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The fair wage potential (FWP) is a social assessment method that can serve as an important measure to estimate the related social impacts along a product's life cycle; however, it does not admit a direct relation to the functional unit. This research presents the weighted fair wage potential (WFWP) method that relates the functional unit to the FWP. It is a simplified method to connect the material inventory to social data. This study aims to develop an approach to assess and choose the best construction typology for buildings based on the social sustainability of workers involved in the sectors.

The study is presented in phases. Phase 1 selected and identified two Brazilian house projects, which were considered for the following processes: extraction of raw materials, manufacture of building materials and housing construction. Phase 2 assembled the social life cycle inventories and executed them using the social life cycle assessment (SLCA). The inventory of materials followed the functional unit: “1.0 m² of the built housing”, and the social inventory observed data extracted from the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD). The study considered the stakeholder category “worker” and analysed the impact subcategory “fair salary”. The study also divided the social data into categories: worker gender, worker race/colour, worker union and worker formality to analyse the impact of subcategories: “equal opportunities/discrimination”, “freedom of association and collective bargaining” and “social benefits/social security”. Phase 3 compared the projects according to the results from the SLCA. The FWP considers the wage paid at supply chain sectors, and the WFWP relates the functional unit to the social data.

The results proved that the wages paid by the construction supply chain are fair. However, there are differences between the FWP of male and female workers, white and non-white workers, unionised and non-unionised workers and formal and informal workers. The study of the actual Brazilian minimum wage indicated that the FWP is sensitive to the reference wage to which the analysed wages paid are related. Considering the WFWP, the constructive typology employed in Project B can generate increased positive social impacts than Project A. The proposed study provides excellent results, and it can be adapted to different data to assess the social conditions of other countries and sectors.

There is not enough primary data available for the variables real wages and real working time; for this reason, these variables received secondary data. Another limitation is the data used for the year range, since Brazilian microdata do not include years before 2002 and years beyond 2015.

The WFWP differs from the existing social sustainability studies because it relates the material information to social data; also, it defines the best option among the analysed alternatives, taking into consideration social sustainability, which enables the project design to go beyond technical aspects. The constructive typology and materials take into account the social sustainability of the construction supply chain, generating more sustainable projects and improving the circumstances of affected stakeholders.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the relative importance of factors affecting quality. This is important where great expenditures of time, money, and resources are wasted each year due to inefficient or non-existent quality levels.

An exploratory approach is employed. After a literature review, six interviews are initially conducted with construction experts and then a simple survey of 328 questionnaires was administrated through structured personal interviews among contractors and architects in the Jordanian housing sector.

The findings suggest that contractors and architects combined agreed that the highest important factors affecting quality are: human resource management, customer satisfaction, and construction specific factors. The findings also suggest that strategic planning, continuous improvement, resources are the lowest important factors. A conceptual framework encompassing the key quality factors is also developed.

This research has important implications for different level managers at construction companies. By understanding the quality factors, managers can focus on the highest factors and catch up with their lowest important factors in order to maintain a balanced and integrated quality approach.

This is one of few studies that investigate the importance of quality factors. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper providing empirical evidence of the quality factors in construction management in a developing country.

This paper aims to investigate construction site workers’ compliance with various coronavirus (Covid-19) protocols while working on construction sites.

This survey was conducted at the end of the imposed lockdown following Nigeria’s upsurge of the Covid-19 pandemic. The survey research method was adopted for the study using a structured questionnaire administered to 246 construction site workers under strict Covid-19 preventive measures. The data was complemented through personal observations of the study site activities. The results were analysed using frequency tables and a factor analytical approach.

The preventive measures in place on construction sites can be classified into personal protective measures, good etiquette/manners, contact precautions and prompt actions. Although the workers claimed to be aware of the Covid-19 pandemic, their disposition towards the preventive measures on construction sites is worrisome. Hence, their level of compliance with the protocols could mitigate the spread of the virus.

This paper fulfils an identified gap to study the need to promote public health by mitigating the global pandemic’s spread in areas where social distancing cannot be easily observed.

Quality systems entail having the organizational structure, responsibilities, procedures, processes and resources for implementing quality management such that there is a guiding framework to ensure that every time a process is performed the same information, method, skills and controls are used and practiced in a consistent manner. With its primary focus being the involvement of everyone, TQM has the potential to improve business results, greater customer orientation and satisfaction, worker involvement and fulfilment, teamworking and better management of workers within companies. However, the construction industry has been slow to embrace the concept of TQM. Construction firms have been continually struggling with its implementation. Historically, construction has been an industry reluctant to implement change. Consequently, it has remained behind where it should be on the implementation of TQM. Generally, the principles of TQM are not applied beyond management levels within general contractors. This paper reports on a study to identify those factors that hinder the implementation of TQM principles in the actual field operations of a construction jobsite.

The purpose of this paper is to report on the findings of a needs assessment study of South African women‐owned enterprises in construction. The study was done in preparation for the rolling out of an empowerment initiative country‐wide in South Africa, building on the lessons learnt and recommendations from the current and previous studies.

An extensive review of relevant literature was used to develop a survey instrument and guide the stakeholder workshops to establish the needs of women‐owned contractors in South Africa.

The study found that fair procurement processes, women‐friendly construction sites, a construction bank and relevant career‐aligned training with mentoring were enablers to transform existing enterprises to multi‐skilled independent entities able to participate in the mainstream construction sector and register in the higher grades of the CIDB Register of Contractors.

Findings are based on views from respondents in South Africa registered in grades 1 through 5 on the CIDB Register of Contractors with legitimate e‐mail addresses.

The professionally facilitated workshops and broad‐based stakeholder involvement in the project enhanced the validity of the study and the success of a development agenda if adopted for implementation.

The value of the paper lies in the roadmap for development for similar initiatives.

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed safety measures in every industry, including the construction industry. Thus, the construction companies have instituted safety measures at the construction sites to curve the disease’s spread among the workforce. This paper aims to examine the challenges encountered by construction firms in implementing COVID-19 safety measures at construction sites.

A qualitative research approach was adopted for this study using open-ended interview questions to solicit data from 19 construction professionals currently working on a construction project in South Africa. Content analysis with the assistance of an Excel spreadsheet was used to analyse the data collected.

The findings indicate that there are numerous challenges such as ignorance of COVID-19, the supply of poor personal protective equipment (PPEs) by contractors, lack of compliance, sanitising construction materials, difficulty in sharing tools and equipment, public transport usage by workers, superstition (COVID-19 is for a particular group of people), complying with social distancing rules, among others in the implementation of the COVID-19 safety measure at the construction site to curb the spread of the disease among the workers. These challenges have, therefore, hampered their effort to strictly adhere to the safety measures in accordance with the COVID-19 safety protocol at the project sites currently under construction.

The interviewees were construction professionals working in the South African construction industry during the COVID-19 period.

The implication is that, due to the challenges faced in implementing the COVID-19 safety measures, workers on the construction site are not adequately protected from contracting COVID-19. The workers may thus contract the disease at the project sites and transmit it to their families and vice versa, which may have further implications on the spread of the disease within the communities and society.

The study has identified implementation challenges of the COVID-19 safety measures at construction sites of which the construction stakeholders must institute measures to overcome since COVID-19 has become part of our daily life. The study also recommends some preventive measures to the owners of construction companies to help overcome or minimise these COVID-19 safety implementation hurdles to minimise the spread of the disease among the construction site workers.

This chapter examines the impact and influence of the visual and performing arts in sustaining thriving communities and highlights the essential role of libraries in providing access to arts and cultural programming and services. Creative and artistic intervention has become the imperative of our time. Creativity is required not only in design studios and workshops, but in all areas of work and life, both professional and personal. Places of artistic and cultural production are strongly correlated with strong local economies and sustainable communities. Libraries are public spaces that promote and maintain community, not only civic institutions. As such, the library plays a key role as incubator for the arts. Libraries advocate freedom: of ideas, communication, and information. Arts programming in libraries provides an avenue for people to communicate ideas and feelings through visual, auditory, or kinesthetic forms. But more than that, libraries are also about education, safe and welcoming spaces, community, and entertainment. Libraries support and promote the value of multiple perspectives and voices. Libraries can shape patronage of the arts and engage future generations by addressing social diversity and inciting inclusive participation in the arts. Many libraries are participating in the creation of new forms of understanding through arts programming, services, and resources. In an age where many of society’s most important challenges are related to our relationship with information, it is vitally important to include visual and performing arts professionals in the intersection between artistic practice and critical engagement with information.

This study aims to relate knowledge creation factors (KCFs) to construction organizations’ effectiveness, which can be measured by different effectiveness outcomes (EOs).

Data with regard to KCFs and EOs are collected from construction organizations in Vietnam using a survey questionnaire. Regression analysis is used to relate KCFs to EOs.

Various lists of specific KCFs that may significantly affect EOs are identified. Furthermore, several key KCFs that could play a vital role in enhancing different EOs are highlighted.

Owing to the use of data collected from construction organizations in Vietnam, the results of this study cannot be directly applied to other types of organization in other countries without using any other extra data.

Based on the results of relating KCFs to different EOs, construction organizations would know which specific KCFs are vital to their organizational effectiveness. Hence, they may enhance different organizational effectiveness aspects by focusing more on such KCFs.

In this study, 16 KCFs and 10 EOs which may be useful for organization-level knowledge management practices in construction are introduced. Furthermore, the specific controllable KCFs vital to different EOs are identified. Hence, construction organizations would establish KCFs-based strategies for their management activities to improve various organizational effectiveness aspects.

The study adapted the Career Decision Making Difficulties Questionnaire for the Arab world. The purpose of the study was to test a popular but scientifically unverified belief that people who were employed could experience less CDD.

Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire was administered to a sample of 500 university students to analyze CDD among full-time and part-time students and examine whether employment status determines to what extent they experience these difficulties. Univariate and bivariate analyses were used.

Employment status had no statistically significant effect on students' perceptions of CDD; 6 demographic variables were significantly correlated with CDD (gender, age, income, university grade-point average, satisfaction with the current major and social status); and students had dysfunctional beliefs about the career decision-making process, lack self-awareness, and had inconsistent information about internal and external difficulties.

Universities should design adequate career interventions before and after graduation and employers should implement human resource policies that reduce CDD and their negative impact on the workplace. Other methods of data collection and analysis could also be useful in the future, such as interviews. While scope of the study was acceptable, comparing countries and public versus private institutions could produce valuable findings.

The study tested and validated ACDDQ which could be used as diagnostic instrument to design career interventions and training programs. Employers need to allocate resources in the recruitment process to help potential recruits to understand the nature of work, processes, and requirements. Educators need to provide better coaching and career education for students, especially those in senior years.

Understanding career decision-making difficulties and factors that influence them will influence long-term human resource management, especially productivity, turn over and job satisfaction.

The study examined the important issue of difficulties in making career decisions among two groups of university students. With more employees go back to college for more education, it was not clear in the literature how career decisions might differ between the two groups. The issue was under-researched, especially within Arab countries.

Coastal land reclamation (CLR) projects have become an effective solution for population growth while creating new market areas and expanding revenue streams. Although a few studies have been conducted on risk management in CLR projects, they had very little prioritisation on financial and economic risk management. Thus, this study aims to manage the financial and economic risks of CLR projects.

A quantitative research approach consisting of three Delphi rounds was adopted for this study. The findings of this study were analysed and validated using statistical tools.

This study identified 13 significant financial and economic risk factors in CLR projects, among which poor quality of the sand and soil, delays in making payments, unpredictability of the safety and security of the country and high dredging volumes were the most significant. Most of these risks have to be borne by the client and the contractor. Conducting environmental impact studies, following quality control procedures and increasing social awareness are significant strategies to handle the financial and economic risks of CLR projects.

This study addresses the literature gap pertaining to financial and economic risk management in CLR projects by identifying its overall process, including the identification of significant financial and economic risks based on the severity levels; risk allocation among the client, contractor and consultant; and suitable risk handling strategies for each significant financial and economic risk factor. Moreover, the findings of this study can be used to effectively deal with financial and economic risks in CLR projects while raising society’s awareness.