Search results

This study aims to identify the most significant barriers and the stationary barrier to modular construction (MC) implementation and promote MC widespread use. By doing so, the construction industry can leverage the benefits of MC, such as faster construction times, improved quality control, reduced waste and increased sustainability.

This study uses a Gini’s mean analysis approach to identify the stationary barriers hindering the MC adoption in residential projects. The research focuses on the Egyptian context and uses a questionnaire survey to gather data from professionals in the construction industry.

According to the survey findings, the top five significant MC barriers are inability to modify the design; contractors asking for high bidding prices (higher initial cost); scepticism, conservation and resistance of clients to innovation and change; transportation restrictions; and lack of a one-size-fits-all tool for the design. In addition, Gini’s mean of dispersion demonstrated that the stationary barrier that faces MC adoption is the apprehension that architectural creativity will suffer because of MC.

The identified obstacles could be useful for decision makers in countries that have not yet adopted MC and may aid in the planning process to manage the risks associated with MC projects. The paper stresses the significance of devising techniques to overcome these barriers and proposes several methods to tackle these challenges.

This study fills the knowledge gap by identifying the stationary barrier and emphasising the potential risks associated with MC barriers. Furthermore, it suggests several strategies for overcoming and reducing these barriers in developing countries residential projects.

The adoption of value management (VM) has been on the rise in the construction industry, especially in the past decade. Identifying the main barriers to VM application for ameliorating poor project outcomes in the construction industry is a critical step to overcoming its implementation. Therefore, this study aims to examine the barriers to the adoption of VM in the Nigerian construction industry (NCI) and identify the critical ones for action by construction stakeholders.

This study used two rounds of Delphi surveys with 15 VM experts to identify the challenges to VM adoption. The Delphi team’s data from the two surveys were analysed using descriptive statistics. The mean-mode approach was used to identify ten major barriers to VM adoption based on the consensus reached during the second round of the Delphi poll. Following that, an interrater agreement analysis and a significant level analysis were performed.

Of the 17 identified barriers hindering VM adoption on construction projects in the NCI, 10 were found to be profound after statistical analyses of the data. The significant barriers include communication gap between the client and other consultants; delay in design preparation because of VM services; the pretext that VM is being practiced in the construction industry; and the wrong perception of VM by construction professionals, among others. The findings of the analysis suggested that the lack of VM adoption in the NCI was because of inadequate knowledge of VM techniques among construction professionals. Therefore, it is advised that VM training be provided for concerned stakeholders to address the lack of VM expertise among Nigerian construction professionals.

This study investigated the barriers to VM adoption on construction projects in the NCI with the opinions of a few construction professionals who can be regarded as VM experts. As against obtaining large survey responses from construction professionals who may not be knowledgeable in the VM process, the limited VM experts’ responses provide a valid basis for drawing inferences and making recommendations to address the paucity of VM applications in the NCI.

Through a Delphi survey, the critical barriers to the adoption of VM were identified, along with recommendations to help construction stakeholders overcome the challenges and enjoy the benefits of VM.

This research is built up upon exploring the concepts of building information modeling (BIM) adoption and strategy formulation with the aim to develop a strategy for implementing BIM in the Egyptian construction industry.

The development of the BIM implementation strategy was based on two pillars, namely the literature review and results of the survey questionnaire and interviews. First, the review of literature helped investigating the BIM challenges and international strategies developed to implement BIM worldwide.

The research presented recommendations to assist policymakers in Egypt to facilitate BIM implementation.

Although multiple frameworks have been proposed to aid in BIM implementation, a practical strategy to implement BIM in Egypt is still lacking. Moreover, current market scale studies neglect nonsoftware aspects of BIM adoption, do not identify market gaps or reflect market-specific criteria. As such, it cannot be used by policymakers to facilitate BIM diffusion.

In an attempt to attain a better understanding of the research work on building information modeling (BIM) adoption, this study aims to examine the criticality of BIM adoption barriers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) developing countries from the lens of the sociotechnical theory. Further, the study investigates the differences in the perceptions of various constructions players (owners, contractors and designers) to BIM barriers, as well as possible discrepancies in the perception of BIM users and non-BIM users to the significance of the perceived constraints.

To reach this aim, the study starts with a systematic evaluation and a critical review of the literature on BIM barriers. A set of 22 BIM adoption limitations was drawn from the literature which was used to design the survey. To capture a broad perception, a mixed approach was used, and data were collected through an interview study and a survey involving Architecture, Engineering and Construction professionals in the MENA construction sector. The collected data were analyzed using the mean score, standard deviation and nonparametric tests. The further principal component analysis (PCA) grouped the barriers to uncover the latent factors of BIM barriers.

The actors ranked the barriers as follows: lack of knowledge and BIM awareness, commercial issues and investment cost, lack of skills and BIM specialist, interoperability and lack of client demand. The examination of the PCA resulted in four underlying BIM limitation factors namely: human, technological, structural and financial. The analysis of the ranking indicated that 16 of the 22 barriers are considered critical in the MENA area. The results of the Mann–Whitney test indicated that there is a statistically significant difference in perceptions of BIM users and nonuser for seven barriers, pointing out that users care most about the financial barriers; however, nonusers are mostly concerned with structural and technological barriers. However, the results of the Kruskal–Wallis test indicated that there is no statistically significant difference in the perceptions of the three categories of stakeholders in ranking all BIM barriers.

The outcomes will back policymakers and construction participants with the knowledge to develop policy propositions that can positively affect BIM adoption in the construction industry. The significance of this study lies in being one of the very first explorative investigations that comparatively and empirically explored BIM adoption barriers across the whole MENA developing countries.

While several research studies have examined BIM adoption barriers in various countries, none to the best of the authors' knowledge have attempted to study the whole MENA region as one entity, and none highlighted the impact of user's roles on their perception of adoption barriers within their community. The results contribute to the discussion of the relationship among practitioners' level of involvement in BIM projects and their perception of adoption barriers which is underrepresented in extant studies. The above can assist with prioritizing the barriers that are considered to be more significant given the characteristics of the community under study. The result revealed the value of the structural and human attributes in prioritizing BIM adoption barriers within the MENA construction industry.

This study focused on exploring the performance factors (PFs) that impact Infrastructure Sanitation Projects (ISSPs) in the construction sector. The aim was twofold: firstly, to identify these crucial PFs and secondly, to develop a robust performance model capable of effectively measuring and assessing the intricate interdependencies and correlations within ISSPs. By achieving these objectives, the study aimed to provide valuable insights into and tools for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of sanitation projects in the construction industry.

To achieve the study's aim, the methodology for identifying the PFs for ISSPs involved several steps: extensive literature review, interviews with Egyptian industry experts, a questionnaire survey targeting industry practitioners and an analysis using the Relative Importance Index (RII), Pareto principle and analytic network process (ANP). The RII ranked factor importance,  and Pareto identified the top 20% for ANP, which determined connections and interdependencies among these factors.

The literature review identified 36 PFs, and an additional 13 were uncovered during interviews. The highest-ranked PF is PF5, while PF19 is the lowest-ranked. Pareto principle selected 11 PFs, representing the top 20% of factors. The ANP model produced an application for measuring ISSP effectiveness, validated through two case studies. Application results were 92.25% and 91.48%, compared to actual results of 95.77% and 97.37%, indicating its effectiveness and accuracy, respectively.

This study addresses a significant knowledge gap by identifying the critical PFs that influence ISSPs within the construction industry. Subsequently, it constructs a novel performance model, resulting in the development of a practical computer application aimed at measuring and evaluating the performance of these projects.

The Nigerian construction industry is bedeviled with poor project performance and outcomes which value management (VM) could address if applied. The application of VM on Nigerian construction projects is very minimal due to certain obstacles, namely, lack of VM experts, paucity of knowledge on the techniques, etc., which inhibits the adoption into the construction industry. Therefore, this study aims to develop a conceptual framework of the adoption of VM on construction projects in a typical developing economy.

This study engaged 15 selected VM experts in two rounds of Delphi survey to develop a conceptual framework of VM adoption. The method of data analysis includes mean score, standard deviation, Kendall’s coefficient of concordance, chi-square (χ²) test, interrater agreement analysis and significant level analysis. The developed conceptual framework was sent to a team of local and international VM experts for validation.

This study reveals that the adoption of VM requires the collective effort of relevant stakeholders in the construction industry. The framework developed presents individual and collective activities to be undertaken by the stakeholders. The activities include training, legislation, government-funded research, etc. Thus, the adoption of innovative management methodology like VM requires the collaboration of academics, construction professional bodies and government parastatals. This will assist in the judicious use of limited construction resources and boost the relevance of the Nigerian construction industry among developing nations and in the global construction market.

This study used the opinions of few construction professionals that can be regarded as VM experts in Nigeria, as against engaging a pool of construction professionals who may not be knowledgeable in VM process. Engaging the few VM experts in the Nigerian construction industry is important to have a valid basis for drawing conclusion, as large questionnaire survey could be possibly filled by inexperienced or unqualified respondents if stringent criteria are not considered at the outset of this study.

This study aims to explore the critical application areas of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology for sustainable buildings.

The quantitative research approach was adopted through a structured questionnaire administered to relevant stakeholders of construction projects. The data collected were analysed with the exploratory factor analysis, relative importance index (RII) and fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE).

The study’s results have categorised the crucial areas of application where construction industry stakeholders should focus their attention. These areas are divided into four categories: management technologies, production technologies, sensing technologies and monitoring technologies. The findings from the FSE indicate that monitoring technologies represent the most significant category, whereas management technologies rank as the least significant. Moreover, the RII analysis highlights that tools management stands out as the most important application of RFID, while dispute resolution emerges as the least significant RFID application.

The study establishes the core areas of RFID application and their benefits to sustainable buildings. Consequently, it helps stakeholders (consultants, clients and contractors) to examine the RFID application areas and make informed decision on sustainable construction. Furthermore, it provides systematic proof that can aid the implementation of RFID in developing countries.

The study provides an insight into the possible application areas and benefits of RFID technology in the construction industry of developing countries. It also developed a conceptual frame for the critical application areas of RFID technology in the construction industry of developing countries.

The purpose of this study was to prioritize the appropriate generic contractor selection criteria for Engineering–Procurement–Construction (EPC) projects in the construction industry.

Proceeding from a review of previous studies and validation by a small group of experts, a preliminary set of 16 criteria was first identified. This was followed by three rounds of Delphi surveys: firstly, with 64 experienced participants confirming the relevance of the 16 criteria; secondly, with a reduced subgroup of 47 more experienced participants scoring the importance of each; and finally, providing the opportunity for these 47 to revise their scores in the light of knowing the aggregated results of the previous round.

The results show the consensus view, of which the most important criteria are ranked as past performance, project understanding, technical attributes, key personnel, health and safety, past experience, time, management, financial, contractual and legal, quality, cost, relationships, environmental and sustainability, organizational and industrial relations, and geographic location.

The findings are useful for both practitioners and academics in making a significant contribution to the body of knowledge of the EPC process. This will assist in providing a better understanding of criteria importance and pave the way to developing an EPC contractor selection model involving the criteria most needed to objectively identify potential contractors and evaluate tenders.

In the supply chain performance measurement (SCPM) there seems to be no consensus about measures for performance evaluation and suitable criteria from resilience and sustainability paradigms. In this way, this research aims to identify the attributes that a supply chain (SC) should follow to be resilient and sustainable, and then to evaluate their importance according to industry experts.

This study suggests a hybrid approach. The authors identified the most commonly used criteria using literature review, and then applied fuzzy Delphi technique (FDT) with the objective of surveying experts to find the attributes used in practice and asked to assess their relevance.

The resilient-sustainable supply chain (RSSC) is formed by four dimensions: resiliency, economic, environmental and social. A total of 15 criteria are identified, and the most important are visibility, flexibility, supply chain risk management (SCRM) culture, work conditions and communication.

This study used a literature review, so it is subject to a time frame, and the criteria could no longer be relevant as the time and business conditions change. Also, the findings may not be completely applicable throughout different industries, and therefore the finding cannot be replicated to other businesses.

This study will assist decision-makers among other interested parties to construct and/or strengthen an integrated SC that mixes resiliency and sustainability.

This study contributes to the state-of-art by producing a characterization of the resilient and sustainable supply chain for the automotive industry. Also, this research produces a new and holistic framework for resilient and sustainable SCPM supporting the decision-making process.

This paper aims to focus on data analytic tools and integrated data analyzing approaches used on smart energy meters (SEMs). Furthermore, while observing the diverse techniques and frameworks of data analysis of SEM, the authors propose a novel framework for SEM by using gamification approach for enhancing the involvement of consumers to conserve energy and improve efficiency.

A few research strategies have been accounted for analyzing the raw data, yet at the same time, a considerable measure of work should be done in making these commercially reasonable. Data analytic tools and integrated data analyzing approaches are used on SEMs. Furthermore, while observing the diverse techniques and frameworks of data analysis of SEM, the authors propose a novel framework for SEM by using gamification approach for enhancing the involvement of consumers to conserve energy and improve efficiency. Advantages of SEM’s are additionally discussed for inspiring consumers, utilities and their respective partners.

Consumers, utilities and researchers can also take benefit of the recommended framework by planning their routine activities and enjoying rewards offered by gamification approach. Through gamification, consumers’ commitment enhances, and it changes their less manageable conduct on an intentional premise. The practical implementation of such approaches showed the improved energy efficiency as a consequence.