Purpose Effective procurement of infrastructure is partly dependent on infrastructure procurement personnel having the skills that are important for the discharge of their role. Addressing the infrastructure deficits in developing countries, therefore, calls for an understanding of the skills that are important for the discharge of the roles of public personnel that are involved in infrastructure procurement. This study aims to investigate these skills from the perspective of public infrastructure procurement personnel in the sub-Saharan African region. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey of procurement personnel yielded 590 useable responses, which were analysed using t-tests and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Findings EFA established eight key components of important infrastructure procurement skills to include skills related to: project success factors; social and environmental sustainability; marketing and e-procurement; project phase management, the application of procurement laws and procedures; soft skills, ICT and communication; and data analysis and team building. Originality/value The findings are crucial in developing infrastructure procurement capacity building programmes that would be appropriate for infrastructure procurement personnel in developing country contexts. Infrastructure procurement personnel ought to engage more in capacity development training that is aligned to enhancing skills within the eight components.

Purpose Multilateral aid agencies generate most of their funds from taxpayers, and therefore, it is necessary to ensure that recipients or borrowers use the funds for the intended purposes. The World Bank is one of the major multilateral aid agencies that fund infrastructure projects in developing countries. Like other multilateral aid agencies, the World Bank uses oversight instruments/auditing tools to manage procurement risk on their funded projects. However, empirical insight about the effectiveness of these auditing tools is limited. This paper aims to assess the effectiveness of one of such multilateral aid agencies’ auditing tools (i.e. World Bank’s procurement post review [PPR]) in procurement risk mitigation on funded projects in a developing country context. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on secondary data obtained from the World Bank PPR reports carried out in the 2014, 2015 and 2016 financial years. Five projects with the highest loan amounts and five with the lowest loan amounts for the three-year period were selected from the 24 active World Bank projects during the time of the study. A purposive sampling technique was used to select a representative sample from a list of contracts under the 10 projects. Findings The results of the analysis showed a clear decline in the number of both major and minor deviations over the three-year period while an increase in the number of contracts with “No Deviation”. The study therefore concludes that procurement risk experienced a decline amongst the World Bank projects in Ghana where post reviews were carried out on yearly basis. Originality/value The study identifies the need for more frequent PPR and makes a case for the need to investigate whether PPR is a superior auditing tool compared to the other tools.

Purpose This study presents a fuzzy synthetic evaluation of the challenges of smart city realisation in developing countries, using Nigeria as a case study. By defining and delineating the problems faced by the country, more viable directions to attaining smart city development can be achieved. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a post-positivist philosophical stance with a deductive approach. A structured questionnaire was used to gather data from built environment professionals involved in the delivery of Nigerian public infrastructures. Six dimensions of the challenges of smart cities were identified from literature and explored. They are governance, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal issues. Data gathered were analysed using Cronbach alpha test for reliability, Shapiro-Wilks test for normality, Kruskal-Wallis H-test for consistency and fuzzy synthetic evaluation test for the synthetic evaluation of the challenges of smart city attainment. Findings The findings revealed that all six assessed dimensions have a significant impact on the attainment of smart cities in Nigeria. More specifically, issues relating to environmental, technological, social and legal challenges are more prominent. Originality/value The fuzzy synthetic approach adopted provides a clear, practical insight on the issues that need to be addressed before the smart city development can be attained within developing countries.

Recent studies have established that an ageing population is the most prevalent problem for healthcare provision. Thus, the design of care facilities must ensure better support for the needs of the elderly population. One of the areas of innovation in this field is participatory design where views of end-users are sought during the design process. However, the current approaches to participatory design in the built environment are challenging because of reliance on single interface methods based on 2D and 3D visualisation or communication of design information. In this study, a prototype virtual reality (VR) application was developed and experimented with elderly care experts (n = 7) to ascertain the usefulness of the methodology for capturing elderly user requirements during building design specifically for elderly care scenarios. Findings indicate that VR can improve design communications and user engagement in the process; however, there remain safety issues that hamper the full deployment of a fully immersive VR application for elderly participants.

Purpose Effective procurement of infrastructure is linked to the attainment of the sustainable development goals set by the United Nations. While the capacity of organisations is generally thought to be related to organisational performance, there is a lack of empirical insights concerning the contribution of procurement capacity of public organisations towards the attainment of procurement objectives in infrastructure procurement. Thus, it is unclear which aspects of the capacity of public procurement organisations contribute the most to the attainment of procurement objectives in the procurement of infrastructure. This research sought to address this gap. Design/methodology/approach The research used a survey of public procurement professionals which yielded 590 responses. Findings Exploratory factor analysis of 23 organisational capacity items revealed three components of organisational procurement capacity: "management of the procurement process"; "human and physical resources"; and "financial resources and management". Multiple regression modelling of the relationship between the components and the attainment of 12 procurement objectives further reveals that there is a significant positive relationship between the three components and all the objectives. However, "management of the procurement process" emerged as the greatest contributor to the attainment of seven objectives, whereas "human and physical resources", and "financial resources and management" were the greatest contributor to the attainment of one objective and four objectives, respectively. Originality/value The study provides strong empirical justification for investment in the development of procurement capacity of public agencies involved in procurement of infrastructure. Furthermore, procurement capacity development of specific capacity components can be prioritised based on the relative contribution of capacity components to the attainment of desired procurement objectives. This should be useful to government policymakers as well as multilateral organisations that fund infrastructure and procurement reforms in various countries.

Purpose Work on construction sites involves individuals with diverse character, temperament,age, physical strength, culture, religion and experience level. A good number of these individuals are also alleged to involve themselves in substance and alcohol abuse due to the physically demanding nature of their work. These could promote the prevalence of violence on construction sites which could in turn affect safety on construction sites. However, there is a lack of empirical insight into the effect of violent behaviour and unsafe behaviour on construction sites. This study therefore pioneers an empirical inquiry into the relationship between violent behaviour and unsafe behaviour on construction sites. Design/methodology/approach Seventeen violent behaviours and 15 unsafe behaviours were measured on 12 construction sites among 305 respondents using a structured questionnaire. A total of 207 valid questionnaire responses were collected from site workers. Partial least square–structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique was used to examine the relationship between violent behaviour and unsafe behaviour. Findings The results indicate that there is a significant positive relationship between violent behaviour and unsafe behaviour on construction sites. Originality/value The findings from this study provide valuable insight into a less investigated dimension of the problem of construction site safety management. A focus on attitudinal issues such as how workers relate toward others and toward self should be an important consideration in safety improvement interventions on construction sites.

13 While several measures have been suggested to address unethical practices within the built 14 environment, it remains unclear whether some stakeholders are more able to influence improvement 15 in unethical practices than others, and if so whether such phenomenon manifests similarly or 16 differently in different national contexts. This study pioneers the exploration of: whether different 17 built environment profession stakeholders (i.e. the practitioner/individual professional, the 18 practitioner’s organization/company, and the professional body/association) have different abilities to 19 influence improvement (i.e. positive change) in unethical practices; and subsequently whether such 20 phenomenon manifests differently in different national contexts. The study used cross-sectional 21 surveys of built environment surveying professionals in three countries: Ghana, Nigeria and Tanzania. 22 The findings revealed that there are significant differences in the abilities of stakeholders to influence 23 improvement in unethical practices like political interference, and discrimination and nepotism. The 24 findings further revealed that differences in stakeholder ability to influence improvement in unethical 25 practices can manifest differently in different national contexts. The implication is that, in different 26 national contexts, specific stakeholders could play a leading role in efforts to address unethical 27 practices in which they are more capable of influencing improvement. 28 29

While several measures have been suggested to address unethical practices within the built environment, it remains unclear whether some stakeholders are more able to influence improvement in unethical practices than others, and if so whether such phenomenon manifests similarly or differently in different national contexts. This study pioneers the exploration of whether different built environment profession stakeholders (i.e., the practitioner/individual professional, the practitioner's organization/company, and the professional body/association) have different abilities to influence improvement (i.e., positive change) in unethical practices, and subsequently whether such phenomenon manifests differently in different national contexts. The study used cross-sectional surveys of built environment surveying professionals in three countries: Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania. The findings revealed that there are significant differences in the abilities of stakeholders to influence improvement in unethical practices like political interference, discrimination, and nepotism. The findings further revealed that differences in stakeholder ability to influence improvement in unethical practices can manifest differently in different national contexts. The implication is that, in different national contexts, specific stakeholders could play a leading role in efforts to address unethical practices in which they are more capable of influencing improvement.

Purpose - The achievement of sustainable development goals is linked to the procurement of public infrastructure in a manner that meets key procurement objectives, such as sustainability, value-for-money, transparency and accountability. At the heart of achieving these procurement objectives and others is the capacity of public procurement institutions. Whereas previous reports have hinted that there are deficiencies in procurement capacity in Nigeria, insights regarding critical aspects of organisational capacity deficiencies among different tiers of government agencies is limited. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the critical gaps in the procurement capacity of state and local government agencies involved in the procurement of public infrastructure in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach - The study employed a survey of public infrastructure procurement personnel which yielded 288 responses. Findings - Among 23 operationalised items that are related to organisational procurement capacity, none is perceived to be adequate by the procurement personnel. Additionally, among 14 procurement objectives only 1 is perceived as being attained to at least a high extent. Originality/value - The findings underscore the acuteness of organisational procurement capacity weaknesses among public procurement institutions within Nigeria's governance structure. It is, thus, imperative for policy makers within state and local government to formulate, resource and implement procurement capacity building initiatives/programmes to address these deficiencies. Additionally, the organisational procurement capacity items operationalised in this study could serve as a useful blueprint for studying capacity deficiencies among public infrastructure procurement agencies in other developing countries, especially within sub-Saharan Africa where several countries have been implementing public procurement reforms.

The construction industry in Ghana is bursting with speculations and pieces of information that suggest that certain contracts are awarded on basis other than merits of a proposed bid and the competitiveness of cost. Undoubtedly, this unethical practice is amongst the most prominent challenges facing the construction industry in Ghana and many other developing countries. Literature is not lacking on measures to tackle this unethical practice, but what remains unclear is which professional stakeholder group is best positioned to lead efforts to change the situation. This paper reports a survey conducted into the extent to which key stakeholder groups of the Ghanaian built environment surveying profession (i.e. professionals; their organisations; and professional body) can influence improvement in unethical practices associated with preferential allocation of construction contracts in Ghana. On the four unethical practices considered, the results showed survey professionals perceived themselves to have greater influence in helping to curb the practice of collusion. On bribery, they perceived similar levels of influence as their organisations. The professional, his or her organisation and professional body were perceived to have similar influence in helping to curb discrimination and nepotisms whiles political influence was perceived to be best tackled by the professional’s organisation and the professional body. Results from this study provides information to begin a bigger conversation on how to curb unethical practices associated with the problem of preferential allocation of construction contracts in Ghana’s construction industry. Obviously, this conversation cannot be had without taking into consideration the roles various stakeholder groups can and should be playing in efforts to deal with the problem.

Purpose Public procurement capacity is composed of three facets: individual, organisational and an enabling national environment which encapsulates national legislation, policies and institutional arrangements that can facilitate or hamper the effectiveness of procurement. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which procurement capacity challenges in the national environment affect the effectiveness of infrastructure procurement by public agencies in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach A total of 30 procurement capacity challenges drawn from literature were operationalized in a survey of infrastructure procurement personnel in different tiers of public agencies (i.e. local and state government) in order to ascertain the critical challenges affecting the effectiveness of infrastructure procurement. The survey yielded 288 responses, which were analysed using descriptive statistics, one-sample t-test and independent-samples t-test. Findings Challenges related to transparency, integrity and accountability are amongst the topmost challenges adversely affecting the effectiveness of public infrastructure procurement. There is limited difference in the extent to which the challenges affect the effectiveness of infrastructure procurement in different tiers of public agencies in Nigeria. Originality/value Whilst various procurement capacity challenges have been identified in the extent literature, this study has shown that an assessment of their effect on the effectiveness of infrastructure procurement could reveal valuable insights regarding the status of public infrastructure procurement within a country, particularly countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and other developing regions where there is acute infrastructure deficits. Such insights could inform appropriate infrastructure procurement reforms by policy makers, procurement entities and infrastructure funders.

Purpose Procurement of public infrastructure that is fit for purpose partly depends on the competencies of procurement personnel. In many developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, there is a deficit in the quantity and quality of infrastructure and their procurement is further riddled with deficiencies in the capacity of public procuring entities. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the critical skills development needs of public personnel involved in the procurement of infrastructure in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach Based on a quantitative research strategy, this study sought to address the knowledge gap through a survey of public infrastructure procurement personnel (n = 288) in different tiers of government (i.e. state and local government) and geopolitical contexts (north and south) in Nigeria. Findings Of the 45 procurement skill areas operationalised, there is need for further development in 38 of them including: computing/ICT; problem-solving; communication; decision-making; health and safety management; quality management; relationship management; team building; project monitoring and evaluation; time management and procurement planning. Originality/value A key implication of this study is for policymakers in state and local government to formulate and implement infrastructure procurement capacity development reforms that address the competency gaps of procurement personnel. Such reforms need to take into account the suitable methods for developing procurement competencies. Additionally, the procurement skill areas operationalised in this capacity assessment study could serve as a useful blueprint for studying capacity deficiencies amongst public infrastructure procurement personnel in other developing countries.

Purpose - Quality of life (QoL) for elderly residents of care and attention (C&A) homes has become an important consideration, given the increasingly aging population. Due to the number of hours such residents spend indoors, the quality of the facilities can contribute to their day-to-day QoL. This study aims to investigate the effect of facilities management (FM) on the QoL of Chinese elderly people living in C&A homes.Design/methodology/approach - A survey of perceived satisfaction with the components of FM and QoL was carried out with a sample of residents. Atotal of 18 FM components and five QoL domains, including physical health, independence, psychological health, social relationships and living environment, as well as overall QoL, were identified.Findings - The findings show that physical health is influenced by accessibility, doors and windows and signage; independence can be improved by enhancing accessibility, water supply, lighting and ventilation; accessibility, water supply, distance and doors and windows all predict psychological health; social relationships are improved by lighting and ventilation; distance impacts positively on the living environment; and overall QoL is predicted by lighting, ventilation, accessibility, doors and windows, handrails, recreation and signage.Originality/value - The study recommends that designers and facilities managers review the micro-climate settings to harness available natural lighting and ventilation, introduce bimetallic strips to the heating systems to maintain a suitable water temperature and install large, easy- to-understand and graphic signage for straightforward way finding in C&A homes.

Construction workers (CWs) are usually exposed to various job-related hazards while working on construction sites, especially when there is a lack of appropriate equipment, working without support, or being forced to work quickly. All these can induce serious stress and lead to dangerous situations at work. Hence, to prevent CWs from injury, this study sets out to investigate the relationships between job stressors, stress, safety behavior, and accidents. A survey of CWs was carried out using statistical tools to analyze the data. Five job stressors, two different types of stress, and safety behavior among CWs were identified using factor analysis. The results of the correlation and regression analyses showed that (1) physical stress is predicted by job certainty, co-worker support, and safety equipment, while psychological stress is predicted by both supervisor support and job certainty; (2) supervisor support and physical stress predict safety behavior; and (3) the risk of accidents can be reduced by safety behavior, whereas a high level of job control increases it. Finally, several recommendations are made, including on-the-job training, stress-reduction programs, and appropriate employment policies, to enhance safety behavior and decrease the number of accidents on construction sites. This paper provides empirical support to and extends some accident-causation theories, and sets a base for further study regarding stress management for Hong Kong's construction participants working in Mainland China. (C) 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Purpose Given the aging population and resulting increase in the demand for residential care and attention (C & A) homes in Hong Kong, the government has allotted funds to provide better care services for the elderly. However, such appropriation seems to have focused on creating additional places, rather than improving the quality of services. The elderly may face risks if they are not provided with proper facilities to assist with activities of daily living (ADL), while those suffering from various diseases may be at even greater risk. In order to mitigate such risk and hence enhance the quality of facility management (FM), this paper aims to identify the major components of FM in C & A homes and investigate the relationships between these components and the risks and diseases facing elderly residents.

Sustainable material selection represents an important strategy in building design. Current building materials selection methods fail to provide adequate solutions for two major issues: assessment based on sustainability principles, and the process of prioritizing and assigning weights to relevant assessment criteria. This paper proposes a building material selection model based on the fuzzy extended analytical hierarchy process (FEAHP) techniques, with a view to providing solutions for these two issues. Assessment criteria are identified based on sustainable triple bottom line (TBL) approach and the need of building stakeholders. A questionnaire survey of building experts is conducted to assess the relative importance of the criteria and aggregate them into six independent assessment factors. The FEAHP is used to prioritize and assign important weightings for the identified criteria. A numerical example, illustrating the implementation of the model is given. The proposed model provides guidance to building designers in selecting sustainable building materials.

Purpose - Selection of sustainable building materials represents an important strategy in the design and construction of a building. A principal challenge therefore is the identification of assessment criteria based on the concepts and principles of sustainability, and the process of prioritizing and aggregating relevant criteria into an assessment framework. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to fill these gaps by describing the development stages of key assessment criteria used within an assessment tool under development for sustainable building material selection in the UK building industry.Design/methodology/approach - After conducting a thorough and systematic literature review, a total of 24 sustainable assessment criteria (SAC) based on the triple bottom line and the need of building stakeholders were identified. A survey of UK architects and designers was conducted to capture their perceptions on the importance of the criteria. A total of 490 questionnaires were mailed out to participants for completion. An initial and follow-up administration of the postal survey generated an overall response rate of 20.2 per cent. Factor analysis was utilized to group the criteria into assessment factors for modelling sustainability of building materials.Findings - The result revealed that all criteria were considered important, with "aesthetics", "maintainability" and "energy saving" the three top criteria considered for building materials selection. Factor analysis shows that these SACs can be aggregated into six factors namely: "environmental impacts", "resource efficiency", "waste minimization", "life cycle cost", "socio benefit", and "performance capability". Since these criteria were derived from the survey through expert opinion, consideration of these six criteria in material selection will ensure sustainability of building projects.Research limitations/implications - The sampling method does not include other stakeholders, who in a way influence material selection, such as the client. The sample size may need to be extended to include more stakeholders involved in material selection in order to minimize sampling error. However, the importance of the study remains, for the limitations do not detract from them, but merely provide scope for further research.Originality/value - The current study contributes to the building industry and sustainability research in at least two aspects. First it widens the understanding of selection criteria as well as their degree of importance. It also provides building stakeholders a new way to select materials, thereby facilitating the sustainability of building projects.