Journal of Construction Research

Cities in the United States can expect to be affected by proposed stringent stormwater treatment plans and standards set to be triggered by existing Federal policy-making requirements. In Los Angeles, these standards require three levels of treatment of all stormwater before it is discharged into a public body of water. This work presents a methodology for conceptual cost budgeting for these new required treatments, and describes methodologies and cost modeling tools needed for assessment of city and regional economic impacts associated with construction and operation of these plants. The research is case-study-based, and presents nine different cost analysis scenarios based on different strategies for determination of rainfall, locations of plants, and size of plants.

The cost and size of the new collection and treatment facilities increases substantially if they are designed to accommodate a larger share of expected annual rain events. It will cost about six times more to build a system that can treat storm flows from 97% of the region's annual average storm days than it would to build to a 70% standard. This additional cost achieves about nine additional days of storm flow coverage. In addition, if stormwater treatment facilities are financed locally and constructed over a twenty-year period, most communities in the greater Los Angeles area would experience very significant employment and net economic losses.

Construction projects are very sensitive to project-specific conditions. Any possible combination of risk factors can significantly affect the success of a project's performance. Risk analysis has been used to predict the impact of various uncertainties that are inherent in construction projects. However, one key problem with present-day risk analysis methods is that they are basically mathematical or probability-oriented approaches which are not easy to adopt in real business because they easily become complex to capture the relations between the complex variables. This paper presents the use of a judgment-based method called Cross Impact Analysis (CIA) to model the cost risks of a construction project in a highly uncertain environment and to predict their impact on cost variance in the early stage of a bidding process. Then, a case study is performed to demonstrate the approach, which allows complex risk analysis to be performed simply by common users in capturing the risk variables' relations, while maintaining an acceptable accuracy limit.

The effective and efficient management of buildings necessitates, amongst other aspects, the ability to interrogate reliable data relating to condition, cost implications of that condition and the spend options available and appropriate. Most buildings have been subject to one or more surveys and data from these is often available to the building owner, manager or user. The form and value of such data is, however, variable in the extreme and is, not least, relevant mainly to the organization or person who commissioned that particular survey.

This paper introduces a quantitative model for the repair and maintenance of buildings/properties. It is based on a coded system of observing, assessing, recording and appraising the condition of those elements of a building which would most influence the costs of repairing or maintaining elements of, or the whole of, buildings.

Background information and criteria for the development of this model is detailed in this paper and also, the model matrix system defining the step-by-step calculation process of cost of repair and maintenance has been reported.

A detailed report on a case-study (application of the model) consisting of the data collection and cost analysis of a property is also provided. The case-study includes a comparison between the predicted cost of repair and the real cost of repair (cost after completion of repair work) concerning a residential dwelling.

Over the past decade there has been a growing literature on project success criteria, however there has been relatively little empirical data. This paper provides a significant contribution to the knowledge of project success by providing empirical data on the subject, by means of a survey of 150 Australian project managers on the subject of project success criteria. An analysis of the data found two distinct views: those that perceived project success solely in terms of the traditional project objectives of time, cost and quality; and those that considered success in terms of these objectives and the effectiveness of the project's product. The traditional project management success criteria of time, cost and quality still has a strong hold within the project management community in Australia. However, the most important success criterion was considered to be the product success criterion of meeting the owner's needs.

This paper presents the development of artificial neural network models for predicting client satisfaction levels arising from the performance of contractors, based on data from a UK-wide questionnaire survey of clients. Important independent variables identified by the models indicate that long-term relationships may encourage higher satisfaction levels. Moreover, the performance of contractors was found to only partly contribute to determining levels of client satisfaction. Attributes of the assessor (i.e. client) were also found to be of importance, confirming that subjectivity is to some extent prevalent in performance assessment. The models demonstrate accurate and consistent predictive performance for "unseen" independent data. It is recommended that the models be used as a platform to develop an expert system aimed at advising project coalition (PC) participants on how to improve performance and enhance satisfaction levels. The use of this tool will ultimately help to create a performance-enhancing environment, leading to harmonious working relationships between PC participants.

Innovative design management in architecture is urgently required due to the escalating complexity of building projects. At present, collaborative design must deal with multidimensional technical and social complexities. This paper critically appraises different design management approaches that are the implications of different ways of seeing design. It distinguishes the view that focuses on the end product of design from the one that focuses on the creation process. The last one includes design-methodological, engineering, and social psychological approach. For a successful implementation, different approaches have to be used complementarily. Therefore, a coherent design management framework is needed.

Clients in industrialized and developing countries complain about the poor performance of the construction industry. In Singapore, construction performs poorly when compared with other economic sectors in terms of quality, productivity and safety. The review of the industry under the Construction 21 initiative found that its performance lags behind those of its counterparts in industrialized countries. It offered recommendations to restructure the industry's practices and procedures, and thereby, enhance performance on projects.

This paper reports on a study to assess the motivators and enablers of efforts to improve the level of professionalism in Singapore's construction industry, and the quality and maintainability of built items. A questionnaire-based survey of companies was conducted. Various statistical techniques were applied. Lessons for developing countries are drawn. Appropriate initiatives identified include overcoming enhancing skills and professionalism, and adopting appropriate procurement arrangements.

The research aimed to explore if the information in the Australian Bill of Quantities (BOQ) was presented in a manner that could be utilized effectively by the end user. Populations surveyed; contractor, subcontractor and quantity surveyor, agree that the BOQ is a document that should be retained and would be used if produced. The adequacy of information was found to be in question by the users of the BOQ. The locational information is not adequate for its purpose. The quantities are neither located in the structure nor broken down into zones so useful for material ordering, daily work production management and cost management tasks. This information provided was requested to be supplemented by the inclusion of drawings, drawing numbers and the zonal breakdown of quantities in a smaller number of BOQ items. End users concluded that the current information contained within the BOQ is efficient but not effective.

Not one participant — quantity surveyors, contractors and subcontractors — believed they were adequately consulted or represented in production of the latest Standard Method of Measurement (SMM). It is concluded that there is a need for end-users such as contractors and subcontractors to have greater input into the design, development and implementation of the Australian SMM. The resultant "consensus document" could then be an effective communication tool that is used for estimating, planning, purchasing and site management.

Both the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) concur that occupational health and safety in Africa needs strengthening. In support of this realization are the need to maintain and promote workers' health and working capacity, and the need to become conducive to safety and health by improving both the working environment and work. The fight against HIV and AIDS in the workplace is a continental priority. In the absence of any other definitive or similar study, this study aims to establish a valid baseline assessment of the levels of knowledge, types of attitudes, perceptions and beliefs of construction workers in South Africa regarding HIV infection and AIDS. It performs both a descriptive function with respect to how many workers have correct knowledge regarding AIDS and HIV and a predictive function in terms of how knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, beliefs, behaviors and certain biographical traits relate to one another. This paper examines the attitudes and perceptions of HIV and AIDS among construction workers as determined during the first phase of an exploratory study commenced in August 2002.

This paper reports on the development of a computer model that will predict both overall project and activity duration, based on a number of pre-determined project characteristics. Fifty-six programmes of work were obtained. The data from the programmes of work of fifty of these buildings, encompassing a total of 11 different project types, were analysed, and used to develop the proposed model. Multiple linear regression analysis of the data showed that the duration and time lags of between 20 (for a single storey building) and 39 (for a seven-storey building) standardised activity groups, can be predicted using combinations of the twenty one most influential project variables.

The regression equations produced were tested on all of the activity groups for six new projects to determine their accuracy. The absolute percentage error in predicting overall duration varied between 0.38% and 6.68%. The mean absolute error in predicting the duration of activity groups varied between 1.38% and 22%. The accuracy in predicting overall duration was comparable with limited information available from previous studies, but the high level of detail in the programme generated means that the model is more flexible and capable of a broader range of applications than previous models.