ABSTRACT
The Malaysian government's pursuit of the Movement Control Order (MCO) had a severe impact on the performance of the construction project, which was hampered as a result of their actions. It becomes even more difficult when the region around construction projects is defined as a "red zone". This situation affects the performance of construction projects, which is related to project delays, increase in construction costs, waste of construction materials, labourers who have not received any salary, lack of labour, and etc. This paper attempts to investigate the relationship between MCO impact factors and the performance of construction projects in Malaysia. The quantitative technique was applied in this study. The contractors registered under the Construction Development Board (CIDB) in the state of Selangor were chosen as the respondents. In total, 100 respondents participated and gave full support for this study. This relationship was investigated using a correlation analysis technique. The highest impact is the construction cost. The construction costs increased due to the increase in the prices of construction materials and machinery, lack of labours, and additional expenses for COVID-19 precautions. The findings found that the larger the negative impact of MCO's actions during the COVID-19 outbreak on time, cost, and resources, the worse the performance of Malaysian projects will be in general. These factors should be considered by the government before a decision is made. For future research, it is suggested to look at how the regulation can assist the construction stakeholders to ensure the MCO does not have a big impact on the construction projects.
ABSTRACT
The construction sector is known as a major contributor to the overall development and expansion of the country's economy and any delay in a project may cause a cascading effect on the country's economy. In 2020, most countries have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that had a significant impact on construction projects resulting in project delays and project cost overruns. This paper identifies factors that influence the project cost escalation due COVID-19 pandemic and studies the escalation of main construction materials. Questionnaires were conducted online to the target respondents who were involved in the construction projects during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research area covers the Klang Valley which is centered in Kuala Lumpur and includes its adjoining cities and towns in the state of Selangor. The findings of this study reveal that the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) imposed by the government has significantly increased the project cost, such as hand sanitizer, face masks and Rapid Test Kit (RTK) provided to the workers. As a result, the contractor companies have suffered in maintaining their finances as they have to continue to pay their workers in full even when the companies are still surviving the epidemic of COVID-19. The findings of this study may assist construction parties as well as government bodies in strategically planning the finances in dealing with a similar pandemic situation in the future. © 2022 ISEC Press.
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This chapter discusses project governance from a resilience perspective. It argues that resilience is a key aspect of project governance, and that project governance is a key tool for project resilience. The chapter describes the resilience of projects and implications on project governance seen from different project actor perspectives. Projects are intentional interventions to change the client organisation's position in society and business. At a programme or portfolio level, projects may be changed or cancelled if the project is revised for a range of reasons. Such adjustments may be triggered by political decisions, policy changes, economic shifts, or other influences, often rooted well outside the projects themselves. The chapter illustrates examples of resilience and survival and its relationship with governance in the context of the overall railway organisational structure in Norway. The Venjar-Langset project had established a governance structure that served the project well when it was challenged by the COVID-19 situation. © 2023 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
ABSTRACT
Industrialized Building System (IBS) implementation is one of the best practices to enhance, which contributes to the overall development and economy of the Malaysian construction industry. The advent of COVID-19 has disturbed all aspects of life and the Malaysian construction industry is no different including housing projects. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to examine the impacts and new practice approaches of IBS implementation in the housing construction projects due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study conducted the quantitative approach and distributed the questionnaires for data collection. The respondents involved in this study are the G7 contractors in the area of Johor. A number of 140 responses were received and were analysed using SPSS version 22.0. The descriptive analysis was used to describe the respondents' background while the mean, standard deviation, and ranking were used to achieve the objectives of this study. The significant findings showed that the most impacts of the IBS implementation in the housing projects due to COVID-19 were the new safety regulations, improving the supply chain, and reducing the unskilled foreign worker. In addition, the respondents recommend some new practice approaches for IBS implementation including new incentives allocation, up-to-date technology implementation, and skillful workers utilization. In conclusion, this study has been established the impact of COVID-19 through identification of the impacts and suggested new practice approaches, which will help the contractors in managing housing construction projects effectively. © 2022, Construction Research Institute of Malaysia. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The health and safety of construction professionals have become one of the most critical concerns around the world. The construction industry is plagued by their ventures, which have been a challenge for years now. Given the sheer number of accidents in the construction industry and the repercussions for laborers, businesses, communities, and nations around the world, Construction Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) has become a very significant human resource problem for businesses and associates. The foremost aim of this research is to learn the implementation of the health and safety assessment before and after the COVID-19 outbreak to understand the risk management process in the construction projects and their respective security and mitigation strategies, as well as to consider a viable solution to the problem and to make a contribution to the knowledge of this topic. This paper composes of a literature review on health and risk safety management processes in construction. The data collection procedures and tools are based on a blended process technique, in which assumptions are taken in comparative analysis to the conceptual groundwork. Empirical data were obtained by the use of an online survey questionnaire and an in-depth semi-structured interview with key practitioners in the construction industry in the Philippines. The results of this research will be statistically analyzed with the data collection instruments of the study. Descriptive statistics utilizing histogram and inferential statistics utilizing Wilcoxon Test are considered. © 2023 DMICS.
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Many projects in Indonesia have implemented new strategies in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Many projects suffered unexpected losses during the COVID-19 pandemic, and conditions were unpredictable. This situation must be considered by all stakeholders participating in a project. Another problem in the implementation of construction is the fragmentation between project participants. Therefore, a strategy is needed in each phase of the project life cycle. In the absence of proper planning, the contractor is the party responsible for bearing the risk associated with this occurrence. Improved project performance is a shared responsibility among owners, contractors, designers, and subcontractors, all of whom need to tap into their own sources of creativity and innovation. The potential of partnering as a tool for achieving lean construction performance, it is still in its infancy as a means of enhancing project outcomes. In this study, we used qualitative methods and in-depth interviews enhanced by focus group discussions of 14 experts (owners, designers, contractors, and academics) using the Delphi method. The results illustrate the maturity of partnering in integrated project delivery (IPD);therefore, its guiding philosophy can be developed and implemented to improve the outcomes of construction projects in terms of cost, quality, schedule, health and safety, and environmental performance. The most important part of this research is related to the implementation of the 17th goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), i.e., partnerships to achieve the goals. This research contributes to a deepening of partnering practices that can drive performance in project implementation.
ABSTRACT
Construction disputes have long been identified as epidemics in the construction industry worldwide, which has become a more serious problem due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous studies on the dispute causes have primarily focused on country- or region-specific contexts and hence the results cannot be generalized in solving this chronic problem in a broader construction project worldwide. This study aims to explore and evaluate the critical dispute causes in construction projects through a comparative study between China and the United Kingdom. A total of 33 common dispute causes were identified through a comprehensive literature review and further consolidated by pilot surveys in the two countries. An online questionnaire survey was administered among construction professionals in China and the United Kingdom, with 170 valid responses returned for data analysis. Principal component factor analysis, mean score ranking approach, quartile analysis, and Mann-Whitney U testing were employed to identify the most critical dispute causes. Similarities and differences were mapped between the two countries. It was found that the five most critical categories of dispute causes in the two territories are: delay-related problems, lack of communication, contractual problems, site conditions, and design problems. The importance of variation in quantities, breach of contract, misinterpretation of contractual terms and conditions, and poor contract management was perceived significantly differently by the respondents in China and the United Kingdom, whereas design defects and failure to make compensation for additional work were the most critical common dispute causes in both countries. The research provides important findings for both academics and practitioners to holistically understand the similarities and differences of dispute causes in China and the United Kingdom and aids in preventing disputes more effectively in the global construction industry. © 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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As one of the economic stabilisers in Sri Lanka, the construction industry is affected severely due to the Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Unbalance of the Iron-triangle which refers to key Construction Project Goals (CPG) (i.e., time, cost, and quality) is one of the phenomena that can be addressed while Sustainable Development (SD) (i.e., economic, social, and environmental sustainability) has been streamlined to worse condition. Even though, sustainability must be prioritised in developing countries e.g., Sri Lanka, where significant construction works are currently underway, especially during this situation. Further, the appropriate construction and implementation in a construction project can make a dramatic contribution to the mandate of sustainable development. Hence, this research intends to investigate how the Iron triangle would be unbalanced during the new-normal situation where it has a significant impact on SD simultaneously. A qualitative survey strategy was used to achieve the research aim. A semi-structured interview survey was conducted to solicit the perception of experts. Nine experts were selected purposively, who had experience in both Sustainable Construction (SC) and project management, especially proceedings during the new-normal condition. To analyse the empirical data, the manual content analysis method was used. As the decisive outcome, the ‘Iron-star’ model was developed by merging the Sustainable triangle and Iron-triangle which pertained to the interrelation between SD and Construction Project Goals (CPG). Initially, interrelations between SD measures and CPG were cogitated by literature findings. Economic depletion, health-related issues, supply chain disruption, and cash flow issues were identified as interventions to achieve CPG through SD measures. Further, it revealed that the Iron-star can implement as the way forward for the construction industry in the Sri Lankan (SL) context. © 2022, Ceylon Institute of Builders. All rights reserved.
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Purpose>The aim of this paper is to synthesize knowledge related to performance evaluation of automated construction processes during the planning and execution phases through a theme-based literature classification. The primary research question that is addressed is “How to quantify the performance improvement in automated construction processes?”Design/methodology/approach>A systematic literature review of papers on automated construction was conducted involving three stages-planning, conducting and reporting. In the planning stage, the purpose of the review is established through key research questions. Then, a four-step process is employed consisting of identification, screening, shortlisting and inclusion of papers. For reporting, observations were critically analysed and categorized according to themes.Findings>The primary conclusion from this study is that the effectiveness of construction processes can only be benchmarked using realistic simulations. Simulations help to pinpoint the root causes of success or failure of projects that are either already completed or under execution. In automated construction, there are many complex interactions between humans and machines;therefore, detailed simulation models are needed for accurate predictions. One key requirement for simulation is the calibration of the models using real data from construction sites.Research limitations/implications>This study is based on a review of 169 papers from a database of peer-reviewed journals, within a time span of 50 years.Originality/value>Gap in research in the area of performance evaluation of automated construction is brought out. The importance of simulation models calibrated with on-site data within a methodology for performance evaluation is highlighted.
ABSTRACT
The quality of any construction project is considering the main factor that affect the continuity of any project. In disasters such as disease outbreaks, earthquakes or global war, construction filed is the first business affected. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in the COVID-19 diseases, call for partial curfew in most of the country cities from 7:00 pm to 6:00 am. The cur-few has a major effect on the contractions on all over the country. In additional to this, the project owners, contractors, or supervisors have a huge concern of anybody involved in the project get infected. In this work, an official survey has been constructed and distributed, in both languages’ Arabic and English, between different governmental companies around the whole country. 270 responses have been received from different perspectives, project contactors, supervisors, and owners. The analysis of the survey is done and introduced in this work. There are three main responses: owner’s, supervisor’s, and Contractor’s. the main factor from owner’s view is the. Funding where supervisors recommend the law and health situation and finally the contractor’s vote for the funding that has a great effect on the quality. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
Purpose: The impacts of COVID-19 on construction projects have attracted much attention in the construction management research community. Nevertheless, a systematic review of these studies is still lacking. The purpose of this paper is to systematically analyze the impacts of COVID-19 on the different stages of a project life-cycle, and comprehensively sort out the epidemic response measures adopted by project participants. In addition, the study also attempts to explore the challenges and opportunities faced by project management practitioners under the context of COVID-19. Design/methodology/approach: This study comprehensively demonstrates the systematic review process of COVID-19 related research in the construction industry, systematically summarizes the research status of the impact of COVID-19 on construction projects, and defines the strategies to deal with COVID-19 in project management;and through the visualization research, determines the current key research topics and future research trends. Findings: This study identifies 11 construction activities in the project management life cycle that are affected by COVID-19 and finds that the COVID-19 epidemic has the greatest impact on construction workers, construction standards, construction contracts and construction performance. The study further summarizes the six main epidemic countermeasures and mitigation measures taken within the construction industry following the arrival of the epidemic. In addition, the results of this study identify opportunities and future trends in intelligent construction technology, rapid manufacturing engineering and project management in the construction industry in the post-epidemic era through literature results, which also provide ideas for related research. Practical implications: COVID-19 has brought severe challenges to society. It is of great significance for the future sustainable development of the construction industry to identify the impact of COVID-19 on all phases of the project and to promote the development of coping strategies by project stakeholders. Originality/value: First of all, there is little study comprehensively reviewing the impacts of COVID-19 on the different stages of construction projects and the strategies to deal with the negative impacts. In addition, from a life cycle perspective, the used articles in this study were grouped into different categories based on project stages. This promotes an integrated and comprehensive understanding of historical studies. Moreover, on the basis of a comprehensive review, this paper puts forward future research directions to promote the sustainable development of the construction sector. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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Purpose: Access to unbiased self-reported (primary) data for a normative concept like social sustainability has been a challenge for construction project management (CPM) scholars, and this difficulty has been further amplified by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This paper aims to address this issue by asserting the suitability of secondary data as a methodologically sound but underutilized alternative and providing directions for secondary data-based research on social sustainability in a project setting. Design/methodology/approach: By drawing on a framework for social sustainability and using “project-as-practice” approach as its point of departure, this conceptual paper identifies possibilities for utilizing multiple secondary sources in CPM research. Findings: The paper provides a roadmap for identification of secondary sources, access to data, potential research designs and methods, limitations of and cautions in using secondary sources, and points to many novel lines of empirical enquiries to stimulate secondary data-based research on social sustainability in CPM. Social implications: Indicated secondary sources and empirical opportunities can support research efforts that aim to promote societal welfare through construction projects. Originality/value: The presented guidance will assist researchers in identifying, accessing and utilizing naturalistic, secondary data for designing and conducting empirical research that cuts across social sustainability and CPM. This, in turn, will facilitate methodological pluralism and “practice turn” in such research endeavors. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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Overhead costs in construction projects are costs that are borne and charged to the contractor to support the work. However, the amount of overhead costs for each project is different and is influenced by external factors such as environmental, socio-cultural, political, and the nature of the project location. Therefore, this study aims to identify the dominant external factors that affect construction project overhead costs and determine the percentage of overhead costs set aside by contractors from the direct costs of construction projects to anticipate the risks posed by overhead costs. In this study, a total of 30 questionnaires were collected from the contractors and a Likert scale of 1–5 was used to measure the level of influence of external factors on construction project overhead costs. Then, the collected data is processed using factor analysis techniques and produces three dominant external factors on construction project overhead costs, including (1) Economics, (2) Law, (3) Social-cultural and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Regarding the percentage of overhead costs on construction projects, the results show that overhead costs on construction projects range from 6 to 10% of direct costs. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
ABSTRACT
The coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) had a detrimental effect on the majority of sectors, including the construction industry. The industry’s operations, productivity, expenditures, and profit have all been impacted. With the present state of the economy, it’s natural that certain methods and frameworks are no longer as useful, efficient, or effective as they once were. This study examines the various relationships between delays, profit, productivity rate, and project acquisition, as well as their impact on the project-change management practices of companies in the Philippine construction industry, with the goal of developing a new project-change management framework that is flexible and adaptable to future changes. This research employs a variety of statistical techniques to ascertain the significance of each variable and its contribution to project change management. Through the use of artificial neural network modeling and causal loop diagramming, the different connections between the variables were graphically interpreted. The artificial neural network modeling of the variables demonstrated a high degree of accuracy, with a R all value of 0.99492;scatter plots also revealed a high degree of positive correlation. The causal loop diagram illustrates the many connections between the input variables and their contributing components. Together, the models and statistical tests summarize the criteria employed by the researchers to create a project-change management framework that is focused on its capacity to be used for both short- and long-term objectives, is applicable to the new normal, and is adaptable to any future change. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
ABSTRACT
Purpose>The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the global economy and, thus, the global construction industry. This paper aims to study the impact of COVID-19 on construction project performance in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).Design/methodology/approach>This study adopted a qualitative and exploratory approach to investigate the impact of COVID-19 and its policies on project performance in the UAE construction industry in critical areas of the project management body of knowledge (e.g. schedule, cost, resources and contracts). Semi-structured interview questions were asked from ten construction professional to obtain valuable insights into the pandemic’s effects on the UAE construction industry and the effectiveness of policies implemented to rectify the damage and identify the industry’s new normal.Findings>The findings indicate that the construction industry faced several challenges such as schedule delays, disrupted cashflows, delayed permits, approvals and inspections, travel restrictions, serious health and safety concerns, material and equipment shortages, among others which hindered the timely delivery of construction projects. It also indicates that efforts made by the government institutions and the construction industry of the UAE such as economic support programs, digitization of processes, fee and fine waivers, health facilities, among other statutory relaxations proved effective in supporting the construction industry against the adverse effects of the pandemic.Research limitations/implications>The research findings are limited to the literature review and ten semi-structured interviews seeking an expert’s opinion from industry professionals working in the UAE construction industry. The research team did not get access to project documents, contracts and project progress reports which may be required to validate the interview findings, and to perform an in-depth analysis quantifying the impact of COVID 19 on construction projects performance, which is a limitation of this research.Practical implications>The implication is that, owing to the imposed lockdowns and strict precautionary measures to curb the rapid spread of the pandemic, smooth execution of the construction project across the country was affected. The government institutions and stakeholders of the construction projects introduced and implemented various techniques and solutions which effectively handled the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the construction industry of the UAE.Originality/value>This study has identified the challenges faced by the construction industry of the UAE in the context of the management of project schedule, project cost, construction contracts, health and safety of construction employees and other related aspects of the construction projects. This study also identified the techniques and solutions adopted by various public and private institutions of the country and their implications on construction projects. Therefore, this study provides guidelines for policymakers and future research studies alike.
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Purpose: Policymakers are developing government-level pandemic response strategies (GPRS) to assist architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) enterprises. However, the effectiveness of the GPRS has not been assessed. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the interrelationships between GPRS and AEC enterprises. To achieve that aim, the study objectives are to compare GPRS effectiveness between small-medium and large AEC enterprises, develop groupings to categorize interrelated GPRS and evaluate the effectiveness of the GPRS and interrelated constructs. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review and semi-structured interviews with 40 AEC industry professionals were carried out, generating 22 GPRS. Then, questionnaire survey data was collected among AEC professionals. In total, 114 valid survey answers were received and analyzed using the Kruskal–Wallis H test, normalized mean analysis, factor analysis and fuzzy synthetic evaluation. Findings: Small-medium enterprises have four distinct critical GPRS: “form a special task force to provide support in maneuvering COVID-19,” “provide infrastructure investment budgets to local governments,” “develop employee assistance programs that fit all types of working groups” and “diversify existing supply chain.” Large enterprises have two distinct critical GPRS: “provide help in digitalizing existing construction projects” and “mandate COVID-19 as force majeure.” Eighteen GPRS can be categorized into the following five constructs: “market stability and financial aid,” “enterprise capability management,” “supply chain improvement,” “law and policy resources” and “information and workforce management.” The former two constructs are more effective than other GPRS constructs. Originality/value: This is the first paper that evaluates the effectiveness of GPRS for AEC enterprises, providing new evidence to policymakers for well-informed decision-making in developing pandemic response strategies. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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Entrepreneurs are striving to maintain the existence of their businesses in the face of the COVID–19 pandemic. Top management need to maintain effective processes and ensure employee motivation to keep the right employees in the business. The level of interest of both academic researchers and practitioners has increased regarding employee relations within organizations during lockdown situations. Most workplaces implemented work from home arrangements for most employees. This study seeks to examine the citizenship behavior effectiveness and the effectiveness of project implementation in construction projects in the oil and gas industry. Citizenship behavior effectiveness was used as a theoretical framework for this research. The construction project employees from the oil & gas industry were invited to take part in this research. Quantitative data analysis was employed with a structural equation modelling approach during the transition from office and construction sites to working from home. The findings revealed that citizenship behavior effectiveness has a positive influence through the observable variables. © 2021 Conscientia Beam. All Rights Reserved.