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Article
Publication date: 15 July 2022

Saleh Abu Dabous, Tareq Zadeh and Fakhariya Ibrahim

This study aims at introducing a method based on the failure mode, effects and criticality analysis (FMECA) to aid in selecting the most suitable formwork system with the minimum…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims at introducing a method based on the failure mode, effects and criticality analysis (FMECA) to aid in selecting the most suitable formwork system with the minimum overall cost.

Design/methodology/approach

The research includes a review of the literature around formwork selection and analysis of data collected from the building construction industry to understand material failure modes. An FMECA-based model that estimates the total cost of a formwork system is developed by conducting a two-phased semi-structured interview and regression and statistical analyses. The model comprises material, manpower and failure mode costs. A case study of fifteen buildings is analysed using data collected from construction projects in the UAE to validate the model.

Findings

Results obtained indicate an average accuracy of 89% in predicting the total formwork cost using the proposed method. Moreover, results show that the costs incurred by failure modes account for 11% of the total cost on average.

Research limitations/implications

The analysis is limited to direct costs and costs associated with risks; other costs and risk factors are excluded. The proposed framework serves as a guide to construction project managers to enhance decision-making by addressing the indirect cost of failure modes.

Originality/value

The research proposes a novel formwork system selection method that improves upon the subjective conventional selection process by incorporating the risks and uncertainties associated with the failure modes of formwork systems into the decision-making process.

Details

International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-4708

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 May 2023

Rakesh Sai Kumar Mandala and R. Ramesh Nayaka

This paper aims to identify modern construction techniques for affordable housing, such as prefabrication and interlocking systems, that can save time and cost while also…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to identify modern construction techniques for affordable housing, such as prefabrication and interlocking systems, that can save time and cost while also providing long-term sustainable benefits that are desperately needed in today's construction industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The need for housing is growing worldwide, but traditional construction cannot cater to the demand due to insufficient time. There should be some paradigm shift in the construction industry to supply housing to society. This paper presented a state-of-the-art review of modern construction techniques practiced worldwide and their advantages in affordable housing construction by conducting a systematic literature review and applying the backward snowball technique. The paper reviews modern prefabrication techniques and interlocking systems such as modular construction, formwork systems, light gauge steel/cold form steel construction and sandwich panel construction, which have been globally well practiced. It was understood from the overview that modular construction, including modular steel construction and precast concrete construction, could reduce time and costs efficiently. Further enhancement in the quality was also noticed. Besides, it was observed that light gauge steel construction is a modern phase of steel that eases construction execution efficiently. Modern formwork systems such as Mivan (Aluminium Formwork) have been reported for their minimum construction time, which leads to faster construction than traditional formwork. However, the cost is subjected to the repetitions of the formwork. An interlocking system is an innovative approach to construction that uses bricks made of sustainable materials such as earth that conserve time and cost.

Findings

The study finds that the prefabrication techniques and interlocking system have a lot of unique attributes that can enable the modern construction sector to flourish. The study summarizes modern construction techniques that can save time and cost, enhancing the sustainability of construction practices, which is the need of the Indian construction industry in particular.

Research limitations/implications

This study is limited to identifying specific modern construction techniques for time and cost savings, lean concepts and sustainability which are being practiced worldwide.

Practical implications

Modern formwork systems such as Mivan (Aluminium Formwork) have been reported for their minimum construction time which leads to faster construction than traditional formwork.

Social implications

The need for housing is growing rapidly all over the world, but traditional construction cannot cater to the need due to insufficient time. There should be some paradigm shift in the construction industry to supply housing to society.

Originality/value

This study is unique in identifying specific modern construction techniques for time and cost savings, lean concepts and sustainability which are being practiced worldwide.

Details

Construction Innovation , vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-4175

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 July 2021

Clement Boakye Danquah, Alex Acheampong and Theophilus Adjei-Kumi

In the Ghanaian construction industry (GCI), the option for stakeholders to adopt formwork design as a building construction requirement is uncommon place. This is due to the low…

Abstract

Purpose

In the Ghanaian construction industry (GCI), the option for stakeholders to adopt formwork design as a building construction requirement is uncommon place. This is due to the low level of awareness and practice of formwork design. As a result of this, there have been formwork accidents, cost and time overruns in construction. This paper aims to solicit the view of stakeholders on the awareness of formwork design practices in the GCI.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper adopted the interpretivism research philosophy and inductive reasoning. Through a semi-structured interview guide, data was collected. The data (interview) recorded was transcribed using the Amberscript web application. This study used thematic analysis in analyzing the data collected using Nvivo 10 software.

Findings

The data collected from the 22 professionals indicated that the respondents were unaware of the concept of formwork design and its practice, neither could they speak to the existence of any specific regulation nor code of practice. However, the respondents established that there was a need to design formwork and stated some benefits of it.

Originality/value

From the literature, little research has been done on formwork design and its context in the GCI is yet to be explored. This research attempts to fill this gap. The findings indicate that to practice formwork design, there must be education and training of human resources for formwork design, there must be a code of practice to guide the design process and legal backing through policies and regulations to mandate the design.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology , vol. 20 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 January 2014

Tarek Zayed and Elsayed Mohamed

Tight schedules in high-rise building construction force project managers to use the formwork even in a bad weather condition. Insufficient craning, which is typically the…

Abstract

Purpose

Tight schedules in high-rise building construction force project managers to use the formwork even in a bad weather condition. Insufficient craning, which is typically the bottleneck in construction activities, and lack of space in confined sites make it hard to install the formwork on the ground. The Automatic Climbing System (ACS), a type of jump forms, solves these problems enabling the formwork to climb in various weather and height conditions. The aim of this paper is to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

Current research focusses on the ACS, its application, and productivity assessment. Productivity and construction data are collected from a specialized company in such type of forms. A bracket productivity model has been developed to estimate floor construction cycle time and productivity.

Findings

Results show that average productivity is four days/floor. The developed model is validated, which shows robust results 97.80 percent.

Research limitations/implications

The implementation of the developed models are limited to only two projects. However, the developed models and framework is sound for future improvement.

Practical implications

The developed methodology and model play essential roles in decision-making process.

Originality/value

The developed methodology and model are beneficial to researchers, practitioners, and planners of construction projects. It provides practitioners with charts that assist in scheduling and managing resources for jump form application. In addition, it provides researchers with a floor cycle time model and framework of implementing jump forms to high-rise buildings.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 21 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 May 2017

Ruchini Senarath Jayasinghe and Nirodha Gayani Fernando

The purpose of this paper is to establish labour productivity norms (LPNs) on an elemental basis to investigate a measurement for the labour productivity (LP) of aluminium system

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to establish labour productivity norms (LPNs) on an elemental basis to investigate a measurement for the labour productivity (LP) of aluminium system formwork (ASF) in low-cost housing projects (LHPs) in Sri Lanka.

Design/methodology/approach

Case study approach was selected as the most appropriate for the study and semi-structured interviews, document review and direct observations were used for the data collection. Four case studies were conducted. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted among four cases. Further, document review was used in three cases, and direct observation was used in one case. The validation of the results was not possible in a real life project due to time limitations.

Findings

The findings identified six labour productivity factors (LPFs) affecting the LP of ASF. The need for LPNs for ASF on an elemental basis is identified. Further, LPNs were developed using LPFs.

Research limitations/implications

This research was limited to LHPs for underserved settlements in Colombo, Sri Lanka which use ASF. The LPNs were prepared based on time studies and were restricted to structural elements such as slabs, beams and columns.

Originality/value

The LPNs were developed for ASF in LHPs based on the effect of weather, crew, site, management and project factors. Further, the study addresses a gap in the literature regarding the development of LPNs of ASF for LPHs in Sri Lanka. LPNs for ASF have enhanced LP while promoting economic and social stability in the industry.

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2003

C.S. Poon, Ann T.W. Yu and L.H. Ng

Hong Kong is running out of both reclamation sites and landfill space for the disposal of construction and demolition waste. This paper reports on the findings of a study…

3257

Abstract

Hong Kong is running out of both reclamation sites and landfill space for the disposal of construction and demolition waste. This paper reports on the findings of a study, consisting of a questionnaire survey, interviews and work‐site visits, to compare the use of low‐waste building technologies in public housing and private residential projects in Hong Kong. The results show that large panel formwork and prefabricated building components are widely used in public housing projects in Hong Kong. Due to the difference of the design with public housing, the use of smaller aluminium panel formwork is more common in the private housing projects. The barriers for the adoption of low‐waste building technologies in the private sector are identified and discussed.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 10 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 September 2023

Arti Sahu and S. Shanmugapriya

This research proposes a viable method of slab and shore load computation for the partial striking technique utilized in high-rise construction projects to optimize the use of…

Abstract

Purpose

This research proposes a viable method of slab and shore load computation for the partial striking technique utilized in high-rise construction projects to optimize the use of horizontal formwork. The proposed Partial Striking Simplified Method (PSSM) is designed to be utilized by industry practitioners to schedule the construction operations of casting floors in order to control the formwork costs incurred throughout the completion of a project.

Design/methodology/approach

The article presents the PSSM for calculating slab and shore loads in multi-story building construction. It introduces the concept of “clearing before striking,” where shore supports are partially removed after a few days of pouring fresh concrete. The PSSM procedure is validated through numerical analysis and compared to other simplified approaches. Additionally, a user-friendly Python program based on the PSSM procedure is developed to explore the capability of the PSSM procedure and is used to study the variations in slab load, shoring level, concrete grade and cycle time.

Findings

The study successfully developed a more efficient and reliable method for estimating the loads on shores and slabs using partial striking techniques for multi-story building construction. Compared to other simplified approaches, the PSSM procedure is simpler and more precise, as demonstrated through numerical analysis. The mean of shore and slab load ratios are 1.08 and 1.07, respectively, which seems to have a slight standard deviation of 0.29 and 0.21 with 3D numerical analysis. The Python program developed for load estimation is effective in exploring the capability of the proposed PSSM procedure. The Python program's ability to identify the floor under maximum load and determine the specific construction stage provides valuable insights for multi-story construction, enabling informed decision-making and optimization of construction methods.

Practical implications

High-rise construction in Indian cities is booming, though this trend is not shared by all the country's major metropolitan areas. The growing construction sector in urban cities demands rapid construction for efficient utilization of formwork to control the construction costs of project. The proposed procedure is the best option to optimize the formwork construction cost, construction cycle time, the suitable formwork system with optimum cost, concrete grade for the adopted level of shoring in partaking and many more.

Originality/value

The proposed PSSM reduces the calculation complexity of the existing simplified method. This is done by considering the identical slab stiffness and identical shore layout for uniform load distribution throughout the structure. This procedure utilizes a two-step load distribution calculation for clearing phase. Initially, the 66% prop load of highest floor level is distributed uniformly over the lower interconnected slabs. In the second step, the total prop load is removed equally from all slabs below it. This makes the load distribution user-friendly for the industry expert.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 September 2019

Marina Macedo de Abreu and Alberto Casado Lordsleem Jr

The purpose of this paper is to establish and evaluate the concrete loss and labor productivity (LP) indicators in the concreting step of aluminum formwork system (AFS) in…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to establish and evaluate the concrete loss and labor productivity (LP) indicators in the concreting step of aluminum formwork system (AFS) in construction in Brazil. The loss and productivity indicators are directed to a regional database (Pernambuco, Brazil).

Design/methodology/approach

Case study was selected as the most appropriate approach. The methodology included data collection in the construction project with 10 residential towers of 320 apartments, in the city of Jaboatão dos Guararapes, Brazil, throughout 82 concrete pouring days using 415 concrete mixer trucks, with a total of 2,582.50 m3 of concrete.

Findings

The findings identified an average concrete loss of 2.6 percent and the LP indicator varying between 0.15 and 0.97 WH/m3. It could be verified that the loss indicators were influenced mainly by the learning effect associated to the qualification of the labor. In addition, the productivity indicators were strongly influenced by delays at the beginning of the concrete pouring and by problems coming from the sequence of concrete supply.

Originality/value

LP indicators are still literature restricted, especially considering only the concreting step. The direct observations of this study allow the identification of factors that inhibit productivity. The comparison of indicators for the concreting service between the ASF and the conventional system attests to the speed, low cost and efficiency of the system studied in this paper.

Details

Built Environment Project and Asset Management, vol. 9 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-124X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2006

M.R. Abdul Kadir, W.P. Lee, M.S. Jaafar, S.M. Sapuan and A.A.A. Ali

Labour usage represents one of the critical elements in the Malaysia construction industry due to severe shortage of local workers. This paper aims to present a construction…

8805

Abstract

Purpose

Labour usage represents one of the critical elements in the Malaysia construction industry due to severe shortage of local workers. This paper aims to present a construction performance comparison between conventional building systems and industrialised building systems (IBS).

Design/methodology/approach

Data were obtained from 100 residential projects through a questionnaire survey in 2005. A total of 100 respondents participated in this study.

Findings

Analysis of variance (ANOVA) results indicated that the actual labour productivity comparison between conventional building system and IBS was significantly different. Further, the comparison of crew size indicated that the conventional building system of 22 workers was significantly different from the IBS of 18 workers. Similarly, the cycle time of 17 days per house for conventional building system was found to be significantly different from the IBS of four days. However, the conventional building system was found to be insignificantly different from the IBS in term of structural construction cost.

Originality/value

The results acquired from this study could be used by project planners for estimating labour input, control costs and project scheduling. Additionally, they could be used to determine the most appropriate structural building system for executing a construction project at the conceptual stage.

Details

Structural Survey, vol. 24 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-080X

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 14 January 2014

Ronald McCaffer

166

Abstract

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 21 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

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