Hassan Nasir

An implementation model for automated construction materials tracking and locating

Good materials management on large construction projects is critical for maximizing productivity and project performance. When key materials are temporarily lost, whole crews may be left idle and the project may be delayed. When key materials are completely lost, the impact can be enormous. In fact, one of the major problems in managing construction materials and equipment is tracking them in the supply chain and knowing their location on large job sites. Fortunately, location can now be automatically estimated within metres using emerging technologies. This paper proposes a general implementation model for automated construction materials tracking and locating on large industrial projects, such as refineries and power plants. It includes a methodology for determining what type of technology should be used for different types of projects and construction materials. It is based on an analysis of the capabilities of emerging technologies and on experience gained from implementing automated materials trackin...

An analysis of construction productivity differences between Canada and the United States

Comparisons of industry sectors in advanced economies since the 1960s show that the construction sector has lagged in productivity growth rates, especially in the United States. Although the US and Canadian economies are highly integrated, Canada’s experience differs in key ways. Analysis of these differences offers insight into fundamental construction productivity drivers. Three levels of analyses of construction productivity in the US are provided in this study. The first analysis compared international levels of labour productivity growth. The second compared construction productivity between the US and Canada, and the third analysed cost estimating data from RS Means estimating manuals to measure the changes in labour and partial factor productivity in the US from 1995 to 2009. Statistical significance testing indicates that labour productivity remained nearly constant in the building sub-sector and that partial factor productivity has improved at an annual compound rate of 0.66%. This supports previous findings that US construction has stagnated but is still improving in Canada, with wage differentials and training systems as potential drivers of this difference. While growth rates of productivity seem to decline with higher absolute levels of productivity, there is no evidence that high absolute productivity levels preclude significant growth.

An Integrated Productivity-Practices Implementation Index for Planning the Execution of Infrastructure Projects

AbstractProductivity and project performance can be improved through implementing best practices. This paper describes the development of a best productivity practices implementation index (BPPII) for infrastructure projects. The index is a checklist of practices that are considered to have a positive influence on labor productivity at the project level for infrastructure projects. These practices have been grouped together into a formalized set of categories, sections, and elements. Each practice and its planning and implementation levels were defined and assigned a relative weight on the basis of its importance in affecting labor productivity. The productivity factor (PF), defined as a ratio of estimated productivity and actual productivity, was used as a metric to collect information about labor productivity to validate the accuracy of the BPPII for infrastructure projects. Data were collected for infrastructure projects in regards to their planning and implementation level of practices in addition to ...

Setting Baseline Rates for On-Site Work Categories in the Construction Industry

AbstractLabor performance drives construction project performance. Labor performance can be improved by increasing the direct-work rate, which is the time spent by workers on installing materials and equipment. However, setting baseline rates for direct-work rate and determining expectation levels during the construction phase requires further investigation. The focus of the research reported in this paper is to establish a methodology for setting a desirable and realistic baseline rate based on activity analysis, primarily for industrial projects. First, an adaptive neurofuzzy inference system (ANFIS)-based method was developed as a means of estimating baseline rates based on existing knowledge. The method was trained using 272 data points. Its flexibility and functionality validate its usefulness; however, three additional methods of defining baseline rates were also developed based on simpler concepts and demonstrated with data points available from 14 projects, and the experience associated with these...

Assessing the management practices for small to medium sized Canadian general contractor organizations

This paper describes a research study entitled Enhancing the Performance and Productivity of the Canadian Construction Industry through Appropriate Digital Technology Adoption. The study was completed by researchers from four regions across Canada over the period of August 2013 to March 2014. The underlying purpose of the study was to assist in the development of decision-making tools to support the construction industry in the successfully adoption and implementation of new technologies. The study was accomplished by completion of the following steps: (1) an existing framework for the assessment of management practices at the project level for general contractors in the construction industry was refined and extended; (2) a standard assessment tool was developed and administered to 25 small to medium sized commercial/institutional building general contractor organizations, resulting in the identification of potential opportunities for improvement; (3) opportunities for improvement were validated with organizations; and (4) the assessment results were aggregated to provide an initial benchmark of the level of implementation of management practices. The assessment included 117 practices, across nine practice areas, and grouped as planning and control. The aggregated assessment results are indicating that at an industry level, the management practices in need of improvement that relate more directly to digital technologies are becoming clearer and include: Time better utilization of the capabilities of existing scheduling software; Cost improve the integration between time management and cost management software; Scope improve the capture of as-built information and the management of warranty and operation and maintenance information; Quality capture and categorize rework and nonconforming work; Materials implement materials tracking and on-site management; and Information and Communication implement processes to assess the performance of information and communication processes and use structured forms for information capture. The study built on previous work and extended it with respect to gaining insight on practices from the perspectives of the level of implementation and the consistency with which a practice is employed. To further extend this work, partnerships are being developed with national industry organizations to broaden the application of the assessment framework, thereby expanding the benchmarking dataset.

A time-cost-quality trade-off model for nuclear-type projects

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a generalized multi-dimensional joint confidence level model for nuclear refurbishment planning, using the Darlington retube and feeder replacement (RFR) project (which is a multi-billion dollar effort) as a research platform. The intentions of this model are twofold: (1) determining the best set(s) of cost, schedule, and proxies for quality such as radiation expenditures by incorporating the variations of work-shift models on both the activity duration distributions and the logic of the work flow, (2) improve the expected reliability and predictability involved in the resource allocation system (schedule), by “efficiently” integrating the influential project factors, constraints, and labour shift models associated with the schedule. An effective Monte Carlo based timecost-quality trade-off model is contributed for examining the performance and risk impacts of various work-shift designs and thus supports the choice of an optimal work-shift design.