Martin Skitmore

Selecting a suitable procurement method for a building project

Building procurement has become a fashionable term with industry practitioners and researchers. It determines the overall framework and structure of responsibilities and authorities for participants within the building process. It is a key factor contributing to overall client satisfaction and project success. The selection of the most suitable procurement method consequently is critical for both clients and project participants, and is becoming an important and contemporary issue within the building industry. The problem, nevertheless, lies in the fact that there has been limited empirical research in this field of study. Postal questionnaire surveys of 41 clients and 35 consultants were carried out, and were used to obtain experience of and attitudes to a variety of procurement methods and the criteria used for selection. The findings indicate that a simple set of the criteria generally is adequate and sufficient for procurement path selection, and that there is a reasonable consensus on the appropriate weighting for each path. Moreover, it is shown that, contrary to expectations, similar clients generally do not have similar procurement needs.

Project risk management in the Queensland engineering construction industry: a survey

This paper provides the results of a survey of senior management involved in the Queensland engineering construction industry, concerning the usage of risk management techniques. These are described in comparison with four earlier surveys conducted around the world and indicate that: the use of risk management is moderate to high, with very little differences between the types, sizes and risk tolerance of the organisations, and experience and risk tolerance of the individual respondents; risk management usage in the execution and planning stages of the project life cycle is higher than in the conceptual or termination phases; risk identification and risk assessment are the most often used risk management elements ahead of risk response and risk documentation; brainstorming is the most common risk identification technique used; qualitative methods of risk assessment are used most frequently; risk reduction is the most frequently used risk response method, with the use of contingencies and contractual transfer preferred over insurance; and project teams are the most frequent group used for risk analysis, ahead of in-house specialists and consultants.

Contractor selection using multicriteria utility theory: An additive model

A systematic multicriteria decision analysis technique is described for contractor selection and bid evaluation based on utility theory and which permits different types of contractor capabilities to be evaluated. A UK case study is used to illustrate the technique. The theoretical basis and the advantages of the technique are also presented.

Evaluating contractor prequalification data: selection criteria and project success factors

A Delphic study investigating the perceived relationship between 20 contractor selection criteria (CSC) currently in use and project success factors (PSFs) in terms of time, cost and quality is described involving a sample of eight experienced construction personnel, including two validators. A consensus of the likely impact of each criterion on time, cost and quality is established in terms of pessimistic, average and optimistic values, which are then converted into expected means and variances via the PERT approach. The ten most and ten least important CSCs are identified and examined for differences and similarities between PSFs. The results show that past failures, financial status, financial stability, credit ratings, experience, ability, management personnel and management knowledge are perceived to be the dominant CSCs affecting all three PSFs, with safety criteria (safety, experience modification rate, OSHA incidence rate, management safety accountability) and the length of time in business being perceived to have the least effect overall. Some CSCs, such as past performance, bank arrangements, project management organization, plant and equipment were perceived to affect only one or two PSFs.

Causes of delays in Saudi Arabian public sector construction projects

Many public construction projects have been undertaken throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as part of the governments national development plans in the past three decades, with significant public expenditure involved. One of the critical problems concerning these projects is the frequent and lengthy delays that occur. In order to improve the situation, it is first necessary to identify the major causes involved. Several studies have already been reported which do this but all use different sets of variables. Also, none has attempted to identify the extent to which improvements are possible in practice. A new survey is reported that uses all the variables from the previous work and measures for both current degree of effect on delays and the extent to which each can be practically improved. These are contained in seven groupings: client, contractor, consultant, materials, labour, contract and relationship‐related causes. The survey covers a sample of 86 clients, contractors and consultants working in the Saudi construction industry. The analysis reveals some considerable heterogeneity between the cause groupings and respondent groupings in terms of means and correlations, apparently partly due to lack of knowledge of respondents and a tendency for the consultants to blame the contractors for the delays and vice versa. The main results, therefore, are disaggregated to reflect the views of each respondent group concerning each group of causes. In general however, it is found that the most influencing current cause of delay is the lack of qualified and experienced personnel—attributed to the considerable amount of large, innovative, construction projects and associated current undersupply of manpower in the industry.

Assessment and evaluation of contractor data against client goals using PERT approach

A methodology for assessing and evaluating contractor data for the purpose of prequalification and bid evaluation is presented. The PERT approach is used to develop a linear model for the assessment of contractor data. The model incorporates a multiple ratings permitting the uncertainty in contractor data to be evaluated. An empirical study investigating the importance of different contractor criteria is described. A lexicographical ordering with aspiration levels and risk analysis with sensitivity methods are used to evaluate and select or rank-order contractors against the main client goals of time, cost, and quality. A literature review is reported regarding client goals and current evaluation strategies. The assumptions, advantages and disadvantages of this work as well as an example are also presented.

Multi-criteria evaluation model for the selection of architectural consultants

The selection of a competent architect is vital to the success of a development. Like in many developed countries, developers in Hong Kong select architects based on a set of criteria. Price is not the only consideration in the process, and decisions rely heavily on subjective judgement. By conducting a questionnaire survey, the research reported here identified the common criteria for selection and their relative importance for an objective selection. This involved the use of an evaluation method called the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Survey data from projects with similar characteristics were used to compute the criteria weights. Multi-criteria models for seven out of 27 categories of project were built with reference to the computed weights derived from the survey. In addition, a computer program, called the Architectural Consultant Selection System (ACSS), was designed to illustrate a logical approach for the evaluation of prospective consultant architects based on the models constructed.

The effect of contract type and size on competitiveness in bidding

Multiple regression is used to construct a prediction equation relating bidder competitiveness (the dependent variable) to the independent variables of bidder, contract type and contract size. The regression model shows that differences in contractor competitiveness are greater for different contract sizes than for different contract types. The most competitive contractors appear to be those with a preferred contract size range. Such a model can be used as part of a more systematic approach in prequalifying contractors. It may also be used by contractors as a basis for assessing bidding performance.

Evaluation of Risk Factors Leading to Cost Overrun in Delivery of Highway Construction Projects

Accurate owner budget estimates are critical to the initial decision-to-build process for highway construction projects. However, transportation projects have historically experienced significant construction cost overruns from the time the decision to build has been taken by the owner. This paper addresses the problem of why highway projects overrun their predicted costs. It identifies the owner risk variables that contribute to significant cost overrun and then uses factor analysis, expert elicitation, and the nominal group technique to establish groups of importance ranked owner risks. Stepwise multivariate regression analysis is also used to investigate any correlation of the percentage of cost overrun with risks, together with attributes such as highway project type, indexed cost, geographic location, and project delivery method. The research results indicate a correlation between the reciprocal of project budget size and percentage cost overrun. This can be useful for owners in determining more realistic decision-to-build highway budget estimates by taking into account the economies of scale associated with larger projects.

Tendering theory revisited

This paper discusses the content, origin and development of tendering theory as a theory of price determination. It demonstrates how tendering theory determines prices and how it is different from game and decision theories, and that in the tendering process, with non-cooperative, simultaneous, single sealed bids with individual private valuations, extensive public information, a large number of bidders and a long sequence of tendering occasions, there develops a competitive equilibrium. The development of a competitive equilibrium means that the concept of the tender as the sum of a valuation and a strategy, which is at the core of tendering theory, cannot be supported, and that there are serious empirical, theoretical and methodological inconsistencies in the theory.