Raufdeen Rameezdeen

Attitudes and perceptions of construction workforce on construction waste in Sri Lanka

Purpose – The construction industry consumes large amounts of natural resources, which are not properly utilised owing to the generation of waste. Construction waste has challenged the performance of the industry and its sustainable goals. The majority of the causes underlying material waste are directly or indirectly affected by the behaviour of the construction workforce. Waste occurs on site for a number of reasons, most of which can be prevented, particularly by changing the attitudes of the construction workforce. Therefore, the attitudes and perceptions of the construction workforce can influence the generation and implementation of waste management strategies. The research reported in this paper is based on a study aimed at evaluating the attitudes and perceptions of the construction workforce involved during the pre‐ and post‐contract stages towards minimising waste.Design/methodology/approach – A structured questionnaire survey was carried out to understand and evaluate the attitudes and percepti...

Risk management in road construction: The case of Sri Lanka

Risk is an unavoidable phenomenon in construction projects. Proper risk allocation in construction contracts has therefore come to assume prominence because risk identification and risk allocation have a clear bearing on risk handling decisions. The proper management of risks requires that they be identified and allocated in a well-defined manner. This can only be achieved if contracting parties comprehend their risk responsibilities, risk event conditions, and risk handling capabilities. This research aims at identifying the risk responsibilities of contractual parties in order to improve their risk handling strategies with regard to Sri Lankan road projects. Semi-structured interviews were used for the primary data collection. This was complemented with documentary evidence. The results show that road construction projects in Sri Lanka are exposed to many risk sources while most risks are borne by parties who were assigned with risks via contract clauses. However, parties not allocated with risks too happened to bear the consequences of such risks. Therefore, it is concluded that there is no one best way to respond to a risk and that different risk handling strategies should be adopted in order to deal effectively with risks.

Post‐disaster housing reconstruction: Comparative study of donor vs owner‐driven approaches

Purpose – This paper aims to report the findings of a study, which analysed the strengths and limitations of two distinct concepts used for post‐disaster housing reconstruction, namely, the donor‐driven and owner‐driven approaches.Design/methodology/approach – Data were gathered through interviews, questionnaire survey and observations from government, non‐government organizations and the beneficiaries of owner‐driven and donor‐driven programmes in one of the affected districts.Findings – The paper reveals that beneficiary satisfaction is higher on owner‐driven approach compared to the donor‐driven approach. Further, imposition of the buffer zone, non‐availability of suitable land and capacity constraints of the construction industry are identified as critical factors affecting the success of donor‐driven housing programme.Research limitations/implications – It was assumed that the quickest and most effective way to rebuild houses after a disaster is to employ the “donor‐driven” approach, where the govern...

Contract interpretation: the impact of readability

The standard form of contract plays a significant role in a construction project as it communicates the procedures to be adopted in executing the project including the determination of the rights and obligations of contracting parties. Hence, an acceptable degree of commonality in interpretation of this document by different contracting parties is a prerequisite for the smooth functioning of a construction project. The aim of this research is to ascertain whether there is a relationship between readability of contract clauses and their interpretation. Readability is concerned with the complexity of words and sentences of text and it is commonly assessed by readability formulas. The survey undertaken for this research measured the ability of construction contract clauses having different readability values to convey a common understanding to all categories of respondents in terms of the degree to which risk was apportioned between the client and the contractor. The study reveals that there is a relationship between readability and contract interpretation. When the readability of the contract document is high, there found to be a high degree of commonality in interpretation of the document by different readers.

Enhancing the effectiveness of risk management practices in Sri Lankan road construction projects: A Delphi approach

The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) Identifying the risks that are critical for risk management of road construction projects in Sri Lanka on a life cycle basis and (2) defining the shares of the parties involved in projects in terms of handling the identified risks. A Delphi study was conducted among 33 Sri Lankan experts (consultants, project managers, contractors) in three rounds. The findings showed that the construction and design phases are prone to many major risks. Moreover, ‘delays in payment by the client’ was the most critical risk factor in the construction stage. Furthermore, it was established that some major risks could occur in more than one phase of the project life cycle, stressing the necessity of handling these risk factors as a prerequisite for project success. The discussions presented in this study would enhance the effectiveness of implementing risk management practices in Sri Lankan road construction projects. From a broader vantage point, it will also serve the risk management body of knowledge in the construction industry.

Barriers to implementing reverse logistics in South Australian construction organisations

Purpose – This paper aims to present a survey of the perceptions of the barriers to implementing reverse logistics (RL) practices in South Australian (SA) construction organisations. Despite the extensive research on forward logistics and RL, there is a paucity of studies that examine the barriers to implementing RL particularly within the Australian construction industry. This study builds on the ongoing research being undertaken by the authors, entitled “Designing for reverse logistics (DfRL) within the building life cycle: practices, drivers and barriers”, which is examining the best practices and drivers that could be used as a “road map” for developing appropriate solutions for the successful implementation of RL. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected by utilising a triangulated data collection approach, a literature review and 49 questionnaires. The review of the literature identified 16 barriers to implementing RL. The quantitative survey data were subjected to descriptive and inferenti...

Factors influencing the retrofitting of existing office buildings using Adelaide, South Australia as a case study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the barriers preventing investment in the re-use of low-grade multi-storey building stock in order to identify attributes that determine whether an existing building is suitable for retrofitting. Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with key industry practitioners to investigate existing practices and barriers facing low-grade building retrofits and what “ideal” multi-storey building features represent a successful investment opportunity. Findings – The findings showed that tenant commitment is necessary before any project goes ahead and that there exist many barriers influencing the investment decision. These include: high levels of asbestos found in existing buildings; changes in the National Construction Code necessitating enhanced fire safety and disability access; heritage listing; lack of awareness; overestimation of costs involved on simple and effective energy efficiency upgrades and change in tenant demands towa...

Construction linkages in a developing economy: the case of Sri Lanka

The importance of the construction industry stems from its strong linkages with other sectors of the economy. Despite the extensive research on input–output analysis and sectoral linkages of construction, a gap is found in the literature dealing with developing economies. The objective is to study the construction linkages in a developing economy using input–output tables compiled since the 1970s in Sri Lanka. Results show that the share of construction in gross national product and national income is lower in Sri Lanka than in developed countries. In Sri Lanka, the share of manufacturing in GNP declined while the share of services has increased with economic development. The backward linkage indicator ranges between 0.364 and 0.457 during the period of 1970–2000 while output multiplier ranges between 1.496 and 1.641 indicating the ‘pull effect’. The ‘push effect’ is found to be very insignificant. An aggregated sectoral analysis reveals high dependence of construction on manufacturing followed by services. The trend analysis shows an increasing dependence of construction on the services sector. The direct and total inputs from manufacturing and services have increased over time.

Drivers for adopting reverse logistics in the construction industry: a qualitative study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate and analyse the perceptions of South Australian construction practitioners on drivers affecting the implementation of reverse logistics (RL). In this context, RL is defined as the process of moving goods from their typical final destination for the purpose of capturing value or ensuring proper disposal. Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight practitioners to collect data and the interview transcripts were analysed using the NVivo (version 10) package. Cluster analysis was used to cross-validate the findings and provide an in-depth insight into the findings. Findings – The findings indicate that most of the drivers identified in earlier research are relevant for the construction industry. In addition, the study identified some new drivers that are categorised as “targeted demands by an exclusive clientele”. These drivers were found to be complementary to the economic, environmental and social drivers as previously conceptualised. In addition, a set of factors affecting the strength of drivers that had been overlooked in previous studies emanated from the interview analysis. These include the type of project and the attributes of clients, both of which strongly affect the drivers of RL implementation in construction. Research limitations/implications – The major limitations are the relatively small size of the sample of interviewees and having interviewees from one geographic area with specific socio-economic characteristics. Practical implications – The identified drivers and the clustering of RL themes could be used by practitioners as a “road map” for the development of appropriate solutions to successfully promote RL within the construction industry. Organisational energies could thus be channelled towards the drivers that need the most improvement. Originality/value – The study contributes to this research sphere by employing cluster analysis to customise and contextualise the drivers that were previously identified. The study goes beyond the extant literature by discovering the prominent effects of these drivers on the impact of targeted demands by an exclusive clientele. This could be of great value in terms of creating avenues for future investigations on the topic.

Reverse logistics in the construction industry

Reverse logistics in construction refers to the movement of products and materials from salvaged buildings to a new construction site. While there is a plethora of studies looking at various aspects of the reverse logistics chain, there is no systematic review of literature on this important subject as applied to the construction industry. Therefore, the objective of this study is to integrate the fragmented body of knowledge on reverse logistics in construction, with the aim of promoting the concept among industry stakeholders and the wider construction community. Through a qualitative meta-analysis, the study synthesises the findings of previous studies and presents some actions needed by industry stakeholders to promote this concept within the real-life context. First, the trend of research and terminology related with reverse logistics is introduced. Second, it unearths the main advantages and barriers of reverse logistics in construction while providing some suggestions to harness the advantages and mitigate these barriers. Finally, it provides a future research direction based on the review.