Journal of Construction Engineering and Management

A request for information (RFI) is a formal written procedure initiated by the contractor seeking additional information or clarification for issues related to design, construction, and other contract documents. Large numbers of RFIs along with slow responses to RFIs are frequently cited as a metric for poor project performance. Implementation of an RFI process is an integral part of successful project management for construction projects that improves communication between the construction, design, and project management teams. The use of RFIs is common in vertical construction, but is just gaining use and acceptance in the delivery of transportation infrastructure projects. The purpose of this paper is to benchmark the RFI process and develop benchmarks and metrics to aid project teams in assessing the performance of a transportation infrastructure project and to provide best practices for improving the overall RFI process. Data on RFIs were collected from major highway construction projects in the Midwest including more than 65 bridges and 90.123 km (56 mi) of roadway totaling $857.3 million of construction, in which two quantitative metrics were established for monitoring project performance. In addition, the paper provides reason codes developed for categorizing the type of RFI submitted and a method to identify problem areas.

Subcontracting on construction projects is a common and well-established practice. Contractors enlist the services of subcontractors to achieve certain objectives, including obtaining cost reductions, securing access to specialized services, and risk sharing. Nonetheless, subcontracting on a project can introduce certain associated problems that can affect construction management and construction quality. This research explored exclusively the subcontracting practices in the construction industry of Pakistan, identified the main problem areas, examined the overall satisfaction with the quality of service provided by subcontractors, and focused on ways to improve the quality of construction affected by subcontracting. A questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate the extent and involvement of construction firms in subcontracting, reasons for subcontracting, and the selection criteria of subcontractors. Additionally, interviews were conducted with researchers, professionals, and experts in the industry. The results reveal the widespread use of subcontracting and sub-subcontracting in the construction industry, primarily done to save time and money. Results show that the substandard quality of work of subcontractors is the main problem area. Conversely, the use of direct labor was found to be an unprofitable proposition because of the high degree of uncertainty, fluctuations in construction workload, and higher administrative overhead costs. Results show that 53% of the respondents are satisfied with their current subcontracting experiences, whereas 47% of the respondents want positive changes to be made in subcontracting arrangements. To rectify flaws in the existing subcontracting system, the following remedies were noted: (1) reduce the number of layers or tiers of subcontracting to effectively manage the communication gap between prime contractor and subcontractor; (2) establish mandatory subcontractor registration, prequalification, and performance evaluations; (3) adopt a standardized form of contract between contractors and subcontractors; and (4) develop the infrastructure for the technical training of subcontractors to improve construction quality. Further insights and discussion are presented in the paper. The findings of this research will help subcontractors to improve their performance and assist stakeholders in the successful execution of a quality project through the judicious employment of subcontractors.

Although change orders occur on many construction projects, data examined in this paper suggest that many change orders can be avoided on roadway construction projects through improved project planning and scoping. Statistical analyses of change orders on 610 Kentucky roadway construction projects from 2005–2008 examined how the causes of change orders varied between construction versus maintenance projects, different road types (e.g., state highways, interstate, and county roads), and construction type (e.g., earth work, structures, and road surfacing). The research examined the risk posed by engineering change orders by measuring the frequency and average percentage change in project costs for different types of change orders. Although the relative impacts did vary by analyses, the leading causes of change orders within the state consistently included contract omissions, owner-induced enhancements, and contract item overrun. The paper’s primary contribution to the overall body of knowledge is the establishment of evidence that many high risk change orders on roadway construction projects can be avoided through improved front end planning, whereas avoidance of other change orders, such as fuel and asphalt price adjustments, are more challenging because they can be caused by rapidly changing market conditions. The results show not only distinctive trends that are useful for constructability reviews on future projects, but also identify the need for new directions in front end planning and project scoping to minimize change orders on highway projects.

The execution of daily construction tasks exposes workers to one or multiple ergonomic risk factors (awkward postures, static force, vibration, repetition, environmental risk, contact stress) and thus varying risks of developing musculoskeletal disorders. As a result, musculoskeletal disorders are common issues in construction and result in costly delays and disability claims. Though there is recent research investigating the epidemiology and causal factors for musculoskeletal injury, the construction industry has not fully embraced this as part of its safety practices. This study presents state-of-the-art ergonomic techniques, Canadian ergonomic legislation, and work-related musculoskeletal disorder (WRMSD) lost-time claims (LTC) statistics to show the resultant economic (cash and productivity) losses and adverse social (occupational health and safety) impact of WRMSDs resulting from current practice and legislation. The potential short- and long-term productivity and cost merits of incorporating ergonomic assessments for construction tasks are presented.

Rework is a persistent problem in construction. Reducing field rework is widely regarded as an effective way of improving construction performance in terms of productivity, cost, and schedule. Although much literature exists concerning rework reduction, there is a need for further analysis, validation, and improvement of rework reduction methods. This paper presents a generalized model for a rework reduction program (RRP), which is intended to reduce rework by managing a continuous improvement loop with four functional processes: (1) rework tracking and cause classification, (2) evaluation of rework and its causes, (3) corrective action planning, and (4) integration of changes into the total management system. Analysis is conducted to examine and verify the functional mechanisms and effectiveness of the generalized model, by investigating a rework reduction program implemented in practice for a series of dozens of small projects executed by three contractors that represents the generalized model, and by analyzing the impact trends on rework in terms of frequency, cost, and labor hours over a considerable time period. The paper’s primary contribution to the overall body of knowledge is that it provides statistical evidence that the occurrence and impact of rework can be reduced significantly with such a program.

Existing literature has failed to identify credit patterns amongst buildings that have achieved various certification levels within the leadership in energy and environmental design for new construction (LEED NC) rating system. Although credit scorecard information had been available for some LEED NC certified projects on the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) website, no one had published a detailed credit analysis or overall credit trends. Furthermore, the few studies that correlated LEED credits with utility consumption returned null results. This technical paper examines LEED NC credit trends for 91% of Arizona’s 53-building LEED NC building population in an effort to identify credit patterns and to determine if credits correlate with either water or power consumption. Data collection efforts were successful for all desired deliverables except water consumption. Credit patterns emerged, exhibiting the most and least commonly attained credits, differences were identified between consultant populations, and credit strategy patterns were demonstrated inherent in each progresssivly more demanding certification level. Water collection was unsuccessful, rendering water correlations impossible. Collection of energy consumption data were successful yet produced few statistically significant correlations. The study’s results demonstrate to industry practitioners and researchers that the 69-point LEED NC rating system failed to demonstrate substantial correlations between energy use and credits within the Arizona population, thereby discounting energy conservation strategies inherent in LEED NC versions 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2. The results also highlight the need to incentivize those credits which produce the greatest environmental benefit throughout the building’s full life cycle. The authors discuss energy correlations in greater detail in another publication.

Construction companies bid on projects and expect to obtain a profit by implementing awarded projects. As profit-generating entities, the construction companies are composed of cost and profit centers. The cost centers within the organization provide services required to fulfill the activities of the profit centers. The profit centers create billable work that is reimbursed by the owners of the projects. However, construction companies have had difficulty in winning new construction projects because of high competition, economic recession, and so forth. Also, many construction companies are not obtaining the profits they expect from the awarded projects. Therefore, a protocol to analyze profitability should be developed to understand the gaps between actual and estimated profit and the origins of loss of profit on construction projects. The purpose of this paper is to present a protocol for profitability analysis for the construction companies. The construction companies can utilize the protocol to identify relationships among entities of the cost and profit centers so that they can (1) recognize the changes in profit margins of projects, (2) improve their overall profitability by eliminating problems from the relationships that affect prospective projects, and (3) be selective of more profitable projects in the bidding phase. This paper applies the developed protocol to three construction projects executed by a midsize construction company with a functional organizational structure.

By the end of 2010, the Government of Indonesia (GoI) issued a new regulation on government guarantee provision to protect project sponsors from government-related project risks in public–private partnered (PPP) infrastructure development. Whereas the provision of guarantees can help improve the creditworthiness of PPP projects, it also may expose the GoI to considerable fiscal risk as a result of contingent liabilities the GoI incurs when providing guarantees. This requires a systematic contingent liability analysis to understand the full extent of their exposures. The present paper discusses simple and operational methodologies of quantifying payments of guarantees given to PPP toll road projects to protect project sponsors from skyrocketing costs of acquiring land, delays in scheduled toll adjustment, and compensation payments in case of nationalization. The paper also includes extensive modeling of key project risks, i.e., land cost escalation, initial traffic volume, inflation rates, toll adjustment delays, and a nationalization event. The methodologies are tested on a case study of a PPP toll road project in Indonesia implemented under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) arrangement to demonstrate its application. A Monte Carlo–based simulation is performed to estimate two measures of exposures that are the expected and excess payment of each guarantee. Although the discussion is framed within the context of a specific sector and country, the methodologies offered herein can be adopted to other countries and sectors facing similar problems.

Aggregate blending is a process that blends available aggregates to create a blend that meets gradation specifications while minimizing the unit cost of the blend. Today’s aggregate blending process is a multiobjective optimization problem that involves not only minimizing cost but also satisfying other specifications of the blend, such as fineness modulus, plasticity index, and specific gravity. Gradation limits are usually expressed in terms of the range of the percentage passing each sieve. In the traditional approach, rigid values are used for the gradation limits, and as a result, gradation and other specifications are frequently met at the limits during optimization, which is not particularly desirable. This paper proposes an approach for aggregate blending using fuzzy optimization method. The approach selects the best mix of aggregates such that not only are the individual gradation specifications met within the specification limits, but also their desirability within each range is satisfied as much as possible. In the proposed model, functions that represent the decision maker’s satisfaction with respect to the blend’s unit cost and physical properties are introduced. The proposed model is compared with two traditional optimization models using the example data found in two previous models. The results show that the proposed approach is useful for real-world application as it is robust in terms of its ability to deal with many constraints and objectives, the practitioner’s uncertainty about the limits of the specification ranges, and the desire to achieve different objectives.

Performing highway construction operations during nighttime hours has emerged as a response to traffic congestions caused by daytime lane closures. Work zone conditions at night may be different from those during the day, and nighttime factors that affect project metrics (i.e., safety, quality, and productivity) should be carefully considered during the planning of nighttime projects. Currently, there is no methodology for quantifying the effects of nighttime factors on the productivity of construction operations. The objective of this study therefore is to create such a methodology, specifically for asphalt paving projects, focusing on visibility, personnel fatigue, and glare. The methodology is demonstrated using an example case. First, nighttime qualitative (subjective) factors affecting the productivity of asphalt paving operations are identified. A productivity index (PI) is then estimated to account for these factors. The PI value is subsequently used to modify the baseline productivity simulated by a discrete event model of a paving operation, and is then compared with the actual productivity of the case study project. The analysis indicates that the productivity of the asphalt paving operation in the case study can be predicted within an acceptable accuracy range, implying that the calculated nighttime PI can adequately capture the effects of nighttime factors. Quantification of the effects of nighttime factors could help practitioners understand the extent of these effects on their projects. Because nighttime operations are usually more expensive—attributable to overtime payments, night premium payments, lighting expenses, and costs associated with enhanced traffic control—a better estimate of productivity during the early stages of the project, and accounting for the effects of nighttime factors, could lead to better planning and result in cost savings.

This paper discusses the use of public–private partnership (PPP) contracts in the school sector. With this purpose, four Portuguese case studies are carefully examined. The authors argue that the lessons provided by the literature are not being implemented by public authorities. In fact, while crafting these new governance structures, local governments seem to fail in protecting the public interest. To cope with this state of affairs, the authors draw a risk management strategy and advocate several contract management guidelines. The authors’ findings suggest that increasing transparency in procurement procedures and fostering the standardization of the tender documents and contractual clauses are absolute requirements in achieving value for money. Albeit these best practices are now beginning to be prevalent among academics and practitioners, local decision makers still strive to cope with the complex process of handling the whole life-cycle management of PPP arrangements.

Despite its importance, performance measurement of supply chains of house building firms has not received much attention yet in academic literature. The objective of this study is to develop a framework to measure this performance. In a first step, a comprehensive framework is developed composed of five primary perspectives on the performance of supply chains in house building (i.e., financial, customer, internal business, external business, and innovation) with 35 corresponding performance indicators. In the second step, the practical value of the proposed supply chain performance indicators is evaluated on its level of clarity, measurability, and relative importance based on the feedback of senior purchasing managers of construction firms active in house building. The evaluation shows that the framework and its intended use are highly supported by these managers. In the final step, the management team of a medium-sized construction firm active in house building used the framework to assess the firm supply chain performance relative to their competitors. It was concluded that the tool was easily filled in and very helpful for gaining insights in the supply chain performance of the firm.