ABSTRACT
The construction sector is one of the largest industries that were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the COVID-19 outbreak had numerous negative impacts, the pandemic is perceived to have positive impacts on the construction industry such as an increased reliance on innovative construction technologies and methods. Despite the pronounced benefits of offsite construction and its potential to address many uncertainties and challenges experienced by the construction industry, little-to-no previous research has been performed to study the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on offsite construction. To this end, this paper used an integrated methodology to study how the COVID-19 crisis would unfold for offsite construction as well as to examine the offsite construction measures that were taken by companies during the pandemic. First, subcommittees of industry experts were formed to guide the research process. Second, interviews were conducted to get information related to the industry's perceptions on the current and future impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on offsite construction. Third, data from business case studies were collected to verify the perceptions of the interviewed experts and the validity of the obtained findings from the interviews. The main findings of this paper showed that the COVID-19 pandemic has raised industry awareness on the importance of leveraging offsite construction technologies and methods in both short and long terms, since the pandemic required companies to seriously plan for further increasing their offsite construction capabilities. This research concluded that the enhanced focus on worker safety due to the pandemic will help accelerate the industry's move to offsite construction methods in the future. Ultimately, this research adds to the body of knowledge by showcasing why and how offsite construction technologies helped the industry adapt and respond to the challenging times during the COVID-19 pandemic and how the outbreak could be a catalyst for an increased reliance on offsite construction methods in the future. © 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
ABSTRACT
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) will handle many upcoming projects due to the recent statewide infrastructure strategic plan and the fast-track efforts affecting many infrastructure projects amid COVID-19. Nevertheless, many change orders are anticipated to occur on IDOT's projects. Thus, this paper examines the proper contractual management of changes within IDOT infrastructure transportation projects by following a research method based on the integration between a desktop analysis and a focus group analysis. The desktop analysis involved collecting information and data from existing resources, case studies, and documents related to change orders. The focus group analysis involved consulting with change order experts to verify that the outcome of each research step is useful and to validate the final outcomes of the paper. Based on 50 documented major change orders in IDOT projects and three litigated cases, two findings are provided. First, the top causes for key change orders within IDOT projects include contract administration, allowable contingencies, quantity omission or error, differing site conditions, and design changes. Second, the most critical change order related challenges within IDOT's infrastructure projects include approval procedures, compensation considerations, and applicable laws. This paper offers flowcharts, synopsis of opportunities and risks, and a checklist to help the contracting parties better administer change orders. Ultimately, the contributions of this paper to the practice include: (1) minimizing the number and amount of change orders, (2) helping the contracting parties better understand how their individual responsibilities contribute to the proper processing and management of changes and variations, (3) offering contractors the ability to visualize the different steps involved in the approval of change orders, (4) assisting the project stakeholders in identifying change order-related areas for improvement, and (5) allowing project owners to better mitigate, manage, and administer the contractual aspects of change orders. © 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
ABSTRACT
The outbreak of COVID-19 has impacted construction markets worldwide due to supply chain disruptions, workforce restrictions, and legislative changes. However, construction markets in developing countries are perceived to be more vulnerable to the challenges associated with the pandemic. As such, the goal of this paper is to capture the impact of COVID-19 on construction projects in developing countries by considering the case of the Iraqi construction sector. A multistep research methodology was adopted by the authors, including (1) literature analysis and semistructured interviews with 40 industry experts to identify a comprehensive list of construction themes and factors affected by the pandemic;(2) survey data collection from 388 industry professionals to quantify the significance and influence of each identified factor;(3) Cronbach's alpha test to check the reliability of the survey;(4) fuzzy inference system to assess the impact of the pandemic on each construction theme and factor;and (5) Mann-Whitney U-test to examine the perceived impact by the public and private sectors. Results show that the pandemic has impacted a total of 16 construction factors grouped under four construction themes, including contractual implications, construction financial market, and supply chain operations, as well as safety and risk management, where the latter is the most impacted theme. The factors impacted the most by the pandemic are safety management measures, interpretation of the contract language, building materials prices, risk management practices, construction materials, construction labor, and construction subcontractors. Also, the findings of the fuzzy model show significant difference in the captured impact of the pandemic between the public and private sectors. This research contributes to the body of knowledge by providing a foothold foundation for researchers and decision makers to enhance investigating the effect of the pandemic with its deep uncertainties in relation to developing countries. © 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.