Afzan Ahmad Zaini

Critical Review on the Theoretical Framework and Critical Success Factors in Green Construction

Construction activities must conserved energy, land, water and material to successfully implementing green construction, while planning and managing the work regarding the minimisation of environmental impacts related to the construction process. Notwithstanding this, many arguments and discrepancies between the ideal form of green construction and existing construction due to the practical difficulties in realizing the concept of green construction. This paper critically reviews the existing green building assessment tools, theoretical framework and the critical success factors based on literature review search. Investigating the existing green building assessment tools, theoretical framework and critical success factors are fundamental in determining the successful implementation of green construction in the Malaysian construction environment.

A preliminary study of the subcontractor's risk identification for the construction projects

Malaysian construction Industry nowadays is facing a fraternity of problems series of delayed and abandoned projects. Currently in Malaysia, there is no formal risk management approaches in use by the subcontractors. This research intends to identify types of risks involved at project conceptual phase for the subcontractors. The findings in this research are based on the synthesis of critical literature review and data collected from semi-structured interviews. The findings shows that the most critical risks identified are financial, social, technical, natural and political risks. It is hope that the findings will assist in the development of the formal risk management for the subcontractors and hence, helps them mitigates the project risks.

An evaluation of the competencies, skills and knowledge of Quantity Surveying graduates in consultant Quantity Surveying firms in Malaysia

A significant proportion of graduate quantity surveyors serving Quantity Surveying (QS) firms in Malaysia are produced by the local higher institutions of learning. Upon employment, employers expect them to be behaviorally and technically competent to participate and undertake the range of quantity surveying tasks. Whilst the academic programs offered by the universities and colleges are commonly designed to be recognised and accredited by the Board of Quantity Surveyors Malaysia (BQSM) and/or the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the courses tends to be designed and delivered variably between universities and colleges. This in-turn tends to result in graduates bringing different levels of competencies into their job. Conceiving the significance of understanding this phenomenon for the Malaysian higher education and the construction industry, a research was mooted to ascertain the level of competencies that the QS graduates from the Malaysian higher education bring into their employment. The aim was to assess the extent to which the QS higher education provision was able to meet the employment needs and the variable levels of competencies produced by the QS higher education providers. A knowledge and skills framework was developed and data was sought from employers of graduates from these higher education institutions. The results suggest that, in the main, graduates from each of these institutions tend to be more competent in some aspects of technical and behavioral competencies then some other. Tangible comparison can also be made to compare the competencies of graduates between these institutions from the research. These provided useful insights for employers to appreciate which graduates from which institution is competent in what. The findings can also be served as a key reference for the institutions to moot academic improvement initiatives.

A Review in Developing a High Rise Building Construction Safety and Health Risk Model

The construction industry is starting to gain momentum as Malaysia is becoming a fully industrialised country by the year 2020. Due to the complexity and dynamic nature of a construction project, specifically on high rise building, various hazards and risks are already in place at any stage of a project lifecycle. Safety and health risk assessment is the core of any safety practices in any industry. Risk at the construction site should be assessed prior to manage or mitigate it. Therefore, this paper intends to recognize the theoretical aspects of the likelihood and severity of the hazards in the high rise building construction project and to recognize a theoretical aspects in formulating a high rise building construction safety and health risk model. The methodology employed f or this paper includes the secondary data collection from journals, articles and government statistics. The successful investigations will lead to the development of safety and health risk model in the construction industry particularly for high rise building construction. This model has prospect to be commercialized through the intellectual property (IP). The health and safety risk model will promote safety climate in the construction site and hence, enhancing the performance of human capital.

The successful implementation of green construction in Malaysia

Green construction is the current and future dominant issues in the world that become the headlines in most of the countries due to the increased world population and issues of global warming. The current practice of the construction industry leads to significant impact on the environment, economy and the society. A comprehensive guide and direction are crucial towards increasing the public awareness and the understanding of the importance of sustainable development practices through green concept and the green construction. Thus, seeks to explore the area of green construction, current practices, level of awareness and understanding, critical success factors and challenges for the successful implementation of green construction in Malaysia. The research methodology adopted for this research includes quantitative and qualitative data collection by using sequential explanatory strategy, while the research analysis includes descriptive and inferential statistical analysis for quantitative data collection and content analysis for qualitative data collection. Therefore, the idea of establishing a model for the successful implementation of green construction in Malaysian construction environment is valid and justified.

Adopting contractors' risk management (CIRIM) framework using multi dimensional theories

In general, many contractors in Malaysia are found to have a limited expertise in developing an appropriate strategy to mitigate project risks. Consequently, this has led contractors struggling to complete the project on schedule, within the clients budget and quality parameters. This was proven by the current issues on the delayed projects reported in the Ninth Malaysian Plan. Currently in Malaysia, there is no existing risk management framework specifically designed for contractors. Thus, the idea of introducing CIRIM among the Malaysian contractors is a proactive approach to achieve better project objectives. This paper therefore proposes to introduce the CIRIM framework to be adopted by the Malaysian contractors. The research methodology applied in the main research includes literature reviews, questionnaires and interviews. It is found that although there are some forms of risk management systems being used in the Malaysian construction industry, most of them are not well structured, documented and implemented in a formal manner. Therefore, the idea of establishing the CIRIM framework among Malaysian contractors is paramount and justified.