Construction industry clients: A survey of their attributes and project management practices

The recent growth of interest in the strategic decisions made by clients as to how to organize and manage their projects has not as yet been matched by any extensive and systematic analysis of clients' attitudes and approaches towards project management. This paper seeks to help redress this imbalance by presenting findings from a survey of 138 client organizations drawn from both the private and public sectors. Focusing upon their experiences on a recently completed, comparatively large (£1 million plus) project, the paper examines similarities and differences in the ways in which clients organize and manage their projects and assesses the impact of these practices on project performance. Differences in the type, size and typicality of the projects are also taken into account in the analysis. The main conclusions drawn from the data are that client experience has an important impact upon many of the decisions made, that strategic decisions are often internally driven as opposed to project-based, that additional work and inadequate briefing still continue to cause problems during construction, and that there is little direct evidence in favour of alternatives to traditional managerial and contractual arrangements.     

建筑企业合同风险防范与管理

建设工程合同风险是客观存在的,按照风险的来源大致可分为客观风险和主观风险,合同风险是合同双方必须共同承担的,建筑企业合同风险防范与管理工作贯穿于投标、签约、实施等阶段。结合工作实践,论述了建筑企业合同风险的防范与管理措施。     

承包企业注重工程施工风险与索赔

分析了造成施工风险的原因,针对建筑工程的特点,阐述了承包企业建立风险管理机制的必要性,并对如何做好索赔工作进行了论述,指出承包企业应充分认识、重视和运用风险进行索赔管理,以降低成本、维护企业的合法权益。     

Housing refurbishment contractors selection based on a hybrid fuzzy-QFD approach

With low demand for new construction, limited land usage, and being aware of sustainability, the refurbishment market has grown greatly and has become more in demand in the construction industry. Most refurbishment work, however, involves a high level of risk, uncertainty, and coordination, which are likely to cause asymmetric information between contractors and residents in a refurbishment process. Most private refurbishment contractor selections are usually based on word-of-mouth referrals that lack a systematic and objective assessment method. This study proposes a hybrid approach combining fuzzy set theory and quality function deployment (QFD) to establish a housing refurbishment contractor selection model. With this model, residents can select an optimal refurbishment contractor according to requirements. To test the effectiveness of the proposed model, a known multiple criteria decision-making method, PROMETHEE, is applied to compare the results of contractor selections. The result reveals that the proposed hybrid fuzzy-QFD approach can be expected to be successful and has potential for handling multiple criteria decision-making problems.     

Refurbishment management: challenges and opportunities

The findings from this study involving feedback from refurbishment managers and organizations identify the challenges and opportunities facing the management of refurbishment works. For refurbishment contractors, survival will be contingent upon requisite skills, knowledge and competencies of their employees, as well as innovative processes, products, services, technologies and markets. The need for a structured approach to education and training for refurbishment management is argued as a vital component for refurbishment organizations. Les resultats de cette etude, qui donne l'avis des dirigeants d'entreprises charges des travaux de renovation, identifient les defis et les possibilites se presentant pour les chantiers de renovation. Pour les entrepreneurs charges de tels travaux, la survie dependra de la qualification, des connaissances et des competences requises de leur personnel, ainsi que des procedes innovants, des produits, services et marches. La necessite d'une demarche rationnelle en matiere d'instruction et de formation propres a la gestion de chantiers de renovation est consideree comme un element essentiel pour ces entreprises du batiment.     

Statistical analysis of causes for change orders in metropolitan public works

The fragmentation of design and construction processes increases the likelihood change orders in conventional project procurement methods. According to the related literature and practical experience, the causes for change orders are greatly varied, thus making the task of change management difficult for most clients. In consequence, cost and time overruns are often the direct outcome of mismanagement of changes. This paper, however, argues that this undesirable situation can be minimized or avoided as long as a mechanism for handling change orders can be understood and built into project management. This paper reviews the recorded change orders in 90 metropolitan public work projects completed before the year 2000 in Taipei, Taiwan. Based on this database, the chains of events are identified and the causes for change orders are categorized. Statistical correlation and variance analysis are used to find the connection among layers of events or causes. This study further provides preliminary recommendations about project management for change orders. The finding of this paper can be used as a reference for clients in developing their project procurement strategy.     

1999年版FIDIC施工合同条件下承包商风险探析

对合同风险进行识别是建设项目各相关方风险管理工作的重要内容。文章以FIDIC1999年第一版《施工合同条件》为研究对象,提出了该合同条件风险与责任相称、不可预见性风险分配的原则,以及业主处于主导地位、工程师作用显著、DAB解决争端和以合作机制对待风险的特征。采用合同分析的方法识别基于该合同条件的承包商风险问题,探讨承包商承诺的充分性风险、生产设备、材料或工艺缺陷风险、承包商未履行告知义务风险、延误风险、工程变更风险、环境保护风险、合同文件不同解释引起的风险、承包商可索赔事项的风险、承包商可投保的风险等等。为承包商在使用该合同条件的工程项目中更好地进行合同管理和风险管理提供借鉴。     

浅析城市建筑整治后的长效管理——以上海市迎世博600天行动建筑整治为例

对上海市自2008年9月起开展的迎世博600天行动城市建筑整治工作进行了回顾总结,分析了存在的主要问题,并提出了加强城市建筑整治长效管理的对策与建议。     

BIM 技术在建筑工程施工进度预测与管理中的应用

建筑工程施工进度管理是建筑工程管理的重要内容,关系着整个施工工程的效益和质量,做好该项工作对保证建筑工程如期、高质量完成有着重要的意义。传统的建筑工程进度预测与管理工作多凭借人工完成,进度预测结果往往不够准确,且进度管理手段大多较为被动,无法实现全面、系统、高效的进度控制,而目前,BIM技术的应用则可很好的解决上述问题。鉴于此,本文将对BIM技术在建筑工程施工进度预测与管理中的应用价值进行分析,并就BIM技术在建筑工程施工进度预测与管理中的应用思路、流程、具体对策进行分析,以供参考。     

Applying Lean principles to a building refurbishment project: experiences of key stakeholders

Lean construction can be conceptualized as a process-oriented approach derived from the Toyota Production System (TPS). Elements of the approach include pull-driven scheduling, minimizing stock held on site, visual management, levelling workloads and teamwork. While there has been empirical study of Lean in relation to new-builds there is a need to analyse its applicability to other contexts, such as refurbishments. The effect of using Lean on the refurbishment of a municipal building in Germany is investigated in this study. Participant observation, archival project documentation and semi-structured interviews are used to collect data on the use of Lean. The findings indicate the difficulty of applying Lean to refurbishment projects, particularly operating pull-drive scheduling, and the experience of the project brings into question the practicalities of applying the fundamental Lean principle of having a smooth level flow of work to refurbishment projects. Minimizing stock held on site with JIT delivery of materials also proved problematic, which was exacerbated by the commercial arrangements between subcontractors and suppliers providing no incentive to Lean. The use of the visual management aspects of Lean, such as performance charts, coupled with weekly meetings, were easier to adapt to the project and generally had a beneficial impact.     

Perceptions and management of the risks in tendering for refurbishment work

Dr Quah Lee Kiang of the School of Building and Estate Management at the National University of Singapore, presents the results of a survey to investigate a large body of UK contractors' claims that they were subjected to higher risks in refurbishment work; this higher risk exposure being reflected in the greater variability in tender bids for such work.     

GA-based decision support system for housing condition assessment and refurbishment strategies

Refurbishment work involves improvement, upgrading, renovation, retrofit, and repair of existing housing. With limited land usage and being aware of sustainability, the refurbishment market has faced increasing needs worldwide. During the long life cycle period of housing, most residents are undoubtedly faced with refurbishment requirements. However, it is not easy to make assessment and refurbishment related decisions due to the lack of knowledge and experience. This study presents Genetic algorithm-based on-line decision support system (DSS) to help residents easily conduct the housing condition assessment and offers optimal refurbishment actions considering the trade-off between cost and quality. Two refurbishment models are developed to explore the relationship among the life cycle cost, restoration cost and improved quality. The result reveals the proposed DSS solves the problems arising from asymmetric information and conflicting interests between residents and contractors, as well as improves traditional housing condition assessment to be more effective and efficient.     

Service management in housing refurbishment: a theoretical approach

It is unusual to find that housing refurbishment projects have been undertaken with a clear focus on customer orientation directed towards the tenants, or owners of cooperative flats or condominiums. Only recently have researchers in construction management begun to look closer at the relationship between contractors and customers. To assess the scope for customer orientation in the refurbishment industry, current thinking in service management is reviewed here in an attempt to identify principles with implications for housing refurbishment. There is a consensus among service management investigators that services are intangible; other often mentioned characteristics are heterogeneity, perishability, and the inseparability of production and consumption. Except for inseparability these characteristics are valid for refurbishment. Nevertheless, features such as the long turn-round time, the number of participants, the complexity and the uncertainty, distinguish housing refurbishment from most services. There is strong empirical support for the claim that customer satisfaction increases customer loyalty and gives the service producer a positive reputation, ultimately increasing profitability. It is concluded that this insight can be interpreted operationally for housing refurbishment projects, bearing in mind that the tenant or the owner of a cooperative flat is the customer's customer.     

Making sense of supply chain management: a comparative study of aerospace and construction

Current recipes for learning across business sectors too often fail to recognize the embedded and contextual nature of management practice. The existing literature gives little emphasis to the symbiotic relationship between supply chain management and the broader dynamics of context. The aerospace and construction sectors are selected for comparison on the basis that they are so different. The UK aerospace sector has undergone extensive consolidation as a result of the imperatives of global competitive pressures. In contrast, the construction industry has experienced decades of fragmentation and remains highly localized. An increasing proportion of output in the aerospace sector occurs within a small number of large, globally orientated firms. In contrast, construction output is dominated by a plethora of small firms with high levels of subcontracting and a widespread reliance on self‐employment. These differences have fundamental implications for the way that supply chain management is understood and implemented in the two sectors. Semi‐structured interviews with practitioners from both sectors support the contention that supply chain management is more established in aerospace than construction. The introduction of prime contracting and the increasing use of framework agreements within the construction sector potentially provide a much more supportive climate for supply chain management than has traditionally prevailed. However, progress depends upon an improved continuity of workload under such arrangements.     

民营企业发展BOT项目的风险管理研究:基于某污泥处理项目的案例分析

国家积极鼓励和引导民间资本投资基础设施和市政公用事业,但与国营企业相比,我国民营企业发展BOT项目还存在明显劣势,BOT项目的风险管理是民营企业的挑战。对民营企业投资的某污泥处理BOT项目出现的争议进行分析,发现该项目存在着公共部门协调能力、费用支付、项目变更、技术创新及过程控制、费用计算方式等主要风险。结合BOT项目的风险管理理论和特点、风险分担原则和目标、民营企业的常见劣势,进一步揭示民营企业在政治风险、建造风险、运营风险、市场和收益风险、金融和法律风险等方面的管理和分担失误,最后提出民营企业发展BOT项目的风险管理建议。为今后民营企业参与类似BOT项目,在风险管理方面提供参考。     

Estimation of life expectancy of wood poles in electrical distribution networks

Wood poles have been commonly used to support electrical lines throughout Canada. The electrical networks in Ontario alone use over 2 million wood poles to support distribution lines. The aging and degradation of wood pole infrastructure built in 1950s and 1960s have potential to increase the risk of pole failure resulting in power outage and costly unplanned maintenance work. Therefore, the development of a scientific and cost-effective asset management philosophy has become increasingly important to power utilities.The paper presents a probabilistic approach to minimize the life-cycle cost of inspection and refurbishment of wood poles in a large distribution network. A key input of probabilistic methodology is the life-time distribution function of wood pole, though its estimation is often hampered by the lack of data. The paper presents a comprehensive statistical analysis and interpretation of actual wood pole inspection and surveillance data collected by power utilities. The statistical analysis provides estimates of life expectancy and the survival curve of a typical distribution wood pole in-service in the Canadian climate. The optimization of refurbishment policy presented in the paper is generic and equally applicable to the asset management of other civil infrastructure systems.     

基于委托代理的铁路建设项目施工组织模式问题分析——以某项目架子队管理模式为例

架子队经证实是一种适合我国目前高速铁路建设高要求的新型施工组织模式,较之传统的劳务分包模式在工程质量、安全、劳务人员管理等方面更加可控.通过对施工企业、劳务公司、劳务人员这三个劳务供求的主要利益相关方之间的博弈关系进行分析,认为标准化管理思想可以有效地控制架子队模式下的新型委托代理关系中所存在的各种风险,并用案例加以证...     

浅谈天然气采输过程环境保护管理

环境管理作为HSE管理的重要内容之一，与安全管理同样重要。天然气采输工程包含大量的工艺作业，若环境风险防控措施不到位，极易引发严重的环境污染事故。文章分析了天然气采输过程所涉及的环境保护问题，并对目前环境管理现状进行分析，识别天然气采输过程中的环境风险，分别从技术措施和组织管理措施两个方面提出了环境管理建议，为天然气采输过程的环境保护工作提供指导性依据。     

Changes and change management in construction and IT projects

Modelling for change management in construction might benefit from experiences from other industries. This study compares reasons for change as well as change practices in interorganizational relationships in construction and information technology. Sixteen contractual relationships have been studied through a questionnaire and interview survey conducted among both clients and providers. Project-type relations are contrasted with more continuous service support contracts. More than their providers, clients tend to ascribe high change frequencies to an increase in technical understanding during projects. Early provider participation is associated with lower change frequencies, while the strength of incentives is less influential. The ease of transforming changes into new projects varies between technologies. Irreversibility is important, as well as relations between pre-investigations and the successive revealing of initial conditions, together with the life-cycle of formal and informal communication. Findings can be used for transfer of agile practices.