Journal of Construction Engineering and Management

Lateral buckling of unbraced beams during construction may be an important cause of fatalities and injuries. Temporary bracing to restrict lateral buckling is a potential preventive approach, but has received little study. Lateral acceleration, lateral displacement, and rotation of wood composite I-joists were measured under different bracing conditions while participants traversed the joists. Five different bracing stiffnesses and two different bracing placements were examined. Lateral displacement and rotation increased near the midspan of the joist, while acceleration remained consistent. Greater lateral displacement and rotation were found with increasing participant weight and lack of construction experience. Construction experience was found to be a significant factor in the amount of joist motion. A safety platform similar to the testing methods discussed may have potential as a training tool to expose workers to partially braced joists. The relationship of lateral displacement and rotation with bracing stiffness was nonlinear. Bracing placement had little effect upon lateral displacement and rotation. Increased bracing stiffness reduced lateral displacement and rotation at a decreasing rate, indicating that bracing stiffness can be optimized to reduce cost.

There is a need for better involving stakeholders in the development of sustainable civil infrastructure systems and for incorporating their input in the decision-making process. In this paper, we present a new model for analyzing the sustainability of infrastructure project alternatives from a stakeholder-centric perspective: the stakeholder-sensitive, social welfare–oriented sustainability benefit analysis model (${\mathrm{S}}^3$ Model). The model evaluates infrastructure project alternatives based on a proposed sustainable construction social welfare function (SC-SWF). The SC-SWF is a measure of the collective social, environmental, and economic benefits to all stakeholders. It can help identify project solutions that offer social (group) welfare based on the social, environmental, and economic benefits to individual stakeholders. The theoretical foundation of the proposed SC-SWF is grounded in the areas of social choice theory and social welfare theory. The proposed model and its practical application are illustrated through a hypothetical case study. This research contributes to the body of knowledge by advancing the knowledge in the area of social welfare theory and the fundamental research in infrastructure system decision theory. The proposed analysis may guide infrastructure system decision making and may lead to better understanding of how to plan and design infrastructure systems in a way that maximizes the collective social, environmental, and economic benefits to stakeholders.

Government-pay and user-pay public-private partnership (P3) systems have been employed as the main conduits for channelling private capital to finance the provision of public services throughout the world. In efficiency terms, they are suited to different types of projects. This paper develops a model to illuminate the condition under which one route would perform better than the other. If both of them are instituted into law, governance alignment should emerge in the long run. However, in Taiwan government-pay P3 systems are not a lawful route, forcing the government to employ user-pay P3 systems regardless of project types. This gives researchers an unusual opportunity to examine what would happen as a result of an inappropriate choice of P3 models. This paper makes a theoretical innovation in the identification of a conflict of interest indicator as an attribute for differentiating the relative efficacy of two types of P3 systems. This result sheds light on the way value for money assessment should be conducted for user-pay P3 projects.

International construction projects invariably involve political risks. This has been a persistent and pernicious problem encountered by international contractors. Various sets of variables have been suggested in the literature focusing on different aspects of political risk management (PRM) for international construction enterprises (ICEs). It is crucial to identify the relative importance and groupings of these variables. This paper aims to identify critical variables associated with PRM in international construction projects, and to analyze their rankings and underlying relationships. A total of 17 variables were identified through a literature review and consolidated by pilot studies with professionals in the international construction industry. Questionnaire instruments containing the 17 variables were sent out to the practitioners and academics, and 138 completed questionnaires were received. The top five ranked variables for PRM were (1) relationship with governments, (2) misconduct of contractors, (3) experiential knowledge of political risks, (4) relations with power groups, and (5) localization. Factor analysis was used as the data reduction tool and these 17 variables were further grouped into four resource dimensions, as follows: (1) relations, experience, acceptance, and localization; (2) recourse, organization, operation, and technology; (3) growth, ownership, leverage, and diversification; and (4) sustainability, opportunity, integration, and long-term. A management framework with both theoretical and practical meanings was finally developed for successful PRM in international construction projects. The findings would help the ICEs to clarify the highly prioritized variables and underlying factors which could be used as an assessment tool to evaluate the performance of PRM. Successful PRM would provide competitive advantages for the ICEs to survive and prosper in the host construction market, especially in those locations characterized by highly political risks.

Each participant in a building construction project requires a dedicated work space in which to execute their activities. In this environment, inappropriate work-space planning in a construction site causes work-space problems, which results in a loss of productivity, safety hazards, and issues of poor quality. Therefore, the work space should be considered one of the most important resources and constraints to manage at a construction site. However, current construction planning techniques have proven to be insufficient for work-space planning because they do not account for the spatial feature of each activity. To establish a formalized work-space planning process, therefore, this paper categorizes work space by its function and movability and suggests a framework for a work-space planning process that contains five phases, including 4D building information model (BIM) generation, work-space requirement identification, work-space occupation representation, work-space problem identification, and work-space problem resolution. The proposed framework in this paper can improve the accuracy of work-space status representation and work-space problem identification by introducing the work-space occupation concept and the integrated work-space planning process that considers characteristics of activity, work space, and construction plan. In addition, this paper aims to ameliorate the work-space planning process through path analysis and a formalized work-space problem resolution process. To validate the proposed approach, a case project was tested. The result shows the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed framework on improving the work-space planning process. Based on the result of this study, a project manager will be able to prevent possible work-space problems and their negative effects on project performance by devising a pertinent work-space plan during the preconstruction phase.

Construction professionals can experience high levels of occupational stress, leading to psychological, physiological, and sociological strain effects and with sufferers adopting different coping mechanisms to mitigate their condition. An online opinion survey gathered data, including self-assessments of stress, from 676 architects, civil engineers, quantity surveyors, and project and construction managers in South Africa. Based on correlation and regression analysis of the response data, an integrated conceptual trial model of occupational stress was proposed. This model, comprising demographic factors, job demand, control and support factors, harassment and discrimination at work, organizational climate, and psychological, physiological, and sociological strain effects, posited substance use as the terminal consequence of job stress. Structural equation modeling was then used to test the conceptual model. The results indicate that (1) the terminal consequence of occupational stress is not substance use but rather psychological, physiological, and sociological strain effects; (2) organizational climate is largely determined by gender, job demand, and control and support factors; (3) age, gender, level of job control, and organizational climate are significant predictors of discrimination; (4) psychological strain is significantly predicted by age, job demand, and job control factors, and by organizational climate; (5) sociological strain is determined by age, job demands, discrimination, and psychological strain; and (6) age, and sociological and psychological strain effects, behave as significant predictors of physiological stress effects. As mitigation strategies for occupational stress, employers should first target primary prevention measures by conducting regular reviews of work scheduling requirements and workload allocations. They should empower employees with greater job control, and foster a more supportive work environment. Secondary measures to address organizational impacts would include undertaking employee stress appraisals and holding stress management workshops. The workplace needs of female construction professionals need particular attention.

The parameters of finance requirements, resource leveling, and anticipated profit have significant influence on many aspects of project management. These parameters interact and occasionally conflict with each other. Accordingly, achievement of a balance between these three parameters is crucial to ensure the accomplishment of project objectives. A multi-objective multimode scheduling optimization algorithm is proposed to establish the optimal trade-off between these three parameters. The strength Pareto evolutionary algorithm (SPEA) was implemented to obtain the solutions comprising the Pareto-optimal trade-off. The developed SPEA was validated by reproducing identical results of a time/cost trade-off problem in the literature. The developed SPEA was used to obtain the Pareto-optimal trade-off of a network of nine multimode activities that comprised fifty solutions. The trade-off of fifty solutions allows decision makers explore the impact of finance upon the efficiency of resource utilization and anticipated profit and thus select the solution that achieves the desired balance between the parameters. In addition, a fuzzy-based technique was used to identify the best compromise solution of the fifty solutions. The results proved the robustness and scalability of the developed algorithm. Finally, the finance-resource-profit trade-off offers potential solutions of maximized anticipated profit.

Rework in construction development projects can significantly degrade project cost and schedule performance. Previous research has shown that in a typical construction development project, rework in the construction phase could increase construction cost by up to 12.4% of the contract price. In large, complex projects, undiscovered rework in the design phase can induce rework in the construction phase, thus increasing project cost. The time when rework is discovered during the project development process affects the magnitude of the impact of rework on overall project performance. However, available knowledge is not always successful in improving project managers’ understanding of the feedback mechanisms that drive undiscovered rework impacts on project performance, specifically the interaction between different phases during the developing process. The current work uses a system dynamics model of a two-phase project development cycle to identify high leverage points for minimizing the impacts of rework and ripple effects on project development performance. The work contributes to the existing body of knowledge by providing a structured feedback description of how design undiscovered rework combines with ripple effects to impact project performance in both the design and construction phases, as well as evaluating possible solutions to the problem. Model analysis suggests that failing to discover rework near its creation in the project development process can magnify the impact of rework on project performance.

Although research has been done to investigate construction safety and its importance, most has focused on construction organizations and workplace safety. There is still a need to investigate this issue by looking at stakeholders higher in the supply chain, particularly the ones who have the economic power to facilitate safety implementation. As such, this research has investigated the roles of construction clients on influencing safety performance. Data were collected using questionnaire surveys from employees working in small and medium construction projects in Australia. The findings of the research have not only confirmed the importance of clients in implementing safety, but also determined specific client roles that influence the development of safety climate in construction projects. It is recommended that clients should focus on the following six safety roles: participate in site-based safety program; review and analyze safety data; appoint safety team; select safe contractors; specify how safety is to be addressed in tenders; and perform regular checks on plant/equipment. Some clients may not consider safety as important as other traditional objectives, such as time, cost, environment, and quality. As such, they need to recognize the economic benefit of safety, thus becoming willing and committed to integrating safety into day-to-day business decisions.

Understanding relationships between causes of and vulnerabilities to corruption are essential in corruption research in construction because it addresses the fundamental issues of the widespread corruption in the public construction sector. Through an empirical survey, this study aims to investigate effects of the two causes of corruption, the flawed regulation systems and lack of a positive industrial climate, on five various kinds of corrupt vulnerabilities in China. The data were collected from officials, practitioners, and academics involved in the Chinese public construction sector, and then analyzed by factor analysis and partial least-squares structural equation modeling. The analysis results suggest that the flawed regulation systems have a higher influence on corruption vulnerabilities than the lack of a positive industrial climate. The results also indicate that the most influential item on the flawed regulation systems is negative leader roles, followed by inadequate sanctions, lack of rigorous supervision, and multifarious licenses and permits. The most influential item on the lack of a positive industrial climate is interpersonal connections, followed by overclose relationships among contracting parties, great project complexity, and poor professional ethical standards. Based on these research findings, this study contributes to knowledge by validating the theoretical hypothesis in China. Finally, recommendations for future practice and research are provided in this study.

The optimal method of preventing occupational illnesses, injuries, and fatalities is to design out the hazards and risks, thereby eliminating the need to control them during work operations. In 2007, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health launched a national Prevention through Design (PtD) initiative calling on all major industrial sectors to emphasize hazard mitigation at the design stage. PtD applies to the design of all tools, equipment, materials, and work processes that are employed during the construction process. This article reviews the asphalt roofing health hazards and currently available design solutions for their control and identifies gaps and priorities for further research. PtD solutions such as tanker systems, insulated hot luggers, mechanical asphalt spreaders, fume-suppressing asphalt, and local exhaust ventilation systems are discussed in terms of effectiveness and availability.