PurposeWe explore the design risk factors and associated managerial practices driving collaborative risk management for design efficacy in green building projects. By illuminating project design risk as an important project risk category in its own right, the study contributes to our understanding of optimising design efficacies for collaborative project risk management.Design/methodology/approachThe study comprises exploratory interviews conducted with 27 industry project practitioners involved in the design and delivery/implementation of Green Star-certified building projects in South Africa.FindingsThe findings discursively highlight seven sources of design risk. We also identify seven specific collaborative risk management practices for design efficacy emerging from a consideration of how risk environments vary in the Green Star-certified projects, each with its own project design risk implications.Originality/valueThe study advances our understanding of how collaborations emerging from particular relational yet context-specific practices can be optimised to strengthen project risk management.

This study introduces a novel bibliometric model to enhance the integration and application of interdisciplinary theories in construction project management (CPM), focusing on sustainability. Utilizing bibliometric methods and tools such as VOSviewer, the research systematically identifies and maps interdisciplinary intersections in CPM. Grounded in pragmatism, the study emphasizes practical applications of theoretical insights and diverse perspectives to address real-world problems. The analysis highlights dominant sources like Sustainability Switzerland and Energies, and leading institutions such as Delft University of Technology and University of Johannesburg, which contribute significantly to sustainable construction literature. Prolific authors including Wang N., Aranda-Usón A., and Yuan J. frequently employ theories like Governmentality Theory, Lean Theory, and Ecological Modernisation Theory, demonstrating their impact on advancing theoretical and practical knowledge. The findings reveal a reliance on established theories to address sustainability issues and underscore the need for more structured theoretical approaches in future research. Despite notable contributions, there is a gap in the systematic application of theoretical frameworks, necessitating a rigorous theoretical foundation for empirical investigations. A thematic analysis of 41 documents showcases the varied application of theoretical frameworks and their implications for transdisciplinary research. The results highlight the importance of theory in providing structured frameworks for analysis, fostering interdisciplinary integration, and enhancing predictive power. The study advocates for promoting theory-driven research, developing comprehensive theoretical models, and enhancing bibliometric tools for 'co-theory' analysis. These steps aim to foster innovative solutions and sustainable practices in construction, ensuring theoretical advancements effectively contribute to sustainable development goals. This research underscores the critical role of theory in addressing the complex challenges of sustainable CPM.

Introduced in 2019, South Africa's carbon tax imposes escalating financial penalties on companies exceeding emissions limits, reaching up to six billion rand annually. This study examines the perceived competencies of Construction Project Managers (CPMs) in green retrofitting against standards set by the Council for the Built Environment (CBE) and the South African Council for the Project and Construction Management Professions (SACPCMP) and develops Cognitive Competency Theory (CCT), testing its tenets in reality. The research employs qualitative methods, interviewing thirteen experienced CPMs in green refurbishment. Findings reveal that CPMs are pivotal in balancing carbon tax demands and advancing sustainable development. However, they often lack a full understanding of their role in environmental protection and compliance with carbon tax regulations. The study concludes that while CPMs are essential in navigating the complexities of green retrofitting, there is a need for future research to explore the evolving role of CPMs in relation to regulatory pressures and industry standards. The Centre for the Built Environment emphasises that CPMs must possess competencies across various stages of project development, but sustainability competencies are not yet standardised in the industry.

Claims in the construction sector result from, but not limited to, poor contract performance, delays, conflicts and force majeure. The use of Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) techniques are proposed in construction-related decision-making and prove advantageous in ensuring that claims management processes are effective. This paper provides an overview of existing MCDM techniques proposed for construction claims management. A narrative literature review is performed where Google Scholar and EBSCO host are used to identify relevant articles for the study and 49 articles were selected. From literature, some of the proposed techniques in construction claims management are AHP, ANN, NN, MAUT, SWOT, TOPSIS and VIKOR. Findings from the study indicate that the outdated nature of traditional standalone MCDM techniques has seen the use of hybridised models in construction-related decision-making more useful. Supplementing MCDM techniques with techniques such as BIM is rather relevant since BIM alone has the potential to reduce claims emerging from large construction projects.

The study appraises the features in the South African construction projects supply chain that are amenable to blockchain technology. An integrative review of purposively sampled extant literature from multidisciplinary databases: Web of Science, Science Direct, Scopus, Sage, Taylor and Francis, and Emerald Insight were adopted. Descriptors for literature search are “integrative review”, “black economic empowerment”, “building information modelling”, and “blockchain technology application in the South African construction sector”. The study is in a bid to determine the South African story regarding the adaptability of her infrastructure supply chain using blockchain technology. The study establishes the need for a paradigm shift where figments of science have become reality, and technology synthesis is the main driver. Thus, guaranteeing that technology preference is ideal and to the benefit of everyone. Results show that South Africa is willing to try new technologies including blockchain technology however; there is need for the human workforce and stakeholders within the construction sector to be trained to attain technical and personal skills capabilities. The study proposes the need to integrate blockchain technology concepts into the current education system, especially in developing countries.

Projects supply chain is overwhelmed with unethical practices. Managing construction projects supply chain, which is traditionally void of transparency, has led to issues of corruption, vested interest, clientelism, ghosting, bid rigging and poor professional ethical standards. The centralized nature of data management in the construction industry is characterized by the lack of visibility and transparency of details and this lack of visibility is a major cause of inefficiency in construction project delivery. The objective of the paper is to assess the indicators for adaptability of projects supply chain using blockchain technology. The article adopts a bibliometrix strategy to extract qualitative data from existing peer-reviewed articles. The research design is a combination of different approaches, including bibliometric and visualization, bibliometric and content analysis, as well as bibliometric, visualization and content analysis. Data was obtained from articles indexed on SCOPUS and Web of Science. R-studio was used for data analysis, while VosViewer was used for visualization. The paper is a part of an on-going research. The research is exploratory and adopts a pragmatist approach. The research is expected to develop a framework that will introduce transparency and provenance in projects supply chain using blockchain technology. Findings from this review show that there are indicators for adaptability of construction projects supply chain using blockchain.

PurposeCritics of claims about building information modeling’s (BIM’s) capability to revolutionize construction industry practices describe it as overhyped, fallacious and therefore suggest that there is need for a more critical examination of its change impacts. Others have posited that the changes BIM induces are evolutionary rather than revolutionary. In this vein, the purpose of this paper was to undertake a careful analysis of the nature of such changes to distil actual changes that happened, and the type of agency that brings such changes about.Design/methodology/approachDrawing from appropriate qualitative research strategies, data was collected through key informant interviews from consulting organizations in South Africa that have implemented BIM within their organizations and on projects.FindingsChanges in organizations’ work practices were evident in their workflows, formal/informal methods of interaction, norms, leadership and authority structures, remuneration and the way work was conceived or conceptualized. Furthermore, changes in organizational work practices do not solely occur through the direct agency of the BIM tool’s implementation. Instead, BIM-induced change occurs by delegated, conditional and needs-based agency – which are not mutually exclusive.Originality/valueThe nature of changes in professional work practices could be misconstrued as being solely because of the actions of agents who actively participate in implementing BIM. The discussion in the literature has, therefore, been advanced from general to specific theoretical understandings of BIM-induced change, which emphasize the need for construction stakeholders to actively participate in developing the innovations that drive change in the industry rather than hand the power to drive change to BIM authoring and management application developers who have less stake in the industry.

The purpose of this study is to identify and model actants that influence the successful compilation and usage of economic feasibility studies. This study investigates the elements in the feasibility process and the expectations thereof, from the perspectives of property developers. These feasibilities were found to be inconsistent in content, neglected, lack standards, and creates confusion in practice, leading to unsustainable investment decisions. A systematic literature review was conducted in addition to 23 interviews with property developers in South Africa. The literature review maps an understanding of the components in the feasibility process and the nature and occurrence of feasibilities. Using the Actor-Network Theory (ANT) as an analytical framework along with the data from the review and interviews, this study found ten main categories of actants that influence the successful compilation and usage of these feasibilities: knowledge and level of expertise; external uncertainties; the developers’ perception of a successful feasibility; dependencies; various usages; the underlying meaning of feasibility studies to developers; the developers’ relationship with the QS and professional consulting team; the developer’s expectation of feasibility indicators; the impact the feasibility has on investment-decisions; and the process. Some of these categories are further unboxed. Feasibilities involves various actants that influence the success of the document, investment decision and construction project. With a deepening understanding of the actants in the feasibility process, the compilation and usage of economic feasibility studies, for private commercial developments where profitability is key, could be enhanced globally by: improved understanding, careful compilation and successful investment decision-making.

There is increasing adoption of framework contracts (FC) for construction project delivery in South Africa, but it is not yet clear what the performance of the approach is in accomplishing client's expected outcomes of projects being delivered on time, within budget and to required quality and satisfaction. In this study, the performance of FC and the variables that influences the performance is investigated empirically. A qualitative research methodology was adopted for the study. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews with key informants of eight purposively selected client organizations employing FC in South Africa. From the findings, FC is indicated to have performed spectacularly in dealing with unnecessary cost overruns, time delays, and improvement in the quality of delivery. However, it was reported that the approach work best for repetitive works and when a client has the intention of a long-term programme of work. In which case, clients also have to take care to avoid complacency from the contractors. The results provide substantial evidence that FC can perform better than the conventional approaches to short-term relationships and contracts. The result of the study provides insights that can encourage construction stakeholders to appreciate and adopt FC as a viable alternative approach for construction project delivery.

There is increasing adoption of framework contracts (FC) for construction project delivery in South Africa, but it is not yet clear what the performance of the approach is in accomplishing client's expected outcomes of projects being delivered on time, within budget and to required quality and satisfaction. In this study, the performance of FC and the variables that influences the performance is investigated empirically. A qualitative research methodology was adopted for the study. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews with key informants of eight purposively selected client organizations employing FC in South Africa. From the findings, FC is indicated to have performed spectacularly in dealing with unnecessary cost overruns, time delays, and improvement in the quality of delivery. However, it was reported that the approach work best for repetitive works and when a client has the intention of a long-term programme of work. In which case, clients also have to take care to avoid complacency from the contractors. The results provide substantial evidence that FC can perform better than the conventional approaches of short-term relationships and contracts. The result of the study provides insights that can encourage construction stakeholders to appreciate and adopt FC as a viable alternative approach for construction project delivery. Keywords: Framework contracts, Performance, Performance variables, South Africa

This research looked at the barriers Higher Education Institutions face in changing their procurement practices. Since the South African Construction Industry tends to be laggard in terms of any change, the research assumed that barriers to procurement change would be linked to the barriers faced in the adoption of I4.0. These barriers would help determine the preparedness for I4.0 adoption. Qualitative research using semi-structured interviews was conducted with senior management in Facilities Management Departments in HEIs. Using thematic analysis, findings suggest that the identified barriers to I4.0 preparedness include lack of management buy in, slow pace of change, big data and human capital. It was concluded that a best value approach is a necessary prerequisite to any possible changes. A more proactive approach to change and a willingness to put learning and effort into understanding what change means/entails will result in a smoother change process for HEIs.

Recent critiques of the BIM literature describe it as largely devoid of critical theoretical perspectives and theorization capable of explaining the nature of change in work practices in a holistic manner. In response, the authors argue that, from a theoretical standpoint, implementing BIM within professional work practices (as activity systems) induces their evolution through dysfunctions created within the systems and their resolution. Cases of professional organizations in South Africa that have implemented BIM within their organization and in multi-organizational projects helped to develop new theoretical insights into how professional work practices evolve using activity theory-based re-description of the data. Changes in professional work practices were analyzed sequentially within the framework, confirming theoretical propositions and revealing the dynamics between and within the interconnected system of actors, their object, tools, rules guiding work, roles they assume and the stakeholders. Essentially, the findings imply that the implementation of BIM significantly changes work practices within organizations, but gradually and over time. This supports an evolutionary, rather than a radical or revolutionary, view of BIM-induced change. This theoretical perspective could explain future dimensions of change in professional work practices involving BIM, and indeed similar work mediating tools.

The construction industry is hazardous and dirty. Automation and robotics in construction (ARC) were introduced to execute tasks that are difficult for humans and to reduce the number of incidents on construction sites. This study discusses the advantages and the disadvantages of the use of ARC in the South African construction industry. A narrative literature review was conducted. Given that the construction industry is a wide concept, that includes amongst others; materials, processes and site activities, the study only considers the use of ARC as it relates to site activities in South Africa. In spite of the many advantages that ARC has to offer the South African construction industry, ARC is yet to be widely adopted in South Africa. ARC can potentially reduce the number of fatalities and improve efficiency and productivity on site. However, high costs of adoption and the loss of jobs are some of the factors that are hindering adoption. The construction industry in South Africa needs structural changes in order to benefit from the use of ARC. The results of the study will benefit stakeholders in the construction industry in South Africa, particularly construction companies and the government.

The construction industry is becoming increasingly complex, including the aspects that deal with communication. Subsequently, financial reports generated during the project delivery process are also becoming more complex and thus harder to comprehend. The purpose of this study to explore financial communication in quantity surveying practice, with a view to understanding their role, the financial communication emanating from them, guidelines for successful financial communication, and determining a reliable quality test for such financial communication. A systematic literature review was done on financial communication, readability tests for financial communication and financial communication in quantity surveying practice. The main limitation of the study is that it is based on a preliminary literature review. However results indicate certain requirements for accurate readability tests on financial communication including Plain English guidelines and the Gunning Fog Index test for textual components, while also taking standard construction terms into account, where there could be more than three syllables. The readability and legibility model has four main categories for optimisation of a document, each of which has elements that need perfecting in order to create transparent, efficient and effective financial communication. The implication of this research is that in the face of noted problems with financial communication from Quantity Surveyors, there is need to explore the quality of such information, and to determine the existence, if any, and the use of relevant quality assurance systems in their communication.

Construction projects are ambitious in terms of the complexity in its components, structures, design requirements, information flows, stakeholder integration and technological integration particularly in green building projects. As a consequence, management of these projects becomes increasingly integrated; however, risk management has taken little account of these interdisciplinary and iterative trends. This leads to poor risk management outcomes, where traditional risk management practices that rely on allocating risks to specific individual entities are not able to accommodate the collaborative facets. Experienced practitioners were interviewed regarding their current practices and techniques towards managing interdependent design tasks that resulted in inseparable collective risks. Prospective utilization of Dependency Structure Matrices (DSM) and its analysis of identifying the existence of these collaborative Design Risks among the clusters of designs are proposed as a solution in this paper. Since the paper is explorative in terms of the application of the DSM method on identifying and managing the collaborative risk management in green building design, conceptual frameworks are only proposed.

In response to the demands of implementing building information modeling (BIM), new roles and job titles have emerged. However, it can be argued that these roles fundamentally fall within the scope of the traditional functions of existing core professional service providers, although being carried out through different means and methods. This study examines the circumstances that have created the necessity for these new roles in the South African context and also questions the sustainability of their legitimacy. Data were collected using key informant interviews with construction professional service providers (CPSPs) in South Africa and analyzed through thematic content analysis. A deep conceptualization and new theoretical insight is developed on the phenomenon of new role creation and legitimation. It was established that new BIM role takers are legitimated to exercise authority within project teams and organizations mainly by leveraging superior knowledge as a strategic resource. By implication, they will remain legitimate only as long as the constraint prompting their creation subsists, i.e., core professionals' BIM knowledge deficiencies, thereby affirming that the new BIM roles are transitory and unsustainable. (C) 2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.

No AccessModeling and managing complex systemsNov 2015Identification of Process, Team and Tool Dependencies in Building Information Modelling (BIM) Implementation using Multi-Domain Mapping (MDM) – A Theoretical FrameworkYemi Akintola, Venkatachalam Senthilkumar, David S. RootYemi AkintolaSearch for more papers by this author, Venkatachalam SenthilkumarSearch for more papers by this author, David S. RootSearch for more papers by this authorhttps://doi.org/10.3139/9783446447264.007SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to FavoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsCopy LTI LinkPDF key 'share (en)' returned an object instead of string.FacebookTwitterEmailLinkedIn previous chapternext chapter FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails 2015Pages: 65-74Print ISBN: 978-3-446-44573-4eISBN: 978-3-446-44726-4 Copyright & Permissions© 2015 Carl Hanser Verlag GmbH & Co. KGPDF downloadLoading ...