Journal of Construction Engineering and Management

This paper is based on a review of the literature on management contracting and findings from a program of interviews with top‐level managers of client, design and contracting organizations in the United Kingdom. An influence diagram showing interrelationships between advantages cited for management contracting is used, to structure a critical discussion under four general headings: fast completion, improved design, lower costs, and better supervision and coordination. Another section examines the effect of management contracting on project uncertainty. Client reasons for choosing management contracting are identified and related to perceived advantages of management contracting. Projects suited to the use of management contracting are those that are large, complex, have a need for flexibility, and can gain advantage from early completion. However a number of important provisos suggest that management contracting will only work if everyone involved understands how to make it work and wants to make it work.

It is generally acknowledged that there is a great need to increase safety, productivity, and quality in construction. Recent developments in high‐tech areas have offered the opportunity to reevaluate production methods and tools believed to be state of the art for decades. While many new construction technologies under investigation would require a revolutionary development in the industry, the potentials for evolutionary improvements of existing construction technologies are vast. This paper discusses one example of high‐tech evolution in building construction that has proven to increase the productivity of nailing and promises to counter balance the loss of skilled construction workers. The present study includes both laboratory and field testing of a sensor integrated nailer in construction. The results of these tests are discussed as well as recommendations for further improvements.

This paper presents the controller‐function (CF) chart, a tool that maps essential site‐management functions to the corresponding areas of responsibility in the site organization. In developing a CF chart for a specific project, the user collects data through a set of structured questions to define the actual situation onsite. Once site data are collected, the goal, or ideal model, is defined using three simple rules. The paper describes the construction of two high‐rise commercial buildings and a high‐rise hotel on which the CF chart was used to analyze the sites individually. The functions on the two similar commercial buildings were then compared, and their relative success rates were correctly predicted. The hotel project underwent a major reorganization during construction, resulting in a significantly more successful project. The CF chart after the reorganization showed that functions were being performed closer to the ideal level prescribed by the chart. The CF chart can be used to organize projects, to determine the “health” of the project organization, and to prescribe corrective action.

Project constructibility, the measure of ease with which a facility can be constructed, is keenly affected by the quality of technical specifications. Poor specifications can cause delays, rework, and claims, as well as restrict contractor innovation and flexibility. This paper explores the nature of specification‐related obstacles to the construction of highway projects. In accomplishing this objective, many specific problems are identified and relevant problem details are captured in a formalized structure. A structure of problem types is developed, and problems are analyzed with respect to classification frequencies and apparent causal factors. Highway specification constructibility concerns and corresponding solutions are communicated through a series of hierarchy‐of‐objective‐technique (HOT) diagrams. This technique represents a new, powerful, yet rather simple method of structuring objectives, strategies, tactics, and specific solutions to problems. In addition, a procedure is proposed for the periodic updating of standard highway specifications. Major findings indicate that pavement specifications are most problematic, that specification content is the most common general class of problem, and that “gold plating” or excessive specification requirements is the most frequent specific type of problem.

The application of cable‐stayed structures has increased during the last few years in North America. The implementation of these new structures has led to serious problems in the design and construction process. This paper provides an analysis of the most significant problems identified by owners, designers, and contractors. The owner‐related problems include difficulties in four areas: the contract system, the bidding process, field representation, and project document reviews. Designer‐related problems include incomplete design, lack of access to specification development, overly congested areas, and restrictive tolerances. Constructor‐related problems include engineering requirements, inexperienced personnel, project planning, and shop‐drawing specification. The paper proposes several modifications to mitigate the problems encountered. The paper includes suggested changes under the current contract environment, a modified current contract environment, and a completely new contracting approach for bridge construction. Each of the suggested changes are explained and analyzed for their potential benefits to the project outcome.

Dynastrat, a dynamic‐strategy model, is a Monte Carlo simulation‐based program that explores alternative resource‐allocation strategies for construction projects that have uncertain activity durations and costs. It extends resource allocation beyond current models that assume activities' durations are deterministic. In projects of uncertain duration (1) Activity durations and costs depend on resource assignments; (2) good resource assignments depend on random variables that influence duration and cost; and (3) outcomes of these random variables are not known until the project is built. Dynastrat assigns resources during simulation of project progress by encapsulating decision rules to describe dynamic strategies that fit samples of labor and material costs, weather, productivities, and other random variables. Dynastrat models activity cost and time as random variables, models interdependencies among project activities and between their durations and costs, assesses weather effects on duration and cost of activities, incorporates simulated project status in decision making, provides a framework to model assignment of resources under uncertain project conditions, and evaluates the impact that different strategies may have on project duration and cost.

This paper analyzes the process of innovation on the Two Union Square project in Seattle, Washington. On this project, 19,000 psi (131, 005 kPa) concrete—a world‐record high strength—was field placed inside 10 ft (3.05 m) diameter steel tubes to create the main columns for a high‐rise office building. This paper describes the process leading to this innovation, including the owner's commitment to the project, the structural designer's tendency toward innovation, the concrete supplier's progressive developmental efforts, and the interactions between these key players to overcome the inherent uncertainty of innovation. Lastly, this paper develops discussions based on this example of the process of construction innovation, regarding the importance of owner's commitment, importance of having a long‐term perspective, informal R&D for construction innovation, and qualifications of champions in construction.

The U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, Champaign, Ill., has developed several data bases for determining life‐cycle costs of building facilities by functional use. Four data bases have been implemented in a DOS environment for an embellished personal computer. The simplest data base contains average annual maintenance per square foot by building use. The second data base contains both yearly component replacement and annual reoccurring maintenance cost per square foot by building use. The third data base contains labor hours per square foot, equipment hours per square foot, and material cost per square foot by building age and building use. The most detailed data base contains labor hours per square foot, equipment hours per square foot, and material costs per square foot for each individual maintenance task. All data bases can be applied by any organization (cities, universities, corporations) for resource prediction. The data bases are currently being applied by several Army organizations, the Department of the Interior‐Historical Preservation Council, Department of the Navy, ASTM (American Society for Testing Materials), and many private organizations. Contents and application of the data bases are described in this paper.

This paper discusses important aspects that can help project managers efficiently allocate their limited resources and thus help them achieve high levels of construction project performance. Additional, previously undiscussed model outcomes are presented that focus on the impact of the project team, planning, and control efforts as they relate to achieving “overall” project success, better‐than‐expected schedule performance, and better‐than‐expected budget performance. Results demonstrate that key success factors affect project outcomes differently. For example, increasing the number of budget updates has more of an impact on achieving better budget performance than it does on achieving better schedule and overall project performance. Implementation of a constructability program seems to have a significant impact on achieving overall project success and better schedule performance—especially on fixed‐price contracts. Reducing team turnover has a more significant impact on improving budget performance than it does in achieving better schedule or overall project performance. A robustness analysis of the model outcomes is presented, along with a discussion on the study limitations.

To address quality problems and their associated costs, the construction industry must pursue and implement innovative quality‐management organizations and techniques. This paper presents the findings of a research project conducted to identify attributes of effective quality‐management systems in the construction industry. The objectives were met through an extensive literature review and in‐depth interviews with 142 engineering, construction, quality, and procurement personnel from 19 owner and contractor firms involved in heavy industrial, manufacturing, and commercial construction. The emergence of total quality management (TQM) applications in the construction industry was a significant finding of the interviews. The results indicate that substantial improvements in meeting quality requirements can be achieved by the use of TQM in the construction industry. Implementation techniques and attributes of effective quality‐management systems were identified and categorized.

Safety and the coordination of safety programs have traditionally been the responsibility of the general contractor. The overall general contractor direction and coordination of safety programs is not possible in the multiple prime contract environment of construction management. With the construction management form of project management the owner has increased contact with the prime contractors and, therefore, greater liability for directing or coordinating safety programs. The construction manager, while not in a direct contract relationship with the contractor, acts for the owner relative to project management and assumes some professional liability for project safety management. The nature of this relationship to safety is not well understood by construction managers and indicates that information relevant to the function of the construction manager in safety programs has not been consolidated. This paper identifies how the owner's liability for safety is developed through the contract documents and court decisions relative to liability. Steps to reduce the potential liability for the owner and construction manager are identified as part of an active safety‐management role.