Mounir El Asmar

Quantifying Performance for the Integrated Project Delivery System as Compared to Established Delivery Systems

AbstractIntegrated project delivery (IPD) is an emerging construction project delivery system that collaboratively involves key participants very early in the project timeline, often before the design is started. It is distinguished by a multiparty contractual agreement that typically allows risks and rewards to be shared among project stakeholders. Because IPD is becoming increasingly popular, various organizations are expressing interest in its benefits to the architecture/engineering/construction (AEC) industry. However, no research studies have shown statistically significant performance differences between IPD and more established delivery systems. This study fills that missing gap by evaluating the performance of IPD projects compared to projects delivered using the more traditional design-bid-build, design-build, and construction management at-risk systems, and showing statistically significant improvements for IPD. Relevant literature was analyzed, and a data collection instrument was developed an...

Quantitative Methods for Design-Build Team Selection

Use of design-build (DB) contracting by transportation agencies has been steadily increasing as a project delivery system for large complex highway projects. However, moving to DB from traditional design-bid-build procurement can be a challenge. One significant barrier is gaining acceptance of a best value selection process in which technical aspects of a proposal are considered separately and then combined with price to determine the winning proposal. These technical aspects mostly consist of qualitative criteria, thus making room for human errors or biases. Any perceived presence of bias or influence in the selection process can lead to public mistrust and protests by bidders. It is important that a rigorous quantitative mathematical analysis of the evaluation process be conducted to determine whether bias exists and to eliminate it. The paper discusses two potential sources of bias – the evaluators and the weighting model – in the DB selection process and presents mathematical models to detect and remove biases should they exist. A score normalization model deals with biases from the evaluators; then a graphical weight space volume model and a Monte Carlo statistical sampling model are developed to remove biases from the weighting model. The models are then tested and demonstrated using results from the DB bridge replacement project for the collapsed Mississippi River bridge of Interstate 35W in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Evaluating Integrated Project Delivery Using the Project Quarterback Rating

AbstractThis paper presents the development, validation, and implementation of an innovative comprehensive project performance metric specifically developed for architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) projects. The project quarterback rating (PQR) combines key performance metrics of a project into a single number to provide a basis for quantifying project success. The combined performance areas include customer relations, schedule and budget compliance, quality and safety statistics, financial metrics, and communication among the different project stakeholders. The existing literature is analyzed to identify key performance metrics. A data-collection instrument is developed and then used to gather quantitative performance data from recently completed projects. Data are collected from industry professionals across the United States, and multivariate data analysis techniques are used to validate the model. PQR can compare the overall performance for different AEC projects, in addition to the perfo...

Project Quality and Change Performance Differences Associated with the Use of Building Information Modeling in Design and Construction Projects: Univariate and Multivariate Analyses

AbstractBuilding information modeling (BIM) has garnered significant attention in the past several years as a process that can positively impact the performance of architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) projects. This paper builds upon previous research to investigate the effect of BIM on two key measures of AEC project performance: project change metrics and facility quality metrics. The research methodology includes conducting univariate and multivariate analyses on quantitative performance data from more than 30 completed vertical construction projects. Thirty-six BIM input variables were measured, summarized, and analyzed against project performance. Interesting results and contributions emerge from the analysis, including the lack of a relationship between BIM use and the extent of total project change; instead, the projects saw a transformation in the initiator of these changes. As BIM use increased, projects exhibited fewer design changes and more owner-initiated changes, arguably due to...

Monte Carlo Simulation Approach to Support Alliance Team Selection

The alliance concept is similar to the design build project delivery system. However, it is denoted by a special form of partnership between the owner and the design-build team, where the owner is very involved in the project. This type of delivery systems is gaining popularity as many infrastructure projects require the owner to order materials ahead of time, before engaging the design-build team in the project. As in design-build, the selection of the engineer-procure-construct team depends not only on the price but also on qualitative factors. This paper lays out the framework that facilitates selecting the best alliance team for a project by quantifying the evaluation factors and combining them into a single score. Using a Monte Carlo simulation and varying all the factors relevant to the decision problem can reveal biases present in the evaluation to assist in making the best possible decision. A case study dealing with a large utility project illustrates this methodology.

Improving Project Performance through Partnering and Emotional Intelligence

AbstractThe construction industry represents around 5% of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). The scores of baby boomers beginning to retire in the engineering and construction industries are taking a lifetime of institutional knowledge with them. This scenario results in a relatively limited supply of experienced personnel. Partnering is one potential solution to overcome this problem. This paper makes the case that advancing the emotional intelligence (EI) of project participants can improve the partnering effort and ultimately result in increased project performance. This improved performance, to some extent, mitigates the effects of the loss of institutional knowledge. This paper introduces a people-based model that holistically illustrates the components and activities necessary to take a construction project from inception to successful completion. The authors also evaluated contractors who have partnered with the Virginia DOT (VDOT) and found that managers of successful projects exhibited high E...

MARS: Metaframework for Assessing Ratings of Sustainability for Buildings and Infrastructure

AbstractMany sustainability rating systems have been developed to assess the sustainable development of the built environment. Most rating systems rely on indicators to measure specific project features. However, there is no widely accepted framework to help evaluate sustainability rating systems. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by developing a metaframework for assessing ratings of sustainability (MARS). Instead of assessing specific projects, MARS provides a high-level view by analyzing the sustainability rating systems themselves. A literature review highlights relevant theories, concepts, and processes used in frameworks of sustainable rating systems. A content analysis of 95 peer-reviewed publications from multiple disciplines identified 19 key criteria. These 19 criteria were organized into a metaframework that can be used to assess, improve, and compare existing rating systems, and may also serve as a basis to create new rating systems in the future. A MARS scorecard is presented an...

Two Decades of Performance Comparisons for Design-Build, Construction Manager at Risk, and Design-Bid-Build: Quantitative Analysis of the State of Knowledge on Project Cost, Schedule, and Quality

AbstractMeasuring the performance of design build (DB), construction manager at risk (CMR), and design-bid-build (DBB) delivery methods has been the subject of many construction research studies. T...

Performance Analysis of Construction Manager at Risk on Pipeline Engineering and Construction Projects

AbstractMuch of the water and wastewater pipelines in the United States are nearing the end of their useful life. A significant reinvestment is needed in the upcoming decades to replace or rehabilitate the water and wastewater pipeline infrastructure. Currently, the traditional method for delivering water and wastewater pipeline engineering and construction projects is design-bid-build (DBB). The traditional DBB delivery system is a sequential low-integration process and can lead to inefficiencies and adverse relationships between stakeholders. Alternative project delivery methods (APDM) such as construction manager at risk (CMAR) have been introduced to increase stakeholder integration and ultimately enhance project performance. CMAR project performance impacts have been studied in the horizontal and vertical construction industries. However, the performance of CMAR projects in the pipeline engineering and construction industry has not been quantitatively studied. This paper fills this knowledge gap by a...

Quantitative Performance Assessment of Single-Step versus Two-Step Design-Build Procurement

AbstractDesign-build (DB) is an alternative project delivery system that is distinguished by a DB team acting as the single point of responsibility for a project in which the design and construction phases overlap. There are two main methods used to procure DB services: single-step and two-step procurement. Single-step DB involves a request for proposal (RFP) phase, whereas two-step DB involves both request for qualifications (RFQ) and RFP phases. There is an industry perception that more resources are spent to procure single-step DB projects as compared with two-step DB projects. Therefore, this paper focuses on quantifying the resource expenditures and efficiency impacts of single-step and two-step DB through investigating several procurement and project performance metrics. The paper presents results stemming from 32 completed projects. The results of the analysis show that the total cost to industry to develop single-step proposals is approximately 5% of the total project cost, whereas the cost to dev...