Mohd Saidin Misnan

A Case for the Introduction of Designers' Safety Education (DSE) for Architects and Civil Engineers

The construction industry has been known as the most fatal industries worldwide. Accident affects varies parties involving direct and indirect costs to the contractor and clients as well. The construction safety measures in the current practice often begin during the construction phase rather than at the earliest stages possible. Design for Construction Safety (DfCS) is a process to reduce the hazards and risks during construction by focussing on design decision at the design phase. This concept implementation is new and has yet to be adapted worldwide. With every new culture comes with a set of list to overcome. The top barriers stated by past researchers are lack of knowledge and education followed by increased of liability and the nature of the industry. The initial step to be taken is to adapt this concept in the universities and college level during the designers’ formal education. By mastering this subject, the designers will become more confidence with new found skills while their attitudes towards safety will have a huge impact on workforce safety by eliminating hazards on site.

Role of Building Services Quantity Surveyors in Managing Cost of Green Buildings

Abstract. This study reviews the importance of green building and identified some popular rating tools available. The importance of green building requirements was also discussed. Significant cost factors in green buildings were described and methods of capturing and controlling the costs of building services by quantity surveyors discussed. The major barrier to effective cost control of green building have been identified as lack of a clear green design goal; midstream attempts to incorporate green; decentralized management of the green building process; lack of experience with green building; and insufficient time and funding. The study concluded that, it is essential for quantity surveyors to develop a cost management framework responsive to both client values and user requirements within the framework of sustainable development.

Exploiting intranet technology in facilitating knowledge management among quantity surveying's consulting firms

Successful knowledge transfer is an important process which requires continuous improvement in todays knowledgeintensive economy. However, improving knowledge transfer processes represents a challenge for most of the small and medium size consulting firms. In recent years, the terminology ‘knowledge management’ initiative has been introduced. The concept of knowledge management (KM) is seen as the solution through the inculcation of knowledge sharing via various tools and techniques in managing the knowledge within parties in construction. Through intranet as one of the KM tools, the organisations are able to create, acquire and transfer knowledge. The aim of this research paper was to investigate how quantity surveying (QS) consulting firms is exploiting intranet technology in facilitating knowledge management in order to deliver quantity surveying services efficiently. A qualitative approach through semi-structured interviews was adopted as the method used to establish current knowledge management practices and the tools used for sharing knowledge and learning. The study finds that the use of intranet has not been used to its fullest potential due to the barriers and challenges in using intranet as KM tools. Thus has created some problems with regard to deliver quantity surveying services efficiently. A discussion is also included on the future research direction for the development of a conceptual framework to support the integration of quantitys surveyor services with relevant knowledge management initiative.