Franky W.H. Wong

Improving building project performance: how buildability benchmarking can help

Although the buildability of building designs has not been commonly taken as an important parameter in design quality assessment, previous studies have linked buildability to time, cost, quality and safety performance in many ways. Based on this observation, the question arises of how buildability can be benchmarked and which aspects of project performance can be improved. After identifying available benchmarking tools, the relative correlations are investigated between different buildability attributes and construction performance in terms of time, cost, quality and safety. Based on a questionnaire survey, it was found that construction time performance has strong positive correlations with buildability in the design of external wall elements, simplicity of assembly and installation considerations, while other design attributes affect cost, quality and safety performance to varying degrees. With this understanding, it is postulated that best practice can be promoted among design teams for enhancing buildability, which would in turn raise project performance. Three experienced practitioners have been interviewed for verifying the practicality of buildability benchmarking. As an incentive to improve buildability, benchmarking would help construction stakeholders reap their desired benefits by focusing on the related design attributes in the pre‐construction stage, particularly for functionally oriented buildings.

A study of measures to improve constructability

Purpose – This paper is aimed at identifying the common approaches for improving constructability and evaluating their effectiveness of implementation.Design/methodology/approach – A comprehensive survey has been carried out on contemporary literature, i.e. from 1990 onwards, to trace the development of the buildability and constructability concepts and the common approaches of improvement.Findings – Results show that buildability is mainly concerned with design, quality of built products, ease of construction, as well as efficient and economical construction. Constructability emphasises integration of construction knowledge and experience at various project stages; optimisation of different project requirements to achieve overall goals; and ease of construction. Therefore, “constructability” embraces the concept of “buildability”. The implementation of Quantified Assessment, Constructability Review and Constructability Programmes are the three commonly adopted approaches.Practical implications – Improvem...

Effectiveness of ICT for Construction Information Exchange among Multidisciplinary Project Teams

The use of information and communication technology (ICT) has been commonplace in the construction industry, with the increased functionalities of intranets and extranets in a web-based environment. Yet, human and organizational hindrances bring about consequences which affect the effectiveness of these online collaboration tools. Through a cross-sectional study of six construction-related organizations via interviews with ICT developers and users, these hindrances and consequences are highlighted against contextual backgrounds which depict a wide spectrum of ICT use in the construction industry. The results underpin a questionnaire survey which identified the most frequently encountered hindrances, such as self-discipline, technical support, and system capacity, both for internal and external information exchanges. These hindrances, together with undesirable behaviors such as the tendency to forward information to irrelevant parties and ignore information, would result in double handling and missing of time targets. Results also show that public organizations seem to be less prone to the discipline problems. While ICT advances, it is imperative that users make the best use of it by understanding and avoiding the pitfalls.

A comparative study of buildability perspectives between clients, consultants and contractors

Purpose – This paper aims to highlight the similarities and differences in the buildability perspectives held by the client and the design team (collectively known as the design decision‐making group) and the contractor (known as the execution group).Design/methodology/approach – Buildability attributes were identified through a questionnaire survey, followed by factor analysis to consolidate them into nine buildability factors. These were then presented to 31 construction experts (comprising clients, consultants and contractors), who ranked the buildability factors in association with common construction systems using the analytical hierarchy process.Findings – Whilst the consensus was on “enabling design requirements to be easily visualised and co‐ordinated by site staff” to make designs buildable, clients and design teams differed from contractors in perspectives such as overcoming site restrictions, achieving standardisation and flexibility. When applied to construction systems, clients and design tea...

Difficulties and Hindrances Facing End Users of Electronic Information Exchange Systems in Design and Construction

Since information and communication technology (ICT) was introduced into the construction industry over a decade ago, the once fledging technologies have now been well developed. ICT has been commonly adopted, particularly in places where speedy construction is the norm, e.g., in Hong Kong. At the time when ICT is seemingly well developed, this paper aims at identifying the difficulties and hindrances facing the end users of such information exchange systems during design and construction and the consequential effects on project performance. Through literature review, a series of structured interviews, and a questionnaire survey, it is found that industry users welcomed the advancement of ICT, but that the necessary technical and psychological supports from their organizations were insufficiently provided. In addition, significant differences on the hindrances and their consequential effects have been identified between end users in the private sector and those in the public sector. The study findings hav...

A compendium of buildability issues from the viewpoints of construction practitioners

In response to the recent report of the Construction Industry Review Committee for improving buildability in Hong Kong, a research project has been commissioned to develop a buildable design appraisal system for use in the city. First, a literature review has been carried out on the major development of buildability and constructability in different countries, including Australia, Singapore, the United Kingdom the United States. A series of interviews with experienced industry practitioners in Hong Kong (including expatriates) aiming at exploring the present state-of-the-art on the subject has been conducted. The insights have provided solid groundwork for future buildability studies due to their practicality. Despite the sample size being small, the public and private sector interviewees were differentiated by their design-outcome oriented and design-process oriented perspectives. Buildability problems emerged because of the lack of clear project briefing and insufficient considerations of buildability at the design stage. Mitigation measures at the design stage include co-ordinating the delivery process, revisiting works done, training on site production techniques and cross-discipline communication, etc. From the procurement perspectives, Partnering in Design & Build would serve in a better way in alleviating buildability problems.

Building features and site‐specific factors affecting buildability in Hong Kong

Purpose – Buildability is concerned with enhancing building designs to achieve ease of construction. Adapting from the Buildable Design Appraisal System in Singapore, a tailored‐made Buildability Assessment Model (BAM), which scores buildability of building designs, has been devised for use in Hong Kong. In developing the BAM, local factors and terrain characteristics, e.g. highly constrained and sloping site conditions, which are common features besetting the industry, are particularly considered. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to report on the effects of building sites on buildability.Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire survey with 39 valid responses was administered on construction practitioners, aimed at understanding the relative buildability importance of a number of building features and site‐specific factors in Hong Kong. Analysis was carried out using the relative importance index method.Findings – It is found that the most important buildability considerations for building fe...

A scheme design buildability assessment model for building projects

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to depict the developmental process of a buildability assessment model for use at the scheme design stage of building projects, which have a priority requirement for functional performance rather than aesthetic performance.Design/methodology/approach – First, major decisions made at the scheme design stage of building projects were identified through pilot interviews and a questionnaire survey on designers. Second, these decisions were rated for their relative importance towards buildability through another questionnaire survey on contractors, analysed using the reliability interval method. Based on these results, a list of buildable and non‐buildable features and their impacts is compiled by interviewing major contractors. These findings were incorporated into a modified framework of buildability assessment for complete design, substituting information available at the scheme design stage. Validation was carried out using four sample projects and feedback from pract...

Benchmarking of Buildability and Construction Performance in Singapore: Is there a Case for Hong Kong?

Abstract This paper investigates what the Best Buildable Design award-winning projects in Singapore have accomplished through the study of key performance indicators. It was found that improved site productivity, shortened project time and reduced construction cost concomitant with manpower savings are generally in tandem with the upward trend of Buildability Scores as calculated based on the Buildable Design Appraisal System (BDAS). The results are persuasive with abundant published data stemming from the award-winning projects. In view of the similarity in the construction environment and success in implementing the BDAS in Singapore, an adapted version called Buildability Assessment Model (BAM) has been developed for adoption in Hong Kong by using local data collected through questionnaire surveys and structured interviews and incorporating more comprehensive assessment criteria. Based on a priori evidence in Singapore, when the BAM is widely used in Hong Kong, it can be reasonably inferred that buildability benchmarks for different types of building projects can be established. Eventually, better project performance in terms of construction time, cost, manpower and productivity in Hong Kong should be achievable when construction stakeholders pay due attention to the buildability of designs.

Benchmarking Buildability Using the Buildability Assessment Model in Hong Kong

Recent studies found that imminent measures should be taken to address buildability problems in the Hong Kong construction industry in order to improve productivity. Drawing from the experience of Singapore, where buildability is beneficially quantified by the Buildable Design Appraisal System (BDAS), a project has been carried out to establish a Buildability Assessment Model (BAM) for scoring buildability of building designs in Hong Kong. The research is aimed at establishing a mechanism to measure and appraise the buildability of different building design decisions. The BAM was developed first by identifying the relevant factors and attributes of buildability, taking the contextual background of the Hong Kong construction industry into consideration. A series of structured interviews and questionnaire surveys were carried out with the contributions of over 200 experienced practitioners in Hong Kong. The core research methodology included Factor Analysis and Analytical Hierarchy Process. The BAM was eventually validated by the scoring of representative projects and a questionnaire survey. In the long run, the BAM can be used to benchmark buildability of different building designs in Hong Kong. This would in turn encourage design professionals to develop more buildable designs. This approach can be adapted in other countries where buildability plays an equally important role to improve productivity of the construction economy.