Gui Ye

Analyzing Causes for Reworks in Construction Projects in China

Although rework is a common phenomenon in the Chinese construction industry and significantly affects project success, the reasons for rework remain largely unknown and most construction companies are unable to manage the issue effectively. To investigate the causes of rework in construction projects, a total of 39 causes were first identified through a comprehensive literature review and semi-structured interviews with 13 experienced construction professionals in China. A questionnaire survey was further conducted to prioritize these causes, in which unclear project process management, poor quality of construction technology, and the use of poor construction materials rank the highest. Finally, a factor analysis revealed 11 major underlying dimensions of these causes, relating to design management, communication management, field management, project scope management, project process management, active rework, project plan changes, subcontractor management, contract management, owner capability, and the external environment. The contribution of this work lies in its examination of the underlying causes of rework perceived by construction professionals in the world’s largest developing country, which is characterized by its unique economic and social systems. In particular, newly identified causes of contract management, active rework, and scope management help expand existing knowledge of the underlying causes of rework for the global construction community.

Alternative Model for Determining the Optimal Concession Period in Managing BOT Transportation Projects

The concession period is one of the most crucial variables influencing the success of a transportation project under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) procurement model. Since BOT transportation projects are characterized by irreversibility and uncertainty, project values tend to be underestimated by ignoring the value of the option to defer in the evaluation process, and thereby a long concession period is required by the concessionaire and a high subsidy is invariably paid by the government concerned when a project is financially nonviable. However, the existing net present value (NPV) method for making a concession period decision cannot properly capture the managerial flexibility value in BOT projects. In addition, the existing Nash bargaining model used in the concession period negotiation process cannot define an optimal concession period but can only narrow the interval of the concession period. This paper presents an alternative method for determining the optimal concession period by considering the investment in BOT-type transportation projects under dynamic uncertainty. In the proposed model, real options theory is used to identify an effective interval of concession period for a BOT transportation project, and Nash negotiation theory is applied to find the optimal value of the concession period. An actual transportation project in China is referred to as demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed model.

An AHP/DEA Methodology for Assessing the Productive Efficiency in Construction Industry

A two-stage methodology integrating analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) methods for analyzing and assessing the productive efficiency in construction industry was proposed. This paper discussed the productive efficiency of the construction industry in Shanghai using the statistic data in Shanghai from 1997 to 2007. The results indicate that the index selection process based on AHP is more objective and the integrated AHP-DEA methodology is suitable and reliable for productive efficiency assessing in construction industry. Meanwhile, the proposed assessing index will be valuable references for similar regions in Mainland China.

Construction and Demolition Waste Management in Hong Kong: Practices and Challenges

The huge amount of construction and demolition (C&D) waste entering landfills in Hong Kong have stressed the environment severely. To alleviate its adverse impacts, the local government and the construction industry have adopted a set of measures since the early 1980s. This study is conducted with an attempt to provide insights into the C&D waste management practice in Hong Kong, based on which some barriers hindering the future C&D waste management could be identified. The major method adopted for collecting data is a comprehensive review of all related scholarly papers, governmental legislations, and official statistics and reports. The challenges proposed in this paper are beneficial to both researchers and industry practitioners, since they could develop further research and C&D waste management plan accordingly.

Case-based insights into rework costs of residential building projects in China

Abstract Rework has been identified as a major cause of cost overran of residential building projects. This study aims to investigate the magnitude of rework costs generated by different sources for residential building projects in China. Six residential building projects were selected as sample cases; rework activities and their detailed cost information were collected and analysed. The result revealed that average rework cost of residential building projects was 4.95% of the total project cost. The majority of rework costs were generated by three sources including contractor field management (20.10%), design management (18.91%) and client management (14.73%). It was also found that the main liability bearers of rework costs did not take corresponding responsibilities. The establishment of rework costs allocation mechanism is therefore required to enhance the sense of responsibility among different entities. The magnitude of rework cost may well motivate them take collaborative actions to reduce rework cost. This article provides valuable empirical data for practitioners to understand the major sources of rework costs and main liability-bearers. Therefore, practitioners can take targeted measures to address certain key factors that cause rework based on the data. Above all, this study will bring benefit to the construction industry as well as the whole society.

Analyzing the Impact of Group Norms on Workers’ Safety Behaviors in a Construction Team

The construction industry is universally accepted as one of the most dangerous industries. Workers’ unsafe act is one of the main causes of construction accidents. And group norms are widely regarded as important roles in regulating safety behaviors. According to the social identity theory, research on group norms of construction teams seems to be more important. Group norms can be divided into injunctive and descriptive norms. However, there are limited studies how injunctive and descriptive norms influence workers’ safety behaviors and the mechanism in construction teams. This study aims to build and test a mediation model about how workers’ safety behaviors are affected by these norms. The empirical data were collected from different construction sites and analyzed by the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique. Results reveal that injunctive and descriptive norms have both a direct and an indirect influence on workers’ safety behaviors. And safety attitude serves as the mediating factor. This study supports a better understanding on how safety behaviors are affected by group norms from the perspective of sociological classification in construction teams.

Improved HFACS on Human Factors of Construction Accidents: A China Perspective

Human errors are one of the major contributors of accidents. In order to improve the safety performance, human errors have to be addressed. Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) has been developed as an analytical framework for the investigation of the role of human errors in aviation accidents. However, the HFACS framework did not reveal the relationships describing the effect among diverse factors at different levels. Similarly, its interior structure was not exposed. As a result, it is difficult to identify critical paths and key factors. Therefore, an improved Human Factors Analysis and Classification System in the construction industry (I-HFACS) was developed in this study. An analytical I-HFACS mechanism was designed to interpret how activities and decisions made by upper management lead to operator errors and subsequent accidents. Critical paths were highlighted. Similarly, key human factors were identified, that is, “regulatory factors,” “organizational process,” “supervisory violations,” “adverse spiritual state,” “skill underutilization,” “skill-based errors,” and “violations.” Findings provided useful references for the construction industry to improve the safety performance.

Risk-Based Determination of the Prenium Rate of Construction Work Safety Liability Insurance

Work Safety Liability Insurance (WSLI) will develop rapidly in the Chinese construction industry as a way combining liability insurance and work safety. The establishment of the premium rate is haunting insurance and construction industry, and having hindered its development. By combining quantitative and qualitative analysis, a multi-criteria comprehensive evaluation model based on fuzzy mathematic is proposed in this paper to calculate the risk coefficient for adjusting basic premium rate of Construction Work Safety Liability Insurance (CWSLI). By following this method, different risk grades of construct project can be appropriately reflected through different premium rate, which can let the leverage of price be exerted adequately.