Evelyn Ai Lin Teo

The indirect effect of safety investment on safety performance for building projects

Abstract Safety investments are aimed at protecting the health and physical integrity of workers and the material assets of a contractor. A popular assumption holds that increased investment in safety improves safety performance. However, close examination of previous studies on safety investments reveals that the relationship between the level of safety investment and safety performance remains debatable. The purposes of this study are therefore to (1) test the relationship between safety investment and safety performance, and (2) identify factors influencing their relationship. The research approach for collecting the data is by means of structured interviews. The findings indicate that safety performance is positively related to safety investments when the influence of project hazard level is removed. The effect of safety investments on safety performance was found to be more significant for projects with high hazard levels than those with low hazard levels. The interactive effects of safety investments and project hazard levels on safety performance imply that in order to achieve good safety performance under different project conditions, different investment decisions in workplace safety need to be made.

A quantitative model for efficient maintenance of plastered and painted façades

Building owners are faced with increasing maintenance costs incurred to rectify defects on different building elements and systems. With a significant proportion of maintenance costs spent on upkeep of building façades, there is a need for cost‐effective approaches for façade maintenance. A quantitative model is developed for effective evaluation, optimization and management of costs of maintenance of plastered and painted façades. Visual surveys were used to collect information about defects on the external plaster and paint finish for public housing apartment blocks in Singapore. The data were used to develop ‘defect index models’ for each type of defect to predict its onset and propagation. The output from these models was incorporated into a life cycle cost model that can be used to predict and optimise the timing and magnitude of maintenance/repair costs incurred on plastered and painted façades during their intended lifetime.

Maintenance of Plastered and Painted Facades for Singapore Public Housing: A Predictive Life Cycle Cost-Based Approach

A major component of building maintenance costs is spent on the maintenance and repair of building façades. With maintenance budgets escalating day by day, in order to reduce the overall building maintenance expenditure, it has become necessary to minimise the total maintenance cost incurred during the lifetime of the façade while adhering to the specified performance requirements at the same time. This paper describes the framework for the development of a life cycle cost based model for maintenance of plastered and painted facades in the public high-rise residential sector in Singapore. A two-pronged approach is presented whereby: a. the onset and extent of spread of different defects in the paint and plaster layers is predicted and b. the optimum timing and the corresponding minimum maintenance/repair costs that would be incurred to rectify these defects are determined in order to satisfy prescribed maintenance standards. The envisaged life cycle cost model would serve as a valuable tool for property and building managers by providing a cost effective maintenance programme for plastered and painted facades.

Costs of Construction Accidents to Singapore Contractors

Abstract Occupational accidents may incur considerable financial losses for companies. The purpose of this study was to investigate the financial losses incurred by building contractors in Singapore due to construction accidents. A questionnaire survey was used to collect data for this study. The results show that the average insured accident costs, average uninsured accident costs and average total accident costs account for 0.15%, 0.1% and 0.25% of the contract sum of a project, respectively. The ratio between insured and uninsured accident costs for building projects was found to be 1.5:1. Furthermore, company size, project size, and percentage of work completed by subcontractors were found to have impact on the size of uninsured costs of accidents. In light of this study, Singapore contractors may be more conscious about the financial implications of construction accidents, which would in turn motivate contractors to prevent construction accidents.

Decision Making and Quality Function Deployment (QFD)

This chapter first introduces general concepts of decision making (Sect. 2.2), Knowledge management system (KMS) (Sect. 2.3), basic components of knowledge-based decision-support system (KBDSS) (Sect. 2.4), decision-making techniques (Sect. 2.5), fuzzy set theory (Sect. 2.6), and consensus scheme (Sect. 2.7).

Critical Success Factors for enhancing the Building Information Modelling implementation in building projects in Singapore

AbstractAlthough building information modelling (BIM) has been implemented in building projects in Singapore, barriers such as the duplicate efforts for designers and contractors to create models appear to exist. Thus, BIM implementation needs to be enhanced. The objectives are to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) for enhancing BIM implementation and investigate the interrelationships among these CSFs. 32 success factors were identified through a literature review and a questionnaire survey was conducted. The results indicated that 15 CSFs were identified and grouped into integration and accuracy of models (IAM), commitment and training from the management (CTM), and advantages and support of implementation (ASI) through factor analysis. The results from structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis revealed that CTM resulted in IAM and from ASI, while ASI facilitated IAM. The proposed framework indicating the CSFs and the intergroup relationships provides an in-depth understanding of BIM implem...

Enhancing Worksite Safety: Impact of Personnel Characteristics and Incentives on Safety Performance

Abstract The construction industry is responsible for more that 35% of the total number of industrial accidents in Singapore, but adds about 5% to the GDP. There is therefore a need to reduce the number of construction site accidents. This paper investigates the personnel and incentive factors that significantly affect site safety as a previous study has shown that the impact of personnel characteristics and incentives on safety performance is significant; hence, in order to increase worksite safety, the importance of intrinsic behaviour and external incentives cannot be ignored (Teo and Ling, 2006). A questionnaire is designed to collect project-specific safety related data from contractors who undertook construction projects in Singapore. Sixty contractors rated the importance level of specific attributes relating to site safety. The results show that there are many personnel factors that affect site safety. These include: workers and supervisors adopting safe work behaviour and good attitude towards safety; providing them with safety and health training; management adopting safety culture and displaying clear responsibilities towards safety and health promotion; managers and supervisors adopting practices that allow them to have better influence over workers; and a safety committee given clear roles and responsibilities which are understood by all employees. The study finds that punishments and penalties have been used to control site accidents. It is recommended that contractors pay greater attention to personnel factors as these can improve construction safety more significantly than punishments.

Managing critical drivers for building information modelling implementation in the Singapore construction industry: an organizational change perspective

ABSTRACT Building information modelling (BIM) implementation has been mandated in the Singapore construction industry, but it is still plagued with challenges such as lack of contractor input in design models. Thus, the industry still needs changes in the BIM implementation. This study aims to identify critical drivers for change (CDCs) towards full BIM implementation, demonstrate the theoretical rational behind the CDCs, and formulate strategies to strengthen the CDCs. Conducting a questionnaire survey with 86 professionals, this study identified 31 CDCs, among which ‘BIM vision and leadership from the management’ was ranked top. The results indicated that these CDCs could be interpreted with an adapted organizational change framework in which process-related attributes were key to changing towards full BIM implementation. The identification of the CDCs and the strategies enables the project management team to obtain sufficient support for strengthening the positive influence from the CDCs and enhancing BIM implementation. Additionally, overseas construction practitioners can use the drivers and strategies identified in this study to prepare their customized lists of drivers and strategies.

Building Envelope Materials and Designs

This chapter reviews the knowledge of the building envelope materials and designs to be stored in the KM-M and KM-R of the KMS. The chapter begins by introducing key elements of high-rise residential buildings (Sect. 4.2).

Prototype of the KBDSS-QFD and Case Studies Results

This chapter is dedicated to the development of the detailed KBDSS-QFD tool and its prototype and testing the second hypothesis of this book through case studies.