Anthony Higham

Life cycle costing: evaluating its use in UK practice

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to establish the extent to which life cycle costing (LCC) is used as an early stage project evaluation tool by practitioners in the UK construction industry. The use of this evaluation tool has long been advocated by academics as a means of ensuring best value rather than lowest cost is a driver for business decisions related to potential built environment projects. Therefore there is a need to appraise its current uptake levels amongst built environment professionals and assess whether there are any barriers affecting its use in UK practice. Design/methodology/approach – Using a mixed methods approach, the authors present the findings from a survey of construction professionals located in the UK and the results from a series of follow up semi-structured interviews designed to further explore the factors found to affect the use of LCC in practice. Findings – The study shows that LCC is still not widely used by built environment professionals in the UK. The greatest i...

Sustainability and investment appraisal for housing regeneration projects

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the selection and use, in practice, of appraisal frameworks regarding sustainability evaluation in UK social housing sector projects, which have been advocated by academics as a means of ensuring that business decisions related to potential built environment projects are driven by best value rather than lowest cost. It also seeks to identity the key features of sustainability as assessed at the project feasibility stage. The research context is housing regeneration projects undertaken by UK social housing providers. Design/methodology/approach – Using a quantitative approach, a survey was conducted of 481 built environment professionals working within the UK social housing sector, which generated an overall response rate of 24 per cent. Findings – The survey results revealed that few toolkits and models developed by academe to facilitate the development and evaluation of sustainability-led building projects have so far been adopted. The impact of organisati...

Fossil Fuel Reliant Housing in Nigeria: Physio-climatic Regionalism as an Energy/Cost Efficient Perspective to Providing Thermal Comfort

The study investigates trends in housing design in Nigeria and assesses the degree of adherence to thermal comfort requirement. It reveals that building designs mostly reflect uniformity despite the variety of climatic conditions in Nigeria. This is shown from the results of a survey and statistical analysis of the distribution of external thermal design features, including roofing, cladding, openings, shading, and layout and landscaping, for 1000 houses at sample locations in the three climatic regions of Nigeria. The analytical outcome shows the close similarity in housing designs between disparate climatic regions and the predominant typology of design features. The study further evaluates meteorological data, using the Oligyay Bioclimatic Chart developed in the 1950s, to approximate the average thermal comfort requirements for the regional climatic sequences of the hot-dry north, dry sub-humid middle belt and warm humid south of Nigeria, with Kano, Minna and Port Harcourt used as reference points of comparisons. The outcome of the analysis shows that a greater percentage of urban houses in Nigeria do not portray the regional comfort characteristics required for thermal comfort, which may account for the wasteful reliance on the use of fossil-fuelled generators in buildings for house cooling.

The trickle-down effect of psycho-social constructs and knowledge deficiencies as organizational barriers to cost performance on highway projects

Purpose The study proffers a theoretical narrative explaining the poor financial performance of public highway agencies in Nigeria. This study critically spotlights seminal works in the literature offering theoretical narratives on the poor financial performance of public infrastructure projects, to discuss whether they adequately capture the relationship between psychological factors, project governance/leadership issues, and knowledge/skill deficiencies related to the cost performance of infrastructure projects in the developing world. The evaluation reveals the predominant contextual exclusivity of these theoretical narratives to the developed world, which tend to under-represent developing countries, such as those on the African continent. Design/methodology/approach Using a case study research strategy, longitudinal documentary/archival data for 61 highway projects were analyzed. Sixteen interviews were also conducted with highway officials from the three highway agencies responsible for the execution of the projects. A two-stage deductive-inductive thematic analysis of the collated data was carried out to identify barriers to the financial management of public highway projects, the result of which is cognitively mapped out. Findings The study showcases empirical insight on cost overruns experienced in Nigerian public projects, due to the trickle-down effect of human and organizational environment, as well as due to workers’ knowledge/skill deficiencies. Research limitations/implications The developed theory is contextual to Nigeria, as such there is scope for testing its generalisability to other developing nations. Originality/value The in-depth trajectory provided, uncovers an intricate web of technical and psycho-social, organizational and institutional issues, which have not been identified and explained by previous theoretical narratives.

Valuing sustainable change in the built environment : using SuROI to appraise built environment projects

The paper aims to assess the strengths and weaknesses of sustainable return on investment (SuROI) to determine it suitability as a means through which social value can be predicted in line with public procurement directives and the Social Value Act, whilst at the same time as fitting the developer’s business model and CSR commitments.,Using a multi-case design, findings from a comprehensive evaluation of three major housing-led mixed-use regeneration developments are presented. The three case study locations were selected on the basis of the developer’s strong commitment to place-making and social sustainability. Together with a strong strategic desire to reposition their organisation away from the traditional business as usual profit-led model.,Whilst the social return on investment methodology is applicable to the charity sector, its use in the built environment is highly questionable. When applying the model to the mixed-use housing projects, the authors identified a number of technical limitations to the model, inter alia a lack of suitable proxies and especially proxies relating to the built environment for the valuation of identified outcomes; the use of monetisation as a evaluating measure which did not support some of the more abstract or softer benefits identified; problems collecting, identifying and evaluating data to inform the model given the complexity and scale of the project; and significant time and expense associated with the valuation and finally the inability to benchmark the report on completion. These findings have implications for the social housing providers and local authorities looking to use SuROI to evaluate potential built environment projects.,The paper offers unique insights into the viability of using existing social value measurement methodologies. The paper identifies the significant limitations associated with the SuROI methodology.

Latent geotechnical pathogens inducing cost overruns in highway projects

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the statistical validity of geotechnical risk factors in accounting for cost overruns in highway projects. The study hypothesises that “latent pathogens” because of mismanaged geotechnical risk, which lay dormant in organisational practices of highway agencies, trigger cost overruns. Design/methodology/approach To test this hypothesis, cost and geotechnical data gathered for 61 completed highway projects, executed in the Niger Delta, recording unusually high cost overruns, along with qualitative data from 16 interviews with the project commissioners, were comprehensively analysed via regression modelling, to statistically explain recorded cost variance. Findings The results provide empirical evidence supporting a cause–effect relationship between the extent of cost overrun and key geotechnical factors. It is suggested that positive changes made in the geotechnical practices of the highway agencies will produce an expected exponential decrease in the level of cost overruns recorded in highway projects. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to explaining the propagation of unusually high cost overruns in the geologic setting of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. As such there is a need to test the generalisability of the theory presented. Practical implications The emergent view of geotechnical practice calls for further research, necessary to align geotechnical best practice into highway project delivery in the Niger Delta region. Originality/value The study used a robust methodological approach to understanding the propagation of cost overruns in highway projects, based on a characterisation of geotechnical intricacies, which is unprecedented in cost overrun research.

Project Finance for Construction

The world of construction is intrinsically linked with that of finance, from the procurement and tendering stage of projects right through to valuation of buildings. In addition to this, things like administrations, liquidations, mergers, take-overs, buy-outs and floatations affect construction firms as they do all other companies. This book is a rare explanation of common construction management activities from a financial point of view. While the practical side of the industry is illustrated here with case studies, the authors also take the time to build up an understanding of balance sheets and P&L accounts before explaining how common tasks like estimating or valuation work from this perspective. Readers of this book will not only learn how to carry out the tasks of a construction cost manager, quantity surveyor or estimator, they will also understand the financial logic behind them, and the motivations that drive senior management. This is an essential book for students of quantity surveying or construction management, and all ambitious practitioners.