Engineering Construction & Architectural Management

K. Ruikar; C.J. Anumba; P.M. Carrillo

2005 Engineering Construction & Architectural Management

doi: 10.1108/09699980510600099

Purpose – Web‐based technologies such as project extranets have introduced a new concept for communication and collaboration during construction projects. Project extranets have been used in the industry for some time now to manage information and document flows throughout the lifecycle of construction projects. Very few end‐user companies already using project extranets have documented and disseminated information about the implications of using this technology in terms of the impact on their businesses, benefits incurred and possible drawbacks. This paper aims to present findings from the UK. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology is case studies conducted with end‐users of a leading project extranet application in the UK. Findings – Findings suggest that some of the perceived drawbacks of using project extranets are in fact not viewed as drawbacks by end‐user companies. Also, the benefits incurred appear to outweigh some of the issues. The end‐user organisations believe that an increasing number of organisations will be encouraged to use project extranets when they see “visionaries” and “market leaders” such as themselves, benefiting from the technology and leading the way to its wider adoption. Originality/value – Wider dissemination of this knowledge will encourage more construction companies to adopt the technology which has a proven record of success on projects for which it has been used. The paper highlights the drivers for the adoption of this technology and its impact on end‐user business processes. It also documents the end‐user viewpoint on the benefits and drawbacks of using project extranets.

Patricia Carrillo

2005 Engineering Construction & Architectural Management

doi: 10.1108/09699980510600107

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate how Canadian engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies address lessons learned (LL) on their construction projects. Design/methodology/approach – This paper adopts a case study methodology. Findings – The exploitation of LL to improve performance on future projects is highly desirable for many construction organisations. The vision of an organisation that can readily recall what went well on a project and attempt to recreate those successes, as well as avoiding the repetition of past mistakes offers commercial sense. Originality/value – The paper provides a number of recommendations for UK companies regarding how the process may be improved in terms of encouraging LL to occur, the timing of LL sessions, identifying participants, the format for documenting LL and how these should be disseminated.

Elcin Tas; Hakan Yaman

2005 Engineering Construction & Architectural Management

doi: 10.1108/09699980510600116

Purpose – The objectives of this paper are to discuss the constraints stemming from the unstructured nature of the cost estimation practice in Turkey and introduce a generic computer aided building cost estimation model based on a cost significant technique for Turkish construction sector public projects in its detailed design phase. Design/methodology/approach – The research design was based on the simplified version of the bill of quantities method and a cost significant estimating model works on a cost database was suggested to overcome the problems. Underlying principles and basic steps of cost estimation based on cost significant work packages was explained by means of manual calculations. Findings – In order to automate the manual building cost estimation process, the software based on cost significant work packages was developed. Research limitations/implications – The software is currently in the testing phase and is being used for educational purposes. Making use of both public sector and current market prices in the cost estimation process, increasing number of projects stored in the database for more accurate results, estimating costs of different types of projects and calculating the cost significant value factor more precisely by using statistical techniques, those being employed by global cost models are suggested for future research. Practical implications – As the number of the similar projects in database is increased, the accuracy of the cost estimation is also increased. Originality/value – Estimators and graduate students can use the software to estimate building cost of public housing projects in its detailed design phase.

S. Thomas Ng; R. Martin Skitmore; Tony K.C. Leung

2005 Engineering Construction & Architectural Management

doi: 10.1108/09699980510600125

Purpose – The purpose is to report the results of research on ascertaining whether the various stakeholders in construction projects can adequately cope with the stresses they are confronting. Design/methodology/approach – Thirty‐three stressors covering various aspects of project implementation, such as organisation policies, working relationships, communication and personal factors, are identified and the manageability of the common stressors faced by management of construction projects in Hong Kong is assessed by means of a questionnaire survey. The relationships among individual stressors are similarly examined. The extent to which stress effects combine and accumulate when related stressors coexist is also considered. Findings – It is shown that the most difficult stressors to manage are “bureaucracy”, “lack of opportunity to learn new skills”, “work‐family conflicts” and “different view from superiors”. The results also revealed that the patterns of stress manageability differ between clients, consultants and contractors. The relationships among individual stressors are similarly examined. The extent to which stress effects combine and accumulate when related stressors coexist is also considered. Originality/value – The research reported constitutes a significant step towards the understanding and management of potentially stressful situations and their influence on the efficiency and effectiveness of construction industry participants.

Tarcisio Abreu Saurin; Carlos Torres Formoso; Fabricio Borges Cambraia

2005 Engineering Construction & Architectural Management

doi: 10.1108/09699980510600134

Purpose – The purpose is to introduce a safety planning and control (SPC) model that has been integrated into the production planning and control process. The paper is concerned with the impact of this model on human error control, since both workers' and managers' errors are major contributing factors in accident causation. Design/methodology/approach – The analysis of this impact was based on two stages: the analysis of the main types of human errors detected in five sites in which the model has been implemented and a discussion on how the model contributes to the design of safe work systems from a cognitive engineering perspective. Findings – The main conclusion is that six elements of the model (safety planning, near miss reporting, training, percentage of safe work packages indicator, participatory cycle, and planning and control diffusion) contribute to make both the boundaries of safe work visible and respected. Safety planning also helps to make the production system error‐tolerant to some extent. However, the analysis of causes of safety failures in the empirical studies pointed out a high incidence of violations of the boundaries (on average, 43.5 percent of the total safety failures), mostly by workers. Research limitations/implications – Although improvement in the existing mechanisms might make the model more behavior‐oriented, a broader set of measures is necessary to achieve excellence in dealing with human errors. Also, additional empirical data are necessary to clarify the nature and frequency of the human errors that have impact in construction safety. Originality/value – The model may help in devising more effective tools to reduce errors in construction.