Abdul Hadi Nawawi

Critical factors contributing to corruption in construction industry

Corruption in construction is a fiduciary crime that is believed to slowly penetrate the construction sectors in countries around the world. It that can reduce the efficiency, effectiveness and equity of infrastructure services that resulted in construction projects that is unnecessary, unsuitable, and defective. In order to control effectively the level of corruption in construction, the critical factors of corruption in construction need to be correctly diagnosed. Hence, the objective of this paper is to review the critical factors of corruption in construction by various researchers across the globe. The initial findings based on purely literature reviews suggest that critical factors could be divided into direct and indirect factors that affect the supply and demand for corrupt activities. Meanwhile, environment, individual and international firm factors are also seen to be critical. Individual attitude, laws and regulations and administrative control are also imperative factors critical to corruption in construction.

The Integration of 3D GIS and Virtual Technology in the Design and Development of Residential Property Marketing Information System (GRPMIS)

This paper discusses about a research with the aim of investigating the potential integration of 3D GIS and virtual technology in designing and developing residential property marketing information system. The method adopted in this research is a standard system development lifecycle; commencing with the user requirements study, followed by the system design, the system development, the system implementation and finally the system evaluation. This research uses an informal method i.e. semi-structured interview, survey questionnaire and review of the existing information system to establish the user requirements. Ten user requirements were outlined alongside with the examination of four 3D integration and three virtual reality methods. Three out four methods of 3D features integration are selected for the system development. The developed system is tested using the black box and white box testing methods. The prototype system can be used by the real estate agents and property developer as the concept, framework and references for future development of a better conducive property marketing information system as well as simplifying the traditional flow of housing selection which gives positive impacts in the marketing transaction.

Indoor environmental conditions in Passive Architecture Terraced House

Passive Architecture (PA) Terraced House is proposed as an alternative to conventional terraced house. In the local context, PA design strategies alleviate heat gain, encourage natural ventilation and optimise daylighting; achieved mainly by building orientation. This paper demonstrates the quantum of indoor environmental conditions in a PA Terraced House with reference to a Typical Terraced House, focusing on thermal comfort and visual comfort. Both houses are simulated using internationally accredited Indoor Environmental Solutions (IES) programme with ‘Apache’ and ‘Radiance’ software to ascertain the indoor air temperature and daylighting illuminance, respectively. When compared against the standard for thermal comfort, the rooms in the Typical Terraced House creates thermal discomfort eight times longer than the same in the PA Terraced House, annually. Similarly, PA Terraced Houses provides sufficient daylighting illuminance for a much longer time compared to the Typical Terraced House.

A Pilot Framework of Corporate Real Estate Sustainable Performance Measurement (CRESPM)

Sustainability is now recognised as an emerging important area and is a subject of discussion in recent studies. Sustainability is a current issue discussed in various platforms not only in Malaysia but throughout the world. Despite that, there is lack of scholarly discussion on sustainability relating to corporate real estate sustainable performance measurement (CRESPM). Corporate Real Estate Sustainable Performance Measurement (CRESPM) merits serious discussion as it contributes greatly towards the direction and decision-making of the organization in attaining maximum added value for the business; and contributing to the overall performance of the corporation. Thus, this research aimed at exploring, and then summarizing the best performance measurement indicator related to sustainable real estate by referring to the sustainability parent theory. The objectives of this study include to identify the existing CRE sustainable performance measurement indicator available from previous research; and to design a pilot model and framework for CRE sustainable performance measurement. The research uses content analysis method to analyse data gathered from literature and previous studies. The findings will be demonstrated in the form of a pilot framework model on CRESPM that will include 102 indicators of performance measurement derived from analysis. The framework is hoped to be available in the near future as an evolution for the future exploration on CRESPM.

Content validity of governing in Building Information Modelling (BIM) implementation assessment instrument

BIM governance assessment instrument is a process of analysing the condition of the importance in developing BIM governance solution to tackle most of the existing problems during team collaboration in BIM-based projects. Despite the development and deployment of integrative and collaborative technologies in construction industry particularly BIM, the industry is still insufficient compare to other sectors. Several studies have been established the requirements of BIM implementation concerning all technical and non-technical BIM adoption issues. However, the data are regarded as inadequate to develop a BIM governance framework. Hence, the objective of the paper is to evaluate the content validity of the BIM governance instrument prior to the main data collection. Two methods were employed in the form of literature review and questionnaire survey (8 content experts). Based on the literature review, 273 items with six (6) main constructs are suggested to be incorporated in the BIM governance instrument. The CVR scores revealed that 202 out of 273 items are considered as the utmost critical by the content experts. The findings for I-CVI and modified kappa coefficient however revealed that 257 items in BIM governance instrument are appropriate and excellent. The instrument is highly reliable and the items selected are appropriate.

The Integration of ASRC System within BIM

Technically, safety planning and project execution planning has been carried out separately for most BIM-based projects. As such, it leads to difficulties in monitor these planning simultaneously during construction phase. In this regards, the Automated Safety Rule Checking (ASRC) system is perceived to distinguish fall hazards by integrating the system in the existing BIM-model. This paper pursues to explore the integration of ASRC system within BIM-based projects in Malaysia. A cross-sectional survey was employed to large public and private organisations that involved with BIM. The data were analysed by using content analysis technique and revealed that ASRC system is yet to be incorporated into BIMbased projects in Malaysia.

The Green Building Concept: Is that a Trend

The building industry is an important contributing element to the economy of the country. Evidence revealed that the building industry has contributed to the environmental impact in so many ways. Realizing this important role played by the building industry, most building projects have now adopted the concept of green building. In Malaysia, the green building concept has been gradually initiated into the building industry. Reference to the Green Building Index (GBI Malaysia) database shows an increasing number of buildings being certified day by day. Not only that, the green building concept indicated a positive escalation especially within the commercial and residential property sectors. In conjunction with the growing number of green buildings in Malaysia, several questions have arisen; one of which is whether this is just a passing trend or is it because of the benefits received from it. Therefore, this study is conducted mainly to investigate the reasoning behind the corporation’s involvement in green building industry. This study used the qualitative method whereby, semi-structured interview has been chosen as the best data collection method. Seven participants from different sectors were selected to generalize the results. Results indicated that at the initial stage of involvement in green building concept, most of the corporations were in it for the trend and novelty of trailblazing the evolutions of the world building industry. It was only recently that green building concept is embedded by corporations due to the benefits they received which indirectly boosted their business operations. Nevertheless, the government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and corporations still need to increase efforts to mould and embed the green culture for every Malaysian because the awareness level in the implementation of green building concept is still at an early stage.

The financial costs of urban sprawl: Case study of Penang State

The financial cost of urban sprawl is the additional or incremental costs measured relative to the type, density and location of sprawl development compared to inner city development. The costs are incurred by both the public and private sectors. Numerous studies on costs of sprawl found that there is an increase in infrastructure costs associated with sprawl development compared to compact development. Sprawl increases infrastructure costs in several ways. Lower density means each yard of linear infrastructure such as water and sewer serves fewer households. Housing type and location affect the number of water and sewer laterals and resultant costs. Road network cost increases as well. The increase in costs compels researchers to examine what type and which location of development should be encouraged. This paper adopts a case study approach in examining housing development costs of eleven housing projects in Penang State, Malaysia. Mathematical and statistical analysis are applied on actual data. The results of cross tabulation reveal that costs per unit of housing development, based on traditional development calculations, are cheaper with greater distance from CBD. However, when additional development costs data (infrastructure costs such as roadworks, sewerage and water lines from housing projects to the sub-service centres) are factored in, the results show that the cost per unit is higher with greater distance from CBD. These results support international findings that cost per unit of development rises as distance increases and densities decreases, characteristics of sprawl development. This is perhaps the first empirical results on financial costs of sprawl in Malaysia and hope to be a springboard to future studies on costs of urban sprawl in Malaysia.

Improving Safety performance through post occupancy evaluations (POE): a study of Malaysian low-cost housing

Purpose There are rising issues with the delivery performance of the Malaysian low-cost housing since the occupants are inclined to perceive safety hazards. Among the safety issues raised during the occupancy period in the low-cost housing are structural instability and falling building fragments. Without defining the occupants’ requirements in the early housing development, it is hard to determine the prevailing safety factors. Hence, this paper emphasises the application of Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) that incorporates participation from the occupants as a tool to assess the safety performance of the Malaysian low-cost housing. The main aim of this study is to develop a framework of POE integrated with safety elements for low-cost housing (LCH) in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach This research was conducted using a quantitative method using questionnaires as the survey instrument involving safety inspection survey and satisfaction surveys. The inspection survey and occupants’ satisfaction surve...

A system dynamic model — Based model for making decision to run PPP projects in Malaysia: Management (Thories and methodologies of enterprise management)

A decision making system is proposed to run building projects in Malaysia and is known as System Dynamic Model. The project is under Public Private Partnership Universitys student accommodation. The issue exists when the private sector failed to make decision making in determining certain financial variables such as Building Lease Charges since it affects the project IRR. This IRR is an important mark for a successful project. However, it is determined by the public sector, which delays the decision making process. Furthermore, contradiction in determining this variable could arises between the sectors. In the process of making decision to determine the variable, there will be recurring revision of previous system (financial model) including recalculation and restructuring the building lease charges amount. Hence, it makes the process too complicated and slow. Therefore, this paper aims to develop System Dynamic Model (SDM) as an alternative approach to make decision faster when determining Building Lease Charges and facilitate the process of making decision. Moreover, this SDM can simulates and analyzes the sensitivity of building lease charges to the IRR. The methodology is based on quantitative technique. Data is collected and a case study on a PPP universitys student accommodation project is used. From the research results, the parameters of Building Lease Charges which affected to the Project IRR within range 16% is RM38-RM39. The sensitivity histogram generated that there are 21 simulations for which, at time 23, Project IRR is between 17.6% and 21% and about 2 simulations in which it is between -2.8% and 0.60% The results give substantially more information than an expected Project IRR in making that judgment. It is proven that SDM could solve the problem for the associated determination of building lease charges. It is expected that the SDM can generate knowledge among researchers in solving the complex situation managements especially in real big development, investment and business projects.