Edmond W.M. Lam

Benchmarking the performance of design‐build projects: Development of project success index

Purpose – The paper aims to develop a project success index (PSI) to benchmark the performance of design‐build projects from a number of key performance indicators (KPIs).Design/methodology/approach – This research collected 92 responses from Design and Build (D&B) project participants of the Hong Kong construction industry via ordinary postal mail. In addition, a project success equation is formulated from the principal components analysis.Findings – D&B project participants suggests that time, cost, quality and functionality should be the principal success criteria for D&B projects. A single index can also be computed from the project success equation to apply different weightings to the respective KPI with different significance.Practical implications – The concept of success remains vague among project participants, which makes it difficult to assess whether the performance of a project is a success or failure. The development of PSI can quantify the success concept in a scientific manner.Originality/...

Benchmarking design‐build procurement systems in construction

Benchmarking can be an effective way of helping organizations to deliver better services through continuous improvement. The concept of benchmarking has been extensively applied to the construction industry in recent years to enhance the performance of the project delivery process. Success is hard to achieve, especially for a construction project delivered by an innovative procurement method – design and build, and the identification of critical success factors can enable project team leaders to make improvements in some particular areas. This paper aims to establish a conceptual framework of critical success factors (CSFs) for design‐build projects in construction. From the framework, it is hypothesized that project success of a design‐build project is a function of the interaction among project characteristics, project procedures, project management strategies, project‐related participants, project work atmosphere and project environment. The CSFs so identified can provide practitioners and academics with a better understanding of running a design‐build project successfully to develop a benchmark for the D&B project delivery process.

Benchmarking success of building maintenance projects

Purpose – This paper aims to develop a project success index (PSI) to benchmark the performance of building maintenance projects from a number of key performance indicators (KPIs).Design/methodology/approach – The research collected 110 responses from project participants with managing building maintenance project experience of the Hong Kong construction industry via ordinary postal mail. In addition, a project success equation was formulated from the principal components analysis to generate a composite score so as to indicate the level of success of building maintenance projects.Findings – Industry participants believe that time, cost, quality, functionality, safety and environmental friendliness can be considered as KPIs for building maintenance projects. A single index can also be computed from the project success equation to apply different weightings to the respective KPI with different significance such that the performance of building maintenance projects can be compared.Practical implications – T...

Evaluating guaranteed maximum price and target cost contracting strategies in Hong Kong construction industry

Guaranteed maximum price (GMP) and target cost contracting (TCC) with a pain‐share/gain‐share arrangement have been adopted to integrate the construction delivery process and motivate service providers to seek continuous improvements in project outcomes. However, there is still a lack of research evidence to evaluate the levels of success and lessons learned from these innovative procurement strategies. Based on the analysis of a series of in‐depth interviews on the perceptions of various relevant experienced industrial practitioners, this paper aims to explore the key attributes of GMP/TCC including the underlying motives, perceived benefits, potential difficulties, critical success factors, key risk factors involved and optimal project conditions for adopting GMP/TCC. The research findings are useful in assisting key project stakeholders in minimising the detriments brought about by potential difficulties in and maximising the benefits derived from implementing GMP/TCC concepts. The study is also significant in contributing to new knowledge and practical information of GMP/TCC applications and implementation, in both a national and international context.

Potential Problems of Running Design-build Projects in Construction

Research an the design-build procurement method has attracted considerable Interests Of both the construction researchers and industry practitioners in recent years. With the increasing complexity Of construction projects to be undertaken nowadays, it is necessary to identify the potential probiems of this alternative procurement system in order to further enhance the level ofproject success. This pAPCr provides a criticai anaiysis on the problems in running design-build (D&B) projects. Itfirst reviews the trend in the use afthe design-build procurement system in different countries. It was found that some western countries like UK, US, Itaiy and Australia have adopted D&B as a major project delivery methodfor more than a decade while the use of D&B in the east side is on the rise In recent years. D&B has been employed to reduce the problems inherent in the traditional procurement system. To ensure a hIgher level of project success, the writers carried out a comprehensive desk stUdy on the significant problems of running D&B projects. The problems caused and faced by the stakeholders, namely clients, contractors and consultants were identified and discussed. Potential approaches to resolve the identified problems were recommended. A research focus is hereby suggested for conducting more detailed case studies of D&B projects so that critical successfactors for D&B projects can be identified.

Wearing comfort of two construction work uniforms

Purpose – The aim of this study is to investigate wearing comfort of summer work uniforms judged by construction workers. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 189 male construction workers participated in a series of wear trials and questionnaire surveys in the summer of 2014. They were asked to randomly wear two types of work uniforms (i.e. uniforms A and B) in the two-day field survey and the subjective attributes of these uniforms were assessed. Three analytical techniques, namely, multiple regression, artificial neural network and fuzzy logic were used to predict wearing comfort affected by the six subjective sensations. Findings – The results revealed that fuzzy logic was a robust and practical tool for predicting wearing comfort in terms of better prediction performance and more interpretable results than the other models. Pressure attributes were further found to exert a greater effect than thermal–wet attributes on wearing comfort. Overall, the use of uniform B exhibited profound benefits on w...

Barriers to Applying the Design-build Procurement Method in Hong Kong

Despite the global use of the design-build (D&B) method to manage construction projects, there remain barriers that hinder its healthy development. This paper builds on earlier work and investigates the barriers that impede the use of the design-build procurement method in the construction industry. After a comprehensive literature survey, an empirical study was conducted in the Hong Kong construction industry by means of a questionnaire survey. The top-3 barriers to the implementation of D&B were ‘D&B contractors carry a high degree of risks and liability’, ‘The Contractor tendering for the D&B project will suffer greatly if the contract is not awarded to him’, and ‘D&B contractors do not have in-house architects and engineers’. Both intra-group and inter-group comparisons were conducted to determine the level of agreement of the D&B participants on the rating exercise. Results show that there is significant agreement among the respondents in each of the client, contractor and consultant groups, and also among all D&B participants on the rating of the problems of running D&B projects. This research provides an understanding of the barriers to the adoption to the D&B development in the Asia, despite its widespread use in other parts of the world.

Development of the Design-Build Procurement System in Hong Kong

Various procurement systems were developed to help the client complete a construction project within the constraints of time and cost and to the required quality. Design-build (D&B) is one of such alternatives to deal with the problems of the traditional project delivery system and its use is on the rise in many countries. Participants should be equipped with proper D&B knowledge for better project performance. This paper investigates the development of the design-build procurement method by means of structured interviews with the client, contractor and contractors consultants in the Hong Kong setting. Results show that D&B research is conducted by experience sharing among D&B practitioners. The definition of D&B is also recognized by the practitioners who suggested the transfer of risks to the contractor, the need to make use of resources and expertise from the contractor, better meeting the principles of public accountability and variation avoidance as the four main reasons for the wider adoption of D&B in the public sector. Such a study can reveal the development of the design-build procurement system in Hong Kong and establish a platform for information exchange among project practitioners in the construction industry.

Analysis of the Effectiveness of Instructional Strategies for Construction Management Students

AbstractThis study seeks to identify the most suitable strategies to promote effective learning for construction management students and to boost instructors’ knowledge concerning the choice of appropriate strategies. Twenty-two instructional strategies, identified through a comprehensive literature review, were assessed based on students’ perceptions as determined by a questionnaire. Data from the returned valid questionnaires were examined and tested with exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and a structural equation model (SEM). The EFA extracted five strategies: web-enhanced instructional strategy, traditional learning instructional strategy, activity-based learning instructional strategy, relational learning instructional strategy, and student-centered learning instructional strategy. The results of the SEM show that student-centered strategies having the strongest standardized regression path coefficient of 0.93 were considered the most effective learning instructional strategies by the students. Based...

Perceptions on the Application of Design-Build Procurement System in Hong Kong

The traditional design-bid-build procurement method has long been adopted in the construction industry for decades, but the result of adversarial relationships among project team members lowers the chance of project success. The aim to better guarantee the successful delivery of construction projects has instigated the development of a variety of alternative project procurement systems, among which Design-Build (D&B) has been progressively used worldwide including Hong Kong. This paper explores the perceptions of construction practitioners on the application of Design-Build procurement system in Hong Kong through twenty-three detailed structured interviews. It was discovered that some local project participants are confused with the definition of public sector because of the ‘Public-Private’ hybrids. The D&B participants also showed concerns on the influence of the client on design and construction matters under the architect-led design-build. A comprehensive review of the various forms of D&B and the practice of D&B is also provided to identify four major issues in the application of design-build procurement system, namely rapid changing market conditions, streamline of bureaucracy, involvement of client and special risks on contractor. The useful insights generated from this paper are essential for the development of knowledge of D&B in a global sense.