Jason Gray

Education for sustainability in construction management curricula

In response to the call for sustainability education in construction courses, higher education institutions have started to incorporate sustainability components into their construction courses to some extent. This research aims to investigate sustainability embedded in construction management (CM) courses using the Queensland University of Technology as a case study. A content analysis of its CM course structure, unit aims, learning objectives and lecture materials is conducted to examine the sustainability elements incorporated into the CM curriculum. The results show that the course incorporates sustainability components into the existing course structure mainly through horizontal integration, embedding sustainability into general units rather than as an add-on subject. Additionally, the sustainability topics embedded in the course cover a comparatively broad and balanced range of sustainability categories, i.e. background knowledge, policies and regulations, environmental issues, social issues and economic issues as well as technology and innovation, although social sustainability aspects need to be further strengthened. This research addresses the need for urgency in the development of an effective sustainability education framework for construction courses. It is expected that the findings from this study will facilitate the improvement of sustainability education in construction courses generally.

Perceptions of risk allocation methods and equitable risk distribution: a study of medium to large Southeast Queensland commercial construction projects

Economic upheaval and project complexity often lead to unequal risk allocation between contractual parties. A review of the literature identifies major problems in relation to the fairness and equality of the risk allocation process. However, most existing studies have been conducted from the clients perspective rather than that of contractors or consultants and do not focus specifically on risk misallocation. This paper aims at determining the factors involved by a questionnaire survey of the perceptions of contractors and consultants of the main issues in relation to medium to large commercial construction projects in South East Queensland, Australia. The findings are generally consistent with existing research results in that approximately half the respondents feel that their contractual risk allocation is unfair. In addition, there is a lack of use of formal risk management methods, and the arbitrary passing down of risks from the client has increased in recent years. A better understanding is provided of the issues contributing to unequal risk allocation, decision-making and management that will help promote fairness and equality between the contractual parties in the current process of risk management.

Comparison of the effects of litigation and ADR in South-East Queensland

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods, such as arbitration, are often used instead of litigation to resolve construction disputes, as industry folklore considers litigation overly expensive and time-consuming. But is this actually the case? Do the people most involved in construction dispute resolution agree? What are the real advantages and disadvantages of using litigation or ADR? When, if ever, is litigation the most appropriate way of resolving construction disputes? To answer these questions, this paper first provides a review of the literature on the use of litigation and ADR for construction dispute resolution. This is followed by the results of a survey of construction and legal personnel with moderate to extensive experience of dispute resolution in the Australian South-East Queensland construction industry. The main results of this are that, in addition to litigation being more expensive in money and time than ADR methods, the nature of the existing relationship between the parties has an important effect on the resolution process, what happens after an unsuccessful ADR and, if adversarial, is more likely to lead to litigation. The results are then validated and verified by one of the most experienced practitioners in claims and disputes in the whole of Australia.