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Clients of the construction industry, an important segment of the project management (PM) discipline, can make an important contribution to the occupational health and safety (OHS) performance of the construction projects they procure. This practice note aims to describe an initiative of the Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner in Australia.

A model client framework was developed to assist Australian Government agencies to embed OHS into their procurement and PM practices.

The model client framework establishes principles for the management of OHS in construction projects and establishes processes for client involvement in OHS through the planning, design and procurement, construction and completion stages of construction projects. Within each project stage, key management actions are established for Australian Government agencies.

The model client framework will enable Australian Government agencies to operate in a consistent framework and on a similar footing, with respect to the management of OHS in their construction projects. This practice note describes the key components of the framework.

The model client framework is the first comprehensive set of tools and resources to support construction clients to integrate OHS into their procurement and PM processes. The life‐cycle approach ensures that OHS information is transferred throughout the construction supply chain from the client, through the designer, constructor and ultimately to the end‐user. The Framework shows how the integration of OHS into all aspects of project decision making (led by the client) can significantly improve the OHS performance of construction projects.

Construction material management plays a significant role in achieving successful project delivery of a construction project. However, ineffective material management is a critical issue in the construction industry, especially in developing economies, of which Sri Lanka is not an exception. Therefore, this study aims to focus on exploring the causes of ineffective material management practices in civil engineering construction projects in Sri Lanka and their impact on successful project delivery.

Furthermore, the literature findings were validated through the preliminary survey. Subsequently, a quantitative research approach was adopted to pursue the research aim. Questionnaire responses were obtained from 215 construction professionals in civil engineering projects who were selected using the judgemental and snowball sampling techniques. Collected data were analysed through Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) V26 and Microsoft Excel 2016.

Moreover, the study revealed that material price fluctuation, shortage of material in the market, delay in material procurement, inadequate planning and delays in material delivery are the most frequent causes of ineffective material management in civil engineering projects. In addition, it was evidenced that most ineffective material management practices cause both time and cost overruns in civil engineering construction projects. Most respondents emphasized inadequate planning, inadequate qualified and experienced staff, lack of supervision and lack of leadership as the causes for both time and cost overruns.

The study was concluded by proposing strategies for effective material management. Education/training/enlightenment of staff in charge of materials management, use of software like Microsoft Project, Primavera and similar software to eliminate manual errors in material management, and providing clear specifications to suppliers were the most agreed strategies for effective material management in civil engineering construction projects.

The present research aims to investigate how lean project management (LPM) and agile project management (APM) affect project performance outcomes in the construction sector in Jordan. This study focuses on six key project performance outcomes, namely cost, time, quality, client satisfaction, innovation and responsiveness.

The present study employed a quantitative approach to achieve the research objectives. Accordingly, a multi-item survey questionnaire was prepared to gather data from 392 project managers from construction companies in Jordan. The study’s model showed acceptable levels regarding reliability, validity, fit indices and discriminant validity. In order to test the hypotheses of this study, path analysis was employed using Amos 24.0 software.

LPM demonstrated a remarkably high positive impact on cost performance. It also positively affected quality performance and client satisfaction. However, LPM insignificantly affected time, innovation and responsiveness performance measures. On the other hand, APM showed a notably high positive impact on innovation and responsiveness. The findings also revealed that APM positively impacted quality performance and client satisfaction. In addition, APM negatively impacted cost performance and insignificantly impacted time performance.

This study is one of the first comprehensive studies to empirically examine the impact of both LPM and APM on various project performance outcomes in the construction industry in the context of a developing country. It reveals some similarities and differences between LPM and APM with regard to their impacts on project management outcomes. The findings are expected to guide managers in selecting the appropriate project management approach based on the desired performance outcomes. Accordingly, it offers important implications for project managers in construction companies.

Due to the increasing size and complexity of construction projects, construction engineering and management involves the coordination of many complex and dynamic processes and relies on the analysis of uncertain, imprecise and incomplete information, including subjective and linguistically expressed information. Various modelling and computing techniques have been used by construction researchers and applied to practical construction problems in order to overcome these challenges, including fuzzy hybrid techniques. Fuzzy hybrid techniques combine the human-like reasoning capabilities of fuzzy logic with the capabilities of other techniques, such as optimization, machine learning, multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) and simulation, to capitalise on their strengths and overcome their limitations. Based on a review of construction literature, this chapter identifies the most common types of fuzzy hybrid techniques applied to construction problems and reviews selected papers in each category of fuzzy hybrid technique to illustrate their capabilities for addressing construction challenges. Finally, this chapter discusses areas for future development of fuzzy hybrid techniques that will increase their capabilities for solving construction-related problems. The contributions of this chapter are threefold: (1) the limitations of some standard techniques for solving construction problems are discussed, as are the ways that fuzzy methods have been hybridized with these techniques in order to address their limitations; (2) a review of existing applications of fuzzy hybrid techniques in construction is provided in order to illustrate the capabilities of these techniques for solving a variety of construction problems and (3) potential improvements in each category of fuzzy hybrid technique in construction are provided, as areas for future research.

There are various methods to assess the failure of a road construction project that does not meet quality and performance standards. This study aims to evaluate the factors affecting the quality management of road construction projects in Indonesia by identifying the critical challenges in implementing quality management processes and examining the countermeasures to address these problems.

In this research, the quality management processes in Indonesian road construction projects are evaluated using a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach. Quantitative data obtained from two rounds of Delphi questionnaire surveys as the primary data source, and focus group interviews as the qualitative data are used to achieve the aims of this study.

It is found that from as early as in the preconstruction stage of a project, the availability of quality standards and documentation is problematic when implementing quality management processes. The critical factor of the quality control activities of a project and the quality management roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders during road construction is the project team. This constraint deals with the interaction of the competency, commitment, and mutual cooperation among the main stakeholders to ensure that quality management processes are implemented. This implementation is a part of controlling the road pavement materials, supervising the project activities according to a specified standard, and reporting the project performance. The findings of this study add parameters relating to quality management and quality processes in a road construction project area.

This study is the first to evaluate the quality management processes in the construction of Indonesian road projects. The investigation identifies and evaluates the causes of the persistence of poor road quality. All revealed constraints are substantial factors that hinder the implementation of quality management processes when delivering quality road products. This study addresses the key influencing factors and scenarios related to quality management during road construction projects in Indonesia and other developing countries as practical examples and provides case-based insights for construction practitioners and civil engineering academics in developed countries.

The link between relationship typologies and effectiveness of conflict resolution approaches remains to be tested despite its significance in conflict management in construction project delivery. By using the four relationships attributes based on the group attachment theory, the purpose of the study was to explore the cluster of relationships among project teams and organisations and the performance of conflict management strategies across these clusters in the Ghanaian construction industry.

Using a deductive questionnaire survey in the Ghanaian construction industry, a total of 137 responses were gathered and analyzed using cluster analysis, mean scores and ANOVA to reveal the relationship clusters and performance of conflict management strategies across these clusters.

The results revealed eight relationship clusters that exist among project teams and organisations with distinct influence of roles & tasks function, cognition, emotions and behavior attributes across the relationship clusters. In the aspect of the effectiveness of conflict management strategies, it was noted that the performance of these strategies were significantly different across the groups. For instance, integrating as a conflict management strategy was deemed to be effective in resolving conflict in unitary, adversarial, pluralist, mutuality, collaborative and partnering relationship clusters. In the case of coopetitive and coercive relationships, the performance of integrating as a conflict management strategy was less effective. This study thus has empirically proved that, different relationship clusters of teams and organizations exist within the Ghanaian construction industry, and that they perform different roles & tasks functions, cognition, emotions and behavioural attributes in their formation. Additionally, the performance effectiveness of conflict management strategies differed across the relationship clusters.

By aligning the relationship attributes to the dynamics of relationship clusters experienced in project teams and organisations, relationship quality, suitability and effectiveness of conflict management strategies can be optimized. The findings can inform project teams and stakeholders to develop fit-for-purpose relationship attributes among teams and organisations to enhance team effectiveness, relationship quality and conflict management in the industry.

Construction organisations cannot underestimate the improvement in public–private partnership (PPP) projects’ implementation. At the same time, construction organisations cannot overlook the risk arising from engaging in PPP construction projects. Hence, this study aims to establish the influence of risk resource management (RRM) in managing PPP risk in the construction industry in Ghana.

The researchers adopted qualitative and quantitative research methods to achieve the aim of the study, in which Delphi questions and a close-ended questionnaire were developed. A total of 650 construction specialists, including procurement officers, consultants, project managers, quantity surveyors, site engineers and planning officers were chosen using random and purposive sampling techniques. Recovered data were analysed using descriptive statistics and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The CFA maximum likelihood estimation extractor compresses 19 variables into 3 pattern matrices.

The results of the study revealed three factors that measure RRM in Ghana’s PPP construction industry, including financial resource management which was influenced by communicating the budget to project team members and project partners understanding the budget, and material resource management which was influenced by the provision of materials transportation and provision of delivery programs and labour resource management which was impacted by a commitment to pay social security and taxes and provision of good salaries, to address RRM in PPP construction organisations.

To incessantly improve the PPP risk management (RM) in construction through RRM, there should be a strong liaison between the universities, government agencies and the construction industry, and such collaboration will assist the industry to obtain first-hand information regarding the study findings and how they can be implemented to help the development of RM in the construction industry. This study is limited to Ghana and CFA and further study should explore structural equation model to determine the structure and measurement model of the risk resource variables.

The study may be valuable to industry stakeholders looking for new approaches to improve RM in their construction activities, particularly in PPP projects. Also, to assist reduce PPP risk, construction companies should use RRM in their organisations.

Construction material management is an important process in supporting construction operations that affect project performance. Previous studies attempt to identify factors influencing material management in different stages such as procurement, transportation and utilization. However, they lack a model to explain the relationship between influential factors and the effectiveness of material management. Therefore, this study aims to validate the variables and key factors influencing the effectiveness of material management processes.

A total of 42 variables were reviewed from literature in different stages of material management process. Survey questionnaires were used to collect data about participants' perceptions on these variables. The respondents were 200 project engineers and project managers from construction sites and offices in Vietnam. Then factor analysis techniques were undertaken to validate the structure of factor groups. Two methods of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were, respectively, performed to evaluate and verify the model's fit.

Factors influencing the effectiveness of material management were grouped into nine main factors, which are procurement issues, site conditions, planning and handling on site, industrial environments, contractual issues, quality control, suppliers and manufacturers' issues, transportation in and out site and security on site.

The paper has several implications for theory and methodology related to material management. It features influential factors in association with the material management effectiveness. Therefore, senior managers can more fully understand the errors in their works and propose timely solutions to limit the unwanted risks.

This research contributes on theoretical development on factors influencing effectiveness of material management processes. The key findings on influential factors can be applied to measure the effectiveness of material management processes.

Traditional “hierarchical” and “network-centric management” approaches often associated with the management of well-defined construction projects lack the adaptability to cope with uncertainty, standardised practices and the required conformance to industry standards. The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrative “holonic” methodology for the management of megaprojects in the construction industry, which incorporates both adaptability and conformance to standards, and to illustrate the associated benefits of such a methodology.

A multi-case study comprising three cases delivered in the USA and Australia, namely the Adelaide Desalination Plant (ADP), the Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, and the Olmsted Locks and Dam Replacement project were utilized to demonstrate the key features of the hierarchical, network-centric and holonic approaches to managing megaprojects.

The case studies demonstrate incorporating the holonic approach into the management of complex construction projects results in increased management effectiveness and project success. The proposed “holonic” methodology provides the potential to efficiently manage megaprojects navigating through high degrees of uncertainty.

The adoption of the holonic view by project management (PM) practitioners will help them manage megaprojects that are characterised by greater complexity. Second, the proposed methodology enables the discipline of PM to evolve in alignment with rapidly unfolding global transformation trends.

This paper demonstrates the application of the “holonic” methodology to the domain of the management of construction megaprojects. Such an approach is needed as construction projects become increasingly more complex across the world due to technological, political and social uncertainties, larger scale, changing environmental and safety regulations, and the growing involvement of human factors germane to this research.

The literature on construction and project risk management published during the period from 1960 to 1997 is reviewed and analysed to identify trends and foci in research and practice. This analysis is used to identify gaps and inconsistencies in the knowledge and treatment of construction and project risk. The findings suggested that political, economic, financial and cultural categories of construction risk deserve greater research attention, as do those associated with quality assurance, and occupational health and safety. Temporal aspects of risk, and risk communication, are also important fields for investigation.