Clinton Aigbavboa

An Appraisal of Housing Satisfaction in South Africa Low Income Housing Scheme

Abstract Post-occupancy evaluation techniques have been developed to provide a means for evaluating occupant responses to changes in an environment and linking this response to physical measures of that environment. POE has been used to evaluate the performance of buildings after they have been built and occupied for some time. This paper presents findings on the social and physical factors which influence residential satisfaction in four different government Housing Subsidy locations in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. Data obtained from the occupant survey were analyzed through the use of descriptive statistics. Findings arising from the survey revealed that the respondents were satisfied with their overall housing situation, but had complaints about certain aspects of the housing unit. However, the respondents informed that most of their housing needs were not being met. Also, a comparison is also made of the perceived factors of dissatisfaction amongst the housing subsidy occupants. It is recommended that a wider systematic coverage of the subject through investigation and diagnostic POE and occupants’ need assessment should be carried out in housing subsidy schemes in South Africa.

Human Factor Related Challenges of Marketing Construction Business Enterprise

Marketing is acknowledged as a necessary business management function but its application in construction is intensely hindered by some human factors in the construction industry. The paper is aimed at identifying the specific human factors in the construction industry that hinder marketing adoption and implementation in construction and to initiate further debate on this important but Cinderella subject. It uses literature review as a method to identify, summarize, synthesize and show the gaps in the existing research knowledge on human factors affecting Marketing Performance (MP) of Construction Businesses (CB). Factors such as marketing skills, manpower, attitude towards and conception of marketing hinders greatly on MP of CB. Construction marketing researchers must focus attention on the human factors that affect construction marketing. Educational consultants, curriculum developers and training institutions will find the paper useful in revising existing curriculum to reflect current trends in the management of construction business enterprise.

Application of Modified Statistical Triangle of Accident Causation in Construction Health and Safety

The purpose of the paper is to presents a review of literature on safety hazard identification and possible preventive measures in the construction industry. Unidentified hazards in the construction industry are likely to present the most unavoidable risks. Therefore, hazard identification is paramount to construction safety management since risk assessment is the practical means by which hazardous events are managed. Safety hazard identification in the construction industry towards the improvement of employee’s health and safety (H&S). Unidentified hazards in the construction industry are likely to present the most unavoidable risks. Therefore, hazard identification is paramount to construction safety management since risk assessment is the practical means by which hazardous events are managed. The study is mainly literature review with reference to existing theoretical literature, published and unpublished research. The paper presents an overview of hazards and accident causation. The findings from the study have shown that falls at construction sites are the leading cause of death and most of these deaths were attributed to falls from roofs, scaffolds, and ladders. Construction accidents lead to delay in project completion, increase the expenses and ruin the reputation and reliability of constructors. The following were identified as some of the barriers to H&S improvement: lack of information sharing across projects, full-time safety department, subjective nature of hazard identification and risk assessment. The study explores safety hazard identification in the construction industry towards the improvement of employee’s H&S. The study presents a strong background on hazard identification in the construction safety management.

Homeownership and Effectiveness of the South Africa government Housing Subsidy Scheme

This paper presents finding on the effectiveness of the South Africa government housing subsidy scheme in the delivery of houses to its citizens, thus providing homeownership especially to the low-income group and the disadvantaged poor. The paper also evaluates the usage of the houses by the occupants. The result from the post-occupancy survey of the provided houses revealed that the progressive realization of housing for the low-income and disadvantaged groups is being met as all beneficiaries were South African citizens. The survey also revealed that the beneficiaries living in the subsidized houses were originally allocated the houses by the Gauteng Department of Housing (GDOH), which overseas housing allocation in the province adopted as the site for the study. However, from the originally allocated, it was indicated that some of the beneficiaries were previously living in shacks, while some were homeless (absolute homelessness). Further findings from the survey showed that the original intended use of the houses by the government (private residential use) is what the subsidized houses are being used for as revealed by the respondents. The paper starts with an overview of the literature on this topic and the importance of homeownership, and then presents the results of the analysis and findings of the research. Finally, the paper draws some conclusions and recommendation. The originality of this paper is based on the fact that there have been issues surrounding the South Africa government financial commitment of 5% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to overcome its huge housing backlog is grossly inadequate. Due to the limited study to substantiate if the little devoted GDP is making any impact on the disadvantaged group, the current research contributes to this body of knowledge.

Measures of Project Success

Every project is initially conceived and designed to achieve a specific objective relating to the desire and need of the client. However, owing to various interests of other construction stakeholders, the objectives of the projects become numerous, depending on the views of the participants. These objectives are referred to as measures, factors, methods, criteria, indices, or attributes of project success, performance, or delivery. Generally, the success of construction projects is influenced by various factors. They are classified as project characteristics, contractual arrangements, project participants, or interactive processes. This chapter therefore highlights and explains various measures of project success with a conclusion that sustainability goals encompass every other measure.

Improving Sustainable Construction Practices Through Facility Management

The construction industry is key to the development and economic growth of any country, either developing or developed. The role of the industry in the achievement of infrastructures that are economically, socially and environmentally sustainable cannot be over-emphasized. It is therefore necessary for construction industry to continuously pursue sustainable construction projects. This study examines factors influencing the adoption and implementation of sustainable construction goals as well as the impact of facility management in achieving and sustaining the practice in the construction industry. Data were collected through well-structured questionnaires administered on relevant stakeholders that are involved in various activities in the construction industry. The policies and actions which affects the transition of companies towards sustainable construction practices include implementation of sustainable policies in the design stage, waste reduction practices, effective reuse and recycling of materials, utilization of life cycle costing and implementation of facility management principles. To improve sustainable practices in the industry, concerned stakeholders must take into consideration maintenance and running of all facilities, implementation of life cycle costing, training of local construction companies on sustainable methodologies and creating awareness within the industry on benefits associated with sustainable construction. This study has contributed to the body of knowledge by examining the role of facility management in the achievement of sustainable construction, it is therefore recommended that the identified policies and techniques as well as highlighted facility management processes are given consideration by construction stakeholders in their quest to improving performance of construction projects.

Human Resource Management and Effects of Mentoring on Retention of Employees in the Construction Sector: A Literature Review

The business world has long known and relied upon mentoring as a proven technique for developing in house talent, mentoring is experiencing resurgence because business leaders not only recognize the benefits of transferring knowledge among employees. The purpose of this paper is to examine past theory, research and practice on mentoring through the lens of (HRD), within the construction industry, in order to identify gaps in what is known about mentoring that are relevant to HRD professionals and furthermore the study describes better practices that organizations can use to address the threat of lost knowledge caused by changing workforce demographics. The study adopted a literature review method of data collection, with a special focus on mentoring. The data used in the report was mainly qualitative, based on the content analysis, and historical data. After reviewing core aspect of mentoring central, to all domains of HRD, the authors summarize the key issues that had been studied regarding mentoring and career development, organization development, and training and development. The study also, indicated knowledge transfer assists employees in improving their skill sets which increases their marketability and the potential for them to pursue career opportunities elsewhere. The early success of the initiatives described provide useful lessons for the construction industry and executives who recognize that knowledge retention and mentoring of employees are critical for sustaining future organizational performance, furthermore mentoring relationships may assist organizations in simultaneously promoting effective knowledge transfer and commitment that assist in the retention of key knowledge workers. The authors conclude with a research agenda that identifies where researchers need to go with mentoring research and HRD to better inform the practice of mentoring in organizations.

Human Factor Based Conceptual Framework for Construction Business Marketing

The absence of human related factors in extant construction marketing frameworks appears to have limited their applicability to construction marketing management. This paper identifies and examines human related factors relevant to construction marketing to shows why they are critical success factors for marketing in construction. This paper seeks to bridge the human factor gaps in extant construction marketing frameworks by merging human related factors which are marketing acceptance and behaviour toward marketing to existing frameworks which are predominantly strategic management factors as a compliment. The paper adopts a descriptive research design which is supplemented with literature review as the method to identify and summarize the factors to show the gaps in existing knowledge on the subject. It was found that the resultant framework is a conglomerate of factors that contribute to existing frameworks to improve upon the gaps inherent in construction marketing. This amalgamated framework is adequate in addressing challenges with existing construction marketing frameworks. Construction marketing researchers will find this framework useful in examining human factor related aspects of construction marketing.

Assessing beneficiaries’ needs and expectations as a determinant of residential satisfaction in South Africa

Purpose – There is an integral link between theory and measurement suggesting that validation of measures should be the first stage of theory testing. The purpose of this paper is to validate the factorial validity of needs and expectations (NAE) features as determinants of low-income residents’ housing satisfaction in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach – Empirical data were collected by a questionnaire survey conducted among 751 low-income housing residents’ in three metropolitan and one district municipality in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. Data gathered via the questionnaire survey were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) version 6.2 which was used to assess the factorial structure of the constructs. Findings – SEM analysis revealed that the internal consistency coefficients were over 0.70 criterion for acceptability and the constructs showed a good mode fit to the sample data. The Z-statistics analysis revealed that the construct (NAE) have direct influence in determining...

Construction Projects' Key Performance Indicators: A Case of the South African Construction Industry

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are one of the factors that constitute construction project success criteria which is the reason while performance measurement on construction projects are usually carried out by establishing KPIs which offer objective criteria to measure project success. An assumption is made that if a project is completed on time, within the agreed budget and set quality, also referred to as the ‘golden/iron triangle’, then the project is deemed successful. Evidence suggests that this is far from the truth. Hence, the construction industry needs to pay attention to critical success factors, besides the golden/iron triangle. Hence, this paper explores the most significant construction projects’ KPIs in the Gauteng province of South Africa. A questionnaire survey was used to collect the data for this study as a primary source in order to establish the most significant key performance indicators for construction projects in Gauteng, South Africa. Professionals such as architects, quantity surveyors, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, structural engineers, civil engineers, construction managers, project managers and construction project manager, were randomly selected as the target population for the survey. The secondary data was collected from a thorough review of related literature; it is through this thorough literature review that the key performance indicators for construction projects in Gauteng, South Africa, were identified which were further tested via the questionnaire survey. Findings from the questionnaire survey revealed that the most significant construction projects KPIs are: construction time, profitability, project management, material ordering, handling and management, risk management, quality assurance, client satisfaction (product), safety, time predictability (project, design, construction), productivity, client satisfaction (service). The study contributes to the body of knowledge on the subject of construction projects’ key performance indicators in the Gauteng Province of South Africa.