Construction Research Congress 2020: Project Management and Controls, Materials, and Contracts

As BIM diffuses into different aspects of the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC), the conventional project practices have been disrupted. In particular, projects experience a few obstacles and challenges to integrate BIM into the AEC process. This leads to hybrid AEC practice with BIM and non-BIM information processing. Such a situation can be chaotic with the institutional changes accompanied by the implementation of BIM in AEC projects. Focusing on this issue, the current study aims to identify BIM-invasion modes to AEC projects and contextualize the institutional changes in BIM-based construction. Initially, the possible institutional changes are identified and a theoretical framework to contextualize them is proposed through the review of literature. A following case study compares two projects with different BIM-invasion modes, captures the institutional changes, and verifies the theoretical framework. The case study also validates the major institutional elements related to BIM and demonstrates two BIM-invasion modes to the AEC projects. This research explains how the AEC project changes from an institutional perspective with the systematic implementation of BIM and provides implications to its organizational management. The primary implication is that the extensive use of BIM in AEC projects shall ensure that institutional changes are manageable.

Both practitioners and academicians claim the benefits of BIM. There is no shortage of studies on the benefits of BIM. However limited studies have been provided to quantify or compare the benefits. In addition, most existing studies mainly focus on tangible benefits such as construction productivity, time savings, and cost reduction. Few studies have been conducted to quantify BIM’s intangible benefits, such as trust and collaboration relationships. This study aims to fill these gaps by ranking and comparing the perceived difference of trust towards contractors by other stakeholders between projects with and without BIM. A global survey was developed to collect the difference of trust between projects with and without BIM as perceived by 131 BIM practitioners. Then, demographic analysis is used to summarize the profiles of the practitioners, their projects, and companies. Last, the perceived ranking and difference of trust are compared along the identified measurement indicators along different business types, building types, delivery methods, and project values between projects with and without BIM. Specifically, the analysis of mean and t test were used to evaluate if the level of trust towards contractors is improved in BIM-assisted projects. The analysis shows that the trust level is improved when project delivery method can enable different stakeholders to have minimized conflicts, when stakeholders actively interact with others through BIM, when the project is more complicated, and when project value is higher.

Whereas building information modeling (BIM) and lean construction (LC) can be considered state-of-the-art practices in construction project design, planning, and control, internet of things (IoT) has yet a chance to connect processes in construction site monitoring applications and beyond. An opportunity might be that all of the aforementioned methods are hardly well enough integrated in a systematic way for purposes in knowledge-based decision making. A prominent example is that LC and associated simulation games in academic or professional education still rely much on manual data input and analysis. Proposed is a learning platform (a serious gaming environment) that teaches the concept of permanent availability of up-to-date actual performance data sets using an integrated BIM-IoT-LC approach. While the platform builds upon existing cloud-based BIM tools and well-known takt planning and takt control principles, a novel IoT platform was developed that rapidly elevates the gathering and transformation from data to information to knowledge while the participants play the game. The platform was tested in several academic learning environments around the world. Findings demonstrate the participants understand the important role of technology in practical applications. By extending their experiences from traditional LC simulation games with the BIM and IoT components, specifically, they were able to interact and collaborate more closely. Access to just-in-real-time project status information on smart wearable devices and large display screens helped improving the expected project execution timeline while reducing certain waste factors. One limitation that was discovered is the tight integration of the developed technology into new learning curricula that aim at digitalizing construction.

The traditional collection and processing methods of big spatial data, specifically for larger construction projects, is impractical and could be improved with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology. This paper presents an exploratory study that identifies the potential applications of UAVs within the construction industry as well as the challenges that limit their implementation into the industry. Specific examples of applications that could improve jobsite safety, reduce material waste, facilitate inspections, and decrease surveying costs are described. The findings suggest that the current challenges can be generally categorized into three areas: (1) the legal and regulatory requirements, (2) the features and abilities of the UAVs, and (3) the qualities and capabilities of the data capturing, processing, and presentation software. However, this paper will not consider the issues associated with the qualities and capabilities of the data capturing and processing due to the variety of software available and the variation in reported accuracies. Although the quality of an UAV can significantly influence its usability and in turn affect the quality of results, this review only considers the use of commercially available and economically relevant systems, which construction organizations are most likely to utilize. Findings indicate that, among others, the limitations of commercially available UAVs include restricted operation in adverse weather conditions, the inability to autonomously navigate dynamic environments, and inadequate weight capacity. Accordingly, this survey is beneficial for future research on UAV uses as it broadly presents, and serves as a resource for, the potential applications as well as the key challenges of UAVs across different applications.

Because of the complex relationships and information flows among multiple participants to pose challenge in megaproject management, knowledge sharing in a megaproject can avoid similar mistakes, improve work efficiency, and reduce failure risks so as to improve its performance. However, the formation of such organizational behavior has not been paid enough attention, and the related influencing and incentive factors have not been explored. The main aim of this paper is to explore the predictors of participants’ knowledge sharing behavior based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), thus revealing how the behavioral intention attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control affect the intention of the knowledge sharing behavior in the megaproject construction. Data collected from the megaproject managers (116 samples) in China was tested based on TPB and the theory model was tested by using Smart-PLS software. The results demonstrate that the significance of factors affecting the behavioral intention of knowledge sharing can be calculated. The positive relationship between the behavioral intention and knowledge sharing behavior is verified. Four factors affecting participants’ knowledge sharing behavior are classified into benefit perception attitude, risk perception attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Based on the empirical analysis, subjective norms and perceived behavior control are positively correlated with the behavioral intention of knowledge sharing, while the influence of attitude (benefit perception and risk perception) is not verified. This study can contribute to the rapidly emerging research on complex governance of megaprojects from the perspective of knowledge sharing among multiple participants.

Construction is considered to be one of the most complex businesses due to the presence of multiple risks, uncertainties, and ever-changing conditions. These properties, among others, lead to the bankruptcy of thousands construction firms each year irrespective of the number of years spent in the market. In fact, the failure rate of construction firms is more substantial compared to other industries. Construction firms that fail to adjust their operations to match with internal and external environmental challenges will eventually collapse. Many previous research studies proposed models to predict the business failure of companies in the construction industry by the incorporation of different causes and factors. However, for the developed models, no previous research study used a comprehensive list of causes that lead to the bankruptcy of construction firms. Indeed, many scholars highlighted the need for and the absence of a holistic framework for the identification of the factors contributing to business failure in construction companies. As such, this paper attempts to bridge this critical knowledge gap through a multi-step methodology. To this end, the authors: (1) conducted a meta-analysis of previous research studies; (2) identified the causes leading to the failure in the business operations of construction firms; and (3) performed an analysis to quantitatively determine the overlooked business failure causes. By following this methodology, the authors were able to determine the causes that contribute to firms’ failures in the construction industry. Moreover, the results showed that there exists a critical need to better examine some understudied critical failure factors, including inadequate company organizational structure and human capital. Ultimately, the comprehensive framework proposed in this paper will provide means to ameliorate the operational decision-making process within construction firms.

The behavioral integration (BI) of top management team (TMT) is widely recognized as critical for achieving business success in the corporate management literature. However, BI has rarely been examined in the project management literature in general and the realm of megaprojects in particular. It is still not clear how to strength TMT’s BI in megaprojects. To fill this gap, this paper presents a team-level analysis exploring the antecedents of BI in megaprojects from triple perspectives of social capital. A sample of 128 TMT managers from different types of megaprojects was surveyed; and the results were analyzed using partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), revealing that: (1) both structural and cognitive dimensions of social capital have a significantly positive impact on BI, and the structural dimension is more influential; (2) the relational dimension of social capital has no significant impact on BI; (3) affective commitment plays a mediating role bridging between social capital and TMT’s BI. This paper explains how social capital theory provides a useful lens for understanding the mechanisms of TMT’s BI; and the findings provide new insights for structuring TMT in a targeted approach to stimulate the emergence of BI and, ultimately, improve megaproject performance.

With the advancement of technology and computer-based tools, the methods employed in planning and control of construction projects are becoming more potent. Throughout this technological evolvement, researchers have introduced several metrics to guide planners in their assessment of project performance and control as the project progresses. However, construction projects still encounter failures as a result of planning deficiencies. This raises concerns regarding the capability of the current control mechanisms in alarming planners or practitioners and generating an early warning system to guide future actions. This research proposes a new dashboard system based on advanced metrics to address several project performance areas that are currently partially measured. The dashboard is expected to better describe, monitor, and control the various dynamic aspects of construction planning within the last planner system for production control. Applying the dashboard on data from two construction projects in the U.S. revealed the ability to assess project performance areas beyond the capacity of previously available planning metrics.

Corporate social responsibility in today’s job environment has become very important that socially conscious clients and the society at large are expecting construction contractors to take on a major role in advancing the well-being of the environment. However, contractors complain of several factors affecting their ability to meet this expectation. Purpose—The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the performance of CSR in the Ghanaian construction industry and to identify challenges militating against their CSR fulfilment. To propose a solution to enable Ghanaian construction companies fulfil their CSR. Design/Methodology/Approach—Two hundred and fifty contractors made up of one hundred and fifty-five (155) building contractors and ninety-five (95) road contractors took part in the survey. The sample size was determined by Yamane’s (1967) formula with stratified simple random sampling technique adopted in selecting the companies for the survey. Findings—The study found 6 CSR challenges in the Ghanaian construction industry, specifically “CSR is associated with avoidable expenses”, “lack of legal framework”, “lack of CSR incorporation in company’s vision and mission statements”, “lack of sufficient financial resources”, “too much corruption in the industry”, and “lack of training for CSR implementation”. The study also found that, Construction Company’s category was found not to be statistically significantly related to their CSR engagement. Originality/Value—CSR studies have been attempted in the Ghanaian construction industry by some researchers, but this is the first time a study has been undertaken to identify CSR challenges confronting construction companies in order to improve CSR in the Ghanaian construction industry.

The last planner system (LPS) has gained significant importance in recent years due to increased interest in implementing lean concepts in the construction industry. Several metrics for tracking the performance of LPS implementation have been proposed including plan/promise percent complete (PPC), task anticipated (TA), and tasks made ready (TMR). Despite the widespread use of these metrics, there is a disconnect between these LPS metrics and overall project performance metrics (SPI, CPI, etc.). In addition, there is little understanding of the role that certain personality traits like the level of commitment and willingness to make promises have on the performance of LPS. As such this research developed a system dynamics model to 1) better understand the dynamics among LPS metrics and 2) better understand the impact of personality traits (making promises and keeping commitments) on LPS metrics. The model was validated by simulating various scenarios and comparing against expected performance. The findings of the research indicate that there is a strong correlation between the LPS metrics and personality traits. The research will assist construction companies interested in applying LPS on their projects to better forecast project performance taking into consideration the dynamics taking place among project performance metrics and the personality traits of their employees.

Architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) project team networks frequently increase the density of information sharing ties to improve team performance. However, increased density might not result in team members receiving adequate information to collaborate towards common goals. There is a need to examine how network ties should be set up to manage information flows. Thus, the research goal is to explore the features of information sharing networks and their relationship with team performance in AEC projects. To achieve this goal, we collected communication data from an AEC project team with 179 members involved in total during the schematic design phase. Then, we performed social network analysis using Gephi and UCINET software. Results suggest that AEC project team networks are dynamic and adopt a core-periphery structure to share information early in project delivery. Including civil and mechanical subcontractors into the core subnetwork to collaborate with owners, designers, and general contractors can improve team performance. The study’s contribution to the body of knowledge is expanding our understanding of the characteristics and evolution of information sharing networks in AEC projects for optimized team performance.

Capital project planning is critical for project owners to decide how to allocate limited resources to meet the project needs for public universities in the U.S. It is an iterative process for planners to accommodate different project goals, while the budget realization is uncertain due to reasons such as unexpected funding cuts and weak justifications for funding requests. When funding levels are uncertain, public owners may have to follow alternative planning processes with practices that enable the planning outcome to be more resilient under variable budget constraints. This study defines the implications of resilience in the context of capital project planning. The budget issue is addressed via two criteria of planning resilience: integration of planning needs and variability of requested budgets. We develop a conceptual framework that encompasses these two criteria to evaluate the resilience of planning practices against potential budget cuts. Literature review and interviews with architects and planners from a public university were conducted to identify resilient planning practices that can be implemented when funding is uncertain. Lastly, whether the planning practices resist the project’s vulnerability of variable budget constraints will be evaluated using the proposed criteria for planning resilience.

Green construction has carved out a space in the architecture engineering and construction (AEC) industry, and continued growth is expected. Compared to traditional construction projects, sustainable or green projects are considered more complex due to added project goals and the need for improved collaboration across disciplines. AEC literature has focused mostly on project delivery methods in team collaboration and integration. This study brings in a new perspective: Shared transformational leadership. Transformational leadership theory has been receiving increased attention, and is considered most suitable for large interorganizational teams such as those in the AEC industry. In addition, the concept of shared leadership, where there can be more than one leader in a team regardless of their roles and positions in the team setup, is gaining acceptance over the traditional single leader concept. Building on these trends, this paper presents a multilevel model for transformational leadership in green construction projects. The study also developed measurement tools for model variables and validated those through expert interviews. Insights from the expert interviews and directions for future research are presented.

Resilience-building by community members is critical to withstand future disasters, and post-disaster reconstruction provides an opportunity to enhance rebuilding. Thus, a better understanding of what promotes or impedes willingness to participate in community resilience-building activities, such as community members attending meetings, helping neighbors with construction activities, creating emergency response plans, or reducing risk in other ways, is needed. Household surveys were administered to 12 communities impacted by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines to investigate how social capital, community satisfaction, and reconstruction assistance modality influence community members’ willingness to take action to increase their resilience. Findings show social capital, or social relationships and networks, and reconstruction assistance modality, or method employed to assist with home reconstruction, had significant effects on whether households plan to take action to build their communities’ resilience. The relocated communities who received donor-built houses indicated the highest willingness to participate in resilience-building activities, followed by the communities with donor-built houses that were reconstructed in place of their pre-disaster homes, and finally the communities who self-recovered through the local building sector. The results of this study inform research and organizational policy on the relationship between the elements of social capital, community satisfaction, and method of reconstruction assistance that encourage plans to action towards disaster community-wide resilience.

Work modification during the construction phase is quite common, and it typically creates a detrimental impact on project performance significantly. A change-order is developed by affected parties followed by legal agreements that amend to the original contract. Information related to the causes of the modification and its effects, in particular, can provide project participants with useful knowledge that may prevent them from encountering similar changes in the next projects. However, the identification and use of the causal information of a modification is challenging because most information in a change-order is available in a text data format, which is typically unstructured. Thus, the unstructured format makes it difficult to process considerable amounts of information systematically. It also requires a substantial amount of manual effort due to different types of written expressions of the same context or meaning, and dependency on specialized and technical knowledge and jargons. This study presents a process model that automatically extracts key elements related to work modification causes in change-orders using the shortest dependency path (SDP) and conditional random field (CRF) model. The research process is comprised of four tasks: a) build a raw data repository from historical change-orders, b) frame semantic-based key elements labeling, c) create SDP between key nodes, and d) apply conditional random field (CRF) model for label classification. Change-orders obtained from real highway projects have been used to evaluate and verify the model. This research contributes to building a methodological and practical foundation for extracting dependency-based information from construction documents. Project participants can use this method to analyze past projects and assess change-order related risks for new projects before construction begins.

A project owner’s construction contingency is often an amount of funding added to a cost estimate to cover a certain degree of risk or uncertainty. As the name indicates, the owner contingency is controlled by the owner and included in the owner’s project budget. The hypothesis of this study is that the understanding of the maturity and accuracy of front end engineering design (FEED), which is a critical component of front end planning (FEP), would lead a project team to set a better-informed contingency percentage for their project. The levels of FEED maturity and accuracy affect the owner’s ability to make informed and reliable decisions, including cost predictions. Currently, due to the lack of a consistent understanding of FEED maturity and accuracy, contingency values used for a project may not necessarily be correlated with the project’s FEED maturity and accuracy levels. This paper presents the analysis of owner’s contingency versus FEED maturity and accuracy, for the first time, in the large industrial construction sector. The research presented in this paper follows a scientific research method that included a literature review, data collection workshops, and statistical analysis of contingency data. One major finding shows the levels of FEED maturity and accuracy did not impact the level of contingency assigned on projects. This result, combined with earlier findings that FEED maturity and accuracy are significantly impacting cost growth, and other key performance metrics, shows there is considerable room for improvement. Owners can start using FEED maturity and accuracy scores as part of the indicators when assigning contingency for projects.

Despite past and present research on planning and delivery methods, the construction industry is still characterized by endemic cost and schedule overruns that are often accompanied by disclosures of actual performance late in the project delivery. As a response to such major shortcoming, this study investigated the novel and undocumented practice of validation. The purpose of project validation is to prove or disprove whether the project team can successfully deliver a project that satisfies the owner’s business case and scope within the constraints of cost and schedule. In order to document validation, this study leveraged a multiple case study analysis of remarkable project validation efforts. Data were collected through open-ended phone interviews with eight subject matter experts. Each expert was requested to share validation aspects such as information inputs and outputs, team and culture, steps, or approval solicitation. The interviews were complemented with the authors’ first-hand observations at validation sessions. Qualitative analysis of the collected data enabled the detail of the benefits, nuances, and steps for a successful validation effort. Validation is executed within a short duration, limited budget, and little or no design. Validation culminates in an informed decision by the owner on whether to authorize (go) or not to authorize (no-go) the project. When the project is authorized, the owner and the team contractually agree to the project based on the shared commitment that the success criterion can be met. Alternatively, a no-go decision enables the owner to allocate the project funds into alternative investments that can meet the owner’s objectives and provide the expected rate of return.

Public concerns are essential for megaproject success, meanwhile highly influencing on the stakeholder performance. To understand the dynamics of public concerns in the project duration is beneficial for decision-makers to identify the risks and improve their adaptability in an uncertain project environment. This study employed the topic over time (TOT) based model to detect the major public concerns with the 1,748 official documents on Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge from 2003 to 2018, including the planning, construction, and delivery stage. As a result, 16 public concerns were detected, and the popularity trend of each concern was revealed year by year. Moreover, one scoring system was built to explore the relevant stakeholders for each public concern in the timeline. Considering the popularity trend and stakeholder relevance, a managerial map was designed to visualize the criticalness of each public concern in different stages of megaprojects. Finally, the “Mirror Z” approach was proposed for decision-makers to determine the management priority for identified public concerns. The finding showed the public concerns cover the wide-range issues including the government cooperation, environmental impacts, commercial development, alignment options, financing arrangements, operational arrangements, design, and construction, even radiating to the sustainable development of local towns and infrastructure. The management priority is varied according to the managerial map in each stage. The dynamic study proposed a method to comprehensively reveal the changes in public concerns, which provides useful guidelines for future mage transport projects. The text-mining based approach also benefits the scholars to obtain empirical clues from a large group of unstructured text documents in the domain of the megaproject research.

Construction knowledge is tacit; thus, it resides in the minds of its bearers. The flow of this knowledge depends more on the attitudes and intentions of individuals than it does on the wishes and desires of upper management. Consequently, exploring the drivers of these individual attitudes and intentions is critical for understanding how knowledge flows in construction organizations. This paper builds the case for studying the current state of knowledge sharing among construction workers. It also presents the preliminary findings of a survey of construction labor working on a set of projects in Lebanon. The survey focuses on the different drivers of knowledge sharing intentions among construction workers, namely social, internal, and organizational drivers. Social drivers include factors such as reciprocal relationships. Internal drivers describe individual attitudes, whereas organizational drivers relate to fairness and affiliation with the organization. Preliminary findings indicate that workers in the Lebanese construction companies have generally positive intentions to share knowledge with their colleagues. This paper is part of a research initiative that aims at using data analytics and advanced statistical models to determine the underlying relations among these drivers and their impact on knowledge sharing. The ultimate findings aim to provide regional contractors with strategies for fostering knowledge sharing thereby improving productivity on construction sites.

This paper describes a research investigation that retroactively examined front end planning (FEP) by studying fifteen completed military facilities, building projects constructed for the Afghanistan National Security Forces (ANSF) in Afghanistan by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE); these projects represented expenditures of approximately $180 M and were contracted between 2009 to 2015. The investigation collected and analyzed performance information for the projects using a survey questionnaire, follow-up interviews, and a thorough review of the contract documents that established project scope. The study showed that no project was completed on schedule, with changes ranging from +11 percent to +176 percent, averaging 67 percent delay versus original schedule. Cost performance for the projects ranged between 0 to +37 percent with an average cost increase of 12 percent. Results showed that 67 percent of projects reported scope changes, 47 percent encountered differing site conditions, and 40 percent of projects had security issues among others. A forensic PDRI (project definition rating index) evaluation was also performed on the worst performing projects to investigate if the identified problems could have been addressed in front end planning (FEP) for similar types of projects in similar scenarios. In retrospect, many of these problems, such as lack of geotechnical and site investigations, security issues, long lead procurement, labor issues, and so forth could have been addressed through mitigation action during FEP as mapped using the PDRI. At a minimum, contingency could have been set aside to handle unknowns.

The behavioral integration and ambidextrous innovation (i.e., balancing and choosing between exploitative innovation and exploratory innovation) of top management team are widely recognized as critical for achieving business success in the corporate management literature. However, behavioral integration and ambidextrous innovation has rarely been examined in the project management literature in general and the realm of megaprojects in particular. To fill this gap, based on the upper echelon theory and ambidextrous organization theory, the theoretical model of "Behavioral Integration-Ambidextrous Innovation-Megaproject Performance" of top management team is constructed. Using quantitative data from 78 top management team members, partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis is conducted, verifying the theoretical hypotheses. The results emphasize that cooperative behavior, information exchange, and joint decision-making have significant positive effects on megaproject performance. Furthermore, the results show exploitative innovation plays an intermediary role between behavioral integration and megaproject performance, while exploratory innovation has no significant mediating effect. Moreover, the findings underscore the megaproject performance relies more on exploitative innovation than exploration innovation. This study not only extends the upper echelon theory and ambidextrous organization theory into megaproject scenarios, but also has some important enlightenment to the megaproject management practices.

Most building projects are scheduled using the Gantt/Precedence diagram method, which is a timeline scheduling approach that combines a graphical representation of activities through a bar chart diagram and constraints on precedence dependencies logic. The linear diagram is also marginally used for scheduling building projects. The lack of consideration of the sequence of work and traffic in the limited spaces of construction sites makes the resolution of conflicts more complex; deterministic and stochastic mathematical optimization techniques have been used to solve these problems. However, these solutions are less viable for application in real projects. There are too many parameters to be considered or processed with reasonable efforts and time. Graphic modeling is considered an appropriate solution because of its communication capability. Coordination and decision-making on construction sites become simpler, and spatiotemporal graphical planning is then more suitable as a scheduling model because it considers activities, resources, and spaces simultaneously. This paper presents an explanation of the chronographical spatiotemporal modeling solution that integrates considerations of the space, crews, and operations in the same image. The objective is to link the spatial and temporal aspects to ensure suitable rotation of the workforce in various spaces and efficient linear production. An approach that calculates the project duration is based on critical space and the site occupancy rate; the model also defines seven space management layers (creation of spaces, installation of systems, envelopes, division of spaces, finishing, closing of spaces, and exterior works). The validation process was performed using several case studies on scheduling building projects. In conclusion, the integration of spaces, operations, and temporal aspects promotes efficient use of building sites and helps managers maximize the site occupancy rates, ensure suitable rotation of the workforce between zones and support linear productions of spaces and teams.

Architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) firms need to innovate in order to increase their business’ competitiveness. Many companies around the world are considering the possibility of implementing building information modelling (BIM) in their projects without knowing its actual benefits for the business. The current literature recognizes certain barriers to BIM implementation; therefore, considering these barriers, this work proposes a holistic model that allows managers to explain how BIM can play an important role for the success of the AEC companies. The pillars of the model are a collaborative culture and training of employees in order to break down technological barriers. This way, BIM can help AEC companies to innovate. This proposal takes into consideration the three phases of the infrastructure life-cycle. In the design phase, the model considers 3D shape, scheduling (4D), costs (5D), and sustainability (6D). In the construction phase, the model focuses on supply chain and quality management. During the operation phase, the model is related to the virtual management of maintenance activities. Drivers of innovation should consider several facets: marketing, technology, organization, processes, and products. This model aims to enlighten the positive effects of a good strategic management using BIM on innovation activities in each of the phases of the infrastructure life-cycle.

Delay is one of the most common, complex, and risky phenomena that adversely affects performance of construction projects. Several studies have been conducted on delay factors identification, some focused on road infrastructures, others on buildings, or on construction projects broadly. However, there are scarce publications with a comprehensive and sound analysis among projects of different type. This study presents a comparative analysis of delay factors between road infrastructure and building projects using the following research process: (1) a systematic review of articles published in specialized and peer-reviewed journals is performed; 2) relevant studies are chosen based on inclusion/exclusion criteria; (3) qualitative evidence is categorized; (4) quantitative evidence is analyzed with Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient; and (5) contributions are summarized. A final set of twenty published articles provided quantitative and qualitative evidence of construction delays. The findings indicated that delay factors identification and prioritization differs between projects and countries. Some critical delay factors for road infrastructure projects were inadequate contractor's experience and payment delays to contractor, while for building projects were shortage of materials and financial difficulties of contractor.

The construction industry has used personality assessments as a tool in personnel hiring, promotion, and talent development processes. However, many companies enter uncharted waters with how to best utilize these assessments. The purpose of this study is to identify the traits, characteristics, and skillsets of top-performing electrical contractors by using several personality and aptitude assessments. A questionnaire survey was developed consisting of several commercially available personality and aptitude assessments, including HEXACO personality inventory, DISC behavioral assessment, and emotional intelligence diagnostics. The questionnaire was distributed to electrical contractors across the United States via the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA). Participating contractors were asked to nominate their top-performing project managers to take the assessment. Supervisors of the project managers completed a standardized performance review to provide quantitative and qualitative performance data. Results include a summary of the attributes and characteristics of top-performing project managers along with a discussion of how the electrical contracting sector compares to the construction industry in general. This study contributes the beginnings of a national benchmark of electrical contractor project manager attributes, which may be further developed into easy-to-use tools which allow companies to identify the right candidates for project management positions and grow the existing talent within their companies.

In the central United States, the frequency of earthquakes has risen significantly in the past decade. Many scientists have argued that these earthquakes are induced by injecting vast quantities of salty wastewater, a byproduct of oil and natural gas production via hydraulic fracturing, deep underground. Because of the connection to oil and gas production, these earthquakes may influence people’s perceptions of the petroleum industry, including the effect the industry has on their community and whether they support or oppose hydraulic fracturing. This work presents the results of a household survey conducted in four geographic regions across Oklahoma and Colorado that have significant levels of oil and gas production and varying levels of recent human-induced earthquakes. Our results show that earthquakes impact views of oil and gas development; specifically, the more negative of an impact that the earthquakes have on an individual’s life, the more negative the individual perceives the impacts of oil and gas development in their community and the less they support hydraulic fracturing generally. As our petroleum infrastructure is expanded it will be crucial for managers and planners to account for both the risks posed by induced seismicity as well as the public’s response to these new developments.

Coordination among different project disciplines is a critical stage in a prefabricated projects and it has obvious influence in the total cost and efficiency. Prefabrication is a construction practice whose basic unit is the component which is also regarded as the basic element of BIM. Taking advantage of BIM in building life-cycle management and coalescing the idea of omniclass and model view definition, this research suggests an approach to improve information integrated management, including information classification and information delivery, in prefabrication using ontological technologies. The development process contains three stages: 1) work scope definition, which is to set a research topic and limit work boundary; 2) knowledge flow map creation, which is to describe important work processes and data or knowledge exchange among the involved stakeholders; and 3) ontology development, which is to generate data sharing ontology and domain ontology generation, and define alignment rules and constraint rules based on the knowledge flow map. Through the proposed ontology-based approach, the stakeholders are able to create information which represents their views of the projects and make appropriate use of the knowledge iteration in the prefabricated projects. Finally, a case study on cost estimation and optimization in prefabricated project is undertaken for validation of this method.

Architects are an integral part of the design and construction industry and are continuously incorporating decisions that influence projects during their life cycle. These decisions aim at selecting the best alternative from the ones available. Unfortunately, this decision-making process is mainly unexplored in the industry. No instrument to measure construction decisions, based on a knowledge base of decision-makers, has existed. Also, limited literature is available on the topic. Recently, the first instrument to gain an understanding of the construction decision-making process was developed by Dr. Tulio Sulbaran from the University of Texas at San Antonio. The instrument’s name is “construction decision making inventory (CDMI).” The CDMI is an innovative idea to measure the “How” of the construction decision making inventory. As an innovative idea, its statistical validity (accuracy of the assessment) is yet to be assessed. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to describe the results of a case study with architects in the southeast of the United States aimed to determine CDMI validity. The results of the case study are significant because they assess the validity of the tool. Furthermore, as the architects evaluated each question within the measurements, this study is also guiding the enhancement of the CDMI.

A disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) is a small, for-profit business at least 51% owned by one or more both socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. The United States (U.S.) Department of Transportation (DOT) mandates state transportation agencies to have a DBE program to ensure nondiscrimination in federally assisted contracts for DBEs. The number of certified DBEs has been increasing under the economic boom. However, few DBEs have been successful, and even fewer have sustainable growth in the DBE program due to many complex factors. One factor is the lack of a development model for DBEs. The purpose of this study is to propose a linear development model that has five levels. Each level has about $5 million growth in revenue, totaling up to $25 million. Based on survey results, most DBEs are in the first level of the linear development model. Some DBEs are in the fourth and fifth levels. Few DBEs are in the second and third levels. Also, survey results reveal some correlations among revenue growth and other factors, especially business areas. The contributions of this paper to the body of knowledge are (1) the identification of DBE revenue distribution in the linear development model and (2) the implementation of the model for providing effective supportive services to DBEs.

A common practice in many production processes of the industrialized and manufactured construction (IMC) is to generate estimates using unit costs. However, customized design, low quantity orders, and packaging prototypes could create unpredictable costs with these processes and jeopardize the profit margins. This research focuses on the IMC project development with the question of how the different payment options could affect the time-cost trade-off formula for the prediction on the cash flow efficiency and liquidity. The proposed system uses multivariate simulations on the information collected from previous jobs with the implementation of second order polynomial trend lines to help predicting future projects. There are many different factors (including transportation distance, inventory capacity, and lifts) that must be considered when utilizing the prefabrication bays for the IMC. These factors affect the time and cost differently under different payment terms. The proposed system implements the system dynamics model to develop a programmable algorithm on the estimated time. The research addresses the following findings: the level of complexity, location of manufacturing plant, and cash flow performance are related to each other. Using observations and refining the margin of error, the results show that this proposed system has the capability of predicting production time based on job specification, which is essential for cost estimating, scheduling, and resource allocation. The proposed system provides an innovative method for the evaluation of cash flow performance in IMC projects.

The use of lean principles in the U.S. highway construction is limited although researchers and practitioners affirm its applicability in vertical construction and non-highway projects. Possible reasons might relate to public sector’s characteristics, including regulations towards using the traditional design-bid-build (D-B-B) method. With an increasing use of alternative contracting methods (ACMs), including design-build (D-B) and construction manager/general contractor (CM/GC), the public sector has opportunities to utilize lean principles as a means to maximize innovation, enhance effectiveness, and improve project performance. The objective of this study was to identify gaps of adapting lean principles within ACM-based highway projects. A comprehensive literature review of lean applications in the Europe, the U.K., and the U.S. was conducted. This study analyzed in detail six case highway projects that were delivered using D-B-B, D-B, and CM/GC and utilized main lean practices, including the last planner system, value stream mapping, and just-in-time principle. Findings show that adapting the lean principles to highway construction projects can result in cost and time savings and improved productivity. The study contributes to the body of knowledge by identifying a lack of using lean practices in the U.S. highway projects and recommending lean-based statements in relational contracts between public highway agencies and involved parties.

Turnover of information from contractor to the owner of a facility is a critical step in the lifecycle of a project. While various research efforts have defined strategies to turnover design and construction information for owners, these strategies have not substantially improved building operation. This motivated the authors to explore how information is turned over in a different, but related, industry. The authors use owner manuals generated in the automotive industry as a paradigm for refining and organizing construction information and submittals for building owners because these manuals are generally understood by most people. To accomplish this aim, the authors identify common patterns of information structure and the manner in which specific information is provided in car owner manuals. Then they defined analogous building systems and submittal types that would transfer building-related information in a similar manner. For example, they looked at categories of information in the owner’s manual like “Safety & Security”, and suggested CSI specifications that serve a similar purpose in the building realm. They also looked at the format of information provided in those categories and suggested submittal types traditionally used in construction to facilitate information transfer in a similar manner. Once the analogous information and submittal types were identified, the responses were compared for instances of agreement. Complete agreement between individuals was recorded on 17 occasions, and partial agreement on 13. Then, overall consistency in responses was analyzed using Krippendorff’s alpha co-efficient (KALPHA). The KALPHA co-efficient of 0.2 indicates low overall consistency, but considerable agreement in responses for specific systems suggests the potential to organize certain types of construction information according to this alternative paradigm. For sections in which there was little or no agreement, results suggest that car systems may not have analogous building systems. This work demonstrates the potential for structuring building information using an alternative, but commonly used, paradigm from the automotive industry that may be universally understood. Future work will assess the perceptions reported by building owners and usability of this mode of information turnover to assess its viability in actual projects.

A recent report from the McKinsey Global Institute, suggests seven areas that can boost the construction sector productivity including improved supply chain (SC) and onsite execution to overcome the remarkably poor productivity of the construction industry. Although industrialised construction (IC) as an appealing approach has been perceived to improve the productivity of the construction, the fragmented nature of prefabricated SCs nurture variety of vulnerabilities on IC in Hong Kong (HK), and these disruptions beset the industrial performance. Hence, “Supply chain resilience (SCR)” has attracted the emerging interest of academic researchers and industry practitioners which enable proactive disruption management that transcends conventional wisdom and standard practices. This research, therefore, aims to explore the level of vulnerability of IC SCs to the disruptions and proposes a set of counteractive capabilities a firm should develop to withstand these vulnerabilities based on a case study in HK. Data was collected through unstructured interviews with six professionals of the selected case, document reviewing, frequent site visits, and analysed using N-Vivo based content analysis. Thus, the main thrust of this study is to propose strategies to enhance SCR in IC in HK to enhance the productivity of IC through value enhanced SCs.

The term corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been used for some time across the world, it concerns both environmental and non-environmental issues which allow companies to improve their performance and to deliver enhanced value to society. Notably, corporate environmental responsibility (CER), a derived term from CSR, has attracted attentions of some international industries but rarely been recognized and targeted in construction industry. This paper aims to investigate the impacts of CER on corporate financial performance (CFP) in the international construction market by using panel data of 116 international construction companies (ICCs) from 2014 to 2015. Results show that CER of a company can improve its financial performance up to a certain point, but once the company reach a threshold level of CER, financial performance would be negatively affected. This research help stakeholders clarify the inverse U relationship between CER and CFP, which may offer a win-win situation for both companies and environmental so that a greener and more effective construction market presence will come into being in the near future.

Effective pre-project planning is critical for maximizing the success of a project. The effectiveness of pre-project planning is directly tied to the completeness of project scope definition. Ideally, the most effective pre-project planning happens when the definition of all project scope elements is refined to a high level of granularity, accuracy, and prescience. This is not always possible however, since scope definition improvement is achieved through auxiliary inspections and experiments to collect additional information, which can be costly. It is also not valuable to improve scope definition for all project scope elements, since expected benefits of this knowledge will not outweigh costs for certain elements. The objective of this paper is to develop a decision making methodology to optimize the process of project scope definition improvement. This methodology is developed based on the concept of value of information, which functions as the metric for investigating whether scope definition improvement is valuable for a given scope element. For cases where scope definition improvement should be made, optimization of required information is explored along with selection of the most valuable information collection option, which provides the optimum required amount of information. This methodology is demonstrated on a building adaptive reuse case study for improving the definition of contamination and hazardous materials (specifically asbestos-containing materials) as a scope element.

Site layout planning (SLP) is a classical assignment problem in determining the location of temporary facilities and site logistics. However, current research on SLP could not well fit in high-rise buildings using modular integrated construction (MiC) that is a game-changing construction practice transforming fragmented site activities into integrated module-driven construction. Therefore, this paper aims to develop an innovative SLP tool for high-rise modular buildings using virtual reality (VR) technology. First, a comprehensive literature review is conducted to identify the differences between conventional construction and MiC practices in terms of on-site activities, and analyze the previous methods on SLP and the features of VR technology. Second, the system architecture and functions of the VR-supported tool for SLP are designed. Third, the tool is developed with Unity3D and demonstrated using a real-life MiC project in Hong Kong. The demonstration reveals that the developed tool could help optimize the construction layout and module installation sequence through the provided functions of location tracking, overlapping area analysis, collision detection, simulation of different module installation scenarios, and lifting cost calculation. It proves that SLP assisted with VR technology can help construction planners identify the optimized facility locations to further secure the construction safety and increase the efficiency of module installation.

Enhancing value on projects has been a major objective within the construction industry. Design management practices have focused on exploring value generation and management during the project development to ensure successful completion of projects. Additionally, many research studies discussed the role of the designer in achieving a higher project value through collaboration with different project stakeholders. However, many projects are still executed with an inconvenient level of satisfaction, leaving hidden value often unlocked. This study uses concepts discussed in literature, specifically the concept-knowledge theory (C-K theory), which touches on creative thinking and knowledge generation. The research comprises an exploratory study on current design management practices and suggests consistency in dealing with value optimization strategies. A proposed model is developed focusing on the responsibility of the designer in knowledge generation and innovation. The model is then tested with a panel of experts to validate its applicability. The proposed approach represents a novel way for dealing with design innovation and for managing the perceived project value in comparison to current practices. This research aims at providing owners and designers with a better understanding of value enhancement and management strategies.

The architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry has often been accused of being slow to adopt change. Yet in the modern AEC industry—where the breadth of available technology solutions continues to grow—companies must be increasingly adept at organizational change management to maintain their competitive edge. When a company fails to achieve successful change adoption, the full potential of technology solutions may never be realized. The objective of this study was to identify the relationships between specific change management practices and organizational adoption of new technology solutions. An industry-wide approach was taken, wherein an online survey methodology was used to collect 167 cases of organization-wide change from AEC firms across the United States and Canada. The method of analysis included a correlation analysis between change management practices and change adoption. Reliability testing and principal components analysis were used to extract a single construct measure of change adoption. Results include a rank-order of specific change management practices most associated with successful technology adoption. Change-agent effectiveness, measured benchmarks, realistic timeframe, and communicated benefits are the four change management practices that had the strongest association strength with successful change adoption. The discussion addresses how these leading change management practices compare with previous literature. This study contributes an industry-wide view of change management practices specifically within the context of technology-based organizational change adoption, that may assist practitioners to better understand and manage technology adoption process in their organizations.

The use of methodologies, such as lean construction and building information modeling (BIM), has transformed how construction companies deliver their projects. Throughout the analyzed literature, several studies have proven that the implementation of these methodologies can have significant impacts on the project’s productivity level and on the mitigation of time and cost overruns as well. This paper presents a case study of a leading construction company in Colombia and the process that was followed to implement the lean and BIM principles and proves how this implementation affects the company’s value chain. First, the method followed in the evaluation of the processes map, and the definition of the organizational structure of the company through the application of the value stream mapping (VSM) is presented. Second, the methodology developed to analyze improvements in the processes map of the company and how they are aligned with the principles of lean/BIM is stated. Finally, the strategy for tracking improvements for all the departments of the company, showing a more efficient organizational structure and an increase in the productivity of the company is outlined.

The construction industry has positioned itself as one of the main drivers for economic growth and infrastructure development in the world. Nevertheless, this industry remains as one of the most polluting, non-environmentally sustainable, and less committed to the implementation of long-term solutions for sustainable development. Lean construction, as a project management philosophy, has had a positive impact on resource efficiency and productivity of construction projects. However, there are still no several studies that have quantified the environmental impact of this philosophy. The purpose of this research is to quantify the impact of lean construction on the environmental footprint of a project. The methodology of the study consists of a comparative case study, between two projects, one using lean construction principles and the order following a very traditional approach. Both projects were assessed from the environmental perspective through a life cycle analysis using Open LCA. The main results show that there is a quantifiable relationship between the implementation of lean construction and the reduction in the environmental footprint of the project in a range of decrease between 18–24%.

There is an increasing supply of obsolete buildings across the U.S. that have surpassed their useful life. These buildings become obsolete, either because of aging systems or shifts in market demand for the services and amenities the building provides. As a result, obsolete buildings have a higher cost of ownership and can have a negative effect on occupant productivity and morale. In the manufacturing sector, the rate of building obsolescence is especially high. Because the buildings in this sector are typically customized for a specific product or manufacturing process, they struggle to accommodate change over their lifetime. One solution to this problem is to make the buildings themselves more flexible. This solution requires an understanding of the types of uncertainty facing the project during design, construction, and operation, as well as the potential options that may become available to the owner if modifications to the building are necessary. This paper presents the results of a real options analysis (ROA) to valuate flexible building strategies in the manufacturing sector, where uncertainty is high. Specifically, we consider three strategies—dedicated, general purpose, and scalable—and develop real options for each strategy related to the variable capacity of the project, project life, and timing of project construction or renovation. We demonstrate that certain strategies ultimately offer owners of manufacturing buildings a higher long-term value when considering uncertainty about the future demand of their products. By recognizing this uncertainty and evaluating potential design strategies with ROA, this research provides decision guidance to owners that will increase use of flexible design strategies and reduce instances of building obsolescence.

As construction projects become larger, more complex, and fast-paced, the role of knowledge management (KM) is fast growing in engineering firms, which are characterized as knowledge-intensive by nature. To remain competitive and ensure project success, engineers are seeking new tools and methods to capture both explicit and implicit knowledge that can then be retrieved in a timely and efficient way. This paper aims to discuss knowledge management systems (KMS) as related to structural engineers, in the context of large, international, and multi-disciplinary engineering firms. The methodology used consists of a review of literature to identify the macro, meso, and micro level factors influencing the development of structural engineering KMS. The various strategies and steps related to the development of the KMS are then discussed. The challenges of implementing such systems are further examined in light of emerging technologies and of the complex interrelations between the different entities of large international firms. The case of a top-twenty global engineering design group is presented. Furthermore, it is argued that firms often limit KMS to their technological aspects undermining the need for a detailed and structured framework to guide the KMS initiative. Technological advancements such as knowledge discovery in databases, data analytics, artificial intelligence, platforms, and web 2.0 technologies should be rather viewed as useful tools to render the KM experience faster and more user friendly. They do not replace the need to elaborate a reliable framework based on the specific needs of structural engineers, and which can act as the backbone of KMS. Firms should also adopt strategies to promote a learning organization culture and empower engineers to become actively engaged in the KMS experience, thus ensuring an optimum retention of knowledge within their organizations.

Although knowledge and innovation management has been studied through the lens of business optimization for manufacturing and software industries, a rather detailed approach has not yet been studied in construction industry. Public sector design and construction organizations could benefit from a better understanding of organizational learning through their utilization of knowledge and innovation management systems. The challenges for successfully establishing a learning organization are known to be the unique, complex, multi-stakeholder/trade, high turnover nature of each construction program, and the variety of authentic complications simultaneously occurring at project sites. This research strives to understand and evaluate the attributes of organizational learning within public construction project settings. In order to do so, an exploratory case study of a public organization that manages more than 1,000 individual facilities with 8.2 million square feet under roof is presented as the initial benchmark. The interview findings pointed out several crucial concepts for a public construction organization such as learning culture and risk averse attitude, importance of responsibility-authority alignment for accountability, innovation versus fear of failure, utilization of organizational hierarchy, lateral, and vertical communication as well as the isolating impacts of silos within the organization. Following the identified issues, a semantic network analysis study has been performed on the interview data to observe the relationships between different concepts. This study will be utilized by the public construction organizations for future benchmarking and resource allocation to increase performance towards operational excellence through organizational learning and knowledge management.

In mega civil and infrastructure projects such as dams, airports, and expressways, multiple rollers are usually used to simultaneously compact the same work zone to accelerate the construction progress. Quality control in such a multi-roller compaction scenario is a demanding task because it requires collaborative control of the roller fleet to enable the right type of roller to compact the right position at the right time with the right compaction parameters. Traditional intelligent compaction is mainly devised for single roller, and hence falls short of multi-roller control that requires real-time information sharing between rollers. To enable the collaborative control of a roller fleet, a cyber-physical system has been developed for multi-roller compaction monitoring. This paper systematically illustrates the system architecture by dividing the system into five modules, i.e., data collection module, wireless communication module, cloud-based data processing module, feedback control module, and monitoring client. The corresponding managerial mechanism based on the system is explained, which can enable effective information sharing between multiple rollers and different project stakeholders. Two case studies have been carried out respectively in a concrete slab rockfill dam project and an asphalt expressway project in China. In each case, the specific implementation workflow is introduced, and the results are analyzed. The results demonstrate effectiveness of the developed cyber-physical system in compaction process control and thus ensuring compaction quality.

Although lean methods have been used on construction projects for over three decades, the adoption of such methods into the project delivery process varies in formal planning and implementation. This makes it challenging to benchmark the performance of projects implementing lean construction methods. Preliminary analysis of literature combined with a content analysis of expert interviews with lean practitioners suggested that there is an opportunity to improve the awareness, understanding, and education of lean methods. As a result, the adoption of lean methods would also improve. However, to improve the awareness, understanding, and education of lean methods, there is also the need to develop consistent terminology that can be used. Having identified this need, further investigation of various knowledge representation techniques resulted in the identification of domain ontologies as a mechanism to organize the domain of lean construction methods. This paper presents the summary of the various approaches and tasks adopted from ontological methodologies to outline the process for developing the lean construction methods ontology and the ontology structure. The paper concludes with future research directions focused on documentation of the knowledge within the ontology, ontology evaluation using expert interviews, and ontology application using project case studies.

Lessons learned could be used on construction of all types in order to improve quality, avoid change orders and claims, and to control schedule and budget. An evaluation of the construction after its completion can help the organization to acquire lessons learned. However, some organizations do not see the benefit of this post-construction phase and end up ignoring it. The transportation management plan (TMP) is a document that includes strategies to help manage the work zone and secure the safety of workers and traveling public during highway construction. This document could also have a post-project evaluation with the same purpose as the post-construction evaluation. This study investigated twenty-six state Departments of Transportation (DOTs), through survey and interviews, to determine if the DOTs track TMP changes, perform post-project evaluations, and if there is a transfer of the lessons learned regarding TMPs. It was found that a majority of the agencies track the changes and perform the evaluation. However, only seven DOTs have a template to develop the evaluation, and many times the template might not be used due to vagueness or different employees’ interpretation. Moreover, most of the DOTs have an informal transfer of lessons learned, which does not guarantee a document for them. Based on this study, the results indicate that the three major problems encountered by the DOTs to develop the post-project evaluation are lack of personnel, lack of structured process review, and lack of resources. The problem with having the evaluation and not transferring lessons learned formally is that the knowledge ends up being personal rather than organizational. Overall, this study shows the necessity of a structured process across the country for the development of TMPs evaluation and transfer of lessons, and the obstacles the DOTs currently have to develop them.

The number of transportation construction projects has increased in the U.S. over the past several decades, and inspection challenges have increased proportionally or at an even higher rate. Therefore, it is important to identify these challenges and to offer appropriate inspection strategies to avoid project failures. In this study, the challenges of transportation construction inspections were identified, and strategies for tackling these challenges were proposed. Several national U.S. inspection documents, peer-reviewed papers, and other types of publications were thoroughly reviewed, and the potential inspection challenges of transportation projects were identified. Then, the management strategies that lead to effective inspection processes and successful projects were identified. The results of this study demonstrated that the current practices for the inspection of transportation construction projects need to be thoroughly reviewed and improved upon. The list of potential inspection challenges and management strategies determined by this research can assist project managers and inspectors allocate resources to transportation construction activities more efficiently and achieve higher productivity rates.

One of the recent advances in the construction industry is the virtualization/digital representation of information. Building information modeling (BIM), which has been adopted over the past 20 years, enables the integration of data into the design and construction. This technology is deemed capable of facilitating better collaboration between different project stakeholders. One of its functions is to serve as a visual aid for the team members in decision making. However, not all types of BIM are appropriately used in certain practices. This study looks at lean construction scheduling where BIM may be used differently because of the last planner system. The last planner system facilitates short term planning by allowing project team members to elaborate on their tasks in greater detail so that the team can identify potential constraints on project execution. The lack of visual reference, especially one that provides a logic sequence that is important during the planning, might help project stakeholders discover issues. However, the conventional schedule methods with 4D BIM are typically developed based on a CPM schedule where the detailed schedule is determined early by a schedule. Consequently, 4D BIM practices and the last planner scheduling techniques are not yet compatible. This study provides an analysis of current research trends around the topic of visualization in lean construction project scheduling. Findings indicated that existing publications tend to focus on the technology instead of the underlying communication theory between project participants. From the technology side, this study is limited to studying the utilization of emerging technologies such as BIM. Thus, several suggestions were made on how emerging technology can be implemented in certain aspects of a lean project.

Post-disaster reconstruction of infrastructures represents a complex and multi-objective problem. A large number of subjective and objective factors from various aspects, such as social, economic, political, and technical must be addressed for a successful recovery process of the transportation network. In addition, decision-makers need to deal with limited federal, state, and local resources in planning sequential and organized reconstruction—which is the ultimate goal of the post-disaster recovery process. In recent years, several studies have developed disaster recovery planning and execution models to improve post-disaster recovery processes of transportation infrastructure. These studies mainly focused on a specific part of the recovery process and rarely considered a comprehensive set of objectives in their investigations. This paper presents a new post-disaster recovery prioritization approach that evaluates the optimal recovery priorities of damaged transportation infrastructure and affected regions through a resource allocation analysis. Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method integrated with non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) approach has been deployed to explicitly incorporate the multi-faceted factors for optimizing the various goals of the post-disaster recovery of the transportation network. This new methodology allows decision-makers to incorporate their own or other experts’ preferences while maintaining the goals of the process in the optimal zone. The model indicates a promising result that can be used as a comprehensive decision-making process to create an efficient workable plan for recovery of damaged transportation facilities and assign their resources according to the socioeconomic factors of affected communities.

Improving the productivity and quality of construction projects along with the minimization of cost and time are significant concerns in construction engineering and management. These concerns have stimulated specialists to gather the best practices and generate new techniques leading to more productive projects. Constructability review is one of the established methods for integrating design and construction phases, taking construction knowledge and experience into consideration in the early stages of a project. Performing an appropriate constructability review is one of the best practical solutions for projects that may potentially end up with high costs, schedules overruns, and complicated designs. In this process, by continuous involvement of experts in all phases of projects, their knowledge and experience will be reflected in the project considerations, leading to a feasible design and construction. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive list of constructability concepts and their significance by reviewing the literature and complement it with a survey from industrial experts. The list of compiled constructability concepts is divided into conceptual phase, design and procurement, and field operation phases. The significance of constructability concepts, regarding each stage of a project, was identified through a survey. Finally, constructability implementation in a steel fabrication company using defined constructability concepts was studied, and recommendations for improving their practice by applying this research’s output are provided.

A general contractor superintendent (GC Supt) is one who controls the day-to-day operations of a construction site and is a vital contributor to a construction project’s success. There are different opinions regarding the GC Supt’s most valuable attributes. Some construction companies value experience over education, while other companies will not hire unless GC Supt has obtained a bachelor's degree. The majority of companies agree that the most effective GC Supts are those individuals with both construction degrees and a wide range of construction experience. Nevertheless, the construction industry should be more specific on what education/experience a GC Supt must have to perform competently in his/her role. With construction projects becoming more complex, there is a great demand for the right kind of GC Supt to successfully lead the project to completion. This research offers specifics on how much education and experience are suitable for the GC Supt to perform efficiently. The author highlights the most valuable soft and hard attributes that are required for the GC Supt career’s success. For this purpose, a survey was developed, and interviews were conducted with selected experts who were asked to share their opinions and recommendations. Through qualitative and quantitative analyses, recommendations were proposed for the skills and attributes most necessary for the success of the GC Supts. The results of this research will provide GC Supts with practical solutions that they can implement at any stage of their profession to act more efficiently.

Offsite manufacturers are commonly competing with each other, as well as with conventional construction companies for projects. The construction industry is interested in knowing how the performance of the manufacturers compares to traditional onsite constructed projects in terms of time, safety, waste, and cost. While this comparison is important for the industry; limited information is available to make this comparison since the vast difference in the methods makes detailed comparisons time consuming and the same project is rarely built with both methods, so different projects must be compared. Each manufacturer carries out their construction process differently, employing varying levels of planning, automation, and manufacturing principles. While some manufacturers are operating almost as conventional builders in a factory, others have leveraged the opportunities available through offsite construction to create a more predictable and productive process. Because of this diversity, there is a significant variance in the cost, time, safety, and waste measurements between offsite manufacturers. This variance necessitates the comparison between the varying approaches for offsite construction first. This paper details some of the methods used for floor panel construction in offsite construction using two case studies and begins to compare them based on cost and time.

The architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry often finds difficulties to transfer data between different stages of project development. Although the use of building information modelling (BIM) and geographic information systems (GIS) applications have brought notable improvements to some AEC industry processes, the disjointed use of these systems and the differences in their system file architectures disrupt the seamless flow project information, and results in avoidable project waste and other issues. As GIS moves towards 3D modeling, and as BIM increasingly improves collaboration through communication, the potential to integrate both systems for a more integrated project environment is growing. This integration could be useful for supporting integrated project delivery (IPD) system since BIM/GIS integration with reliable information exchange could ensure optimum results in the IPD. Therefore, this paper proposes a framework, environmental information modelling (EIM) to bridge the gap between the GIS and BIM systems, with a BIM-GIS integration model developed and programmed into an application using C#.NET. The paper assesses the feasibility of the framework and model for seamless and reliable project information exchange, using of planning and development requirements of a local city, and using a sample residential project. The paper also discusses the challenges of the framework and suggests directions for future research.

Pull planning is a collaborative approach that is used to develop a project-based production plan in compliance with principles of lean construction. Pull planning is a process of working backwards from a planned milestone to generate a project schedule or schedules. With the use of pull planning, project teams are able to evaluate and develop project schedules in collaborative ways that allow them to rely on the results and encourage buy-in to the project’s success. This paper focuses on verifying benefits and obstacles of implementing pull planning in the construction industry using a survey of industry professionals. The gathered feedback of industry professionals is used to validate priority guidelines to promote the use of pull planning. The prioritized guidelines include (1) getting people on board early by choosing the right delivery method; (2) identifying the right people to be in the room by providing transparent expectations early to trades regarding foremen and superintendent involvement; (3) providing adequate time for planning by accounting for it early on, and after each session; and (4) defining scope areas by narrowing the breadth of planning sessions. The primary contribution of this research is validation of industry feedback to the recommendations provided by the body of research and documentation of the current use and promotion of pull planning in the construction industry.

Construction projects continue to be faced with chronic delay issues, which are not yet quantifiable to become controllable. In construction projects, subcontractors play an important role and directly contribute to the production progress. Evaluating their schedule performance can become a valuable strategy for general contractors as part of their risk mitigation. It also allows subcontractors to substantiate their reputation with an objective value. In the future, this can be added to prequalification akin to setting safety expectations and allow bonding agencies to refine subcontractor ratings. One should therefore develop a meaningful mathematical quantification of schedule performance by subcontractors. Previous research has adapted the so-called beta, a financial index that tracks stock price performance within their market. But the new schedule beta functions like a correlation coefficient, i.e., by definition it cannot distinguish fast subcontractor activities in a fast project from slow activities in a slow project. This research therefore refines schedule beta by breaking it into its downside and upside constituent parts of schedule performance, again inspired by finance. An exemplar is reanalyzed to demonstrate its functioning and explain different types of subcontractor performance. Results confirm the feasibility of extracting the downside and upside schedule beta, which can support the goal of keeping projects on time.

Changing economic conditions have created uncertainty in the construction industry. Developers, construction companies, and sureties are all sensitive to the potentiality of failure and subsequently the need to manage financial risk. Over the last 15 years, many have observed economic growth, recession, recovery, and growth again. In this same time period many have also observed change in the surety market. As construction firms seek to expand, the demand for performance and payment bonds increases. Economic growth periods pose an interesting dynamic for sureties to anticipate risk and the next economic downturns. The purpose of this study is to investigate the bonding requirements in changing economic conditions in regards to the bonding standards during downturns and booms in the economy. Interviews were held with sureties to collect information on bonding criterion used during these economic conditions. The outcomes show that differences exist from one economic condition to another, while important surety bonding criterion are identified. Sureties become more risk averse during negative economic change, but sureties are also more willing to take on more risk during positive economic changes. Understanding the changing nature of bonding requirements helps construction companies prepare financial risk management strategies for varying economic conditions.

Innovative software and technology solutions, such as building information modeling and virtual reality, are increasingly being adopted by the construction industry. One use of this technology is to utilize BIM models to perform design reviews in immersive virtual reality environments. Performing a design review, whether on paper drawings or in VR environments requires essential and strong problem-solving and evaluation skills. The objective of this paper is to support the development and education of such design review skills in undergraduate construction students using virtual reality simulation games. To achieve this objective, 32 undergraduate construction management students were asked to use the design review simulator, an educational virtual reality game designed with the learning objective of teaching design review skills. During the experiment the students were tasked with identifying noticeable design mistakes and writing down these mistakes as they were encountered. There were three basic research questions the authors were seeking to address in this experiment: 1) does playing the simulation game in VR encourage students to identify a higher number of design mistakes than evaluating the design on paper, 2) do design review skills gained from performing the design review in one mode transfer to the other alternate mode, 3) does the order in which the design review methods are implemented affect student improvements in design review skills? Based on the analysis of the results, the authors could conclude that the students gained design review skills. Through the use of the DRS the students found a significant higher number of design mistakes when performing design reviews in virtual reality, in comparison to performing design reviews using physical construction drawings. With study, the authors provide an example of how virtual reality simulation games can be leveraged in the classroom to gain design review skills. In future research, the authors will perform comparative experiments to test if the game supports higher gains in skills with knowledge tests.

Safety risk perception is an important determinant of risk-taking behavior in construction. The amount of risk-taking an individual chooses to take with respect to safety influences the overall safety outcome of an activity. Risk perception can be influenced by a shared culture, where previous studies contend that individuals working for the same company share similar norms and values with respect to safety. As such, cognate perceptions of risk associated with a certain situation among employees is expected. However, this theory has yet to be tested and evaluated in construction. The objective of the present study is to evaluate social theories of risk perception by cross-examining field workers and their management personnel in four different aspects of risk in construction (pending danger, slow killer, cost-benefit ratio, and avocational thrill). To collect the necessary data for the study, in-person interviews were carried out across multiple construction sites with over 30 workers and construction managers along with an on-line survey of workers. Statistical and graphical analyses were used to examine the connection between types of safety risk and cultural perspectives. The study findings indicate that sharing a similar risk perception between field workers and their direct managing personnel depends on the type of risk in question. Workers within the same construction site who were found to have similar views on risk as a slow killer have contradicting views on pending danger risk. The present study provides empirical evidence that individuals working for the same company may not necessarily share similar safety norms and values especially if they occupy different positions.

A considerable amount of literature has employed data mining and machine learning (DM & ML) algorithms such as artificial neural networks (ANNs) to predict the duration of a construction project. However, these studies were mostly applied in the planning phase. Highway agencies use the critical path method (CPM) as one of the primary methods for estimating construction time. In contrary with DM & ML prediction models, CPM allows users to leverage detailed information available at the end of the design in estimating construction time and adjust the time if necessary based on the effects of various constraints and influential factors. CPM, however, has limitations, and one of them is its dependency on the expertise of schedulers to produce a reliable estimate. CPM also requires a significant amount of time and efforts from the schedulers to prepare the forecast. With the aims of mitigating those limitations and supporting highway agencies in establishing construction time using CPM, this study proposes a framework that leverages historical digital daily work report (DWR) data to automatically create draft CPM schedules for new projects by exploiting the combined strengths of CPM and DM & ML algorithms. The proposed framework uses activity-level data for estimating construction time such as construction activities, their corresponding quantities, and their start and finish times that are available in DWR data. As a result, the framework can estimate activity production rates using DM & ML models and determine activity relationships using Sequential Pattern Mining algorithms. DWR data collected from a highway agency were used to demonstrate the main components of the framework.

There is a sizeable amount of research that investigates the relationship between the construction market and the economy. However, the impact of key companies in the construction market on the economic performance still requires more research. The goal of this research is to investigate the connection between the GDP, as a measure of the economic performance, and the stock prices of large publicly traded companies in the construction industry, in the U.S. This is achieved by analyzing the GDP, total construction spending (TTLCONS), S&P 500 Index (GSPC), and the stocks of large companies in the construction field. The analysis methods include: 1) statistical analysis using correlation analysis and Granger causality testing, and 2) vector auto-regression (VAR). Analysis is performed using R. Preliminary results show positive correlations between the GDP, TTLCONS, GSPC, and the stock prices. Granger causality testing showed a satisfactory causality of the stock prices on the GDP. A VAR model was developed and used to predict the GDP for the coming two years. In order to validate the VAR model, it was fitted for historical data before the year 2008 and tested for its ability to predict the 2008 economic crisis. The model correctly predicted the crisis within a satisfactory level of accuracy. This research proposes the significance of investigating the effect of key players in construction on the economy. It presents a new perspective on the relationship between the construction market and economic performance.

Risk management (RM) technique concentrates on the unknown future performance of projects to determine risks, and it suggests early corrective actions to reduce the impacts of the identified risks. Irrespective of the project properties, cost and schedule growths are substantially experienced in construction projects. Some research works developed models without incorporating any direct relation between different project parameters and the project performance. Moreover, other research studies utilized inputs that fall short in covering the varied risks present in construction projects. To this end, no research study is perceived to have established an integrated methodology to predict the performance of construction projects. As such, this paper presents a holistic RM model to predict the project performance by incorporating a wide spectrum of inputs. The paper relies on 25 parameters that are believed to be the most prominent variables affecting the performance of construction projects. These variables were incorporated into a survey to study their effects on project performance. The collected data was used to fit statistical distributions for each parameter. Based on a mapping between the fitted distributions of the 25 parameters and those of the cost and schedule overruns, this research work was able to propose a new RM model that is easily used to predict project performance in terms of cost and time. This research is valuable for the construction industry as it allows decision makers to take corrective actions as well as assessing the impact of such actions on the future performance of projects. Ultimately, project administrators will be able to predict the overall cost and schedule overruns based on various project parameters. This helps in taking the appropriate actions and decisions to ensure smooth delivery and execution of projects.

Cost overruns in U.S. rail transit projects have been reported in several studies. However, there is a lack of research conducting systematic and statistical analysis on the cost overrun trend of these projects in the past four decades. Besides, the cost estimation performance of recently completed projects is not evaluated. This study fills the gap by collecting data of 83 U.S. rail transit projects, the largest sample of its kind. Overruns against cost estimates at two milestones were investigated: (1) cost estimates at the alternative analysis (AA) phase (decision-making phase) and (2) cost estimates at the full funding grant agreement (FFGA). It was found that the average cost overruns against AA and FFGA estimates are 32.4% and 7.3%, respectively. The accuracy of cost estimates at the decision-making phase has improved significantly over time, however, the change in FFGA cost overruns is not significant. This paper also studied if the accuracy of cost estimates varies across different project modes, light rail, heavy rail, commuter rail, and automated guideway transit. It was found that light rail projects have more accurate FFGA cost estimates. This research provides a general picture of the occurrence of cost overruns in U.S. rail transit projects and provides reasons for optimism regarding the accuracy of cost estimates in future transportation projects.

Production rate estimation is important at the planning stage to provide adequate project schedule and cost prediction. Most production rate estimation tools in the construction field are empirical and require adjustments to fit any specific construction company. Moreover, the existing tools do not account for the stochastic nature of construction crews and their interdependencies that impact their production rates. The purpose of this paper is to present a generic statistical-based model that utilizes site specific data for accurate production rates estimation. The presented model utilizes Bayesian statistics that is commonly recognized for reasoning in stochastic environment. The authors developed the model for concrete pouring activities. The required data was gathered through site observations to determine the probability distribution function for parameters affecting the production rates of construction crews. The proposed model was tested against actual concrete pouring activities in a construction site and provided adequate estimates for the activities’ production rates. The modeling approach is transformable and can be applied to various other activities in the construction field based on the heterogenic and stochastic properties of the construction crews and site conditions.

Construction delays may result from poor planning by construction managers, or from improper alignment of field production management with the project schedule. These issues can be avoided by implementing a schedule-aligned production management system that is visually evident and easily manageable for all trade supervisors and all levels of management. This paper presents the clear flow matrix (CFMx), a novel and simple production control technique employing a two-dimensional matrix to depict schedule compliant field production. The paper provides a case study of the CFMx used as a recovery schedule on a behind-schedule building construction project. The case study compares the field application of the CFMx with the CPM-based production control system originally used on the lagging project, confirming the utility of an easily understood method in maintaining planned production. Interviews of trade contractor personnel were used to assess supervisor opinions of the usefulness of the CFMx in building construction projects. Further assessment of the CFMx included labor time utilization data from Work Sampling Analysis of CFMx projects in comparison with labor utilization data obtained from the construction industry.

This paper’s fundamental question is whether construction baseline critical path method (CPM) schedules would benefit from requirements, or generally accepted industry practices, that cap maximum construction activity durations. The research conducted determined if lower estimated duration values for construction activities are more accurate on both an activity-by-activity and global basis. This question was answered by evaluating the accuracy of duration estimates by identifying and evaluating trends in 90 schedules from 45 construction projects. The data sample represented a diverse grouping of projects by markets, delivery methods, and ownership types. In all, more than 30,000 activities were evaluated to form this paper’s observations and findings. The paper has two principle findings. First, schedules that have a higher proportion of construction activities with original durations of one to five working days are more likely to have actual durations that match the baseline estimate. Schedules where at least 90% of construction activities had estimated durations of five or less days were nearly three times more likely to complete individual tasks within the planned duration than schedules where 25% or less of construction activities had durations of one to five days. Second, activities with estimated original durations of five or less days tend to have smaller duration variances than activities with longer original durations. Construction activities with durations between six to ten days had average variances that were 3.6 times larger than activities with durations of less than five days. Accordingly, this research supports the recommendation that industry scheduling and planning efforts would benefit from standards that prescribe maximum estimated durations for construction activities. This benefit would be realized in more accurate activity duration estimates both in terms of lower variances from actual durations and higher likelihood of completed within the planned duration.

Supporting project management decisions using an earned value management system (EVMS) brought significant benefits to control schedule and cost for government owners and contractors. However, the lack of a holistic approach in developing and applying an EVMS that is strongly tied to established guidelines tends to cause confusion. This study analyzes existing EVMS studies and suggests management considerations for successful EVMS implementation. Based on a review of literature, this paper identifies a need for improving the reliability of EVMS. Technical guidelines assist in the application of EVM good practices, which can lead to a reliable EVMS. Moreover, the literature review emphasizes that a parallel assessment considering non-technical elements such as the organizations’ management culture, is essential to improve reliability.

Construction delays in developing countries present a very significant challenge resulting in cost and time overruns. There is a need to understand the underlying reasons for delays. The authors surveyed clients, consultants, and contractors on twenty residential projects in Pakistan to understand the causes of construction delays and their effects. Fifty-three main delay factors were identified based on literature study, pilot survey, and discussion with the executives of project stakeholders. These delay factors were grouped into three major categories, i.e., delays related to clients, consultants, and contractors. All major stakeholders were asked to give their feedback regarding these delay categories. The results showed that out of 20 residential projects, eleven projects (55 percent) experienced a 10 percent time overrun, six projects (30 percent) faced 20 percent time overrun, and three projects (15 percent) met more than 20 percent time overrun. The main factors causing project delays were inefficient decision-making process, owner’s interference, unsafe work conditions, change orders, lack of qualified subcontractors, inadequate finance management, error in designs, errors in construction, and ineffective communication. This study will be useful to stakeholders for identifying potential factors that can cause delays. It will also prepare them to take appropriate measures to minimize the delays and their subsequent impacts on the construction projects.

This research documents an initial interdisciplinary effort to record and fuse the physiological and cognitive status of construction workers. Limited data exist informing how and to what extent construction work and activities impact both physical and cognitive ability. For this research under the management of eight researchers, nine cadets enrolled in the 2019 summer program at the field engineering and readiness laboratory (FERL) at the United States Air Force Academy volunteered to collect synchronous physiological, cognitive, and photographic data over a three-week period while they performed construction related activities. This paper documents research tasks, challenges related to data collection and analysis, as well as lessons learned. The contribution is to assist and inform future researchers interested in collecting and synthesizing physical and cognitive data related to construction activities.

In achieving full automation of construction cost estimation, the complete processes involved in computing cost estimates must be automated. The typical processes involved in achieving cost estimates are: (1) classification and matching of model elements to their various categories; (2) taking off quantities from design documents or building information models; (3) retrieving unit cost from a cost database; and (4) applying the unit costs and quantities in computing the cost estimate. Although, the level of automation in quantity takeoff has been relatively high, most commercial software programs still require manual inputs from estimators to: (1) match materials of building elements to work items; and/or (2) fulfill essential information requirements that may be missing from design models for accurate cost estimate computations. These missing information are usually obtained from the construction specifications in supplement to the design models. Automating the process of design information extraction from construction specifications can help reduce: (1) the time and cost of the estimation, (2) the manual inputs required in cost estimation computations, and (3) human errors in cost estimates. This paper explores the use of natural language processing techniques to help process construction specifications and the authors propose a new algorithmic method for extracting the needed design information from construction specifications to support wood construction cost estimation. A case study was conducted on a wood construction project to evaluate the authors’ proposed method. The results showed that the proposed method successfully searched for and found design details from construction specifications to fulfil essential information requirements for detailed wood construction cost estimation, with a 94.9% precision and a 97.4% recall.

Practitioners involving in construction industry frequently encounter uncertainties during the management of complex projects. These uncertainties related to project complexity have considerable impacts on project success. To increase the success of project and reduce the undesirable outcomes of the stated challenges, Construction Industry Institute (CII) has suggested multiple construction best practices (BPs). Although adopting all BPs would be useful for construction projects, it might not be a cost-effective approach. Therefore, this study aimed at selecting the appropriate best practice strategies to reduce the complexity level in construction projects. To collect data, a structured questionnaire was developed and distributed among experts and professionals involved in complex projects. Thirty-nine professionals completed the survey. To analyze the collected data, various statistical analysis methods such as Kruskal-Wallis test were conducted. The results revealed that adoption of constructability, front end planning, partnering, alignment, change management, and team building are the most impactful approaches to reduce the complexity level of construction industry. It was concluded from the results that for the complexity issues due to bureaucracy in an organization, implementing front end planning would be the most beneficial solution. Additionally, adoption of partnering would be efficient to reduce the complexity level when multiple external agencies were involved in a project. The results also demonstrated that front end planning (31.43%) and change management (24.42%) covered the highest weights associated with complexity indicators (CIs) and complexity categories. The findings of this study are expected to contribute to facilitating the decision making process by project managers and to allocate resources effectively and efficiently in complex projects.

Public sectors depend mainly on external financing sources such as investors and government to support their construction projects and facilities. Under conditions of limited funding availability for construction and a low rate of economic growth, it is extremely important to consider potential shifts in funding from one project to another. Budget tradeoffs between different projects is a vital process, especially when the amount of available funding is limited and there is not enough to support all ongoing and planned projects. This paper presents a mathematic model developed and implemented to prioritize and rank the importance of different academic projects on a new university's campus. Criteria to prioritize the need for each building have been identified and determined. The proposed funding allocation model uses weighted formulas based on the adequacy of each building, number of users, safety, capability of the contractor, and other criteria. The prioritization scenario generated by the proposed model serves as a foundation to plan for an optimal combination of sequenced expenditures in order to maximize the benefit obtained from each facility within the scope of available funding. The proposed model contributes to the body of knowledge by helping construction firms to manage and shift the allocated budget between different projects and to find an efficient scenario to use the limited funding.

Each year, federal and local governments spend billions of dollars on public school construction. During the execution of the design and construction, selecting an appropriate project delivery method (PDM) can help to reduce time and cost. However, the PDM selection process is a complicated decision process due to the risk and uncertainties. Although some methods have been developed for transportation or airport over the past decade, limited research has investigated the PDM selection method on public school projects. In this work, the pros/cons selection model for public school projects based on analysis of the critical impact factors was proposed. The factors were identified through literature review and through an interview with industry professionals with experience of 20 years on average. In addition, the steps of the benchmarked model were described and the model functionality was also validated through using a qualitative analysis on data collected from 204 public-school projects. The results demonstrated that the proper performance of the proposed model is useful for selecting a PDM for public school projects. In addition, our results recommended developing a multi-criteria selection method for large projects.

This paper presents an intangible risk assessment framework and methodology utilizing a behavior-oriented intangible risk breakdown structure (IRBS), risk assignment matrix (RAM), and meta-network construct. The proposed approach conceptualizes a meta-network composed of different types of entities (i.e., agents, risk triggers, risk events, and tasks), as well as the interdependencies between them. The organizational interaction of actors (i.e., staff engineer to executive management), the impact of risk triggers (i.e., lack of clear priorities), behavioral risk events (i.e., lack of trust), and project tasks (i.e., basis of design) are networks in the meta-network. Project intangible risks are assessed for each stage of the project development cycle—feasibility/concept, front-end engineering design (FEED), and project execution)—in a case study of an oil and gas project portfolio. A methodology to catalog the risk triggers and intangible risk events is explored. This work contributes to the risk management discipline by providing a framework and methodology to address intangible risks in a structured and objective way at each stage in the project cycle.

The roofing construction industry is based on informal communication, craftsman apprenticeship, and skills acquired from routine. This manuscript introduces research on a roof replacement procedure for a typical residential unit in South-East Georgia. This is sought for an understanding of intimacy in effective and adaptive team behavior of the construction roofing crews. The main objective of this study is to apprehend linkages between effective roofing teams and the work they perform adaptability, resilience to changing systems, and team cooperation. The study was executed by documenting the project at a micro level; breaking down the roofing crew into micro-teams, analyzing their natural group, and individual work rhythm. The researchers created an approach on production micro-scheduling, combining a repetitive line-of-balance approach, and a mathematical scheduling method for the sequence of roof replacement work. To evaluate team behavior, the study defines efficiencies in roofing tasks completed by the roofing crew. A micro-level analysis of their work has been completed in order to compute the efficiencies of workers within their micro-crews for the roof replacement project. The analysis involved the research group observing on-site activities of working crews and their work task details throughout the job. Their tasks were further analyzed via on-site video recordings and later through scheduling software to determine performances against a baseline work procedure. Development of network task scheduling for all roof areas on this jobsite illustrated the adaptability of a working crew compared with a formal crew through a baseline work procedure. Findings of crews with a well-organized hierarchy of laborers, support, and leadership within their micro-crews display optimum performance in change resiliency and cooperation; these crews are most efficient in their work due to labor distribution and effective active lag use.

Cost overrun is a worldwide phenomenon, with inherent variability and uncertainty that influence project performance. These variability and uncertainty deserve a thorough understanding to mitigate critical overruns. Currently, several publications summarize the cost overruns of a set of projects through point estimates and not through interval estimations. This current practice of reporting statistical summaries provides incomplete information that may constrain a proper understanding of cost overruns. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the features of current reporting practices of projects’ cost overruns and to discuss the benefits of using confidence intervals in such summaries. Specifically, based on a systematic review of publications, the study aimed at analyzing thirty-six papers with relevant information of project cost overruns from five world regions; comparing the summaries by reporting pattern identified; and computing the confidence intervals of aggregated cost overruns by project type. This research found that few studies on cost overrun reported range estimations, measures of variability, and data distribution information. Additionally, there were few studies with a detailed description of the research methodology. This study advocate for reports with accurate details on distribution and range estimation of cost overruns to a better understanding of this phenomenon in construction projects.

Accuracy in schedule and cost estimations for nuclear power plant projects is one of the major project management challenges. Some characteristics of nuclear power plant projects (e.g., variability of projects portfolio, type of nuclear projects, security, and safety requirements) may bring along schedule delay and cost overrun, and that can be resulted in termination of nuclear power plant’s operating license. To overcome these challenges, this study develops a model that is capable of improving the accuracy of cost and schedule estimation for nuclear power plant projects. The forecasting model is designed in three steps: (i) identifying the causal factors of delay for nuclear power plant projects; (2) developing a schedule and cost performance model; and (3) implementing the model to evaluate and refine its performance on real-case nuclear power plant projects. This study mainly focuses on construction projects to maintain and upgrade existing nuclear power plants. The model is also validated by project management portfolio of a nuclear power plant in Michigan, USA. The main contribution of this study to the body of knowledge is providing construction industry decision makers (e.g., nuclear power plant project managers) with a tool that can provide early warnings to support timely decision making process.

This research presents an interesting look at productivity metrics in the construction industry. The research seeks to find a possible correlation between the unit rate (UR) measure and direct work rate (DWR) measure. Such correlation could provide insight into ways of better allocating labor resources on project sites through more informed productivity management strategies. This research analyzed 120,000 man-hours in piping assembly activities from the oil and gas industry. The piping assembly activities were divided in off-site (pipe shop) pipe coupling and on-site (field) pipe coupling. The data was gathered by trained personnel, who recorded information about the productivity metrics while the activities were being performed, the workers who were involved in execution of the service and the hours available for work. The correlation degree between the UR and DWR varied depending on the type of activity being performed. The pipe shop coupling presented a higher correlation when compared to the field coupling. Even though the two metrics have a different approach on how to measure productivity, both have proven to be complementary in supporting productivity management. This conclusion lead to potential future studies on understanding why some processes present higher correlation than others.

Cost and schedule growth have been a heavily studied topic within the construction industry, particularly related to the horizontal sector or within the context of projects of substantial size. Yet relatively little research has focused on smaller project sizes within the facilities operation and maintenance sector, which comprised of vertical projects that typically possess low individual dollar values but occur with high frequency. To address this gap, 881 projects were collected from the facilities management programs of 19 owner organizations in the public, vertical, and institutional sector. A unique contribution of this study was a comprehensive analysis of a project control tool: deviations report, which was updated weekly by the contractor for each project and contained all the issues that occurred during the construction phase of the project. Results not only show overall project cost and schedule growth rates, but also portion these into different causes, among the three main project stakeholders: owner, designer, contractor, and unforeseen conditions. Differences in the frequency and magnitude of the causes were investigated via the Kruskal-Wallis H test. Analysis revealed that owners were the largest cause of cost and schedule growth, followed by designers and unforeseen conditions, and, lastly, contractors. This study assists practitioners to plan for the leading sources of cost and schedule growth within facilities management programs of the vertical institutional sector. The study was limited to design bid build (D-B-B) project in vertical public sector.

Four-dimensional building information modeling (4D-BIM or 4D scheduling) is well known to benefit the construction industry in many ways. 4D-BIM is an effective scheduling technique which integrates traditional scheduling methods and advanced visualization of the construction sequences in a 3D environment. Despite the potential benefits of 4D-BIM to improve scheduling quality, errors still often occur in construction schedules. The objective of this research is to understand the association between human errors and computer-aided scheduling. This paper focuses on examining the current practices of 4D-scheduling to gain insights on potential errors during the process of scheduling. Furthermore, the paper discusses a set of root causes of scheduling errors based on different types of human errors in cognition error theories. The research determined human errors through an integrated approach of literature review and a survey. The results of this study are expected to provide new knowledge about what human errors that commonly occur during the scheduling processing using BIM and their root causes.

The design phase of construction projects is a crucial stage that impacts the entire project’s lifecycle. Shape, constructability, serviceability, functionality, as well as the maintainability of the facility are all decided at this phase. While several studies have targeted the management of the execution phase of construction projects, monitoring and controlling of the design phase is still under-studied. Although the iterative and ill-structured nature of design complicate the management of design projects, a loosely controlled design process can lead to substantial project’s delays and overall project’s value loss. In this regard, this study develops a new framework that combines the product and process aspects of BIM-based design projects under a unified project management umbrella. A new definition of design tasks is introduced, and a practical design planning framework is developed accordingly. The findings show that the developed framework correlates between design activities and BIM model development, enables the systematic definition of design work packages across the duration of the project, enhances the representation of design process activities and corresponding information dependencies, and captures the involved design iterations at each stage of the product development process.

Riprap is widely used by state departments of transportation (DOTs) for erosion control and slope stabilization purposes. Even though DOTs seem to be satisfied with the ability of riprap to fulfill its intended purpose, its cost-effectiveness has been increasingly questioned, mainly in job sites where riprap is not locally or nearby available resulting in increased costs due to longer haul distances. This is an issue in some parts of Alabama where soils are not suitable for the production of riprap. Before considering alternative technologies or materials, the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) must first understand how riprap prices vary across the state to facilitate the identification of regions where substitutes to riprap could offer better cost-effectiveness. This paper models and quantifies this price variability in the form of a riprap location cost index (RLCI). The study identified statistically significant differences in riprap prices across four geographic regions in Alabama: north, central, south-west, and south-east. These are the regions upon which the RLCI was built. The development of the RLCI involved the use of advanced data collection, cleaning, and processing techniques to analyze historical bid data from projects awarded by ALDOT between 2006 and 2016.

The main issue of free-form construction is how to realize a geometric complex design at a reasonable cost. Usually, free-form surfaces are built with straight members and flat panels, because curved elements result in higher costs. However, in order to realize the surfaces as close as the original design, it is essential to use curved panels. Thus, it is important to balance between the realization of design intents and cost reduction. This study is conducted with the aim of optimizing free-form surface modeling from the aspect of cost reduction and meeting the original design intents. First of all, it is required for this purpose to classify a free-form surface into a variety of surface types by multiple attributes. This research proposes a framework to classify a free-form surface by integrating parametric design and machine learning.

Advanced conceptual cost estimation is based on historical project data. Cost estimators are still experiencing the difficulty of obtaining supportive information because most of the raw data is stored separately and cannot be easily traced. Previously proposed building information modeling (BIM)-based database did not produce cross-project historical data and also required extra effort in the design phase. To address the limitations, this paper considers building an independent relational database (RDB) as a data tracking tool. A preliminary RDB schema for conceptual estimating was developed in this paper. This RDB extracted and fused data from BIM models, bill of quantities (BoQs), and payment records using open tool MySQL. Simulated cost data of VDC Research Center was used as a case study. Three queries were coded and tested as validation. It can be concluded that BIM and cross-project RDB integrated data tracking method is helpful in conceptual cost estimating. It fills the current gap between the project-level BIM implementation and the enterprise-level database evolution by interoperating data of domain-oriented specifications.

Researchers, as well as service providers, usually focus on intangible operational aspects of facility management to improve user satisfaction. While the intangible characteristics are very important, there is a need to study the impact of tangible design and construction characteristics on users’ satisfaction. This phenomenon creates a necessity to conduct a comprehensive study on integration of tangible and intangible attributes belonging to three major aspects of facility management (design and construction, operation, and human capital) leading to users’ satisfaction. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate and prioritize attributes not only related to intangible aspects of operation and human capital but also tangible aspects of design and construction based on a retail store facility. To successfully achieve the objectives of this study, a survey containing two sections was developed and distributed among 400 respondents. First section of the survey was utilized to assign rankings to the attributes based on their impact on user satisfaction. The second section of the survey was utilized to assign weighs on the attributes using Kano evaluation criteria. Analysis of the first section of the survey indicated that users experience high level of satisfaction when the store is designed and constructed with visually appealing physical facilities. Users also experience high satisfaction when the service providers’ operation offers flexibility to the users. In addition, interaction with courteous employees was also found important for user satisfaction. Analysis of second section of the survey indicated that few attributes like availability of convenient parking lots has a positive correlation with user satisfaction. In addition, few attributes such as designing an organized layout for the service providers are must-be features to the users that often their presence are unnoticed, while their absence cause severe dissatisfaction. It was also concluded that to gain maximum customer satisfaction, not only intangible service attributes but also tangible construction attributes are needed to be considered during the design phase with great attention. The findings of this study guides facility managers to invest more financial and human resources in attributes which yield maximum end-user satisfaction.

To adhere to the stringent time and budget requirements of construction projects, contractors are utilizing prefabricated construction methods to expedite the construction process. Prefabricated construction methods require an adequate schedule and understanding by the contractors and constructors to be successful. The specificity of prefabricated construction often leads to inefficient scheduling and costly rework time. The designer, contractor, and constructors must have a strong understanding of the assembly process to experience the full benefits of the method. At the root of understanding the assembly process is visualizing how the process is intended to be performed. Currently, a virtual construction model is used to explain and better visualize the construction process. However, creating a virtual construction model is currently time consuming and requires experienced personnel. The proposed simulation of the virtual assembly will increase the automation of virtual construction modeling by implementing the data available in a building information modeling (BIM) model. This paper presents various factors [i.e., formalization of construction sequence based on the level of development (LOD)] that needs to be addressed for the development of automated virtual assembly. Two case studies are presented to demonstrate these factors.

The United States is one of the top five countries in the world prone to natural hazards. Natural hazards could have a significant impact on the construction industry. In a large-scale disaster, labor cost fluctuation is known to be an important driving factor in the construction cost increases. Labor cost fluctuation could increase the reconstruction cost by 20 to 50 percent after a large-scale disaster. Although the effect of disaster’s scale on construction cost has been determined in the literature, the role of construction market conditions on the post-disaster construction labor wage fluctuations has not been studied. The objective of this study is to quantify the relationship between pre-disaster construction market conditions and post-disaster construction labor wage fluctuations in the construction industry considering time dependency, using panel data models. Four commonly used construction market indicators are used within panel data models to explore this relationship. Historical county-level data of 532 counties impacted by weather-related disasters (flood, tornado, and storm) from 2014 to 2017 are collected to conduct the analysis. This study showed that there is a significant relationship between the construction employment level, construction contribution, and average weekly wage with post-disaster construction labor wage fluctuations. The results indicated that both, construction contribution, and average weekly wage have a negative effect on the labor wage increase after a natural disaster. This study helps construction companies, property owners, regulators, insurers, and cost engineers to have a better understanding of post-disaster construction cost variations aftermath of a natural disaster.

As popular as BIM has become with general contractors (GC) and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) trades in project delivery today, the drywall industry has seemed to lag behind the rest. Metal stud framing in drywall construction is a crucial constituent of project coordination in various project types such as healthcare, institutional, and general commercial projects. It could significantly affect MEP trades and overall project coordination efforts due to critical framing arrangement required at the interfacing between metal studs and MEP components. Poor design and construction coordination of metal stud framing often lead to an increase in costs, materials, and time. Currently in the Central Valley, very few drywall and metal framing contractors are involved in BIM-facilitated project coordination process, attributed to either a lack of technological sophistication of BIM, or uncertainty in perceived value of investing in BIM by the specialty contractors. This paper attempts to explore the cost benefit of implementing BIM from the perspective of a well-established local drywall and metal framing specialty contractor. A cost benefit analysis was conducted with historical project cost data to compare potential cost savings and business benefits should the specialty contractor had in-house talent for BIM-facilitated metal stud framing design and coordination. The analysis considered major cost factors including investment in BIM hardware, software and training, BIM employee’s salary, as well as potential benefits from avoided coordination mistake costs, savings of reduced construction rework and change order, and potential new business opportunity due to capacity in BIM-facilitated metal stud framing design and coordination. The paper provides a quantitative method for specialty contractors in decision-making when facing BIM adoption and implementation uncertainties.

The State of North Carolina General Assembly allocates over $145 million annually from the Highway Fund to the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to distribute financial assistance to about 508 municipalities for road maintenance and construction. The funds designated for municipalities are distributed to maintain transportation infrastructure (resurfacing of existing streets; construction and maintenance of city streets, sidewalks, and greenways; and planning) within their corporate limits. Currently, the funds in NC are distributed to eligible municipalities by a formula that allocates 75% of the money based on municipality permanent population and 25% based on municipality street mileage. While all fifty Departments of Transportation (DOTs) in the United States have a similar type of funding allocation for a similar purpose, each of them utilizes a different formula. The questions are: 1) What is the practice of 50 states for funding allocation for local streets maintenance and construction? 2) What factors do states consider when allocating funding and which are most commonly used? To answer those questions a comprehensive literature review on methods to allocate local street maintenance funding was conducted to obtain an assessment of the current practices of the fifty DOTs. In doing so, the factors being utilized in the distribution were identified. As a result, DOTs will be able to achieve a more equitable funding distribution for use in the construction of the United States municipal infrastructure.

Utilizing a building information modeling (BIM) based workflow process, this paper, embedded in a case study environment, defines a workflow model to increase modeling labor time utilization for project teams engaged in prefabrication and installation validation of building components. Through participant observation and structured research methods, the findings highlight the importance of various scheduling techniques, model, and data management procedures, communication protocols, and reality capture processes. This research provides a process framework in which workflows can be streamlined and modeling team labor time utilization rates increased. The increased utilization rates positively impact downstream installation of prefabricated components based upon the coordinated construction model. Additionally, this paper identifies and defines the importance of varying typologies of geometric information within a building information model used for prefabrication in a constrained construction environment. In conclusion, this paper defines an ideal-state project workflow for successfully engaging in BIM-based prefabrication and installation validation in ever changing construction field conditions.

The construction industry has a great source of historical data with various attributes, including both quantitative and qualitative. The historical data can be used to identify common groups (i.e., clusters) of projects that share a high degree of similarity in particular project attributes. The identifying results can create opportunities for a variety of comparisons between clusters that help select the optimal alternatives in different decision-making scenarios. Qualitative variables play an important role in many construction-related decisions but are difficult to mathematically evaluate. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the application of fuzzy sets in the context of fuzzy cluster analysis to identify common groups of projects in a collected highway dataset based on similarities in project attributes. Fuzzy cluster analysis can provide an effective tool to evaluate qualitative data (e.g., rating of experts) that is commonplace in assessment of construction decision-making criteria. This application was conducted in an R environment to provide a process reproducible with any datasets in other decision-making scenarios. The result shows that the number of seven clusters of highway projects makes the most logical sense in the given dataset by using four cluster validity indices. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by demonstrating a reproducible process of applying fuzzy cluster analysis to explore common groups of highway projects that share similarities in facility type, project type, complexity, project risk, delivery methods, and cost growth. Multiple comparisons between clusters’ attributes can be extracted from the clustering results to aid decision-making in construction.

Construction projects such particularly those with social perspective are increasingly a focus of debate because of the increasing need for value delivery that has become intertwined with the changing needs of society. The delivery of such projects, however, is often complicated by the many of stakeholders involved resulting in design challenges on account of conflicting needs. This paper presents a theoretical conceptual model ‘The Design Decision Support Model’ based on utility theory; for front end design in the face of emergent needs from multiple-use scenarios defined by the multiple stakeholders. The proposed model demonstrates the use of probability theory in accounting for requirements changes thus allowing for forecasting using probabilistic hidden Markov modelling. This paper’s novel contribution is to demonstrate the theoretical basis for quantitative modelling of changing user requirements during front-end design decision making. The paper also contributes to knowledge of requirements forecasting in during design in the face of emergent needs in project contexts.

The uptake of prefabrication within the commercial construction sector has significantly increased over previous decades, given the proven benefits including provisions for lower construction costs, reduced project durations, and materials wastage, fewer defects, and improved profitability. However, it is found that defects caused by prefabrication cost significantly more to resolve compared with conventional construction, resulting in substantial impacts on project performance. Furthermore, defect management systems specific to prefabricated construction are found absent, especially within the commercial sector in Australia. This research studies the defect occurrence, identifies the causes of these defects, and proposes defect management for building prefabrication. A mixed research method of combined qualitative and quantitative approaches, i.e., literature review and an online survey, is employed in this research, based on which a depiction outlining common defects and stages of occurrence is presented, and a defect management process is proposed at an empirical level. It is found that most defects occur in manufacturing plant, and aesthetic defect is the most common type. The results also show that most defects can be linked to workmanship issues during fabrication. Subsequently, the management process of engaging an independent consultant employed by the government to undertake specialised inspections during design, manufacture, and installation has been proposed as an effective solution to reduce defect occurrence into the future, for which specific legislation for prefabrication is required.

Electrically conductive concrete (ECC) has been suggested to be used in cold areas for deicing snow on highway roads and city streets. The following study investigates the impact of graphite as supplementary cementitious material on concrete conductivity to aid future research developing ECC. In addition, the study investigates the impact of graphite on compressive strength and workability. Accordingly, three concrete mixes that include three different percentages of graphite and a control mix have been prepared in the lab to achieve the study objectives. American Society of Testing Materials’ (ASTM) compressive and slump tests were performed. In addition, two-point conductivity measurements were made at days 1, 2, 7, and 28 of the concrete curing. Concrete workability was greatly affected, negatively, with all levels of graphite. Compressive test results indicate that an optimum level of graphite is realized to provide maximum compressive strength. Measured electrical resistance decreased, thus conductivity increased, in samples containing 0.5% and 1% graphite as compared to the control. However, conductivity decreased in graphite levels above the 1% graphite mark, indicating a design optimization level of graphite. Finally, a scanning electron microscope (SEM) was employed to explain conductivity differences in samples with various pore sizes.

This paper proposes a risk perception method combing the cloud model, Dempster-Shafer evidence theory, expecting to better perceive and assess the leakage risk of tunnel construction projects. This proposed method takes advantage of the cloud model theory that transforming qualitative to quantitative. The membership degree calculated from the cloud model is transformed into the accuracy of the indicator for each level of the leakage risk. Treating the membership degree as the evidence of the Dempster-Shafer (D-S) evidence theory and further fusing the evidence of risk status of the leakage in the tunnel construction with the Dempster's evidence fusion rules, the risk grades of the leakage disease can be confirmed. A section of the tunnel construction is utilized as a case study to test the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed approach. Through the case study, this proposed leakage assessing method is demonstrated capable of accurately perceiving the risk status of the leakage in tunnel construction projects, and thus preventive measurements can be adopted according to the corresponding risk status grades and the rank of different influencing factors.

The researchers have adopted 15 standardization critical success factors (CSFs) from Construction Industry Institute (CII) to help the industry achieve higher levels of facility standardization. This study collects and analyzes information on the timing of accomplishments of 43 case projects from eight case programs for each CSF. Accomplishment of critical success factors on recommended time/phase in any project (timely accomplishment) helps achieve higher levels of standardization, and therefore helps reap considerable standardization benefits. Therefore, the goal of the study is to identify the CSFs that are accomplished on time as well as those that are delayed in relation to the CII recommended timings. The results of this study show that the timeliest (accomplished on CII recommended timing) CSFs, in terms of accomplishment timings, are discipline to maintain standardization, recognition of risk of standardization, define standardization approach, constructability of standardization, and supply chain development. Furthermore, this study also finds that the most delayed (not accomplished on CII recommended timing) CSFs, in terms of accomplishment timings, are standardization early identification, alignment and approval, benefits and tradeoffs recognition/evaluation, feasibility analysis of standardization, and applied knowledge. Industrial sectors should give attention to these delayed CSFs. It is important for the industrial sector to focus on CSFs that are not being accomplished on time. The researchers believe that if the industry accomplishes these CSFs in timely fashion, it will be able to achieve higher levels of standardization and improve agility, predictability, and cost effectiveness. Herein lies the contribution of this study. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of CSFs accomplishment in capital projects and support industry in achieving higher levels of standardization, as well as improve agility, predictability, and cost effectiveness. The researchers believe that if the industry accomplishes these CSFs earlier, it will be able to achieve higher levels of standardization and improve agility, predictability, and cost effectiveness.

Design for manufacture and assembly (DfMA) has been increasingly advocated by the global construction industry since it provides methodological procedures for evaluating and improving design for both manufacture and assembly. Many studies have investigated the DfMA principles suitable for different types of construction projects and advocated a wide implementation of DfMA in construction. However, it would be difficult to persuade stakeholders to implement DfMA principles in their projects without a clear specification of implementation procedures. This study aims to offer an intelligible description and analysis of implementation procedures of DfMA in a real construction project. It does so by undertaking a case study on a prefabricated bamboo building, in which a DfMA-focused design was required by the client. The study reveals how the knowledge of designer, engineer, and contractor has been integrated to implement DfMA principles in the design of building components and sub-components. This study also identifies the best practice of ensuring engineering performance and meanwhile attaining aesthetics in the application of DfMA principles.

Sand is a vital natural resource of our ecosystem, yet the construction industry is threatening its availability. Excessive mining of sand imposes adverse effects on our environment, and this problem is becoming extremely severe as it is exposing the river ecosystem and endangering marine biodiversity across the world (i.e., Tamil Nadu in India, Poyang in China, and California in the United States). Quarry rock dust (QRD), a waste obtained during the quarrying process is a significant source of air pollution yet has the potential of becoming a sustainable and economical alternative to sand in concrete. Studies confirmed that replacing sand in conventional concrete with QRD increases its durability and robustness by ten percent. The objective of this study is to determine QRD’s environmental implications through carbon footprint analysis. To achieve this, the research utilizes one of the very few case studies of Barbados Quarry site that produces more than 35,000 tons of aggregates per month and 500,000 tons of QRD is produced as a by-product. This research prepares a preliminary life cycle analysis of QRD, its carbon dioxide emissions as well as the economical analysis of QRD. The findings of this study promote the use of QRD considering its less environmental impact in comparison to sand when used in concrete. The study also encourages a paradigm shift in concrete practices, which not only paves for a more resilient alternative to concrete but also a more sustainable construction process.

The production of building materials has brought in severe environmental issues such as pollution and global warming due to the large amount of energy consumed and the massive carbon dioxide (CO₂) released in the atmosphere. With further green building development, the savings on embodied energy and embodied emissions of buildings are becoming more important. Selection of building systems and materials takes place during the early design phase and significantly influences the embodied impacts of a building. Therefore, embodied impacts of materials and systems during the design phase of a building should be a major consideration. The aim of this paper is to introduce a conceptual model for integrating embodied energy and emissions of the alternative structural and envelope systems of a building during the design phase. The model calculates embodied energy and emissions, as well as, costs of alternative structural and envelope systems to assist designers making an informed decision in selecting these systems. An educational building is used as a case study to demonstrate application of the model. The case study demonstrated that the model can provide embodied energy, embodied emissions, and cost of alternative structural and envelope systems to allow designers make informed decisions at the early design phase.

Green and healthy building certification systems increasingly motivate stakeholder decision making and serve as influential guides for sustainable design and construction. These codes promote water-use efficiency through measures such as low-flow features and rainwater reuse. Health-oriented guidelines like WELL particularly emphasize water quality. However, reduced flow and increased water age can produce a variety of negative water quality outcomes, posing occupant health risks including increased opportunistic pathogen growth in premise plumbing systems. Notably, there is little research on the influence of green and healthy building guidelines on resulting water quality and safety. This preliminary literature review summarizes current academic knowledge of water quality and microbial concerns in low-flow systems and the present and potential roles of green and healthy building codes and certification programs in effecting in-building water quality outcomes. Based on this review, notable research, industry, and policy gaps and key points for further research are identified. Priority topics for future investigations should include appropriate risk-evaluation methodologies; the impacts of specific technical and management interventions, such as the relationship of water heater temperature and microbial growth risk; and advancing exploration of the mitigation avenues which could be advantageously promoted through green and healthy building codes.

Weatherization Plus Health (Wx+H), a pilot program introduced by the Washington State Department of Commerce, has proposed a new scope to improve the indoor environment quality (IEQ) for low-income housing residents—one that extends beyond energy benefits. Typical interventions include the distribution of green cleaning kits, walk-off mats, ventilation system upgrades, and resident education, among other elements. Wx+H experts are working to capture the long-term impact of these combined measures to assess the program’s potential. Although guidelines and best practices exist to measure and verify the impacts and influences of energy conservation, these indicators do not holistically incorporate occupant satisfaction and perceptions regarding health benefits in the context of low-income housing. This paper presents a preliminary literature review that summarizes measurements and verifications (M&V) schemes applicable to the residential sector from two major standards: ASHRAE Guideline 14 and the international performance measurement and verification protocol. Additionally, reports from the Washington State Commerce Department were analyzed to identify procedures and factors that might influence M&V schemes as applied by Washington State who are leading health and energy programs. Barriers, opportunities, and innovative M&V are discussed.

Highway agencies are currently facing a critical challenge of an increased demand for highway system rehabilitation and construction work with limited available inspection resources. The shortage of experienced inspection staff because of retirement or migration to the private sector has led to major impacts on construction inspection capabilities. To address this issue, many state departments of transportation (DOTs) have searched for effective strategies to accomplish construction inspection operations with optimized resource allocation. This study aims to examine the current inspection optimization approaches to overcome limited inspection resources such as a lack of inspection funding, shortage of inspection staff, and time constraints. A comprehensive review of quality assurance programs of 50 DOTs was conducted to identify the effective approaches used to reduce inspection resources. The results show that state DOTs use many different approaches to optimize inspection resources such as outsourcing, inspection frequency reduction, or using contractor’s test results for acceptance. Especially, some state DOTs recently have employed risk-based inspection to overcome limited inspection resources. This paper discusses briefly how risk-based inspection approaches can be implemented for highway construction projects. The findings of this study contribute to the body-of-knowledge and the construction industry by providing different optimization strategies for construction inspection practices in highways.

The rapid growth in the construction industry demands a large consumption of construction materials thereby, depicting the importance of material management in construction. However, the material management process in the construction industry is still in its infancy, especially in developing countries. Moreover, material management studies focusing on developing countries are limited in the literature, and very few research has been reported to investigate the relationship between practices and material availability. Thus, the objectives of the study are set: (1) to identify the extent of implementation of material management practices in developing countries like India and neighboring countries that reflects the current practices and (2) to examine the influence of material management practices in the timely availability of materials in construction projects. Interviews and surveys involving leading construction organizations in India and neighboring countries were used to accomplish the purpose. A total of 23 material management best practices were considered for this study. Descriptive statistical analysis of the survey data shows that only nine practices have high level of implementation whereas other practices have either moderate or low level of implementation which is a real cause of concern. Besides, implementation level of few practices such as using reverse auctions for procurement of material, having surplus-reducing program, and conducting materials management process audits are different in contractors’ and owners’ organization. Further, the regression analysis results that forming procurement team, preparing procurement plan, and having a formal process to evaluate suppliers’ QA/QC have significant positive influence on material availability whereas, having systematic inspection process has a negative influence on material availability. Utmost care should be given to these practices to avail the materials in time. The findings of this study are expected to contribute to ensuring the timely availability of materials thus reducing the delays and cost overrun in a construction project.

A constructability review process involves a number of reviews during the project development process. Each review typically involves an evaluation of various constructability issues related to both preconstruction, construction, and post-construction phases. Previous research indicated that constructability reviews provide a considerable amount of cost and time savings if applied early in the project development. In spite of the perceived benefits, constructability advances slowly in the highway construction industry and lacks consistent standard practices. Specifically, state departments of transportation (DOTs) lack a guidance for implementing constructability reviews. Most state DOTs have informally conducted constructability reviews using checklists or in an ad-hoc manner. To address this issue, this study aims at developing a selection matrix to help state DOTs selecting an appropriate constructability reviews level. The matrix is developed based on an assessment of project-related characteristics, including: impact on existing alignment, utilities, right of way, traffic-related issues, and environmental resources. A quantitative assessment of each characteristic is utilized using the matrix to obtain an overall impact value associated with each project. Utilizing the overall impact value, a constructability review process level is selected along with a project development level. The authors collected and analyzed data related to current constructability programs from 52 state DOTs. The outcomes of this study will provide state DOTs with a decision-making tool that is scalable for the different project sizes, complexities, and characteristics, to incorporate constructability reviews efficiently into the project development process.

For older adults who are aging in place, the neighborhood environment plays a pretty important role in their lives due to their functional impairment and low mobility. The ecological theory of aging pointed out that the relative relation between the personal competence and environmental press from their neighborhood environment would impact on older adults. This study aims to investigate how this relative relation impacts on the quality of life (QoL) of older adults. The hypothesis of the conceptual model of “P-E-Q” is established based on the ecological theory of aging. Variables and its measurable items are designed to assess the neighborhood environmental press, personal competence, and QoL of older adults. 192 eligible older adults aging in place are surveyed. Reliability test and linear regression analysis are adopted to verify measurable items and analyze qualitative data. Results of linear regression analysis shows difference value between personal competence and neighborhood environmental press can explain 42.3% of the variance of QoL of older adults. It reveals that the difference value between personal competence and neighborhood environmental press has a significant influence on QoL of older adults, supporting the hypothesis of the conceptual model of “P-E-Q”. The neighborhood environment should be improved to fit the competence of older adults who age in place. This study provides valuable strategies to optimize neighborhood environment for supporting aging in place.

Construction consumes more resources and generates more solid waste than most industries. Recycling building components and their materials is not enough to eliminate solid waste and promote resource efficiency. The circular economy (CE) prioritizes reuse over recycling and proposes systemic changes in the way we build. Designing out waste is the core principle of the CE. Design for disassembly or design for deconstruction (DfD) is the practice of planning the future deconstruction of a building and the reuse of its materials and components. However, there are very few buildings in the world that have been designed to be disassembled. The study presented in this paper aims at identifying the barriers and opportunities for DfD and building components’ reuse in the current design practice in the United States. The authors recorded, transcribed, and coded open-ended interviews with 13 architects from large design firms in the United States to answer the question of why architects do not currently design for disassembly. Data were analyzed with a grounded theory approach. The authors identified several barriers, among them: building owners’ values, the challenges of a DfD-centered life cycle cost analysis, the lack of understanding about the environmental benefits of reuse (e.g., over recycling), and the architects’ conflicting views about resiliency and disassembly. Prefabrication and product-service systems have emerged as opportunities for DfD and CE in the built environment.

Structural engineering is an age-long profession which historically has played a central role in shaping our landscapes and societies with countless iconic structures. However, throughout the years, the role of structural engineers has significantly changed. From the “master builder”, responsible for all project aspects, their role nowadays is often confined to ensuring structural integrity. They are considered as supporting members led by others and are seldom involved in project decision-making. The paper aims at addressing the marginalized role of structural engineers which currently is not aligned with the vital importance of their profession. The methodology adopted consisted of a literature review to explore two main aspects. First, the role and competencies of structural engineers were investigated with respect to established and emerging fields such as structural and construction safety, integrated design, new project delivery methods, sustainable design, BIM, and other technological developments, including artificial intelligence and data analytics. Second, the new increased responsibilities, challenges, and liabilities that structural engineers are subjected to were identified. The findings revealed that in most fields, structural engineers play secondary roles especially as compared to architects. Unrealistic requirements and deadlines are frequently imposed on them and they operate in a legal context that does not properly shield them from professional liabilities. This is often hindering their performance as they become more conservative and averse to risk to the detriment of innovation and value engineering. Structural engineers should be proactive in redefining a more prominent and wider role for themselves. They should also regain control of decisions that directly affect their work. This will help their profession reach new heights while mitigating their risks and liabilities.

Phase change materials (PCMs) can be used as an effective solution in the field of high-performance building systems as they act as a means of temporary energy storage. Properties of PCMs, including melting point temperature, location within the building envelope, and orientation, play an important role in overall heating and cooling energy consumption of a building that employs PCMs. In this work, a building energy simulation model (EnergyPlus) is developed for a typical medium size U.S. office building in Houston, in which PCMs are integrated into the building envelope in a range of configurations, with the purpose of identifying the most effective configurations in terms of amount, orientation, and material properties. Overall findings indicate that annual energy consumption is reduced with an increase PCM utilization. An annual energy savings of up to 30% can be achieved in the optimal configuration when 30 to 40% of the total amount of PCM is incorporated in the external walls and the remaining portion of the total PCM is used in the roof. The results of this work help the building construction industry working in the design and construction of high-performance buildings, to select the optimum distribution of PCMs in the building envelope to achieve energy efficient building design.

In modular construction, poor quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) at offsite facilities can lead to serious cost escalations and delays. Offsite components that are not properly inspected will lead to incompatibility issues on job site during assemblies, which will lead to re-fabrication and re-shipping. This added lead time can easily affect the critical path. There have been research efforts to perform a visual inspection (although not specific to modular construction) using high precision sensors (i.e., laser scanners) and image-based 3D reconstruction. The former solution can be an expensive solution for smaller firms. The latter solution results in inconsistent results because it results in relatively noisy data. This paper attempts to address this limitation by combining leveraging camera poses from image-based 3D reconstruction and their images to select boundaries to be inspected. The proposed method is validated through a case study. A high precision mobile laser scanner was used for collecting the ground truth. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Highway systems contribute immensely to economic development and growth. However, the recent D+ rating for highway infrastructure in the U.S. highlights the appalling state of highways across the nation and the need to invest in renovating or building new highways. The cascading impact of regular highway projects creates a need to construct highways that will last longer. Previous studies have shown that effective quality management (QM) procedures play an essential role in enhancing the final project outcome. Although using emerging nondestructive testing (NDT) technologies could enhance pavement quality, there remains some resistance to adopting these QM technologies. Identifying and documenting the effectiveness, utility, limitations, and ideal application context of these technologies could provide practitioners and researchers with critical information for future adoption of QM technologies. Using a structured literature review approach, this paper identifies and reviews articles and reports on technologies that can enhance the quality of asphalt and concrete paving operations. The present study includes the identification of QM technologies for planning, assurance, control, and improvement. This study also identified potential QM technology adoption barriers and drivers. Finally, the study suggests a roadmap and formal process for evaluating the adoption of emerging QM technologies.

The impact of indoor air quality (IAQ) on occupant health is undeniable because we spend a majority of our time indoors. This means the design and construction of multi-family rental buildings have potential health impacts for low-income families. The low-income-housing-tax-credit (LIHTC) federal program, administrated by state housing finance agencies, provides a policy system that can improve building quality, potentially influencing occupant health. Recent assessments on LIHTC’s criteria showed the effectiveness of this program to advance better-quality housing. However, there is no study on IAQ-related criteria for building design and construction (BDC) of LIHTC buildings. This paper aims to assess the IAQ implementation process, to explore what practices developers utilized and how these practices improved IAQ. Using a qualitative approach, one case study of a rehabilitation project in Washington, DC, is analyzed. A 2014-study showed IAQ improvements in this project after renovation. Semi-structured interviews with the developer of this LIHTC-project revealed that ventilation is the most challenging IAQ strategy for a rehabilitation project. The project utilized integrative design and multi-criteria decision making as the practical tools for IAQ implementation practices. This research offers guidance for building practitioners to improve the green and healthy aspects of affordable housing.

The construction of electrically conductive concrete (ECON) pavement systems include several additional processes which make it different from the construction of regular rigid pavement systems. These can include the use of embedded electrodes, and two-lift concrete construction with different concrete mix designs. This study focuses on the lessons learned from constructing ECON slabs using these methods at the Des Moines International Airport and Iowa Department of Transportation Headquarters, as the first full-scale implementations of a carbon fiber-based ECON pavement system. Based on these efforts, a set of best practices is proposed to help minimize the time required to prepare the setup for placing ECON as the top lift of the pavement. These practices mainly include improvements in scheduling and decision making for the installation time and location of system components including electrodes, conduits, control unit, and sensors, and choosing appropriate both electrical and sensor wires’ length, along with the instrumentation process. Applying these best practices improves the quality of the ECON pavement system, decreases the required labor, simplifies the project management process, and results in significant savings in money and construction time.

Among different approaches to modular construction, the fully serviced and finished home is the most advanced approach that has revolutionized the construction industry. The benefits of this approach are realized in enhancing the workflow, efficient use of resources, improving construction safety, reducing construction wastes, cutting the on-site contractors, optimizing the construction scheduling, and consequently the project duration. However, more investigations are required to explore the constraints of employing this approach and the possible mitigations to overcome those. The aim of this study is to tackle the constraints of adopting fully serviced and finished homes from a manufacturer’s perspective. To accomplish this objective, a literature review was conducted and the most important constraints found were used for a semi-structured interview with a Canadian manufacturer. The three most important constraints were highlighted and the approached adopted to overcome those limitations by that specific manufacturer are discussed. Furthermore, five themes that were less important to this manufacturer were investigated. This study is an informative asset for the industry practitioners to have a better understanding of the limitations and applicability of modular construction.

Identifying an appropriate procurement strategy is vital for the success of construction projects. Several researchers have developed models for identifying elements of a project procurement strategy, but most of these models have failed to consider all elements of an integrated strategy. This research develops a comprehensive decision support system that provides a full solution for an integrated procurement strategy. The strategy includes 1) the procurement route, 2) contractual arrangements, 3) contract type, 4) tender method, and 5) preferred financial document. The developed system identifies the most suitable procurement strategy according to 1) project characteristics and 2) owner preferences. Two decision support tools were developed and compared as part of this research; case based reasoning (CBR) and decision trees (DT). A total of 37 cases of project procurement were collected from interviews with five subject matter experts. The cases were subsequently fed into the CBR and DT systems. Validation was undertaken using seven cases to compare between the outcomes of the system and the chosen procurement strategy. Results showed predictive accuracy of 91% for CBR and 89% for DT. The findings of the research indicate that both the CBR and DT provide reasonable predictive accuracy when supplied with sufficient training cases. The outcome of the research can be used as a guide for owners and project management consultants in the construction industry to enable more effective selection of integrated procurement strategies for new projects.

Alternative project delivery methods (APDM) have emerged as a result of increasing project complexity, the need for fasted project delivery, and the benefits of stakeholder integration in the construction industry. APDM require rigorous collaborative effort to get information adequately flowing between project stakeholders to maximize the potential benefits. Innovative technologies such as building information modeling (BIM) were developed in part to cater to information communication challenges. However, there is a need to understand the impact of BIM on APDM projects, and how both can be used jointly to improve the overall delivery of a project. This research was conducted by collecting secondary-data through reviewing case studies of 15 completed APDM projects that have utilized BIM. The benefit reported with the highest frequency was visualization and simulation. The drawback reported with the highest frequency was software/technological issues. The sample size of this study may not be representative of the construction industry as a whole; however, this study serves as a valuable starting point for future research that may be conducted on this topic. The main contribution of this exploratory study is the identification of 20 distinctive key benefits and four drawbacks for the application of BIM on APDM projects.

In the past, the state department of transportations (DOTs) used to build the highways and bridges through the traditional delivery method, design-bid-build (DBB). However, in the last couple of decades, alternative delivery methods, design-build (DB), and general contractor/construction management (GC/CM) were widely used in the construction of highways and bridges. These alternative delivery methods were employed when the state had a hundred percent funding available for the design and construction of the projects. Due to the scarcity of the public fund for highways and bridges, recently the public-private partnership (PPP) delivery method has been developed, so that the state can benefit from private funding to build the public projects. There are various types of PPP contract agreements, e.g., design-build-finance-operate-maintenance (DBFOM), design-build-finance-operate (DBFO), design-build-finance- maintenance (DBFM), and build-operate-transfer (BOT). Considering the recent use of different PPPs in highway and bridge projects, no study has been conducted to determine whether the type of PPP contract agreements has any effect on the cost and schedule performance of the projects. Therefore, this study has collected 10 PPP projects with two types of contract agreements, DBFOM and DBFM, to determine if there is any project performance difference in PPP projects. Through a data analysis, the results showed a slightly better cost performance and a significantly better schedule performance for DBFOM projects. Investigating funding and finance sources revealed the considerable difference in public funding and private finance between these two PPP agreements, which may be attributable to the difference found in cost and schedule performance. There have been some limitations in the number of projects, first due to the number of existing projects, and second, the available data to collect for the analysis. Similar to any new adoption, this limitation will be eliminated over time.

One of the most widely used alternative delivery methods in the United States is design-build (DB). Not only state and counties are using DB method to construct highways, bridges, and water and wastewater projects, but the private sectors are also using this method to design and build commercial buildings and health care facilities. There have been studies done to compare the performance of DB highway projects with water/wastewater and building projects. However, the performance of DB building projects, based on subcategory as commercial, apartment, residential, school, campus, or health care facilities, were not investigated. Moreover, in comparing apartment or residential building and other infrastructure projects, it should be noted that the owners of these two types of projects are different; one private and another public. While comparing the performance of DB commercial buildings and DB health care facilities, the effect of owner will be neutralized as both are private investors with the main objective of return on investment. Therefore, this study collected 28 DB commercial buildings and 25 DB clinics and hospital buildings (health care facilities) cost and schedule data to determine whether these two types of projects funded by the private investors had significantly different cost- and schedule-related performance metrics, including cost growth, schedule growth, and construction intensity. In addition, the study also investigated whether these two types of projects were using similar types of contracts and procurement methods. The results showed that the cost and schedule performance of DB health care facilities and commercial buildings was not significantly different. It was also found that the dominant contract types and procurement methods used in these two types of DB projects were lump sum and best value, respectively.

The increasing competition in the real estate market nowadays forces real estate developers to exert great efforts to maximize their market share. Accordingly to maintain their competitiveness, accurate estimation of the total project budget is necessary including both contingency reserve (CR) and management reserve (MR). CR is often used to cover known-unknown risk events that can occur in a given project, while MR is often used to cover unknown-unknown risk events. Many research efforts tackled CR estimation, yet there is a lack of efforts that have addressed MR estimation. Overestimating MR increases the total project budget, and thus increases the chances of rejecting the project due to its infeasibility, which subsequently leads to losing investment opportunities. On the other hand, underestimating MR may mislead the organization to proceed towards a false investment causing budgeting problems. This is due to the absence of a proper estimation method for MR. Accordingly, this research proposes a new management reserve estimation (MRE) model to compute near-actual MR amount, considering the uncertainties associated with its estimation. The MRE model consists of three modules: 1) risk identification, 2) risk uncertainty treatment using a hybrid system that combines fuzzy logic and Monte Carlo simulation techniques, and 3) MR quantification using an integration of Monte Carlo simulation and the expected monetary value. The model has been validated using a real estate development project. In essence, the proposed model addresses the shortage in MR estimation, helps policy makers in the real estate development sector take correct investment decisions, and minimizes the chance of incurring financial losses.

Project closeout process is a crucial stage to complete every contractual obligation between the project stakeholders. However, the closeout process usually result in non-adding value activities to satisfy the contract’s requirement. In many cases of the project closeout process, key stakeholders work in a negative environment to finish the project’s requirements by generating and executing a list of punch list items. Many contractors consider the execution of punch list items including rework or missing work as non-value added activities. This perspective can create a strained relationship between the project’s stakeholders including subcontractors and clients. Therefore, this study aims at improving the project closeout phase by analyzing textual data of punch list item recorded by one construction company. The text analysis aims at determining the most recurring punch list items across different projects. Based on the results, a proactive approach to manage punch list items during the project closeout process is proposed to effectively minimize the number of punch list items for a given project. One case study is conducted to test the validity of the proposed approach. It is expected that the proposed approach will help contractors to formally document the project closeout phase as well as predict and proactively address defects in a timely manner.

Project participants in any construction project include: owners, engineers, main contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and manufacturers. Each participant possesses its own obligations towards the successful execution of the project. Subcontractors’ share of the performed construction work is around 70% to 90%. As such, one of the most important contractual relationship is that between the main contractor and its subcontractors. Since it is forecasted that the amount of the subcontracted work will substantially rise in the coming years, proper management of the contractual relationship between main contractors and their subcontractors is needed. Some previous research studies provided directions on the ultimate means that general contractors should use to manage their subcontractors; however, they fall short in addressing this critical need from a contractual point of view. Accordingly, this paper offers guidance on the contractual relationship between main contractors and subcontractors with an emphasis on the back-to-back provisions as specified in the U.S. standard forms of contract: American Institute of Architects (AIA), ConsensusDocs, and Engineers Joint Contract Documents Committee (EJCDC). The back-to-back relationship refers to the fact that parts of the contractors’ contractual obligations and responsibilities are passed to their subcontractors. As such, the authors first studied and compared the back-to-back provisions under national standard forms of contract. Second, the authors analyzed previous law cases to offer practical perspectives on the key causes of disputes between contractors and their subcontractors. Third, the authors prepared a checklist to help contract administrators in undertaking necessary contract revisions so that to reduce the amount of claims and disputes between general contractors and subcontractors. Ultimately, the guidelines presented in this paper will help in establishing a smooth execution of the contractual obligations and responsibilities of contractors and subcontractors. Further, the recommendations provided in this research is believed to fill potential contractual gaps in subcontract agreements.

Scheduling of repetitive construction projects is more complex and challenging due to large number of decision variables, constraints, and tradeoffs between time and cost. Traditional time-driven scheduling techniques such as critical path method (CPM) are inefficient in scheduling repetitive construction projects since they do not maintain crew work continuity. The present study focuses on developing an exact linear optimization model for scheduling repetitive construction projects with multiple crews and multiple options of construction methods for each activity. The optimization model is developed in three steps: (1) identifying decision variables; (2) formulating objective function and constraints; and (3) implementing model computations. Decision variables are identified to model start time of each activity at each unit, number of crews, idle time of crews, and construction methods. The objective function is designed to minimize the project total cost including the direct cost of activities, cost of additional crews for activities, and idle cost of crews during the entire project. Additionally, several constraints are integrated in the model to ensure practicality of the identified solution. Finally, the model computations are executed using the problem-based optimization modeling of MATLAB 2019a and mixed integer linear programming (MILP) solver in Gurobi. The performance of the developed model and its capabilities were tested on a case study of 100 repetitive units with nine activities to complete each unit. The optimization model identified the optimal schedule of the project while complying with specified duration. The results show the developed optimization model is capable of identifying optimal schedule of repetitive projects that can lead to minimum project cost while maintaining crew work continuity.

Resilience has been widely studied for evaluating existing transportation infrastructure conditions by focusing on the loss of function due to an adverse event followed by the amount of function that can eventually be recovered. Beyond existing infrastructure, the research regarding resilience over the project delivery processes is lacking. This study develops a set of resilience factors that evaluates and synthesizes the various aspects of resilience over different project phases for transportation project delivery. The rating factors are identified from the literature and validated by a survey questionnaire with industry experts. The survey response data are analyzed using the principal component analysis (PCA) approach, which extracts seven underlying components (primary evaluation criteria) from the identified resilience factors. The components provide valuable insight concerning how the industry experts perceive the importance of different resilience criteria. The findings from this study can guide practitioners to recognize the necessity of resilience for transportation project delivery and lay the foundations for developing a resilience rating tool in future research.

The growing complexity and competitiveness in the construction industry have created a necessity for interfirm collaboration. Construction joint ventures (CJVs) present an opportunity for merging competences of collaborating firms, in addition to sharing costs, resources, and reducing investment risks. One of the major challenges to CJVs formation is reaching a consensus on revenue-sharing strategies within the limited duration for project bidding process. This paper proposes a model for sharing revenue in a CJV based on cooperative game theory solution concepts. In contrast to traditional investment-based revenue sharing approaches, the proposed model defines the fair share for each of the participating parties based on their marginal contribution to the coalition. The authors developed a parametric model based on well-recognized cooperative game theory solutions that can guide decision-makers in the formation phase of a CJV. A case study is applied to test the model and compare the results against traditional revenue sharing concepts. The proposed model enables firms to establish a fair CJV agreement, which satisfies the rationality constraint for each party. For future work, the model will be extended to account for risk allocation and resource sharing, as well as cost estimation uncertainties.

Urban counties and cities spend a significant amount of transportation projects budget on right-of-way (ROW) acquisition and it continues to become more expensive, difficult, and time consuming for project implementation. This study analyzes the cost of ROW acquisition and the pattern of condemnation cases before and after the eminent domain law change in 2006 in Minnesota. The eminent domain law is supposed to protect property owners from the government taking their property at unreasonable value. However, many practitioners believe that the law change has caused a significant cost increase to the ROW acquisition process. ROW acquisition costs may include market value of parcel, cost damage done to the remainder of the land, condemnation or litigation costs, and delay costs associated with acquisition of the parcel. To investigate the historical trends of ROW acquisition costs, case studies are conducted at three different levels: 1) state highway agency, 2) urban counties, and 3) individual projects. It is found that urban counties are facing more condemnation cases for parcels located in urban area when compared to ROW acquisition cases in rural areas. As such, the case studies were carefully selected to identify the barriers that hinder the ROW acquisition process. The historical trends indicate that there is a significant difference between the acquiring agency’s initial appraisal and the final award amount in condemnation cases. This difference has caused a significant increase in the agency ROW acquisition costs. The study also identifies the root causes of ROW acquisition cost increases. Additionally, potential solutions for minimizing the negative impacts of ROW acquisition are also proposed. A total of six barriers and their root causes are identified.

Protection of intellectual properties has always been a major concern for innovators and designers in the architecture, engineering, construction, and operation (AECO) industry. Intellectual properties have been categorized under patents, trademarks, and copyright under copyright law of the United States. As an artistic effort, architectural designs could be protected under the copyright category to avoid unauthorized reproduction or reuse of the designs in any format other than its designated function in a contract. While the copyright stipulation has prevented a lion share of conflicts since 1970s, protecting the architectural designs is still a point of debate in the construction industry and violation of copyright is still a subject of struggles. Furthermore, the development of cyberinfrastructure and cloud-based BIM platforms have added to the complexity of the problem. Thus, understanding the scope and extent of copyright protection and development of new clauses to cover digital-intellectual properties including BIM models can help in avoiding such conflicts in the future. Currently, there is a gap for adequate literature about copyright in construction, namely with BIM-based design, and the purpose of this paper is to review relevant U.S. copyright law. This paper reviews the copyright law of the United States and current standards and legal resources to find and suggest a good legal standard that could help in covering the digital intellectual properties such as BIM models. The contribution of this paper is a review of relevant copyright laws and regulations regarding BIM-based design. Significantly, this paper can help professionals in the AECO attain a better knowledge about copyright laws to avoid potential litigation in the future.

Private sector participation and investments in public-private partnerships (PPPs) infrastructure projects are crucial for addressing the insufficiencies and filling the financial gaps left by the lack of government funds. However, because of a history of project failures owing to unrealistic economic structures and unfeasible traffic revenue forecasts, the private sector rarely engages in infrastructure investment. The purpose of this study is to develop a robust revenue-generating financial structure for transportation infrastructure in order to attract additional capital infrastructure investment by the private sector. Multi-objective linear optimization methods were applied to find the best solution with the goal of maximizing the internal rate of return (IRR) for equity investors and satisfying the debt repayment criteria for lenders based on four major financial sources: government funds, debts, the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, and equities. The model was applied to the I-95 Express Lanes project in Virginia and the corresponding results showed that optimized financial structures require an average of an 8.34% greater equity contribution than the baseline projection to satisfy both equity investors and lenders. However, the results showed that IRR decreased by approximately 0.24% as compared to the baseline model. In conclusion, additional equity contributions enable stable cashflow streams but result in a lower IRR. Thus, the tradeoff between debts and equities should be optimized in order to attract private infrastructure investors.

The time-cost tradeoff (TCT) analysis is intended to expedite critical activity times and total project duration, possibly resulting in more hazardous situations and more safety risks than the normal case. On the other hand, safety-centric construction acceleration planning is complicated and challenging as a result of dynamic work settings, rotation of various work teams, exposure to changing weather conditions, and employing higher proportions of inexperienced workers. In connection with TCT theory, this study is aimed to assist construction planners in implementing safety-centric planning for resource use, time, and cost at critical activities. In order to guide construction acceleration planning while minimizing safety hazards and preventing accidents, this research consulted published literature, investigated best practices, and referenced regulations related to occupational health and safety. The research deliverable includes compilation of significant factors and generalization of a set of rules for facilitating construction acceleration planning and enabling the follow-up TCT analysis.

Co-location of designers and contractors during the design and construction phases of projects, sometimes referred to as the “big room”, is becoming more prevalent. This surge relates to a proven increase in project success tied to having more integrated and collaborative project teams, which co-location fosters. To date, the literature lacks detailed information on general contractor-specific perceptions of co-location on design-build projects. This paper describes a survey developed and administered by the authors to discern the perceptions of Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) members regarding co-location. The survey was completed by 112 practitioners working for general contractors in a variety of roles (project managers, estimators, virtual design, and construction managers, etc.) across the United States. Eighty-five percent of the survey respondents felt that co-location adds value to design-build projects. Also, 85 percent of respondents felt that the rate of co-location on projects should be higher than it currently is, as co-location makes both design and construction more effective and efficient, but the determination regarding whether or not to co-locate should be based on the size (related to cost) and complexity of the project. Approximately 80 percent of respondents felt that co-location improves the overall quality and schedule of construction projects, yet only 54 percent felt that co-location reduces project cost. Lastly, the respondents provided substantial commentary concerning barriers to co-location, such as the feasibility of having full-time availability of all project team members (due to some key team members having responsibilities outside of the project at hand, and a lack of desire to be away from their workplaces and families), along with how technology can be leveraged to promote team integration without all team members physically being in the same location. Future research includes comparing the general contractor perceptions to those of trade contractors, owners, and designers.

In the construction market, owners and contractors often face a dilemma of trust. Research has focused on the important role of trust in project success. However, rare has discussed the formation of trust between the owner and the contractor in the project. Based on the signal theory, this paper constructs a moderation model including the contractor’s capability, experience, and reputation to explain the formation process of trust. A total of 206 valid questionnaires from engineering practitioners were attained. The results show that the contractor’s ability and experience have a positive effect on trust. Reputation shows a moderating effect on these two relationships suggesting that when reputation is insufficient, owners are more willing to choose contractors with strong ability. What’s more, reputation reinforces the relationship between experience and trust. This study sheds a light on the formation of trust in engineering projects and provides a theoretical basis for the application of signal theory in engineering management. The findings also provide measures for practitioners to select reliable contractors.

It is vital for water utilities to select the most appropriate project delivery method for the design and construction of their infrastructure projects. Alternative project delivery methods (APDM), such as construction management at-risk (CMAR) and design-build (DB), are now being added to design-bid-build (DBB) as part of a more comprehensive project delivery method toolbox for these utilities. The objective of this study is to identify key project delivery method selection factors for the water industry to support utilities in selecting the most suitable delivery method for their treatment plant projects. The authors reviewed about 40 relevant academic research papers and 15 decision-models that highlighted key project delivery method selection factors. As a result, 44 selection factors were identified and ranked in terms of frequency. An industry workshop was conducted with 20 industry experts and resulted in the identification of 13 key selection factors, seven primary factors, and six secondary factors, that inform project delivery method selection for the water industry. The identified factors in this paper will support the development of a decision-support tool that will assist water utilities with their project delivery method selection decisions.

Small and medium public-private partnership (P3) infrastructure projects get a noteworthy growth in the United States in recent years while the distribution of project size is generally stable. As the increase of small and medium P3 application, there is an emerging discussion on the use of P3 to deliver local projects which are frequently at small and medium size to meet local infrastructure needs. This paradoxical phenomenon is contrary to the classical perspective that projects under a certain size are not feasible for P3. Even though there are many rules of thumb for the minimum proper size of qualified P3 candidates, almost no elaborated justification for the thresholds of project size could be found. In contrast with the increasing implementation, small and medium P3s, especially those in developed countries, receive incongruous little attention in existing studies. By critically reviewing the literature, this paper synthesized and discussed the obstacles of implementing small and medium P3 in the United States. Transaction cost, financeability, legislative authorization, political commitment, and government capacity are major areas where the obstacles of small and medium P3 may appear. Corresponding to the summarized obstacles, the authors proposed five project features as the enablers which may contribute to the success of small and medium P3. This paper helps people better understand the obstacles of small and medium P3 in the United States and provides theoretical propositions for future empirical study.

The construction industry is under substantial pressure due to the constant decline in productivity rates. Therefore, companies have been trying to develop out-of-box solutions to transform the “business-as-usual” model of the construction industry. Industry experts consider modularization to be one of the most effective strategies to improve productivity. However, the current state of the supply chain in the modular industry lacks the required innovation to break the industry deadlock. There is a dearth of evidence concerning the impact of modularization on construction productivity among various stakeholders due to little experience and knowledge, the failure of construction literature in quantifying productivity improvement when modularization is implemented, poor supply-chain management, and innovation. As a result, the current supply chain must be re-engineered to integrate design, manufacturing, construction, and other stages in a coordinated way. Vertical integration is one way to implement such a strategy. This paper will perform an in-depth analysis of the current supply chain dynamics and explore the potential of a vertical integration strategy to improve modular construction supply chain performance.

Bid-rigging is one of the most detrimental deviant practices in the construction industry. Management of bid-rigging is challenging and has been argued to be insufficient. One explanation is that the underlying mechanism of bid-rigging behavior remains vague. This paper investigated contractors’ cognition on bid-rigging, and further identified the significant cognitive factors that promote contractors’ bid-rigging formation. The research finds that contractors have a supportive attitude toward bid-rigging, and they have high-risk tolerance for bid-rigging. Furthermore, contractors’ attitude, normative beliefs, and control beliefs toward bid-rigging significantly affect their intention to bid-rigging. The research contributes to the existing literature by taking the first step to study the role of cognition in bid-rigging intention formation. This research facilitates the understanding of the nature of the bid-rigging activity.

Public agencies routinely design and promote procurement opportunities for small business interests, often by setting goals for a variety of certified small business categories to participate in procurement. The U.S. Federal Government alone awards over $100 billion annually in contracting opportunities to small businesses, often through structured programs. While such opportunities often promote the socioeconomic value of small business, they can also limit competition from larger and arguably more efficient firms and thus, have the potential to raise costs for the public owner. However, there have been few studies that have examined these claims or explore what differences, if any, are found in project performance of small business firms. This study examined the relationship between the use of small businesses and project performance in the context of federal construction contracting, examining both design-bid-build and design-build delivery. A statistical examination of 222 projects reveals nearly identical project performance between projects awarded to Small Business Administration (SBA) certified firms and comparable projects awarded to larger firms. The study’s findings contradict the narrative that small business contracting costs more. The results lay the groundwork for further research on small business contracting that can inform important public policy and procurement decisions.

Governmental agencies have increasing options for project delivery and contractual arrangements when procuring and constructing public infrastructure projects. Contractors face the dilemma of selecting the right projects in which to invest their limited pre-construction financial and staff resources. This research investigates the project delivery and procurement methods selected for three large public bridges: Third Crossing Bridge in Kingston, Ontario, the Highway 53 relocation bridge located near Virginia, Minnesota, and the Warman and Martensville interchanges bridges in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Data collected through structured interviews with key stakeholders from the respective public agencies and Kiewit Corporation, the common contractor for the projects, compares tri-party/integrated form of agreement (IPD), construction manager/general contractor (CM/GC), and design-build (DB) project award processes and decision-making from the perspectives of the governmental agency and the general contractor. The research results in a comparative diagram summarizing the key advantages and challenges of these project delivery options for use by owners and contractors in their procurement and decision-making processes.

Contract requirement processing is one of the most crucial tasks in the construction projects practicing design-build project delivery method. The contract requirements and technical specifications of design-build projects are typically enormous and associated with many different disciplines and project stages. In many cases, the design-build contractor needs to classify these general contract requirements into different categories to prepare the subcontracts for the specialized works. The success of a design-build project highly relies on the completeness of subcontracts to avoid disputes which may lead to delays and cost overruns. The conventional practices for the preparation of subcontracts require professionals much time and effort to read the complete contract package and extract the requirements related to the specialized works. This paper introduces an effective method to prepare the subcontracts scope by developing an automated framework for information retrieval using natural language processing techniques. The proposed technique classifies the text describing project requirements into three distinct classes associated with different construction project stages namely as design, construction, and operation and maintenance. The requirement classification model was developed using six different supervised machine learning approaches, including naïve Bayes, support vector machine, logistic regression, K-nearest number, decision tree, and feedforward neural network. The experimental results revealed the logistic regression as the highest performing algorithm with an accuracy of 94.12%. This study is expected to help reduce reading time and improve the quality of subcontracts.

It has become widely understood throughout the construction industry that a direct linear relationship exists between project cost overruns and schedule delays. Much of this relationship is a product of identifiable risks encountered due to issues resulting from contractor’s capabilities, owner’s change in scope, designer’s caused errors and omissions, and unforeseen conditions. On behalf of this study, 2,195 construction, renovation, and repair projects were analyzed among two large public organizations, which occurred from 2005 to 2012. Despite the industry's recognition of inherent risk and its subsequent impact, the research associated with understanding of correlation between project delay rate and change order rate is vastly limited; hence, the research team evaluated the magnitude of correlation between the project performance parameters to quantify the risk management efforts by the contractor’s team. The primary objective of this paper is motivated by the notion that formal pre-planning phase is a critical element in an owner's ability to enhance the risk management efforts by contractor’s team to mitigate the impact of encountered risks. Specifically, Pearson’s correlation test helped to identify the sensitive risk source categories and sub-categories among the two owners to compare the effect of the formal pre-planning phase on risk mitigation.

The administration and tracking of construction claims and disputes involve the reference to and generation of a large volume of contract and contract-related documentation. To this end, as the set of contract documents is established and agreed to at the time of contract execution by the parties, another set constituting additional documentation is dynamically generated as claims are substantiated and potentially evolve into disputes. This paper addresses the worth of such agreed or generated evidentiary documentation and presents a schematic framework for their classification. The adopted methodology included a review of the literature related to construction documentation and the requirements for generating evidence in defending claims and disputes. It further involved the identification of factors deemed instrumental for characterizing such evidential material, through scrutinizing the full claim and dispute documentation on two building projects spanning over a period of more than eight years. The factors accounted for in the formulation of the proposed classification framework include, among others: the degree of ownership by each of the parties in respect of a document in question, the degree of agreement as to the content of any such document, the degree of confidentiality assigned to or imparted upon a concerned document. The offered classification can be useful when relying on any relevant documentation in weighing on the matters of facts related to the claims or disputes on hand. As such, the work outcome can be of value for the analyses conducted and reasoning developed in support of the determinations or decisions to be arrived at by disputes resolution analysts and decision makers.

Delays are bound to be experienced on construction projects, and numerous taxonomies have been devised for their classification. Delay-related events that are found to be particularly caused by owners or contractors are likely to give rise to delay concurrency disputes. Another form of difficulty arises when such disputes involve the alleged triggering of the prevention principle in respect of a relevant delay event that is caused by the owner. The paper aims at tackling the treatment of concurrent delays under those conditions that lend themselves to the triggering of the prevention principle. The adopted methodology involved a review of the literature on the types of construction delays and the difficulties associated with their identification and measurement, as well as their patterns of occurrence, including delay concurrency and pacing. It further involved a review of a number of relevant case law on the subject, which allowed a set of lessons learned to be withdrawn. The methods of enquiry that were observed to have been relied upon in deriving resolutions involve the employment of the malmaison approach, the dominant approach, and/or the apportionment approach. The lessons learned are found to have revolved around several critical factors that have been identified to include: the timing at which the events took place, the sequencing with which the events occurred, the level of ambiguity of the contract clauses related to the concerned delay events, and the responsibility for carrying the burden of proving that the relevant events have indeed affected completion.

In construction projects, the relationship quality often appears to decline due to uncertainty, then contractual flexibility is introduced as an effective tool to cope with uncertainty. However, there is a controversy viewpoint about the effectiveness of contractual flexibility, and how contractual flexibility governance the uncertainty has not been explored. This research aims to examine the effects of uncertainty on relationship quality and the moderating effects of contractual flexibility. The empirical results from a sample of 225 exchanges in China demonstrate that both environment and behavior uncertainty have a negative effect on relationship quality. In addition, contractual flexibility could moderate the negative effect of environment and behavior uncertainty on relationship quality, specifically, the degree of contractual flexibility should base on the degree of environment uncertainty. These findings offer new insights in contractual flexibility and offer important implications for introducing flexibility into contracting in construction projects.

Changes to the regulatory environment in which capital projects are planned, executed, and operated have led to uncertainty, delayed decisions, and costly disruptions. The objective of this study is to help construction industry organizations better deal with regulatory impacts throughout their capital projects. To this end, various data, information, and insights pertaining to regulatory changes were collected through different research activities (i.e., field visits, stakeholder surveys, and case studies) from a variety of perspectives including owners, operators, contractors, suppliers, engineering consultants, regulators, and trade associations. Accordingly, a regulatory adaptation process model was created. This model establishes and lays out the process through which companies can identify, evaluate, and respond to regulatory changes. The process model encompasses five sub-processes including regulatory horizon scanning, stakeholder engagement, risk and opportunity assessment, response strategy development, and compliance implementation. Each of these sub-processes includes a set of practices, activities, and decision points corresponding to the regulatory development life cycle.

Risk management between public and private sectors is crucial for the success of public-private partnership (PPP) projects. Thus, effectively allocating project risks is a key task in the development of public-private initiatives because it is a determinant characteristic for PPP success or failure. However, despite being an important topic for scholars and practitioners, today, the academic literature does not provide ample evidence of how risks are managed in solicited and unsolicited road PPP projects. Building on a systematic content analysis framework, this case study examines the allocation of risks in three unsolicited and three solicited highway PPP contracts over the last decade in Colombia. The framework was developed through line-by-line coding of contract provisions associated with risk-related issues. Results show that some risks were shared and addressed by the public sector, but the majority were transferred to the private sector. Conclusions indicate that there are two opportunistic behaviors identified, the private party who makes the unsolicited proposal seeks to transfer some endogenous risks to the public, and public agencies seek to transfer exogenous risks to the private in USPs; these changes are observed in unsolicited proposals rather than solicited proposals. Overall, this study intends to extend risk allocation studies by analyzing PPP contracts within this Latin American country.

State highway agencies always encourage innovations in practice because innovations typically lead to favorable results outperforming the project specifications in the request for proposal (RFP). The alternative technical concepts (ATC) process, a recent innovation in project procurement, has displayed many benefits, such as encouraging innovations, reducing environmental impacts, cost and time saving, improvement of project quality and constructability, etc. To take advantage of ATCs, this research proposes an application in conjunction with different project delivery methods, such as design-bid-build, design-bid, construction manager-general contractor, public-private partnership, and integrated project delivery. Potential impediments associated with the application of each project delivery method are identified in this study. Based on this research, practitioners and researchers can gain insight into the state of practice regarding ATCs, the potential uses within different delivery systems, and can extend the efforts of this study to develop better adaptations to fully exploit the benefits of the ATC process.

As municipalities across Ontario grow and densify, they ought to deal with an increase in both the number and complexity of building permits. These municipalities are starting to take advantage of recent permitting technologies by migrating towards electronic permitting (e-permitting) systems. E-permitting systems have been shown to increase the efficiency of the permitting process, allowing for faster processing of permits, providing added transparency to the approval process, and streamlining document reviews and revisions. More advanced e-permitting systems are able to take advantage of latest technological advancements including building information models (BIM) and geographic information systems (GIS) to enable intelligent city planning and city management capacities. The fragmented nature of the 440 municipalities in Ontario and the lack of a standards process, along with inefficient internal and external data exchanges, are major obstacles in progressing towards e-permitting systems. In this research, the challenges regarding process and data exchange standardization will be examined and will be complimented with a case study which will review the permitting process of an Ontarian municipality. This research can further be utilized as a valuable resource for other municipalities who wish to adopt an e-permitting platform.

The growing demand for high-quality-service health care facilities poses significant challenges for public healthcare agencies. New delivery systems are being investigated to fulfill this need. This research explores how public-private partnerships (PPP) have been used for the development of health care facilities in British Columbia (BC), Canada. BC is known for its significant experience with PPP. The analysis covers the procurement process, risk management, payment mechanism, and performance-based criteria. Using a case study approach, the work was done using content analysis of nine project agreements. It is concluded that for the success of using PPP in healthcare facilities certain issues need to be maintained including, clear vision and objectives of the public owner before preparing the procurement and the agreements, fair and competitive procurement process, good understanding of the typical risks associated with PPP in healthcare and their proper allocation, and the use of performance-based payment mechanism to ensure the quality of the services and the achievement of owner’s objectives. The work should provide insights to healthcare facilities in other jurisdictions on how to implement PPP in healthcare facilities.

The benefits of modular construction, that include addressing the shortage of labor, reducing bulks of construction waste, minimizing construction schedule delays, and providing a safer environment for workers offsite, drive the building industry toward prefabrication and industrialization. However, industrialization requires the transformation of deliveries and services to engage a “design-manufacturing-build” process in building construction. More is involved than simply making boxes in a factory and installing the modules at the jobsite. This paper focuses on the role of architects in this process particularly in obtaining the building permit and in the inspection processes. In other words, how can the architect as the master builder or “jack of all trades” facilitate the integration of needs among the multiple stakeholders? Modular construction requires a change in pre-construction phase and building inspections; not just within the design and engineering trades but also for municipality decision makers and lenders. Architects play a key role in improving the offsite construction through design leadership and coordination. They must deal with the way the building is divided into modules and how multiple authorities having jurisdiction, navigate multi-state and sometimes multinational permit delivery processes and reviews addressing the project. The research methodology is a case study of an architectural firm that has practiced modular design and construction for a decade in the northwest region of the United States. After an overview of the role of the architects in “design-manufacturing-build”, this paper illustrates how the architectural firm overcame the challenges with suggestions to improve the review process for building permits and inspections.

The energy retrofit of small commercial buildings on a large scale offers a significant opportunity for economic development in the form of construction activity and utility cost savings for small businesses. In the U.S., small commercial buildings account for 9% of total primary energy use and 87 billion square feet of existing floor stock. Significant factors restrain efforts to pursue small commercial building energy efficiency projects including limited ability of building owners/tenants to invest in retrofit, lack of information, and limited market capability to develop and aggregate small commercial building retrofit projects. This paper outlines the result of a qualitative study that was designed to review and evaluate different approaches to project delivery in buildings energy retrofit industry with a focus on understanding the challenging aspects of smaller scale projects. Multiple experts in the energy service industry were interviewed to understand existing business models, to map different project delivery methods, and to identify opportunities and challenges in achieving deep efficiency goals in smaller projects. The results show that energy service companies are utilizing different strategies to avoid unnecessary investment and risk in business development activities which has resulted in few retrofit projects for smaller buildings. There is a need for systemic and data-driven approach in business development to eliminate unnecessary risk in delivery process. Uncertainty about project outcomes can be minimized by asking right questions at the right time in the process to avoid high risk investments. The proposed strategies to reduce the level of investment required to develop retrofit projects includes: (1) the integration of education and training programs with energy efficiency programs, (2) investments in integrative delivery methods and information systems for retrofit projects, and (3) integration of energy assessment methods with measurement and verification activities to reduce overall project costs.

On any given day, transportation agencies have hundreds of projects underway. Besides, many of these projects face limited budgets and several other constraints during the project delivery process. Therefore, transportation agencies are experiencing unprecedented pressure to deliver projects successfully. Project success greatly depends on how the project has been managed and controlled. Since the successful delivery of transportation projects has great impacts on the public, it is important to investigate project management practices as a tool to improve project success. The objectives of this study include (1) reviewing the project management practices in transportation projects through reviewing the existing literature in this regard; (2) evaluating the existing project management practices and procedures in state departments of transportation to understand the available tools as well as the existing gaps; and (3) providing a comparative analysis of the project management best practices in different states. This study identified a list of twelve project management practices in transportation projects, including time management, cost management, quality control, environmental process, right-of-way, safety, outsourcing, value engineering, change orders, type of contraction, workforce qualification, and operation and maintenance. The results showed a lack of proper guidelines for quality control, outsourcing, workforce qualification, and operation and maintenance regarding project management best practices. The findings of this study could help researchers, project managers, and transportation agencies to enhance their understanding of the best practices on transportation project management.