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The engineering construction standards in China play an important role in protecting the safety of the construction projects. They are the basic principles that standardize the construction activities and guarantee the quality of projects. However, there are many barriers that affect the adoption of the engineering construction standards. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the barriers that challenge the adoption of the engineering construction standards in China.

The research reveals the barriers that affect the implementation of the engineering construction standards in China through a literature review. Then this study uses factor analysis to analyze 12 indices which we get from a questionnaire to build explanations from the results.

According to this paper, four main brands of uncorrelated variables are derived which are the main challenges in implementing the engineering construction standards in China: management barriers, policy barriers, knowledge barriers and market barriers. This paper gives a clear classification of the barriers that the enterprises face while adopting the engineering construction standards in China.

This paper makes a contribution to the understanding of the barriers that affect the adoption of the engineering construction standards in China.

The purpose of this study is to explore the challenges hindering the adoption of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) among construction companies.

The construction industry needs innovative technologies due to its complex and dynamic nature. In this respect, the latest trends such as digitalization, building information modeling (BIM), Internet of things (IoT) are of utmost importance in terms of fostering the change in managing projects and encouraging industry practitioners to adopt the change for better performance. This paper focuses on I4.0adoption among construction companies. In this respect, a questionnaire was designed and administered to construction professionals to reveal the challenges in I4.0 adoption among construction firms. The respondents were requested to fill in the questionnaire on the I4.0 efforts of their companies. The questionnaire was intended to collect the perceptions of industry practitioners working at large construction companies. Based on these, the challenges listed were ranked based on their relative importance and success indices. Finally, the Mann–Whitney U test was conducted to test whether statistically significant responses exist among groups of respondents (i.e. young and old companies, large and small, high and low revenue and main area of expertise).

The results of the study indicated that resistance to change, unclear benefits and gains and cost of implementation are the major important challenges in terms of I4.0 adoption in construction projects. On the other hand, the data analysis implied that the majority of construction organizations successfully deal with the problems arising from lack of standardization, legal and contractual issues and cost of implementing in terms of promoting I4.0 adoption.

The study is expected to guide construction practitioners in terms of benefitting from I4.0 applications and deliver projects with better outcomes. This study might be used as a guide for the companies aiming to start their I4.0 transformation knowing the challenges and develop strategies for how to handle them. A concrete plan would help them achieve greater performance and benefit from the I4.0 implementation at the maximum level. Finally, the study implies that construction firms shall prepare action plans for handling each challenge listed and monitor their performance based on the planned and actual data of their projects.

This study investigates the major challenges of I4.0 among construction companies. This is one of the important studies, which puts I4.0 focus forefront of the construction industry with a clear identification of challenges that construction organizations have to address to transform their organizations into construction 4.0. The study has the potential to guide both industry practitioners and researchers to develop awareness for the benefits of using the latest technology and fostering innovation. This is expected to create value for construction clients in terms of achieving the product with serious gains such as time and cost.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Index by subjects, compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is a form of electronic communication designed to permit trading partners (customers and suppliers), in two or more organizations, to exchange business transaction data in electronic, structured formats. Unique to EDI, the electronic transmission of the transaction information can be processed directly by the applications within the receiving computer systems. The transmission of data in machine readable form eliminates the need for manual intervention in the data entry or data manipulation process. EDI is a tool for the electronic transmission and integration of information interorganizationally. A growing number of leading edge engineering and construction companies from around the world are implementing EDI applications to improve operational efficiency, enhance information quality, and achieve reductions in processing time of project critical information. EDI facilitates electronic commerce and is particularly useful in international construction endeavours. This paper provides an overview of EDI, discusses EDI applications in engineering and construction (E & C), outlines the status of international EDI standards development as it relates specifically to the E & C industry, and summarizes corporate benefits commonly attributable to EDI implementation.

The Equal Pay Act 1970 (which came into operation on 29 December 1975) provides for an “equality clause” to be written into all contracts of employment. S.1(2) (a) of the 1970 Act (which has been amended by the Sex Discrimination Act 1975) provides:

Civil engineering encompasses such a wide array of subject areas that it would be very difficult to cover all of them in one survey. Basically, civil engineers are concerned with the planning, design and construction of buildings, transporation facilities and other structures required for human health, safety and welfare. A major part of their job relates to achieving a coherent relationship between the “built environment” and the “natural environment.” They are required to fulfil this function within the framework of constraints imposed by the present day building codes, union regulations and economic considerations. This survey concerns itself mostly with the general civil engineering reference books and some selected sources on specialized topics like construction engineering, foundation engineering, structural engineering, highway and dam engineering and codes and specifications. A forthcoming survey will deal with the major area of environmental and sanitary engineering.

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.