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Waste minimization strategies and the relative significance of construction waste sources were examined using a survey of 24 construction firms operating in Australia. The results indicated that a sizeable proportion of respondent firms did not have specific policies for minimizing waste. Furthermore, while a majority of firms with specific waste minimization policies made efforts to minimize waste at source, i.e. to avoid generating waste in the first place, this minimization was limited to waste generated by site offices and amenities. Potential scope exists for improving the effectiveness of waste minimization at source by addressing the sources of all waste generated during the construction phase. The survey results indicated that the five most significant sources of construction waste were design changes, leftover material scraps, wastes from packaging and non‐reclaimable consumables, design/detailing errors, and poor weather. Potential opportunities for minimizing the amount of waste generated on construction project sites are identified.

International research concerning the comparative performance and practices of construction contractors from three European countries (UK, France and Germany) has been previously reported. The research has recently been extended to include Australian construction companies, thereby providing the potential for further exploring international contractor performance, the results of which are herein presented. The research methodology involves a questionnaire survey of contractors whereby a hypothetical high rise in situ concrete building is presented to respondents. Participants of the survey are asked to provide various performance data and preferred construction practices for this building. Results suggest that French contractors acquire the fastest construction speeds closely followed by those from Australia. Construction practices are similar in the UK and Australia, which contrast with French and German practice whose preferences were also found to be different. Findings suggest Australian contractors achieve higher levels of performance than those from the UK whilst implementing similar practices. Further research is needed to investigate the cause of the performance disparity found to exist in these two countries.

This study investigates the cost and time performance of highway projects from the viewpoint of the public owner. It differs from previous studies which focused on the contractor’s perspective on project performance. A total of 13 success factors were identified from literature and the opinions of experienced engineers. Data was collected from 99 projects handled by the Department of Highways (DOH) in Thailand Discriminant analysis was used in this study to build the cost and time predictive models, which were generated from samples of cases, which had already been grouped and known as successful and unsuccessful projects. The models were then applied to new cases with measurements for the predictor variables, to predict that the projects were either successful or unsuccessful. The results show that success in cost performance depends on the management of construction resources, budget management, construction method, and communication. By contrast, schedule management and human resource management inhibit cost performance. Success in time performance depends on choice of construction method, management of construction resources, schedule management, supervision and control, and communication. Quality management, budget management, human resource management, owner involvement, and team relationships impede time performance

Competency-based measure is increasingly evident as an effective approach to tailoring training and development for organisational change and development. With design stage widely reckoned as being decisive for construction waste minimisation, the purpose of this paper is to identify designers’ competencies for designing out waste.

Due to paucity of research into competency for construction waste mitigation, this study corroborates verbal protocol analyses (VPA) with phenomenological research.

Combining findings from the two methodological approaches, competencies for designing out waste are grouped into five categories, three of which are largely task related and two being contextual competencies. The study suggests that design task proficiency, low waste design skills and construction-related knowledge are indispensable task competencies, while behavioural competence and inter-professional collaborative abilities are requisite contextual competencies for designing out waste. In concurrence with task-contextual theory of job performance, personality variables and cognitive abilities are found to influence one another. This suggests that both task and contextual competencies are not only important, they are less mutually exclusive with respect to designing out waste.

This study implies that apart from commitment and dedication of designers to waste minimisation, design and firm practices are expected to be adapted to the industry’s standard.

Basis for training needs of design professionals as well as redeployment criterion are further elaborated in the paper. By enhancing competencies identified in this study, construction waste would not only be significantly designed out, adequate cost saving could be made as a result of waste reduction.

This paper aims to present the findings from research that sought to evaluate the construction industry's approach to information management at the project level and to review the operation of an information management systems (IMS) on selected projects.

Data from three IMS used on three separate construction projects were extracted over a four‐year period as the life of the construction stage of each project came to an end. Three distinct databases of the IMS were analysed and document statistics were extracted to demonstrate the level of activity within the construction project, and between members of the construction team, using a simple counting technique for each document type.

The paper finds that major construction projects generate, process and store considerable quantities of real‐time information prior to, during, and post on‐site construction. The construction activities are shrouded in information and management of the construction project requires appropriate systems which facilitate bi‐directional data input, information processing, dissemination and functional access. Historically, the onus of storing, disseminating and managing project information has fallen to each of the individual project team members of the many organisations involved within the project. Hardware advances, coupled with improved electronic and paper‐based IMS facilitate synergistic standardised filing and information control, which reduces the reliance on each individual or organisation to undertake the task of storing and controlling information. An IMS also has the capability to engage with performance management and reporting systems which aid not only management of the project, but also management of the organisation.

Case reviews show that in today's complex construction environment the use of an appropriate IMS has the potential to bring about team syntegrity and engender increased collaboration and integration among project members. The findings from completed projects exemplify a number of benefits to be accrued from adoption of an IMS and the resultant change in operating culture. Crucially, however, the pitfalls of such IMS systems are also identified.

The findings provide new knowledge about the management of information from construction projects.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the management of solid waste during monthly environmental sanitation exercise in different residential areas of Ibadan municipality, Nigeria. The study also examined how the government performed its responsibility during the exercise. This is expected to assist in improving the conduct of sanitation exercise in one of Africa’s populous indigenous settlement, Ibadan.

Collection of data for the study was through participant observation, administration of questionnaire, and interview. As a way of participating and observing, the authors were involved in the conduct of the exercise in the different residential areas of Ibadan municipality. Questionnaire was administered on respondents drawn from one of every ten buildings (10 percent) in the study area using systematic sampling technique. A respondent (preferably a household head) was surveyed from a floor of selected residential building. A total of 367 copies of questionnaire were completed and returned for analysis. Information provided in the questionnaire was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Interview was conducted to collect information from the head of environmental sanitation unit in each of the five local government areas of Ibadan municipality.

The most widely used medium of storing solid waste was the polythene bag, which accounted for 22.8 percent of all the storage receptacles and was employed by 50.4 percent of the residents. Similarly, residents employed a combination of waste disposal methods which included burning, and dumping in the drains, river banks and on vacant plots. Methods of solid waste storage and disposal varied across the different residential areas of Ibadan municipality. It was established that despite the huge amount of money expended on the collection of solid waste during the exercise, only government-owned vans constituted less environmental health hazard.

It would assist in evaluating the success and failure of the monthly environmental sanitation exercise. It would also reveal to policy makers’ direction to which policy initiative should focus. Findings of the study could serve as a guide for the management of solid waste from similar exercises in countries of the developing world with similar socio-economic and environmental sanitation practices.

Presented in this paper are results of an investigation into solid waste management during monthly environmental sanitation exercise in Ibadan municipality, Nigeria. The study was an attempt at examining the different storage and disposal methods employed by households in the management of solid waste during the exercise. It also revealed what is committed financially into the collection and transportation of solid waste for final disposal during the exercise by government.

Embodied energy is the total amount of energy required to produce a product, and is significant because it occurs immediately and can be equal over the life cycle of a building to the transient requirements for operational energy. Methods for embodied energy analysis include process analysis, input‐output analysis and hybrid analysis. Proposes to improve the reliability of estimating embodied energy based on input‐output models by using an algorithm to extract systematically the most important energy paths for the “other construction” sector from an Australian input‐output model. Demonstrates the application of these energy paths to the embodied energy analysis of an individual commercial building, highlighting improvements in reliability due to the modification of energy paths with process analysis data. Compares materials and elements for the building, and estimates likely ranges of error.

A major contributory factor to poor project performance in the construction industry is known to be the lack of integration and coordination between the different disciplines involved in various stages of the procurement process. Attempts by researchers to address this problem have met with limited success, as they have focused mainly on adapting integration techniques originally developed for use in the manufacturing industry. There is therefore a need to develop a detailed understanding of the fundamental sciences that underpin the problem of integrating the procurement process across the construction project life cycle. Presents and discusses a research model for addressing major methodological issues in the analysis of design/construction relationships.

Project scheduling/rescheduling occurs in all stages of projects, from feasibility stage to monitoring stage to completion. Since the late 1950s, network‐based techniques CPM (critical path method) and PERT (programme evaluation review technique) are the techniques commonly used for project management. However, there are limitations in working with these tools that need to be overcome. Also, the computing ef. ciency of classic CPM/PERT analysis needs to be enhanced. Substantial research has been carried out globally in this field covering all areas of project scheduling: time scheduling, resource scheduling, cost scheduling, modern project management techniques, advanced mathematical models used for construction scheduling, and so on. To understand and document this research status, the authors have carried out an extensive study of various journals, published and unpublished research papers, and present this literature review.

There has been considerable debate in the construction management (CM) literature as to which research methodology is the most appropriate to CM research problems. This paper contributes to that debate by suggesting that postmodernity and multi‐level research can extend the scope of CM theory. It is argued that if CM researchers are to effectively solve the problems that the construction industry faces, then they need to adopt a robust methodological approach that takes account of both ontological and epistemological viewpoints. It is proffered that only then will we fully understand phenomena that influence organizational and project performance in construction.