-inspection-accuracy case, the employer does not always inspect the claim. A more stringent reputation system complements a less accurate inspection only when the inspection cost is lower than a threshold, but may decline the employer's surplus or social welfare. In the optimal-inspection-accuracy case, the employer always inspects the claim. However, only a sufficiently stringent reputation system can guarantee the effectiveness of an optimal inspection in curbing opportunistic claims. A more stringent reputation system has a value-stepping effect on the employer's surplus but may unexpectedly impair social welfare, whereas a higher inspection cost efficiency always reduces social welfare.

This article contributes to the project management literature by combing the signaling game theory with the reputation theory and thus embeds the problem of inspection mechanism design into a broader socio-economic framework.

This research compares consultants' and contractors' professional practices and perspectives on the use of specifications in the engineering of built environment projects.

The study initiates with a review of literature, toward realizing (1) the need for inclusion of specifications, throughout the projects' stages (design, tender, construction and handing over), as well as the (2) causes and effects of defective specifications in design and execution of engineered projects. Additionally (3) the study investigates the challenges and causes of specification variations to projects' design and execution. The systematic methodology adopted in this research utilizes frequency indicators, to rank and correlate the perspectives of 60 professionals, who are experienced in consulting and contracting of mega public and private projects.

The research considers the uncertainties and differences that could be present in engineering developments and use of design specifications for projects' execution and handing over. The two groups of experts' (consultants and contractors) perspectives are usually observed as conflicting, in practice. Practices comparison of their experiences with engineering projects' specifications usability provides unique empirical findings. The analysis and assessment of the experts' knowledge, this research addresses gaps identified in the literature, providing valuable insights.

The study provides in-depth recommendations and discusses possible trends and methods for enhancing specifications' usability in design engineering and execution of built environment projects. The analysis and recommendations present and assess experts' knowledge while bridge gaps identified from the literature.

A change order is an order from an employer authorizing a variation. Success in managing change orders results in uninterrupted construction operations and an agreed final project cost as well as duration. One of the methods to manage change orders is to establish good communication and cooperation among project team members. Success of this method can be enhanced by developing and utilizing a web‐based change order management system that supports documentation practice, communication and integration between different team members in the change order workflow. This paper discusses our web‐based project management system, change order management system (COMS), to manage change orders using the Internet. In order to show COMS’ potential benefits, a test case was conducted for comparing the COMS with the conventional practice of change order management.

This study explores whether the peer effects of internationalization exist within the subdivision industry of enterprises in the engineering field and assesses the imitation paths for the peer engineering enterprises within the industry when implementing internationalization strategies under the peer effects.

This study collected secondary and objective data on 38 Chinese engineering enterprises from the Engineering News-Record's list of the top 250 international contractors between 2013 and 2021. It employed a regression analysis to test the research hypotheses.

The findings reveal that in the process of internationalization: (1) peer effects exist within the subdivision industry of internationalization of engineering enterprises; (2) engineering enterprises within the same industry and region imitate each other; (3) non-state-owned engineering enterprises imitate state-owned engineering enterprises within the same industry; and (4) in the industry follower–leader imitation process, industry followers imitate leaders according to enterprise size and return on assets.

The results contribute to a better understanding of how peer effects influence engineering enterprises' internationalization process. This study also proposes imitation paths based on the law of imitation to provide recommendations for engineering enterprises' better development in the international market.

The construction industry is a crucial industry for national development worldwide. Because the construction industry is tied to national and international economic activities, the COVID-19 outbreak has limited construction projects. Therefore, this study investigates the most influential factors regarding COVID-19 and their effects on the construction industry.

The potential impacts of COVID-19 on the construction industry were identified through a realistic literature review and interviews with professionals. A questionnaire was distributed via e-mail to architects, civil engineers and contractors who play vital roles during the construction processes. The data were analysed using SPSS 22 and LISREL 8.7 software to quantify the most influential pandemic-related factors faced by the construction industry.

Ten influential pandemic factors affecting the construction industry in Turkey were identified. Among them, “increased costs and price escalations due to shortage of raw materials and supply chain disruption” and “challenges with payment and cash flows” were determined as the most influential pandemic factors.

This research aims to advance comprehension of pandemic impacts and contributes an incipient assessment framework based on 10 determined pandemic factors. Therefore, contractors, architects and civil engineers may analyse their weaknesses and organise precise priorities so that their firms may remain competitive, thus minimising the adverse impact of COVID-19 and possible forthcoming waves.

Few studies have identified the effect of pandemics on the construction industry qualitatively, forcing management to make projections to the current situation. Moreover, no study has provided insights into the influential factors of pandemics using quantitative methods. Therefore, this study comprehensively and quantitatively determines the relevant COVID-19 pandemic factors using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and utilises confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling to present a structural model of how pandemic factors affect the Turkish construction industry.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the client–contractor relationship affects the project performance in light the theory of relational contracting. The empirical study evaluates the effect of project trust (PT) mediating through the dyadic factors and procurement-specific factors (PSFs) on the project performance.

Research design is carried out in three phases. The first phase of review of literature has identified the key constructs of the study and the conceptual model is formulated. Subsequently, the constructs of the study are validated through expert opinion and pilot study. In the third phase, the questionnaire of the study is administered on 320 samples in various cities of India. The exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis is carried out on the two different sample sizes. The structural equation model is finally tested with satisfactory fit.

PT not only improves the dyad factors in construction supply chain (CSC), but also influences the project performance. However, project risk and relationship commitment are not associated with enhancing project performance directly. PSFs and dyad factors are the two mediators in transforming PT into relationship commitment and project performance. Client-led supply chain initiatives and contractor-led supply chain initiatives differ in the CSC.

The present research has employed behavioral data to understand the effect of project procurement on project performance. Nevertheless, future studies should use objective data to support the constructs of the study. This study outlines the common and socially rooted relational governance of the project. This study is useful to the clients, contractors and policy makers in understanding the interplay of various control mechanisms to ease the procurement of large and complex construction projects. Future studies should focus on separating client-led control mechanisms and contractor-led control mechanisms of the relational contracting and its effect on project performance.

The research study contributes in formalizing the governance structure of supply chain in dealing with the complex construction projects. The study has contributed in understanding the client-led initiatives and contractor-led supply initiatives of establishing the supply chain of construction projects. It has demonstrated the mediating role of dyadic factors and PSFs in improving the project performance.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate, at the industry level, the modes of governance used by multinational companies in the UK petrochemical industry to outsource maintenance activities to engineering contractors. The study focusses on a form of novel governance structure called an Employer Panel (EP).

The study applies an inductive case study method to investigate the contractor governance mechanisms in 19 out of the 20 major petrochemical instillations located in the UK. Data included interviews, documentary and secondary evidence gathered from the cases and also industry bodies.

The study uncovered three distinct types of governance mode: market, managing contractor, and EP of contractors. The latter relies on the governance process of “mandated collaboration” to coordinate.

The main limitation is the focus on a particular industry, albeit an important one. The research implications include extending the empirical research into other sectors which use on-site contracted maintenance such as ship and aircraft manufacturing.

The EP structure with its mandated collaboration process is of value to managers of contractual relationships as it gives insights into coordinative process and it may provide an alternative model for managing outsourcing relationships.

The mandated collaborative process requires clients to engage its contractors in longer term relationships, thus increasing corporate social responsibility and providing wider job security for contractor employees.

The EP mode, as far as can be ascertained, has not been addressed in the literature before.

Notes that the management of subsidence cases often involves both engineering consultants and contractors. In order to obtain information on current trends in subsidence management, a survey of both consultants and contractors who deal with subsidence cases was undertaken. Presents the findings of the survey which highlight both elements of good practice and areas for improvement. Also reveals inconsistencies in the procedures adopted by different firms as well as differences between the approaches adopted by consultants and contractors. The results of the survey are being incorporated into the development of a knowledge‐based system for the management of subsidence cases.