Andrew S. Chang

Development of Consultant Performance Measures for Design Projects

Measurement is an essential step in any control process. Performance is reflected by measures upon which corrective actions are suggested and taken; however, measures in organizations are often poorly designed and utilized. More specifically, many consultant performances are not at satisfactory levels. This paper presents consultant performance measures of deliverables, work process, and cost/schedule, and proposes a systematic measurement framework. Measures were tested on 8 design projects and their applicability was ensured. These measures can be used to disclose areas of excellent and poor performance in both the work process and results, to allow project participants to focus attention, and to address performance at the desired levels and aspects. One benefit of this research is the potential to improve the efficacy of public projects where consultants are used.

Quantifying uncertainty and equivocality in engineering projects

Engineering work is intangible and difficult to measure and manage. Engineering project tasks entail various degrees of uncertainty and equivocality (U&E). Quantifying U&E of project tasks helps understand and manage engineering work. This study developed an assessing questionnaire from five sources of U&E and tested it on a large subway design project. Questions were answered by nine discipline managers of 58 tasks and the quantified U&E scores reflect reality. It was found that uncertainty is higher than equivocality for most tasks. The U&E reduction test shows that task U&E decrease over one year and different reduction patterns exist. Task‐possessed information contributes the largest decrease. This means information from planning, past projects or experiences is very important to performing new projects. The developed questionnaire can be a useful tool to help managers better understand and plan project tasks.

Coordination Needs and Supply of Construction Projects

Abstract: Coordination has been regarded as a critical factor of construction projects, but it is usually not well understood. It is common that time and money are spent on coordination, yet the performance is not as expected. This article studies the coordination needs and supply of construction projects. First, coordination needs were derived from work uncertainty and equivocality (U&E), and supply was offered by different methods engineers use to coordinate. Then ten subway construction projects were investigated. A questionnaire was modified to quantify the project U&E, and a time sheet designed to collect contractor engineers work time allocated in nine coordination methods. Finally, how actual coordination time distribution met the needs and their relationships with performance were analyzed. The results indicate that the project performance is not related to the level of U&E. In the nine coordination methods of the studied projects, site visit took up the most time (23%), followed by correspondence (20.5%) and meetings (13%). Projects with good performance applied adequate oral or written coordination mainly based on work equivocality.

Designing Levels for A/E Consultant Performance Measures

Research has identified many success factors that are associated with project performance, but mostly they are conceptually described. They need to be operationally defined to be properly measured and used. This paper defines the operational levels for the qualitative architect/engineer (A/E) consultant performance measures, proposed in a previous paper (Chang & Ibbs, 1998). These levels, represented by descriptive conditions, were acquired by analyzing performance norms from research studies and by comparing data from 8 design project documents and interviews. These levels were then used to evaluate A/E consultant performance. The evaluation results show that the scores derived from the defined levels effectively differentiate performance, which means the levels were well designed. By using these performance levels, A/E consultant performance can be evaluated more accurately and systematically, which allows the owner to better manage the A/E project.

Reasons and costs for design change during production

Design change increases cost and time of production and redesign substantially. This research proposes a framework to investigate the reasons and their respective production change and redesign costs for design changes during production. It analyses 339 change items and interviews designers, owners and contractors of seven construction projects. Research findings show that design changes result from three categories of reasons: under owners, designers, and beyond control. The proportions of change reasons, construction change costs and redesign costs are different for the studied projects. The redesign costs are from 2.1% to 21.5% and on average 8.5% of the construction change cost, equivalent to the fee of a new design project. The identified reasons with quantitative cost behaviours can help clarify design change problems. Insight about design change can also be gained through the convergence of different perceptions of change reason proportions from project participants. The analysis process and results in this research can be referenced by other companies to obtain their own patterns of reasons, production change, and redesign costs from design changes to diagnose design performance.

Exploring Coordination Goals of Construction Projects

Effective coordination has been regarded in both theory and practice as a critical factor of success in construction projects. Previous coordination studies have focused on the time spent on coordination, its frequency, and its relationship with performance. However, coordination goals have received less attention, and their relationships with coordination methods and performance are not known. This paper studies coordination methods and goals for construction projects to identify what coordination goals are adopted and to what extent goals are achieved. In the research process, eight coordination methods and six goals were derived. A questionnaire was designed accordingly and sent to seven contractors for survey. Follow-up interviews were conducted with three or four managers and engineers from each contractor. The analysis results indicate that most coordination methods have multiple goals; written coordination methods such as plans, schedules, reports, and contract documents tend to have appropriate goals; and projects performed well by using coordination methods effectively to achieve the coordination goals.

Effectiveness of Coordination Methods in Construction Projects

AbstractProper coordination is critical to the success of construction projects. Relevant studies have addressed the frequency and information quality of communication, but their combination and contribution to the effectiveness of coordination methods need to be examined. This paper explores two variables that affect coordination effectiveness: quantity and quality, as well as their relationships with coordination effectiveness and project performance. Eight coordination methods used on construction projects were examined and a questionnaire was designed accordingly. Then 26 contractor engineers at three organizational levels working on seven large projects were surveyed and interviewed to collect information about their coordination methods. The analysis results indicated that coordination quality is more related to coordination effectiveness (and indirectly to project performance) than coordination quantity. Projects that performed well had better coordination effectiveness than projects that performed...

Difficulty and reasons for sustainable roadway design - The case from Taiwan

AbstractTo accomplish sustainable design, it is essential to understand its barriers or limitations. This study investigated difficulties and their reasons for sustainable design using roadways as an example. A checklist of 60 sustainability items for roadway design was used to interview roadway designers to identify levels of difficulty, reasons for difficulty and proportions of difficulty reasons when designing these sustainability items. The results were analyzed and compared among sustainable items and design work.The difficulties of incorporating sustainability into designs are classified into three levels as compared with conventional design: equal, medium and high. The average difficulty for sustainable roadway design is between low and medium level; 28 of the 60 items were found to be at the same level of difficulty as conventional design. The technical items are regarded more difficult to adopt than material items.Nine reasons were identified for sustainable roadway design difficulty in which fou...

Engineer Self-Evaluation Checklist for Effective Site Visits

AbstractSite visits are necessary and important for construction projects. Construction engineers spend much time on site visits, but visit effectiveness has not been explored and its effect on project performance is unclear. In this study, a checklist to improve the effectiveness of site visits was developed, based on site visit deficiencies and construction productivity factors found in the recent literature and the most frequently occurring defects from 338 construction projects. The checklist was then used on eight ongoing road and bridge projects to test its applicability and effectiveness. Results show that proper use of the checklist by contractors indicated a high level of project quality. Time spent on site visits was also reduced through using the checklist. This research links site visit practices with management knowledge, such as work planning, quality management, and coordination. The checklist developed in this research incorporates management knowledge as a systematic tool that complements...

Levels of difficulty for sustainable roadway design

Infrastructure projects have been requested to consider sustainability in recent years. However, many engineers have little idea how to start with this new issue. It would help engineers to incorporate sustainability if the difficulties and their reasons can be identified. This research investigated the levels of difficulty for sustainable design, by taking roadways as an example. It first collected 14 roadway design work disciplines such as drainage from a large engineering consulting company. Then it reviewed literature and practice to identify 60 sustainable items, and categorized them into 14 disciplines to establish a checklist. Finally, the checklist was used to interview designers to indicate the levels of difficulty of adopting these sustainable items. The difficulties to achieve sustainability into design are classified into three levels compared with traditional work: equal, medium and high. Twenty eight of the 60 sustainable items were evaluated at the same level of difficulty as traditional design. Approximately half of the items would not increase the difficulty when incorporated into design. The average difficulty would be between equal and medium level. Compared with traditional design work, incorporating sustainability into roadway design would increase certain difficulty.