The views expressed in The Australian Journal of Construction Economics & Building are not necessarily those of AIQS. The Australian Journal of Construction Economics & Building does not accept responsibility for the accuracy of statements made by its contributors, nor for any errors or omissions.

The Australian Journal of Construction Economics & Building, Volume 8, Issue 2
back to top

Evaluating truck empty running in construction: a case study from Cape Town, South Africa
Author/Source: Winston M Shakantu, Mundia Muya, John E Tookey, Paul A Bowen 
The efficiency of any transport operation is dependent on the degree to which vehicle capacity is utilised on the forward and return trips.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Customisation and desirable characteristics of a standard method of measurement for building works in Ghana
Author/Source: Gabriel Nani, Peter J Edwards, Theophilus Adjei-Kumi, Edward Badu, Peter Amoah 
This paper reports a study that identified and categorised the modifications to the 5th Edition of the British Standard Method of Measurement of building works in Ghana. Typical modifications involved cost insignificant items, minor labour items, custom units of measurement, method related items, combinable items, subordinate items and items of minor informative impact.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Costs and benefits of ISO9000-based quality management systems to construction contractors
Author/Source: S. Thomas Ng, E. Palaneeswaran and Mohan Kumaraswamy 
ISO9000-based Quality Management Systems (QMSs) have been widely applied by many contractors with a hope to improve the product quality and hence achieve the desired objective of client satisfaction.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

From focus on price to the pyramid of innovation, information, cooperation, value and trust: a success story of five Swedish building material manufacturers
Author/Source: Jan Sundqvist 
In the building sector, value for the customer, is often regarded as being value for money and this, in turn, is achieved by means of competitive tendering.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Payment mechanisms for integrated teams in construction
Author/Source: Ibrahim Motawa, Ammar Kaka 
The overwhelming consensus for process and team integration has emerged as an enabler to manage construction projects. The performance of integrated teams is highly affected by the adopted payment mechanism.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Individual learning in construction projects: professions and their approaches
Author/Source: Ingeborg Wasif, Per-Erik Josephson, Alexander Styhre 
New materials, use of sophisticated technologies and increased customer demands, in combination with growing competition among construction companies, have led to a high degree of specialisation.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Risk identification and assessment in PPP infrastructure projects using fuzzy analytical hierarchy process and life cycle methodology
Author/Source: Jie Li, Patrick X W Zou 
To fulfil the increasing demands of the public, Public Private Partnership (PPP) has been increasingly used to procure infrastructure projects such as motor ways, bridges, tunnels and railways. However, the risks involved in PPP projects are unique and dynamic due to large amount of investment and long concession period.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Perceptions in the Australian building industry of deficiencies in architects' design documentation and the effects on project procurement
Author/Source: Rochelle Slater, Antony Radford 
This paper explores the Australian building industry's perceptions of the relationships between architects' provision of design documentation and the constructability, programming and cost control of major projects.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Comparing contractors' decision to bid in different market environments
Author/Source: Bee-Lan Oo, Derek S Drew 
The competitive situations within the Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore construction market enviroments are compared by observing the contractors' decision to bid behaviour according to two extreme market conditions (i.e. booming and recession) and different number of biddrs scenarios.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Risk Pricing In Construction Tenders - How, Who, What
Author/Source: Marcus Towner, David Baccarini 
NOTE: this has been republished due to errors in original publication in Vol 7 Issue 2. This paper reports the research findings into pricing for risk in competitive tenders by construction contractors.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Adapting building design for access by individuals with intellectual disability
Author/Source: Lindsay Castell 
Over the last 15 years, since introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act, there has been much discussion about the extent and nature of building access for the disabled, particularly in response to proposed revisions to the Building Code of Australia and the introduction of a Premises Standard covering building access.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

A Preliminary Study on Human Resource Management in the Construction Industry
Author/Source: Jianjian Du, Chunlu Liu and David Picken 
The aim of this paper is to establish a valid foundation for further research
on measuring the impact of human resource management economically for international construction projects.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Maintaining Relationship Based Procurement
Author/Source: Peter R Davis 
The research evaluates relationship
maintenance in the implementation phase of construction alliances – a particular derivative of relationship style contracts.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

The Efficacy of Waste Management Plans in Australian Commercial Construction Refurbishment Projects
Author/Source: Mary Hardie, Shahed Khan, Angela O'Donnell and Graham Miller 
Renovation and refurbishment of the existing commercial building stock is a growing area of total construction activity and a significant generator of waste sent to landfill in Australia. A written waste management plan (WMP) is a widespread regulatory requirement for commercial office redevelopment projects. There is little evidence, however, that WMPs
actually increase the quantity of waste that is ultimately diverted from landfill.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Cooperation in the Building Sector between Building-Material Manufacturers and Contractors to Develop Products
Author/Source: Jan Sundqvist, Bengt larsson and Goran Lindahl 
The purpose of this study, based on earlier research by the authors, analysis of data and reference to other studies, is to ascertain whether the previous indication of poor cooperation still applies and whether this, subsequently, affects the development of new construction
products, based on the premise that development demands product ideas in order to know what to develop as well as cooperation in order to facilitate this development.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Risk Pricing in Construction Tenders – How, Who, What
Author/Source: Marcus Towner and David Baccarini 
This paper reports the research findings into pricing for risk in competitive tenders by construction contractors.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Concerns for Skills Shortages in the 21st Century: A Review into the
Author/Source: Michelle Watson, (Spotless Services Limited (Defence CMC CNNSW)) 
This research paper addresses the underlying, influential factors concerning skills shortages in the Australian construction industry. The
influential factors addressed include funding, training statistics, employer expectations, financial limitations, Industrial Relations and immigration.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

An Examination of the Performance Based Building Code on the
Author/Source: John P Greenwood (Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia) 
The research presented in this paper
aims to analyse the impact of the introduction of the performance-based code within Western Australia to gauge the effect and usefulness of alternative design solutions in commercial construction using a case study project.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Building Energy and Cost Performance: An Analysis of Thirty
Author/Source: Yu Lay Langston and Craig Langston (Deakin University, Geelong, Australia) 
This study investigates the energy and cost performance of thirty recent buildings in Melbourne, Australia.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Project Finance Model for Small Contractors in USA
Author/Source: Gerard de Valance (University of Technology Sydney) 
This research looks at the significance of barriers that firms considering entry into the construction industry might face. Drawing on the microeconomic characteristics of imperfectly competitive and oligopolistic markets the
analysis finds that there are a dozen barriers to entry that affect the industry, but their significance depends on the product type.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Modeling the Design Team as a Temporary Management
Author/Source: Kathy Michell, Paul Bowen and Keith Cattell (Department of Construction Economics and 
In this paper the authors document research examining the design team as a temporary management structure, with emphasis on the efficacy of the cost management system as a vehicle for
attaining client objectives with respect to time, cost and quality.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Achieving supply chain integration within construction industry
Author/Source: Peter McDermott and Malik M A Khalfan 
The main driver behind the adoption of supply chain management (SCM) philosophy into the construction industry was the successes within other industry sectors. SCM can be defined as network of different organisations, linked upstream and downstream in a chain, aiming to produce quality and value in the services and products for the end consumers through integrated processes and activities
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

The Effects of Occupational Licensing on Skills Needs in the Building Industry: Evidence from New Zealand
Author/Source: Yadeed B Lobo and Suzanne Wilkinson 
Occupational licensing for the building industry is being introduced in New Zealand. This research assesses whether the licensing regime being put into place in New Zealand would require new skills when voluntary licensing (2007) and compulsory licensing (by 2011) are introduced. The paper develops a deeper understanding of the effects of occupational licensing on an industry, above those of increased quality and training, to determine the effects of licensing on future skills needs in the New Zealand building industry.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Formulation of Generic Simulation Models for Analyzing Construction Claims
Author/Source: Rifat N. Rustom  
While there are several techniques for analyzing the impact of claims on time schedule and productivity, very few are considered adequate and comprehensive to consider risks and uncertainties. A generic approach for claims analysis using simulation is proposed.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Relationship Contracting: The South Austrlian Experience – A Case Study
Author/Source: Jian Zuo and George Zillante 
The construction industry has long been accused of poor performance. The confrontational attitude of its members and the resultant adversarial atmosphere has been identified as a major factor responsible for this poor performance. A cultural change is required to remove these barriers and to promote optimum project outcomes. Relationship contracting is promoted as a way to support the shift from the adversarial culture to the co-operative and collaborative culture within the industry and the project team
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

The Architect’s Dilemma: A Self Reflection in Understanding Prison Design and Construction in Private Prison Projects
Author/Source: Giustina G S Consoli 
Australia embarked upon a number of private prison projects during the 1990’s. These projects involved the competitive bidding for prison projects by consortia, which generally consisted of a correctional operator, contractor and architect. The architect’s role in such projects was to satisfy the needs and desires of the operator, contractor and government assessors. As a result, the architect became a critical element in the successful delivery of the prison projects.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Design–build: How to Increase its Usage, and its Impact on Architects and Contractors in Singapore
Author/Source: Florence Yean Yng LING  
The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways to increase the usage of design-build (DB). The scope covers how project managers (local and foreign) can play a role in increasing DB usage in Singapore. It is found that owners would adopt DB if their requirements can be properly met.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Innovation performance and its impact on profitability among different sectors in the Australian construction industry
Author/Source: Mary Hardie, Graham Miller, Karen Manley, Stephen McFallan 
The BRITE (Building Research Information Technology and Environment) project was established by the Australian Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation to encourage innovation in the construction industry.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Project Finance Model for Small Contractors in USA
Author/Source: L. Jawahar Nesan  
Construction projects do not require a large capital outlay but a large working capital to start up the project. Unfortunately, for small contractors there are very limited options available from the banks or other lending institutions to cover this large working capital requirement in the absence of sufficient collateral.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Traditional Procurement is too slow
Author/Source: Ann Tien Kong and Jason Gray 
This paper reports on an exploratory interview survey of construction project participants aimed at identifying the reasons for the decrease in use of the traditional, lump-sum, procurement system in Malaysia.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Industrial Disputes in the Construction Sector
Author/Source: L. J. Perry  
The Cole Royal Commission enquiry into the building and construction (abbreviated to ‘construction’) sector recommended controversial workplace-relation reforms for that sector. The recommended changes are likely to be enshrined in legislation within the year. The Commission drew on analyses of industrial disputes that focused, in the main, on quite recent experience.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

The Business Case for Sustainable Design - the City of Melbourne CH2 Project
Author/Source: Peter Lawther, Jon Robinson & Sowfun Low 
The business case for sustainable design within the context of CH2 is examined.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

An Evaluation of a Proposed Ventilation System for Melbourne's CH2 Building
Author/Source: Lu Aye & Robert James Fuller 
The ventilation system design for CH2 that has been evaluated in this paper envisages a mechanically driven system during the day, using the displacement technique to distribute filtered air.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

CH2 - Lighting and Physiology
Author/Source: Sergio Altomonte 
This paper explains the designed performances of the new CH2 building in Melbourne, Australia.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

The Proposed Heating and Cooling System in the CH2 Building and its impact on Occupant Productivity
Author/Source: Lu Aye and Robert James Fuller 
This paper discusses the heating and cooling systems proposed for the CH2 building.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

CH2 Energy Harvesting Systems: Economic Use & Efficiency
Author/Source: Chun Kit Cheung 
This paper looks at the City of Melbourne's new office development CH2 as a case study of world class energy performance.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Assessment & Selection of Materials for Melbourne City Council House 2
Author/Source: Dominique Hes, Andrew Walker Morrison & Margaret Bates 
This paper highlights the role of material selection in the development and contribution toward environmental excellence in the building project Council House 2.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Balancing Studey and Paid Work: The Experiences of Construction Undergraduates in an Australian University
Author/Source: Helen Lingard 
A questionaire survey was undertaken amoung third year students enrolled in the University of Melbourne's Bachelor of Property and Construction programe. The survey expolred students experiences in balancing paid work with study.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Assessing Project Suitabilty for Off-site Production
Author/Source: Nick Blismas, Alistair Gibb, Christine Pasquire 
Implementation of off site production on construction projects is often hindered by a number of specific process and procurement constraints. Addressing this need, a production implementation assessment instrument that resides within a larger toolkit IMMPREST was developed.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Application of Project Time Management Tools and Techniques to the Construction Industry in the Gaza Strip
Author/Source: Nabil El Sawalhi, Adnan Enshassi 
The objective of this paper is to investigate ethe level of applying the project time management tools and techniques by public owners and construction contractors in the Gaza Strip.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Financial Analysis for Replacement of Construction Equipment in Saudi Arabia
Author/Source: Ali A Shash 
This study report results of a survey conducted in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia to explore the procedures and financial techniques that large size contractors utilise in replacing equipment.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Capitalising Experiential Knowledge for Guiding Construction Procurement Selection
Author/Source: S Thomas Ng, Chris D T Luu, R Martin Skitmore 
There is a need to examine the potential fordeveloping a knowledge management model to capture and reuse experiential knowledge to guide CPS decisions.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Factors Influencing Tacit Knowledge in Construction
Author/Source: L Jawahar Nesan, 
Increased complexity of the construciton business and consequent use of new management concepts and technologies let construction organisations to focus more ont he transfer of explicity knowledge. However, it is the tacit knowledge that determines the construction companies competitiveness in a business that is driven by turbulent market conditions and customers ever increasing demands.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Improving Construciton Process through Integration and Concurrent Engineering
Author/Source: Malik M A Khalfan, Naveed Raja 
In an increasingly competitive business environment, improved time to market, reduced production cost, quality of the product and custormer involvement are rapidly becoming the key success factors for any product development process.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

A Systematic Approach to Modelling Change Processes in Construction Projects
Author/Source: Ibrahim A Motawa 
Incomplete information on the project variables at the early stages of projects leads to inadequate knowledge of future states and imprecison arising from ambiguity in project parameters.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Knowledge Management Practice in two Australian Architecture Engineering Construction (AEC) Companies
Author/Source: Patrick X W Zou 
This paper presents the results of two case studies of Knowledge Management practice in large AEC companies through desk top study and semin structured interviews.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

A Critical Review of Forecasting Models to Predict Manpower Demand
Author/Source: James M W Wong,Albert PC Chan, YH Chiang 
This paper assesses the latest employment and manpower demand estimating methods by examining their rationale, strengths and constraints. It aims to identify enhancements for further development of manpower forecasting model for the construction industry and compare the reliability and capacity of different forecasting methodologies.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

A New Interlink Decision Making Index for Making Multi Criteria Decisions
Author/Source: Eric Hu, Linda Zou, Craig Langston 
In this paper a mechanism that is the brain child of the authors, has been proposed to overcome the potential manipulation of results as a direct consequence of the applied weightings. It is known as the Interlink Decision Making Index.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Value Management in Practice: an interview survey
Author/Source: Therese Daddow and Martin Skitmore 
This paper provides the results of an interview survey of the experiences and observations of 17 professionals working in the property and construciton industry ot establish the extend to which Value Management is an issue.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Operating Experiences with an Advanced Fabric Energy Storage System in Australia
Author/Source: R J Fuller 
This paper reports some of the experiences with the first known advanced fabric energy storage system in Australia over a calendar year of operation.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Low innovation among building material suppliers: the natural level of the trade?
Author/Source: Jan Sundqvist 
Cost of building materials is a large percentage of total building costs, this paper studies innovation amoung building material suppliers, which is found to be low.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Supportive organisational cultures and their effect on male civil engineers
Author/Source: Valerie Francis 
Job Satisfaction for male civil engineers is directly linked to supportive organisational cultures.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Identifying risk factors of boot prcurement: a case study of Stadium Australia
Author/Source: Marcus Jefferies, Swee Eng Chen 
The emergence of Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) schemes as a response to infrastructure needs that government can not meet alone. This paper identifies a list of risk factors to a case study of Stadium Australia.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Focusing on best value from a source selection perspective
Author/Source: Ekambaram Palaneeswaran, Mohan Kumaraswamy and Zhang Xue Qing 
This paper presents discussions on some useful approaches to best value conceptualisations in source selection perspectives.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Student attitudes towards cooperative construction education experiences
Author/Source: Theo C Haupt, Research Coordinator (Faculty of Engineering, Peninsula Technikon, South Africa) 
This paper reports on the findings of a study that examined the attitudes of students at a historically disadvantaged institution (HDI) compared with those at a previously advantaged institution (PAI) in South Africa.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Examining the dynamics of novation from the principal contractor’s and architect’s perspectives
Author/Source: Alan Griffith, Andrew King (Centre for the Built Environment, School of Environment and Development, Sheffield Hallam University, UK) and Andrew Knight (School of Property and Construction, Nottingham Trent University, UK) 
This paper focuses on the dynamics of design and build novation from the principal contractor’s
and architect’s perspectives.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

APPENDIX 1 - Questionnaire - Organisational culture in construction: An employee perspective

Sample Questionnaire
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Web-based construction information management systems
Author/Source: David Scott, Professor and Head (Civil Engineering Department, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia), Michael Kwan Wah Cheong, Research Assistant and Heng Li, Professor (Building and Real Estate Department, Hong Kong Polytechnic University) 
Centralised information systems that are accessible to all parties in a construction project are powerful tools in the quest to improve efficiency and to enhance the flow of information within the construction industry.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

Organisational culture in construction: an employee perspective
Author/Source: Raufdeen Rameezdeen, Senior Lecturer, and Nishanthi Gunarathna, Research Assistant, (Department of Building Economics, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka) 
This paper attempts to identify whether there is a difference in organisational culture between Consultants and Contractors taken as two groups and determine whether a specific attribute was related to the cultural differences between the two entities.
Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here

FULL ISSUE

Download only available in Members Area, to subscribe click here