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This paper describes SPICE (Structure Process Improvement for Construction Enterprises), which is a process improvement framework for construction organizations. SPICE is a five level step by step maturity framework. It assesses an organization’s performance against levels of process maturity, identifies their strengths and weaknesses and highlights their improvement priorities. SPICE was developed in close collaboration with the construction industry and tested on real projects. This allowed the framework to take into account practical industrial needs. This paper provides an outline of the SPICE framework. It focuses on a best practice case study of SPICE implementation on a partnering relationship between a major client and a major contractor. The paper details the SPICE assessment and fact finding process. Based on this assessment, it identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the partnering operation and provides specific guidelines for project improvement. Main strengths of the partnering included: (1) close physical proximity of client, design and project management teams; (2) top level commitment to improve productivity; and (3) adoption of manufacturing philosophies and methods in order to deliver improvements. Main weaknesses included: (1) lack of integration between systems and processes of the partnering organizations; (2) presence of cultural and incentive differences between the partnering organizations, which led to fragmentation of the project teams; and (3) little evidence of process evaluation and improvement efforts by the teams. Based on these, some recommendations are made for future improvements.

The construction sector is under growing pressure to increase productivity and improve quality, most notably in reports by Latham (1994, Constructing the Team, HMSO, London) and Egan (1998, Rethinking Construction, HMSO, London). A major problem for construction companies is the lack of project predictability. One method of increasing predictability and delivering increased customer value is through the systematic management of construction processes. However, the industry has no methodological mechanism to assess process capability and prioritise process improvements. Standardized Process Improvement for Construction Enterprises (SPICE) is a research project that is attempting to develop a stepwise process improvement framework for the construction industry, utilizing experience from the software industry, and in particular the Capability Maturity Model (CMM), which has resulted in significant productivity improvements in the software industry. This paper introduces SPICE concepts and presents the results from two case studies conducted on design and build projects. These studies have provided further in‐sight into the relevance and accuracy of the framework, as well as its value for the construction sector.

This paper assesses the awareness and use of information and communication technologies (ICT) systems within the Turkish construction industry. The findings will assist in identifying the future directions and priorities for how to use ICT as an enabler in this country. The research has been carried out via 22 semi‐structured interviews with senior construction professionals within government and private organizations. It investigated the usage and applicability of current information systems and technologies. The interviews then explored the appropriateness of some of the newly emerging technologies to the industry in Turkey. The findings are reported under three categories of: ICT infrastructures and strategies, the use of information systems, and views on emerging technologies. The last item has been expanded and discussed in more detail, in the paper.

A review of the literature revealed a lack of coherent frameworks for implementing disability management, particularly within the construction industry. This study involved developing the construction disability management maturity model (CDM3) to assess the maturity of disability management (DM) practices in construction organisations.

In its current form, the model assessed twelve indicators using a series of questions representing relevant best practices for each indicator and five different maturity levels. An analytical hierarchical process was conducted using eight construction and DM experts to determine the weights of importance of these different indicators. The model was then applied to evaluate ten construction companies in Manitoba, Canada.

The results revealed that the indicators of “Return to Work”, “Disability and Injury Prevention”, and “Senior Management Support” practises were the most heavily weighted and, thus, the most important. Companies' DM performance was observed, on average, to be at the quantitatively managed level. “Senior Management Support” and “Disability Injury Prevention” practices were observed to be the most mature indicators on average, revealing a potential relationship between the most important and most mature indicators.

The sample size of companies evaluated is a key limitation in that it does not permit for the generalisation of the results.

This study provided a framework for benchmarking the DM performance of construction organisations.

No similar maturity model has been developed to date to assess DM in construction, making the CDM3 the first of its kind to evaluate a construction organisation's existing DM practices against best practises.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce an alternative approach of measuring construction industry performance using maturity modeling. The focus is on introducing a newly developed maturity model referred to as the construction industry macro maturity model (CIM3) and highlighting its use by assessing the maturity of the construction industry of the Province of New Brunswick, Canada.

Current methods of construction industry performance measurement such as labor productivity and competitiveness are briefly reviewed, highlighting their weaknesses. The theoretical underpinnings of the CIM3 are discussed and the implementation of the CIM3 to measure the cost and quality management maturity of the New Brunswick construction industry is presented.

An assessment of the construction industry's maturity using the CIM3 provides a leading indication of performance. This is based on the industry being structured according to key practices areas that contain key practices. The industry's key practices are linked to objectives that lead to the achievement of performance goals. The maturity of the construction industry with respect to its key practices is a function of the relative importance of the key practices and the capabilities of the industry in implementing the key practices. Based on this, the implementation of the CIM3 in New Brunswick found that the NB construction industry is more mature in cost management than in quality management.

This paper contributes to the existing body of knowledge on industry performance measurement, and more particularly, construction industry performance measurement. The concept of maturity modeling applied here promotes and demonstrates the use of leading indicators of performance, as recommended in most performance measurement literature.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a case study of SPICE FM implementation in the Facilities Directorate of a major UK hospital. SPICE FM is a process improvement framework for FM organisations, which was developed through university research in the UK. SPICE FM identified strengths and weaknesses of the facilities operation and provides specific guidelines for organisational improvements.

The study was limited to four areas of operations, namely: catering; estates; domestics and portering. A brief organisational strategy is developed, through document review, semi‐structured interviews and a small workshop. A vertical section of staff in the Facilities Directorate participated in the case study to determine the operational capabilities of the organisation. The staff ranged from Director of Facilities to line employees. The managers partook in semi‐structured interviews, while the employees participated in workshops.

The case study highlights some of the operational deficiencies in the organisation, such as health and safety management, and risk management. It identifies specifically how these processes can be improved, and which improvements are effectively linked to strategy.

The paper only focuses on level 2 of the SPICE FM framework. Level 3 has not been researched yet. Also the SPICE FM approach must be linked to other major organisational development tools, such as EFQM, IIP and ISO.

A very useful approach in linking strategy with operational process improvements.

This case study puts the SPICE FM organisational learning framework in context. Previous papers have not reported on any major case studies, in order to demonstrates how the framework can be implemented.

This paper aims at proposing a process of requirements engineering for the human centred, adaptive computer integrated construction systems development through industry wide information sharing.

The research strategy is based on case study research methodology. The EU‐funded DIVERCITY project was analysed. This project was undertaken by a European consortium of researchers and practitioners from the construction industry. They developed a virtual environment that enables the industry to undertake collaboratively the client briefing and design reviews and the construction stages.

DIVERCITY's requirements engineering approach has the potential to provide opportunities for research to determine the appropriate requirements engineering techniques for the development of the systems and their effective implementation in the construction industry.

The main contribution of the research is the construction of the requirements engineering process for the development of the computer integrated construction systems.

The purpose of this study was to assess the readiness of construction companies in Ghana to partner with foreign companies in international construction joint ventures (ICJVs).

Using the Verify End-User e-Readiness using a Diagnostic Tool (VERDICT) model, a survey with 31 construction companies was conducted to assess their readiness through four pre-defined elements of readiness.

The results indicated the readiness of construction companies to collaborate with potential foreign partners in ICJVs. Notwithstanding, certain areas such as management commitment to change, employee buy-in, process flexibility and technology infrastructure need improvement in some firms to achieve readiness. Government has a role in ensuring the readiness of domestic firms for the international market.

This study applies the VERDICT model, a tool originally designed to assess construction organizations’ readiness for e-commerce, to assess the readiness of Ghanaian construction companies for ICJVs.

This paper aims to present an off-site construction (OSC) readiness maturity model for assessing the readiness of offsite construction companies in the Indian construction sector.

The research was conducted in three stages. The first stage consisted of a detailed literature review to document 17 different variables affecting the OSC adoption in India. In Stage 2, 15 semi-structured interviews were carried out where the participants were asked to refine those variables for the Indian context and define what would be different levels of attainment. In the third stage, another set of 5 semi-structure interviews was performed to validate the maturity levels and definitions.

A three-level OSC readiness maturity model is presented for discussion. This describes 17 variables at different levels of maturity.

The proposed OSC readiness maturity model guides construction practitioners in India through a structured process to enable them to assess their OSC readiness in the market. This assessment enables them to evaluate and benchmark their processes through the strategic and operational phases. The maturity model also identifies the areas of concern and the scope for further development or change to secure the optimal advantage of OSC methods.

The research produced a model to assess the readiness of OSC adoption in the Indian construction sector. Although the model has been applied to the Indian construction sector, it can easily be modified to accommodate other OSM contexts.

Ongoing research and development into the implementation of concurrent engineering(CE) within the construction industry have made researchers think how to make CE implementation better, more effective, and more efficient. This has led researchers to investigate CE implementation efforts within other industry sectors, which suggest to carryout a CE readiness assessment of a construction organisation before the adoption of some CE aspects within the industry that has facilitated the CE adoption in other industries. Now the problem is that there is no model or tool available, which will help in assessing the readiness of the organisation. Therefore, this paper discusses the development of a CE readiness assessment model for the construction industry. It also includes a comparative review of existing readiness assessment tools and models that have been specifically developed and successfully used in the manufacturing andIT sectors. It argues that readiness assessment of a construction organisation is a necessity for the implementation of CE in construction and assesses the applicability of existing tools and models to the construction industry. And finally the development of a new readiness assessment model for the construction industry called “BEACON” is presented.