Factors Affecting Construction Productivity in Cambodia

In majority, the time and cost over-run in the project can be assumed to either unforeseen or foreseen events for which uncertainties are not properly accommodated (Perry & Hayes, 1985). Similarly, the construction industry in Cambodia is also currently suffering from project delay and cost over-run because of low productivity. The main reason is being almost all contractors have a very limited knowledge in construction management. They persist on their past experience and professional ability only.

Moreover, in the book “The Construction Industry” (WorldBank, 1984) concluded that due to the limited skills, knowledge and resources on developing countries, a large amount of projects were won by foreign contractors. Other problems identified in the report included inefficiencies in using material, tool and equipment, imbalances in organizational structure, limited funds, poor planning and lack of human resource development. Many of these problems are endemic within the Cambodia construction industry nowadays.

In other to deal with this problem, the current weaknesses must be found out. It means one of the important things that have to be considered now is the productivity. It has been remarked that productivity improvement can significantly reduce overall project costs and schedule delays. Failure to improve productivity to match the increasing labor wages has pushed the construction cost. Then, productivity improvement is something that every Cambodian contractors should be aware of advantage pursue. Construction personnel understand the importance of productivity improvement and know how to improve productivity is prerequisite of productivity improvement.

The site productivity problems/inefficient encountered by the construction workforce first has to be tackled as they are the root causes leading to the low productivity. If the most important affecting factors in any contracting organization are identified, measures can then be taken to apply them in order to upgrade the contractor’s performance (Ofori & Chan, 2001). With an increasing productivity, the local contractors are able to mitigate the construction cost and therefore benefit from a higher profit. Likewise, the contractor can even offer a lower bidding price to increase his competitiveness. That is the reason why a site level investigation is conducted in this research. Mr. Hong Meng made a case study to assess the management understanding on productivity. The knowledge and understanding in productivity among the construction personnel is the basement of productivity improvement. His research also aimed to:  

(1)     study the productivity of small and medium project in SMEs in Cambodia.

(2)     investigate what are the management practices effect construction productivity of Small and Medium Project in SMEs in Cambodia.

(3)     investigate the critical factor effecting construction productivity in Cambodia.

(4)     provide some recommendations and suggestions for productivity improvement under the construction situation in Cambodia.

Conclusion

1. Study the productivity of Small and Medium project in SMEs

The finding indicated that in term of Labor Productivity (LP) and Percentage Plan Complete (PPC), Small Project had higher productivity than in Medium Project. The main reason is that Small project has smaller scope of work than the Medium one. By the way, there is no significant difference between the productivity of Small and Medium Company because they are both using similar management style: follow pass experience, same technologies and type of labor skill.

2. Effect of management practice on productivity of Small and Medium Project in SMEs

The outcome of this objective is that in Cambodia, there were similarly seven factors of practical management which has effect on productivity between Small and Medium Project. There are payment to staff on time, conduct activity checklist, develop WBS, assign the work base on their skill, reward outstanding performance, recruit skill worker, and team building trust.

Likewise, there were also seven critical factor of management practice which affect the productivity between Small and Medium Company such as assign the work base on their skill, payment to staff on time, conduct activity checklist, reward outstanding performance, team building trust, develop WBS, and assign clear responsible to staff.

All in all, among 30 factors of management practice improve construction productivity in Cambodia, the majority of respondents agreed that the first top ten critical factors needed to consider in order to increase productivity of small and medium project in SMEs are ranked from the most important to the less important as following; Rank1:Assign the work base on their skill, Rank2: Conduct activity checklist, Rank3: Payment to staff on time, Rank4: Reward outstanding performance, Rank5: Develop WBS, Rank6: Recruit skill worker, Rank7: Develop method statement, and Team building trust, Rank9: Develop site layout plan, and the last ranking is Assign clear responsible to staff.

3. Factors effecting construction productivity in Cambodia

The results from the analysis showed that the top ten critical factors which have positive effect on productivity are: (1) Skill & Experience workers, (2) Good site layout, (3) Competent and Experience manager, (3) Quality Construction, (5) Qualify sub-contractor, (6) On time procurement and material supply, (7) Good project scheduling, planning, and controlling, (8) Competent supervisor, (8) Provide complete and accurate drawing, and the last one (10) No change order from owner.  Among overall factors affecting construction productivity, it was found out that Engineer and Sub-contractor are the most critical group and the second one is H.O & Management factor. Material, equipment and tool are the third important group.

Recommendation

Base on the result of this study, construction productivity shall be improved and met their goals if they will be able to alleviate the effect of adverse factors, and be focused on the top 10 critical factors as mentioned above. Moreover, more effective management methods and techniques are required to improve the construction productivity too. Since the productivity improvement will not only make an organization more profitable, but also increase its chance of survival in the industry, especially as there is very high competition due to economic crisis. If improvement in many organizations’ productivity can be facilitated, overall construction productivity in Cambodia will also be improved.

Further recommendations from the respondents reveal that construction productivity could be improved if contractor must have enough assets for processing the project and have clearly contract with the owner.

His thesis abstract is copied below.

Abstract

Construction productivity in Cambodia is still low which required to be improved in order to compete with foreign contractor. As we know that in a rapidly developing and competitive market, the importance of delivering a project on schedule within cost and quality is high priority. Moreover, by running the project with high productivity, the contractor can gain benefit in terms of earlier revenue, financial return. And more than that, the unquantifiable benefit is from the improvement of company reputation in market, and the risk on construction can be earlier transferred. On the contrary, the local contractor company nowadays, they are mostly managing the project by following their pass experiences which is often delayed with overrun budget.

By the questionnaire survey and data analysis, the results of this study show that construction productivity in Cambodia shall be improved and met their goals if the contractor be able to alleviate the effect of adverse factors. The outcomes show that the high impact productivity improvement factors are (1) Skill & Experience workers, (2) Good site layout, (3) Competent and Experience manager, (3) Quality Construction, (5) Qualify sub-contractor, (6) On time procurement and material supply, (7) Good project scheduling, planning, and controlling, (8) Competent supervisor, (8) Provide complete and accurate drawing, and the last one (10) No change order from owner.

Keyword : Construction Productivity, Labor Productivity, Percentage Plan Completed, Small and Medium Project,  SMEs

Total Quality Management Application of Interior Contractors in Thailand

In Thai interior industry, there is no clear evidence related to quality of interior works, and it is one of the main problems which can be faced by the interior contractors. From site survey, the defects, reworks, and poor quality products can be found and it is realized to be serious problems in the project site and also in the interior company. These problems directly affect company reputation because of customer complaints. Furthermore, most of customer‘s complaints are related to interior works such as door, marbles, plaster and paint, tiling, timber flooring, wardrobe, see Figure 2.

Due to the specific and costly materials for decorating and finishing, the small defects influence to cost. However, the quality management concepts tend to prevent quality problems. Consequently, the benefit of increasing this prevention can be gained in term of money as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Costs and benefits of quality management

(Source: Low & Ke-Wei, 1996)

Figure 2: The percentage of customer complaints regarding defects in each unit

(Source: CDL; real estate development company in Singapore,

Illustrated in Oakland and Marosszeky, 2006)

These can be a few examples of the quality problems which are usually interfaced in the interior decorated project. The common quality problems such as defects, reworks, and poor quality products, reflect the poor quality management in organizations. In conclusion, TQM will help to reduce the amount of work for employees if they no longer need to attend to customer complaints and defect problems (Low & Teo, 2004).

Ms. Nichapa Nirasok made a study aimed to:

1. understand the application of TQM of interior contractors in Thailand

2. develop TQM framework which is applicable in interior contractors in Thailand;

and

3. identify the barriers in implementing TQM of interior contractors in Thailand

Conclusions

Objective 1: To understand the application of TQM of interior contractors in

Thailand

In interior industry in Thailand, the term TQM has not been known well. However, the implementations of TQM in the case studies are observed. Most of the companies have already implemented TQM implementations, but they have not used the term TQM.

The top managements of interior contractors need to understand the importance of TQM application. The aim of TQM implementation is to increase external and internal customer satisfaction with a reduced amount of resources. In order to implement TQM in practice, the top management commitment is the key. Without the support from top management commitment, the implementation of TQM is not possible.

Employees are considered as the key asset for the interior contractor. People management is one of the essential factors for implementing TQM in interior contractor. By the nature of the interior works, the workmanship is the most important since the aesthetic is one of the good quality meanings. The importance of investment on human resources is realized by the top management. In order to improve the workmanship, the organization learning is conducted.

As the aim of TQM which is to increase external and internal customer satisfaction with a reduced amount of resources, the effective quality control system and effective working process are needed. Roles and responsibilities of employee in working process have to be clear. For example, the wood work team needs to know what are the requirements of the next team; assembly team. The wood work team has to deliver their products with the quality which is the assembly team required. In this case, the assembly team is the wood work team‘s customer. So, the wood work team needs to satisfy their customer by delivering the quality product. The details of requires of each team. This working climate could be gain the internal customer satisfaction. Once, the interior contractors can assure the quality requirements. The external customer satisfaction could be gained as well.

Besides, the effective working process, the quality information should be collected. The information should be the documents with photos. The key is this data should be used for improvement. It does not matter how big is the improvement but keep improving is the crucial. The employees have to learn and participate in any improvement.

Suppliers and subcontractor in the interior industry are the main parties as well. Without the good quality of raw materials, the quality of any interior works could not be good. For the subcontractors, in practice, sometimes, interior contractor buy the raw materials for them and pay only for the wages, for example, the glass or mirror works, which are fragile and expensive. Subcontractor may not be able to bear such risk. In the traditional approach, interior contractor companies hire the outsource subcontractors to do some parts of the works. Still, the partnering subcontractor which is mentioned as in-house subcontractor approach is successful in some companies. Some companies, they hire the in-house technicians to do all the works. This approach is also successful for some companies due the quality requirements could be easier to control but higher cost.

Equally important, the customer is one of the main parties. It could be seen that the customer service, relationship, and partnership are directly related to the top management commitment. The top management develops, and gives the priority to customer management. The specific team has assigned to work on the customer services. Especially, the process to solve the customer complaint is managed properly. The personal relationship would be developed by the top management as well. The customer feedback is the key for improvement. The customer satisfaction on the works also would be recorded and it would become to the tomorrow‘s provisions.

Objective 2: To develop TQM framework which is applicable in interior contractors in Thailand

The key dimensions of TQM and the application of TQM in interior contractors in

Thailand has been shown in Table 1. Since, there is no TQM completed implementation

company. So, these applications have been justified by the qualitative assessment as good

TQM practices by comparing among five qualified interior contractors. 

Her thesis abstract is copied below.

Abstract

The Total Quality Management (TQM) aims to increase the external and internal customer satisfaction. The key aspects of TQM are (1) top management commitment and leadership; (2) customer management; (3) organizational learning; (4) people management; (5) process management; (6) continual improvement; (7) quality information management; and (8) supplier and subcontractor management.

In this study, the qualitative approach is conducted. The applications of TQM in interior contractor in Thailand were studied. The five qualified interior contractors in Thailand are chosen to be the case study. The interviews, observations, and documentation were used as the data collection tools. In data collection and analysis, the key aspects of TQM have been a guideline.

The practices of each interior contractor are common and different. The common and unique applications are discuss in Chapter 4. Among the five case studies, the good practices which could be justified by the qualitative assessment are used to develop the framework for TQM application in interior contractor in Thailand. Also, the difficulties in implementing TQM in interior contractors are identified.

Keywords: Total quality management, TQM, Application, Framework, Interior contractor, Thailand

Application of Value Engineering in Nepalese Building Construction Industry

Completion of construction project within given time, cost, quality and material specification has become major issues in construction industry. The typical problem that the construction industry has been always victim of is project delay and cost overrun dispute (Kaliba et al., 2009). Owner budget, and schedule constrain, design engineering’s design and preparation of contract document without deep-rooted understanding of construction method and the contractors who often builds without appreciation of design principles or consulting the design engineering are the main reasons that cause disputes among these different parties that are involved in a construction project (Bedian, 2004). This dispute is the root cause for the project delay and cost overrun. In such condition most of the time quality has to be scarified in order to save time and cost. So to avoid such critical situation there is a need of key creative ideas that can reduce the project life cycle cost without lowering quality or function of the product. The creative idea is known as Value Engineering (Dell’s Isola, 1988). Foo and Chong (2002) have given some beneficial structure on the application of VE. This concept has been implemented successfully in various developed countries across the globe and it has been successfully proven that construction industry can be benefited by the application of the VE concept.

From preliminary investigation, it was found that Nepalese building construction industry is also suffering from the problems mentioned above. In most cases, local contractors have not been able to deliver projects on time and sometimes not up to the required quality standard (Bhattarai, 1996). They still follow the old construction technology and methods.

The problems that Nepalese construction industries are facing from the past many years are as follows:

(i) Delay in project, revise and cost overrun due to lack of supervision and coordination.

(ii) Outdated standard and poor technology method used for preparing and conducting all job in site.

(iii) Lack of developing and maintaining construction schedules and incomplete drawings and terms and condition.

(iv) Lack of funding directly affecting in productivity and quality of work.

(v) Lack of effective communication which causes conflicts.

(vi) Lack of expertise which leads to dissatisfied customers and a negative reputation of the industry.

(vii) Unsatisfied customers due to poor quality service and delay in work

Therefore it is important to search for VE applications in Nepalese construction industry.

Ms. Shreena Malla made as case study to understand the concept of Value engineering that is required throughout the construction process. The major objectives of her study were to:

1. develop a Value Engineering application methodology in building construction projects by using 6 value job plans.
2. identify the cost overrun itemsin building constructions projects and apply the VE methodology to reduce the cost of the project.
3. propose recommendation and suggestion.

Conclusion

Nepal is a developing country, where construction industry is just booming. Even though construction is booming, people involved in this industry are still following the traditional construction technology. People are still unaware of the high and advance technologies that have been already adopted by other developing countries. The typical problems that Nepalese construction industry has been facing for years are project delay and cost overrun. Lack of key creative ideas, out-dated standards and poor construction technology, communication gap among project team members are the major drawbacks that cause project delay and cost overrun. So the main objective of this research was to apply value engineering in Nepalese construction industry in order to omit those weaknesses.

Value engineering is a methodology that helps to reduce project cost by generating value alternatives. So here in this research also value engineering methodology was applied in both cases throughout the research. First the VE methodology (6 job plans) developed in chapter 3 was verified from the professionals which was the first objective of this study then each step that this method consists was applied in detail. Before applying those steps the cost overrun items were identified with the help of professionals. Value engineering 6 job plans was then applied on those items in order to test the VE application, which was second and the core objective of this study. After purposing VE, it was found that the project cost was reduced by 7% and 14% in case 1 and 2 respectively.

1. The key findings of the research

In Nepalese construction industry, it was found that people always try to find the low price materials without considering the quality in order to save the project cost. Sometimes they even adopt poor construction technology to complete the projects within given time frame. But they don't think about the future consequences that might cause bigger problems than they have expected. As a result they always have to suffer from reworks leading the project towards delay, which is the main cause of cost overrun. Due to delay and cost overrun, clients are found disappointed with contractors. So, this research was done to omit these typical problems seen in Nepalese construction industry.

 After the detailed research, it is found that value engineering is quite beneficial for a developing country like Nepal where people are suffering from project delay and cost overrun due to lack of key ideas and poor construction methods. This method proved that it has a high potential for bringing a new change in Nepalese construction industry as it will help them to identify the problem areas and also provide ideas to solve them. This new method will help Nepalese contractors to bring quality in work and also to enhance their credibility. It will not only enhance the contractor's credibility but will also enhance the relationship between owners and contractors.

Other key findings observed during the research were as follows:

       (i) Lack of Incentive clause in contract document.

       (ii) Lack of VE re-proposal clause in contract document.

       (iii) Project delivery system is usually based on unit price, where all scope of works and   items are already fixed by clients.

       (iv) Designers are not ready to change the design or materials once contract is awarded.

       (v) Not applicable for Government project since the overhead cost is fixed.

       (vi) More appropriate for relation based contract.

     2. Limitation

(i) Research was done on construction phase projects.

(ii) Only contractors were involved.

(iii) Research was done on BOQ items only.

(iv) Only building construction projects were considered for this research.

3. Recommendations

A.  Recommendation as per the Research

(i) Incentive clause for VE re-proposal should be included in contract document.

(ii) Commitment from top management level

(iii) Highly experiences people to form a VE tem

(iv)Sufficient time to apply VE ( depending upon project size)

(v) Open communication among client, consultant and contractor

(vi) Complete design should be provided to the contractors to avoid reworks, wastage of materials, labor overhead cost and schedule overrun.

B.  Recommendation for further Studies

(i) Conduction study from design phase to construction phase.

(ii) Only construction companies shouldn't be focused for the research.

(iii) Incorporate all the parties involved in the project (Contractor, Owner, an Designer).

(iv) Conducting qualitative study

(v) This study can be further extended to all type of construction projects such as road, bridge etc.

Her thesis abstract is copied below.

Abstract

Construction industry is considered as economic activities that play essential role in accomplishing socio economic goals of any country. But the construction industry of Nepal has shown a continuous decline since last few years. The industry has become noticeably wasteful, unproductive, ineffective, and adversarial. The typical problems that this industry has been facing for years are poor performance, project delay and cost overrun. Lack of key creative ideas, out-dated standards and poor construction technology, communication gap among project team members are the major drawbacks that leads the project towards delay and cost overrun. To overcome such critical problems, value engineering has been introduced as a tool for cost reduction within construction industry in a developing country like Nepal. It is a proven method that has been already applied in various developed and developing countries. This is a technique that not only reduces project cost but also enhances the quality of the project. So this dissertation presents the essential fundamental of Value Engineering and its different phases that have been applied in projects to reduce the cost without compromising quality. This research discusses about building construction projects in which construction materials of the project are changed according to Value engineering methodology. The alternatives of those materials are chosen such that the cost is reduced without affecting the value of the project. Since the main objective of this research is to investigate the opportunity of VE application in the construction industry of Nepal, the VE methodology (6 Job Plans), after being verified from seven experts was applied for collecting data from Nepal. During the data collection process, cost overrun items are identified through face to face interview and then VE methodology is applied on these items. Then detail analysis of both chases has been done to investigate the opportunity of value engineering application in construction phase.

After detail analysis, it was found that this concept is very much new in Nepal but quite beneficial for the people involved in this industry. This investigation finding reflects that  this concept has high potential to reduce the project cost, but in order to apply this method commitment from top management level is required first and then highly experienced people to form a VE team.

Keywords: Value Engineering, Cost reduction, Nepalese construction industry, BOQ, VE Job plans, Value alternative.

End Product Defects in Residential Building Construction

For the past decades, construction firms have been facing problems such as high cost pressure, shortened project time and increasing in competition. Moreover, the construction industry in many parts of the world suffers from problems such as workmanship defects, time and cost overrun (Harrington et al., 2012). In addition, contractors are usually more inclined toward the profit generation rather than quality improvements, especially if they have already met the minimum requirements for quality (Low and Teo, 2004). Clients are demanding better quality because in many construction projects, clients often find themselves paying high prices for defective works that do not satisfy their needs (Low and Sze, 2005). The cost of defect and damage can be minimized by a proper preventive tool instead of the corrective action. Moreover, Ilozor et al. (2004) pointed out that some defects caused several other defects and preventing those defects could eliminate many other defects.

Ms. Kobdao Maneejak made a case study aimed to:

1. Investigate and classify root cause of defects.

2. Study the behavior of defects during the architectural stage.

3. Develop preventive measure tool to minimize defects.

With the complexity of construction methods, high quality of end product and involvement of many trades, defects are found when moving from architectural and M/E to end products. In order to minimize defects, site managers have to understand the behaviors originated defects both activities within and across the work package. The findings indicated that defects in residential building construction in Thailand caused from pressure to rush the product to market.

This chapter summarizes the results in brief of three case studies. The identified defects from three project case studies were investigated the root causes and the defect behaviors during architectural stage to end products in residential building.

Conclusion

Twenty-eight (28) work activities under 7 work groups from architectural stage to end products were listed to investigate the root cause of defects. Main root causes of defects were identified by site managers including project engineers, site engineers and foremen. Four main root causes of defects are design, workmanship, materials and lack of protection. Once the root causes of defects were investigated, site managers identified each defect, its causation and its root cause. All identified defects were registered with photographs and short noted. For in-depth discoveries, site document were scrutinized. From data collection, defects were found in all work groups: wall, floor finishing, wall finishing, ceiling, painting, sanitary and M&E.

           

Workmanship and lack of protection were found to be two most critical factors causing defects during architectural stage. Defects which caused by workmanship were under the following work groups: wall, wall finishing, floor finishing, ceiling, painting, sanitary and M&E. Defects were also found during the finishing stage. Floor finishing, wall finishing and sanitary were the most three common work groups where the defects were identified by site managers. Moreover, defects originated by materials such as using wrong equipment/tools or defective materials were found under these work groups, wall element, ceiling and sanitary wares.

During an investigation, the relationship among defect, rework and damage were observed. Three types of defects, based on the level of correction, were derived; corrective defect, rework defect and corrective defect. Corrective defect needs only a minor correction while rework defect needs a rework process. The corrective actions of defects are negotiated between an owner inspector and a contractor to either perform minor correction or rework. Another type of defect is damage defect. Damage defect is defined as once a defect occurs and it is either corrected or reworked, it affects the element which is not related to correction, or rework activities.

After in-depth analysis of defects, corrective defect and rework defect were commonly found at sites. Majority of corrective defects were generated from ceiling, painting and M&E work group. Masonry work, wall tiling, in-wall M&E installation were the critical activities causing rework defects. Also, M&E installation in ceiling was often found as the rework defect causation. However, for damage rework, only few items were found during data collection. From case study, wrong sequencing activity and poor protection were the main cause of damage rework.

Recommendation

Moreover, it was found that most defects were repetitive. Their occurring behaviors were quite the same. Activity sequencing was used to capture and understand defect behaviors. Wall plastering was found to be the most critical in generating or hiding defects. Strict measures of quality assurance must be designed and applied in this bottleneck activity including critical point inspection, agreement on area transfer between trades, and protection of easily damaged products. Wrong activity sequencing occurs when many subcontractors from different trades are performing works in sequences. Without proper crew balance based on synchronized production rate, immediate succeeding activity will move pass its predecessor causing many subsequent defects.

Site managers should develop the schedule which concurrently involves only 2-3 trades at maximum to reduce the number of work package contractors/subcontractor so that complexity and interdependency can be reduced and defects can be easily detected.  Moreover, each work package contractor/subcontractor before commencing their work has to agree that there will be a zero defect and provide protection to their finished work upon leaving their work areas.

In conclusion, critical quality inspection is the most essential measure to minimize the occurrence of defects. After the transferring of structural stage to architectural stage, zoning the work area by using different shades of color, green, yellow and red, is recommend to minimize the possible damage defect. Only workers who wear the color-matched armbands are allowed to the work area. For green zone, all work activities under architectural stage can be performed and all workers can enter the green zone. After all works are performed, protection is needed. For yellow zone, only carpenters and furniture crews can enter the work area, before start working, both crews have to accept that the work area has zero defects. For red zone, anyone who needs to enter the work area has to get permission from site engineers to get into the work area; critical inspection is checked both before commencing the work and after the completion of the work every single day. Moreover, both yellow and red zones required all workers taking off their shoes before entering the work area.

Her thesis abstract is copied below. 

Abstract

This paper identifies and presents findings derived from in-depth investigation of work behaviors causing defects during architectural and finishing stage of residential building construction. High-rise building construction projects were investigated. Data were collected by structured interviews of on-site managers, direct observations of work activities, and quality inspection records. Activity sequencing, quality inspection, and correction of defects were analyzed.  When a project team force for progress toward the finishing stage, defects are commonly found because wrong activity sequencing, especially when architectural and M/E activities are interfaced. Perceiving that surface finishing can cover up prior defects, improper quality inspection on preparatory works occurs mostly in surface finishing activities. The work sequence and nature of defects are applicable in residential building construction in Thailand where prefabricated components are not much used, except exterior facade. The study result can be applied to improve planning and quality assurance system for defect reduction.

Keywords: Defects, End product, Activity sequencing, Buildings

Sequencing of Critical Activities and Resource Balancing in the Construction of Multi-Storey Buildings in Pakistan

Pakistan with a population of over 180 million stands amongst the fastest urbanizing countries in the world. With an urban growth rate of 3.5% annually, the urban population of Pakistan is above 36 percent which will become more than 50% up to 2050 (Zaidi, 2011). Given the situation there is a need for long term planning for the development of adequate infrastructure to cater for the growing residential and commercial needs of the fast growing population of the urban centers of Pakistan. Hence, construction of multi-storey buildings is a genuinely felt and pursued need in the urban cities of Pakistan. Being a low income economy with only 2.3% of GDP (Economic Survey of Pakistan) contributed by its construction sector, Pakistan needs to find out ways which can help produce low cost and high quality multi-storey buildings.

According to Mehmood et. al. (2012) construction sector of Pakistan has tremendous potential to improve the quality of its construction projects and make them more profitable and productive if it can effectively control the wastages and costs of its construction processes effectively. This obviously requires focusing on effective crew balancing, material management as well as equipment and machinery handling besides improving sequencing of critical construction activities in the construction of multi-storey buildings in Pakistan. Pakistani constructors have been traditionally relying on methods such as CPM, Primavera etc. It is, therefore, imperative to respond to the research questions such as how the sequencing of construction activities controls cost and quality in the construction of multi-storey buildings? And how the modern concepts of sequencing of construction activities vis-à-vis resource utilization can help Pakistan produce low cost and high quality multi-storey buildings? Ms. Sidra Maqsoom made a case study aimed to:

(i) identify sequencing practices being followed by Pakistani contractor firms for the

construction of multi-storey buildings

(ii) analyze how the critical activities are sequenced for the construction of multi-storey

buildings of Pakistan and their impact on cost and quality control.

(iii) understand relationship between sequencing of critical activities and factors such as

crew balancing, material management and equipment & machinery handling and their

influence on cost and quality control.

(iv) propose recommendations for sequencing of critical activities and resource balancing

such that it reduces the cost and increases quality of multi-storey buildings.

Conclusion

1. Sequencing Practices of Pakistani Contractor Firms

In order to achieve this objective, first an extensive literature review was done. CPM based sequencing practices were identified and understood. These included approaches like Line of Balance (LOB), Formalization, Simulation and Resource Activity Critical Path Method (CPM). A synthesis of these concepts was drawn into a framework named Synthesis of Sequencing Framework (SSF) incorporating the fundamental concepts underpinning each idea. This framework was then translated into a survey questionnaire into various easy to understand questions to record responses of Pakistani contractor firms on rating scales. These scales measured their general awareness of these concepts, application to real time situation and personal observations and experiences about the utility of these ideas during project execution with special reference to cost and quality control. The data was collected from 32 Pakistani contractor firms registered with Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC). It was found that respondents were generally aware and recognized various phases of construction and the critical activities involved to be achieved in specified timelines. They understood that how much the time factor is critical to control cost. Importance of resource management such as men, material and machinery in cost management was also agreed by a vast majority of respondents. They appreciated the idea that in case resources are short, then measures such as flexibility in timelines or mobility of resources between various activities are necessary. They believed that CPM is a widely used technique of sequencing of critical activities used by Pakistan contractor firms, however, there could be other methods and techniques which can be used to control cost and quality such as doing various activities in parallel rather than linear fashion to control cost. Reducing idleness of labor, improved machinery and equipment management according to standardized practices and material handling in a manner that improves efficiency and reduces wastage are also significant during the construction process of multi-storey buildings.

2.  Sequencing and Resource Balancing and its relationship with Cost and Quality

Control

Second and third objectives were set to understand the relationship between sequencing and resource management with cost and quality control during various phases of construction of multi-storey buildings. Literature available on the issues such as critical activities, sequencing practices, modern and standardized practices for effective and efficient crew management, material handling and equipment and machinery management was explored in detail. Based upon the literature reviewed, two frameworks named Integrated Sequencing Framework (ISF) and Integrated Resource Balancing Framework (IRBF) were developed. Two case studies were done for a commercial cum residential and official multi-storey buildings were conducted using these frameworks. It was found during the analysis that sequencing done initially during the planning stages of projects are not always followed and keep changing due to various factors.  These factors involve legal issues, procedural problems, design changes, withdrawal or addition of works by the clients, environmental concerns etc. The delays in sequencing cause cost increases. Similarly, defiance from standardized practices of men, material and machinery management also results in coast increases. As far as the quality controls are concerned they are to be exercised both from internal as well as external means. Internal controls involve having material testing labs, recruitment of quality control engineers and developing linkages with public and private sector quality control organizations. External controls are exercised by public sector organization’s requirements to be complied with, clients satisfaction etc.

Recommendations

Objective four of the study was to propose recommendations for sequencing of critical activities under each construction phase, such that, it reduces the cost and increases quality of multi-storey buildings. To achieve this objective, the following recommendations have been proposed in light of the issues and problems noticed during the analysis done both for quantitative and qualitative research mentioned:

A) Related to Sequencing

1. Planning Engineers should involve all possible stakeholders during the making of initial schedule of work like design engineers, client, consultants, site engineers and concerned government agencies like development authorities, environment control organizations etc. to minimize post execution changes.

2. To avoid post execution litigations, the bye laws and buildings regulations should be strictly adhered to. In case of any deviation special approvals should be obtained beforehand following the requisite procedures.

3. To avoid delays in inspections by the government led teams inspection schedules should be sent in advance by the contractor well before the completion of the stage of construction to be inspected.

4. Contractors should have guarantees from the clients in advance that they have sufficient amount reserved in the name of the project under execution to avoid delays in payments.

B) Related to Crew Management

1. To avoid seasonal shortage of unskilled workers contractors need to raise wages during sowing and harvesting seasons.

2. To control work idleness, instead of focusing on the working hours performance standards be set to be achieved on daily, weekly and monthly basis.

3. Contract agreements between skilled workers and contractors be signed to avoid their early drop outs and resultant suspension of work.

4. To avoid idleness the labor force can be engaged in other activities which can go in parallel to another activity.

C) Related to Material Management

1. To overcome the problem of restricted movements at main roads, the number of material laden trucks should be increased at main roads rather than moving less truck in less time.

2. To avoid wastage of material due to weather tarpaulin, material should be used during odd weather.

3. Procurement procedures should be simplified by using IT based software to avoid delays and resultant increase in price of material.

4. Soil testing labs should get their samples tested from the soil testing and conservation departments as well rather than relying on limited number of labs.

5. Standardized samples of material required are kept available for comparison with the new purchase to achieve uniformity in the quality of material

D) Related to Equipment and Machinery Handling

1. Stock / inventory registers be updated on regular intervals to know the condition of the machinery.

2. Use of a specific implement, equipment be monitored in terms of its recommended frequency in a day or so to reduce wear and tear.

3. Mutual exchange between projects located in same area should be managed by a proper command and control system.

4. Only skilled and dedicated operators are deputed with tasks of machinery handling rather than adhoc arrangements.

5. Placement of machinery at project site should be in a manner that it does neither create any pollution nor is injurious to environment.

Her thesis abstract is copied below.

Abstract

Pakistan with a population of over 180 million is one of the fast urbanizing countries of the world. By 2050 the urban population of the country is estimated to be more than half of the total population of the country. This requires to develop adequate infrastructure such as multi-storey buildings to cater to the growing urban needs and shrinking space in the urban centers of Pakistan. Being a low income economy Pakistan needs to find out ways through which low cost and high quality multi-storey projects could be produced. Previous researches have shown that Pakistan can increase the quality and profitability of its construction projects by improving the construction processes. These processes mean the construction activities and the resources such as workforce, materials used and the equipment and machinery handling. This research study has reviewed the literature available on the sequencing practices being used in modern day construction industry as well as the best practices recommended for adequate resource balancing to achieve efficiency in construction projects. A generic model on sequencing practices has been developed with the objective to understand what kind of sequencing trends are followed by Pakistani construction firms. An integrated framework on sequencing and an integrating resource balancing framework has also been developed to achieve the objective of analyzing that how sequencing and resource balancing practices of Pakistani construction firms within conventional CPM schedules effect cost and quality control in different phases of construction of multi-storey buildings of Pakistan such as foundation, structure, architecture, electrical and mechanical installations and finishing.

A quantitative as well as qualitative research has been undertaken to achieve the above mentioned objectives. Quantitative research has been done through a questionnaire survey. Whereas, the qualitative research has been carried out in a case study mode. Based upon the findings of these two approaches some tenable recommendations have been suggested for the Pakistani contractor firms to bring improvements in sequencing and resource balancing practices to achieve efficiency in construction projects characterized by reduced cost and enhanced quality.

Key Words: Multi-Storey Buildings, Sequencing, Construction Activities, Resource

Utilization, Cost and Quality Control

Procurement Method Selection Of Internationally-Funded Highway Projects In Thailand

Procurement method selection in construction industry needs experiences, knowledge, current circumstances, etc., and will not always lead to the best results or cannot be properly assessed compared with outcomes of the other unselected decision-makings. Prior to a final determination which procurement method to adopt for a project, enormous numbers of intricately interrelated underlying factors which influence procurement method selection should be scrutinized (e.g. characteristics of a project, owner’s project familiarity, flexibility to the project, market status, life cycle cost, politics and so on). These respective factors are selectively taken account of or not taken and/or weighted differently by level of owner’s priority, that is, it depends upon each project characteristics as well as owners’ organizational nature. Nevertheless, academies, institutions and government authorities have, for decades, attempted to find the systematic approach to procurement method selection for construction projects of all sizes and complexity so as to facilitate decision-makers and to select the most appropriate procurement method for a project expecting satisfying quality within budget and construction time, and the other emerging aspects of project success.

In addition to the systematic approach to procurement method selection, a variety of forms of contract and contract prices have been introduced and discussed for the sake of ultimately non-disputable and more profitable projects at the same time meeting the objectives of each participating party (Win-Win-Win Situation: Owner-Consultant-Contractor). For instance, partnering has recently been widely introduced for a new concept of project delivery which impels amicable contractual relationship as well as amicable social relationship among the parties, and which targets success of all parties’ objectives during the project implementation. In parallel with such trend, many standard forms of construction contract such as FIDIC, JCT, ACA have been published for advantage of reduction of contractual risk analysis time due to lack of precedent data. As a result, owners will have great opportunities not only to increase the numbers of perspectives tenderers, but also to seek more beneficial procurement methods such as EPC, BOT, etc. rather than in-house conventional procurement methods such as DBB.

However, the problem is that, regardless of the procurement method progression, owners are still uncertain about what method to adopt for a given construction project to achieve success (Love, Davis, Baccarini, Wilson and Lopez, 2008). Comprehending all the interrelated procurement methods and choosing the most appropriate procurement method for a certain project has become a more complex and challenging task due to emerging methods such as partnering, two-stage tendering, Public-Private Partnership, and special contract types used in the particular countries /regions.

Figure 1 depicts the relevant parties where procurement selection process is carried out. Some government regulation/law and lender’s requirements may stipulate the restriction of forms of contract, contract prices, tendering methods and evaluation methods or suitable experienced contractors in the local market may be reluctant to take part in the emerging procurement methods, and thus, the owner may have to solicit participation of international construction companies or modify the procurement method. In case that consultancy service is present, he strives to propose the most appropriate procurement method to the owner. But the owner still needs its knowledge to give the go sign. In addition to knowledge on procurement methods, comprehending characteristics and conditions of respective parties and surrounding circumstances will be also important for owners to select the most appropriate procurement method.

Although adoption of an appropriate procurement method will lead to a more project success probability, owners are still uncertain about what procurement method to adopt and what selection process to follow for their construction projects to achieve success. Mr. Takuya Watanabe made a research which focused on procurement method selection in the Department of Highways (DOH) in Thailand, especially for the internationally-funded highway projects. The main objective of his study is to identify the actual practice on procurement method selection in DOH, and finally to propose a new framework for their future projects. To fulfill the main objective, the sub-objectives were as follows:

(i) To figure out procurement methods' experience of project major stakeholders including government authority, engineering firms, and construction companies in Thailand. 

(ii) To analyze criteria and process of procurement method selection in internationally-funded highway projects in Thailand.

(iii) To propose a new framework of their procurement method selection for the purpose of the maturity and budgetary strategy of internationally-funded highway projects in Thailand.

Conclusion

1.  Findings and Recommendation from Procurement Methods’ Experience

 a.) Form of Contract

The most applied form of contract for Thai highway construction companies was Design-Bid-Build (DBB) type. In adopting the different forms of contract for future projects, The Department of Highways (DOH) might have difficulty to have prospective tenderers due to no experience issue of local construction companies, being reluctant to take part in the costly tenders.

b.) Contract Price

Although re-measurement is the most applied contract price to all the local construction companies in Thailand, lump sum contract prices can be considered for the future large-scale projects with expectation of prospective tenderers from the large-sized construction companies. These construction companies have its experience and are capable of evaluating project risks generated by the lump sum contract price. For the other contract prices such as reimbursement and Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP), even though they have no experience, most of construction companies are probably willing to take part in the projects since their financial risk is very low. On another front, high financial risk will be shouldered by DOH.

c.) Tendering Method

While E-auction tendering method is compulsorily adapted to the domestic infrastructure projects in Thailand, single-stage one-envelope tendering method is adapted to majority of internationally-funded infrastructure projects. The other tendering methods for future projects can be also adopted depending on the project characteristics with assistance of experienced tendering experts. There is a high possibility to adopt E-auction for DOH future projects with international financial aids. However, it may result in high price competitiveness without consideration of quality and reluctance to take part in the tenders for international construction companies though International Competitive Bidding (ICB).

d.) Evaluation Method

Most of the past and on-going projects have adopted Cost Based Selection (CBS) evaluation methods. This brings in easiness of evaluation process to DOH but burdening construction companies due to simple price competition. Proper application of Quality Cost Based Selection (QCBS) evaluation methods may help better quality and higher maturity to their organizations increasing international competence in the construction field. 

By including experienced oversea contractors in their contract packages, knowledge transfer for unfamiliar procurement methods may be easily put into practice, especially knowledge on the payment and document systems, and thereby local contractors can be fostered by following those systems with assistance of DOH/BOIHC.

2.   Findings and Recommendation from Procurement Method Selection Criteria and Process

As a result of the interviews with the staffs in BOIHC and the financial institutions, the procurement method selection criteria and process for internationally-funded highway projects in Thailand under the current procurement system in DOH have been identified. There are six (6) sub-phases in their procurement phase. These are Initiation, Initial Study, Feasibility Study, Approval Process, Bank Negotiation, and Tendering and Award, involving several bureaus within DOH, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and so forth. Each sub-phase has the underlying factors for procurement method selection criteria given from the literature reviews and the interviews. However, no matter what characteristics of projects, the single procurement methods are adopted, which are DBB forms of contract, Re-measurement contract prices, One-envelope tendering methods and Cost based selection (CBS) in conformance with the rules and regulations of DOH, and Prequalification (PQ) and International Competitive Bidding (ICB) requested by the Banks. For use of the new guideline, this rules and regulation should be amended first.

3.   Findings and Recommendation from New Guideline for Future Internationally-funded Highway Projects

The new guideline was proposed considering the nature of the government functions and the absence of the current procurement method selection guideline in DOH. In the guideline, the five (5) sub-phases were remained, some underlying factors were added and the new structure of the project team was proposed by the researcher. In addition, the attached reference documents such as pros and cons of each procurement method, procurement methods’ experience of the stakeholders in Thai highway construction, the project team acquirement, project management structure and stakeholders’ identification aim to assist decision-makers on the final procurement method.

4.   Encouragement to Use this Guideline for DOH

It is understood that technology to be proposed in most of infrastructure projects shall have been substantiated and it is not acceptable to attempt using non-established technology especially to any internationally-funded infrastructure projects. Just because so, does not mean its planning and design in the only technology that is outdated should be carried out. Technology is advancing faster and faster. In particular, there is a remarkable technical progress in electrical, electronics and machinery fields. Even though civil engineering technology is conservative, new tools, techniques, technology have been steadily assimilated. Thus, we shall be greedy to incorporate new technologies constantly. Applying the other emerging procurement methods promotes to improve this concern by construction companies to propose innovation technology, time- and cost-saving construction methods, etc.

Furthermore, most of lending targets under the conventional loan assistance used to be the construction of infrastructure facilities for the purpose of economic and social developments. However, problems for solution and objects for development have been various and complicated nowadays. Therefore, the use of financial aids is recommended not only to construct facilities but also desirably to promote the incorporative programme packaging the issues related to facilities’ system.

For example, the incorporative programme for road construction may be:

1.   main use of local contractors, and competent foreign contractors to join the project for mentoring the local contractors and fostering the human resources,

2.  expansion of existing vocational training center and/or schools for the human resources to be involved in road construction and maintenance,

3.  promotion of implementation of self-active system and toll collection system,

4.  distribution system centering on roads to be improved,

5.  environmental protection along roads, and so forth.

Success of the said incorporative programme may generate the synergy of development outcomes.

This guideline is also useful for DOH to promote BOT type forms of contract such as Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and Privately Financed Projects (PFP), and seek possibility of the international financial aids. Demands of BOT type have been increasing due to aid fatigue of developed countries and debt crisis of developing countries. This trend may continue unless fiscal reason of a country drastically improves. Under the circumstances, it should be well considered that infrastructure projects with this type of forms of contract acquire in-depth support from both an owner and participants since some precedents of BOT type projects have resulted in unexpected inflation of the utilities’ fee or monopolization of the business field due to no competitors inside the country.

Lastly, infrastructure management, especially planning of operation and maintenance during procurement phase, has recently become significant. Reference is made in "2009 Report Card for America's Infrastructure" published by American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). It is reported that the comprehensive evaluation of U.S. infrastructure has been severely criticized as D (Poor) in G.P.A. The comparison of GPA evaluation in the last 15 years shows no improvement. To make matters worse, the funds required for the improvement of the infrastructure is increasing from 1,300 billion US dollars in 2001 to 2,200 billion US dollars in 2009. This result should be referred to practitioners not only in Thailand but also other developing countries, and the in-depth study on the project life cycle including O&M and abandonment of the facilities should be carried out in the procurement phase.

Benefits of the Research

Use of this guideline enables DOH to understand the comprehensive approach to adopt the other procurement methods and develop the maturity and budgetary strategies for their organization. This systematic procurement method selection improves transparency and accountability to public people in Thailand promoting democracy principle. The proposed structure of the project team can tackle various and complex issues and propose appropriate procurement methods for their projects. Understanding and practical application of this research paper will provide staffs’ proficiency on procurement methods and stimulate local contractors to have better knowledge on the other procurement methods.

His thesis abstract is copied and posted below.

Abstract

On the benefit of development of communication tools/channels and information technology such as e-books, websites, etc., knowledge on various procurement methods in construction has nowadays been available to any of entities like owners, consultant and contractors. These knowledge are being instantly shared from west to east over the seas and vice versa, as letting them become more knowledgeable procurement strategic organizations. Under the circumstances, owners can refer to pros and cons, lesson learned and issues/problems of emerging procurement methods as alternatives to traditional ones such as DBB and DB forms of contract. The problem is, however, that, regardless of the procurement method progression, owners are still uncertain about what method to adopt for a given construction project to achieve success and what process to follow for selection of the method. In this research, the researcher focuses on the highway projects with international financial aids under the Bureau of International Highways Cooperation (BOIHC) within the Department of Highways (DOH), Thailand, and attempts to promote new guideline of procurement method selection for their future projects.

Methodology consists of three steps. The first step is questionnaire survey to find out procurement method’s experience of the stakeholders in Thai highway construction. Respondents’ last 5-year experiences on procurement methods were analyzed to find out its respective frequencies and patterns. The respondents and interviewees were vice presidents, managing directors, civil engineers in charge of tendering from 19 different highway construction companies and 5 different highway engineering firms. The second step is expert interview to identify the applied procurement method selection under the current system of BOIHC. Several meetings were conducted with staffs from BOIHC and international financial institutions as well as a project manager from the engineering firm currently working with BOIHC so as to comprehend their project approval process, organization structure, procurement method selection criteria and so forth. As a result of analyses from the first two steps, a guideline to select the appropriate different procurement methods for their future internationally-funded highway projects was proposed along with new process framework including the criteria to be considered during each sub-phase of procurement phase.

Use of this new guideline can be helpful to not only BOIHC but also other owners who have no in-house process asset for procurement method selection and no experience to adopt procurement methods differently considering different project characteristics. This will guide them in understanding the systematic approach to procurement method selection and developing their own guideline by following the same research methodology and adjusting the framework based upon the owner’s nature.

Keywords: Procurement method, Selection, Contract, Highway, FIDIC, Form of Contract, Contract Price, Tendering Method, Evaluation Method, Department of Highways, Thailand