Assessment of Constructability Practices among General Contractors
Publication: Journal of Architectural Engineering
Volume 4, Issue 3
Abstract
Modern construction has been characterized as a complex and fragmented process. These characteristics have produced a decrease in the quality and cost efficiency of projects. It has been proven that this problem can be partially overcome by implementing constructability, which is based on the integration of construction knowledge into design (as was done in the past). The implementation of constructability is not easy because it represents a change in the way things have been done in the last century. Prior research has found a lack of constructability efforts among participants in the construction industry, especially general contractors. Because builders can play an important role in implementing constructability, this paper assesses constructability practices among general contractors. The data were obtained from a mailed survey. It was found that contractors applied constructability concepts and participated during the earliest phase of the projects more often than is thought. In addition, the findings showed that constructability practices differed depending on the characteristics of the organization, the type of work performed, and the type of contractual arrangement.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Bridging the gap. (1989). Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, N.Y.
2.
Business Roundtable. (1982). “Integrating construction resources and technology into engineering.”Rep. B-1.A, Constr. Industry Cost Effectiveness Proj. Rep., New York, N.Y.
3.
Business Roundtable. (1983). “More construction for the money.”Summary Rep. of the Constr. Industry Cost Effectiveness Proj., New York, N.Y.
4.
Construction Industry Institute. (1984a). “Constructability improvement during conceptual planning.”Source Document No., University of Texas, Austin, Tex.
5.
Construction Industry Institute. (1984b). “Constructability improvement during engineering and procurement.”Source Document No. 5, University of Texas, Austin, Tex.
6.
Construction Industry Institute. (1984c). “Constructability improvement during field operations.”Source Document No. 34, University of Texas, Austin, Tex.
7.
Construction Industry Institute. (1986). “Constructability: A primer.”Publ. 3-1, University of Texas, Austin, Tex.
8.
Construction Industry Institute. (1987a). “Constructability concept file.”Publ. 3-3, University of Texas, Austin, Tex.
9.
Construction Industry Institute. (1987b). “Constructability improvement using prefabrication, preassembly, and modularization.”Source Document No. 25, University of Texas, Austin, Tex.
10.
Construction Industry Institute. (1987c). “Guidelines for implementing a constructability program.”Publ. 3-2, University of Texas, Austin, Tex.
11.
Construction Industry Institute. (1992a). “Constructability: Program assessment and barriers to implementation.”Source Document No. 35, University of Texas, Austin, Tex.
12.
Construction Industry Institute. (1992b). “Project level-model and approaches to implement constructability.”Document No. 82, University of Texas, Austin, Tex.
13.
Construction Industry Institute. (1993a). “Constructability implementation guide.”Special Publ. 34-1, University of Texas, Austin, Tex.
14.
Construction Industry Institute. (1993b). “Preview of constructability implementation.”Publ. 34-2, University of Texas, Austin, Tex.
15.
Construction Management Committee of the ASCE Construction Division.(1991). “Constructability and constructability programs: White paper.”J. Constr. Engrg. and Mgmt., ASCE, 117(1), 67–89.
16.
Emmerson, H. (1962). “Survey of problems before the construction industries.”Rep. Prepared for the Minister of Works, Her Majesty's Stationary Office, London, U.K., 9.
17.
Fink, A. (1995). The survey kit, Vols. 1, 6, 8, and 9, Litwing Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, Calif.
18.
Kartman, N. (1994). “A knowledge-intensive database system for making effective use of construction lesson learned.”Proc., 1st Congr. on Computing in Civ. Engrg., Vol. 2, ASCE, New York, N.Y., 1139–1145.
19.
Kartman, N.(1996). “Making effective use of construction lessons learned in project life cycle.”J. Constr. Engrg. and Mgmt., ASCE, 122(1), 14–21.
20.
Kartman, N., and Al-Tabtabai, H. (1995). “Interactive knowledge-intensive system for constructability improvement.”Proc., 1995 Constr. Congr., ASCE, New York, N.Y., 322–338.
21.
Norusis, M. (1992). SPSS/PC+ base system user's guide version 5.0, SPSS Inc., Chicago, Ill., 189.
22.
O'Connor, J., and Miller, S.(1994a). “Barriers to constructability implementation.”J. Perf. of Constr. Fac., ASCE, 8(2), 110–128.
23.
O'Connor, J., and Miller, S.(1994b). “Constructability programs: Method for assessment and benchmarking.”J. Perf. of Constr. Fac., ASCE, 8(1), 46–64.
24.
O'Connor, J., and Miller, S.(1995). “Overcoming barriers to successful constructability implementation efforts.”J. Perf. of Constr. Fac., ASCE, 9(2), 117–128.
25.
Ostle, B., and Malone, L. (1988). Statistics in research: Basic concepts and techniques for research workers. Iowa State University Press, Ames, Iowa, 536.
26.
Paulson, B.(1976). “Designing to reduce construction cost.”J. Constr. Div., ASCE, 102(4), 587–592.
27.
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. (1979). “U.K. and U.S. construction industries a comparison of design and contract procedures.” Dept. of Constr. Mgmt., University of Reading, London, U.K., 50–58, 86–92.
28.
Russell, J., Gugel, J., and Radtke, M.(1993). “Documented constructability savings for petrochemical facility expansion.”J. Perf. Constructed Fac., ASCE, 7(1), 27–45.
29.
Russell, J., Swiggun, K., Shapiro, J., and Alaydrus, A.(1994). “Constructability related to TQM, value engineering and cost/benefits.”J. Perf. of Constr. Fac., ASCE, 8(1), 31–45.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Architectural Engineering
Volume 4 • Issue 3 • September 1998
Pages: 113 - 123
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Sep 1, 1998
Published in print: Sep 1998
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.