David Proverbs

Factors influencing contractor performance: an international investigation

International comparisons of contractor performance can provide robust benchmarks for contractors in different countries and help to identify ways towards performance improvement. Based on a hypothetical construction project, overall contractor performance (OCP) in Japan, the UK and the USA is compared. Overall contractor performance is defined to embrace construction cost, construction time, construction quality and sustainable development, the philosophy being that the achievement of one aspect of performance should not be at the expense of another. Multiple regression analysis reveals that overall contractor performance is dependent on: their past performance on previous similar projects; their commitment towards lifetime employment; their perceived importance of time performance; their relationship with subcontractors; and the number of design variations during construction. To improve their overall performance, contractors are advised to focus on construction time, reduce delays, maintain a stable workforce and establish partnerships with their subcontractors. Clients should attempt to reduce design variations during construction.

Factors influencing the culture of a construction project organisation

Purpose – It is widely recognised that improving project delivery in construction requires a consideration of the culture within the project organisation that is often associated with fragmentation, antagonism, mistrust, poor communication, finger‐pointing, machismo, and sexism. Many have thus called for cultural change on construction projects. However, change can only take place when there is an understanding of the drivers of culture within the construction project organisation (CPO). Given the argument in cultural theory that culture reflects distinct adaptations to the environments in which people operate, this research seeks to look for empirical evidence that the culture of the CPO is associated with particular features of construction projects.Design/methodology/approach – A mixed methodology approach was employed with qualitative data collected through semi‐structured interviews, and quantitative data on project features and cultural orientations collected through a questionnaire survey of UK con...

Achieving quality construction projects based on harmonious working relationships ‐ Clients’ and architects’ perceptions of contractor performance

The results of an investigative study aimed at assessing the performance of construction contractors, as perceived by clients and architects in the UK, are presented. The assessment uses predetermined generic performance criteria and involves two measurements, namely perceived importance (I) and perceived performance (P). Importance‐performance analyses are then carried out using three measures, namely average satisfaction (D), percentage response (R) and priority rank (PR). Results indicate a need for contractors to improve in most aspects of performance. Generally, architects are found to be less satisfied than clients in regard to overall contractor performance. Furthermore, the perceptions of clients and architects regarding D and PR are broadly similar. It is implied that a well‐planned and designed performance improvement strategy on behalf of contractors will address the needs of both clients and architects. Findings will be of interest to contractors embarking on projects with clients and architects.

The performance of contractors in Japan, the UK and the USA

International comparisons of contractor performance allow contractors in different countries to benchmark their own strengths and weaknesses and improve their competitiveness accordingly. Based on a survey of contractors in Japan, the UK and the USA, contractor quality performance is evaluated and compared. It is found that Japanese contractors complete their construction projects with fewer defects, provide longer defects liability periods and are called upon fewer times during the defects liability period than their UK and US counterparts. UK and US contractors do seek more regular feedback from their clients than Japanese contractors and generally similar levels of client satisfaction are achieved in the three countries (based on quality performance). The somewhat superior performance of Japanese contractors may be attributed to their deep‐rooted quality consciousness, closer working relationships with their subcontractors, and more advanced total quality management systems and quality assurance procedures.

The satisfaction levels of UK construction clients based on the performance of consultants

Purpose – Client satisfaction is one of the major determinants of project success and therefore is a fundamental issue for construction participants who must constantly seek to improve their performance if they are to survive in the marketplace. However, client satisfaction has remained an elusive issue for a majority of construction professionals. This research aims to investigate the performance of construction consultants to determine those key performance attributes which have a crucial impact on client satisfaction, and from that to identify ways of improving the services provided by such consultants.Design/methodology/approach – This research presents the results of a UK‐wide client satisfaction survey based on the performance of a large engineering and management consultancy organisation whom they employed.Findings – Results indicate that key performance attributes for consultants including technical accuracy; overall quality of services and people, have been identified as the main client satisfact...

Reducing construction costs: European best practice supply chain implications

Contractors, being located at the vanguard of the construction supply chain, potentially offer the most effective means of improving construction industry cost performance. As a generalisation, cost remains the most important criterion for construction clients; so its reduction (most often than not) represents improved client satisfaction. The construction process remains highly labour intensive, therefore, any savings in this regard could reduce construction costs significantly. This paper presents a model for minimising construction labour costs based on European best practice, and discusses the implications of such on supply chains. A variety of European contractor performance data were analysed, to identify optimum construction solutions for achieving minimal cost on a particular build-type (insitu concrete construction). The generic concepts of the cost minimisation model emanate from the construction practices employed by contractors. It is subsequently argued that supply chains downstream from the principal contractor, i.e. forming part of these key construction practices (material suppliers, subcontractors, plant and equipment providers, etc.), should be targeted as a means of effectively reducing overall construction costs. The use of `downstream strategic alliances’ (DSAs) is advocated in this respect.

European construction contractors: a productivity appraisal of in situ concrete operations

Site productivity levels for high rise, in situ concrete operations are compared among three groups of European construction contractors. Results confirm significant differences between the contractors productivity rates for each of the three countries investigated (Germany, France and the UK). German firms are the most efficient at reinforcement and concrete placing operations, whereas French firms are most productive at formwork. UK firms are the least productive for two operations, namely formwork and concrete. French firms are least productive at fixing reinforcement. Based on a specific model project, it is determined that French and German firms require significantly fewer man-hours to carry out the said concrete operations than do UK firms. UK contractors achieve the lowest levels of labour productivity for the operations involved. The UK also exhibited greater productivity variation, i.e. providing evidence of extreme (most and least efficient) levels of labour output for several concrete operations. Leading on from these analyses, a construction (labour) cost comparison indicates that French contractors are the least expensive. Furthermore, the ideal solution for clients would be to have French firms build their projects in the UK, since this combination provides the most economic solution to the model building overall.

Implementing information management in construction: establishing problems, concepts and practice

Information management practice falls under various themes: vision and policy, change implementation, alignment of strategies to information technology (IT), business process re‐engineering, the review of new systems and IT infrastructure. It has been found from exploratory case studies in the construction industry that the current management of information is characterized by systems in which: (1) information exchange between project parties is limited to paper, a medium in which retrieval is very slow and inefficient; (2) functional departments maintain their own data structured to suit their particular needs; (3) most information searching and transfer between project parties and clients are paper based, providing constant source of delays; (4) no efficient interfaces exist between departmental systems to access information electronically;and (5) the impact of IT investment to date has been limited. These characteristics can be first traced to the general lack of coherent management policy and vision on information management. Also, although construction is a distinctly collaborative business environment, for historical, cultural and legal reasons, there is no desire to consider seriously the use of collaborative IT tools. Thirdly, although there is a degree of knowledge of business process evaluation and improvement techniques such as business process re‐engineering (BPR), it appears there is less confidence for management to adopt such tools in its drive to solve information management problems. Finally, the lack of progress in adopting IT to widely improve communication is related to the fact that until now stand‐alone departmental systems have been the norm. Above all, the culture of the industry dictates that each function maintains total independence in all aspects including information retrieval and exchange. The result is that experience of implementing corporate IT systems is lacking and it is clearly affecting the ability to examine the potential of emerging IT or appraise current infrastructure.

Five feet high and rising : cities and flooding in the 21st century

Urban flooding is an increasingly important issue. Disaster statistics appear to show flood events are becoming more frequent, with medium-scale events increasing fastest. The impact of flooding is driven by a combination of natural and human-induced factors. As recent flood events in Pakistan, Brazil, Sri Lanka and Australia show, floods can occur in widespread locations and can sometimes overwhelm even the best prepared countries and cities. There are known and tested measures for urban flood risk management, typically classified as structural or engineered measures, and non-structural, management techniques. A combination of measures to form an integrated management approach is most likely to be successful in reducing flood risk. In the short term and for developing countries in particular, the factors affecting exposure and vulnerability are increasing at the fastest rate as urbanization puts more people and more assets at risk. In the longer term, however, climate scenarios are likely to be one of the most important drivers of future changes in flood risk. Due to the large uncertainties in projections of climate change, adaptation to the changing risk needs to be flexible to a wide range of future scenarios and to be able to cope with potentially large changes in sea level, rainfall intensity and snowmelt. Climate uncertainty and budgetary, institutional and practical constraints are likely to lead to a combining of structural and non-structural measures for urban flood risk management, and arguably, to a move away from what is sometimes an over-reliance on hard-engineered defenses and toward more adaptable and incremental non-structural solutions.

Impact of flood characteristics on damage caused to UK domestic properties: the perceptions of building surveyors

Flood damage to domestic properties can be considered as a function of two key factors, that is, the flood characteristics and characteristics of the property. A thorough literature review identified that little or no consideration is given to the characteristics of flood when assessing flood‐damaged domestic properties. This paper presents the perceptions of 289 building surveyors regarding flood characteristics as part of a 2‐year research project to benchmark the assessment of flood‐damaged domestic properties in the UK. Surveyors perceived the sewage, fasciae and contaminant content, and depth of the floodwater. Findings also revealed that methods to determine these factors were primarily a function of individual subjective perceptions. Definitive guidance is therefore, needed to minimise variations in subsequent repair and reinstatement works.