M. Tech. Construction Management / Access to housing and safe accommodation is an integral part of South African government's commitment to poverty relief and the improvement of well being of people. The delivery of low and middle income residential houses has nevertheless not kept up with the growing number of households making up an increasingly impoverished urban housing backlog in South Africa. Beneficiaries are often unhappy about the quality of the structures they have received. The aim of this research study is to assess the factors contributing to poor quality management practices in low-cost housing projects delivery.

This thesis compares the variability of commissioning savings and the persistence of savings from the Normalized Annual Consumption (NAC) and standard International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP) weather normalization approaches and from Option C and Option D of the IPMVP. Twenty-nine different weather years were used to obtain a set of savings results under each method. Variability of savings was quantified by the average standard deviation of the 29 percent savings results across all post-commissioning periods for each method. For the combined chilled and hot water savings, the average standard deviation is 0.39% savings for Option D using the NAC weather normalization approach, 0.57% savings for Option D using the standard IPMVP weather normalization approach, 0.71% savings for Option C with regression models using the NAC weather normalization approach, and 0.98% savings for Option C with regression models using the standard IPMVP weather normalization approach. The variability of savings persistence results deviate a little from variability of savings results. For the combined chilled and hot water persistence of savings, the average standard deviation across all post-commissioning periods is 0.48% persistence for Option D using the NAC weather normalization approach, 0.55% persistence for Option D using the standard IPMVP weather normalization approach, 0.52% persistence for Option C with regression models using the NAC weather normalization approach, and 1.26% persistence for Option C with regression models using the standard IPMVP weather normalization approach. Overall, the NAC weather normalization approach shows less variability in savings and persistence than the standard IPMVP weather normalization approach. Additionally, Option D of the IPMVP generally shows less variability in savings and persistence of savings than Option C with regression models. This thesis also determines the savings and persistence of savings from commissioning for three Texas A&M University buildings. Aggregate site savings averaged 11.4%, 16.5%, and 19.0% for the three buildings over differing periods of available data. Persistence results for the three buildings are quite favorable, as each building shows an increase in aggregate site savings between the first and last post-commissioning periods. Follow-up commissioning restored and prevented degradation of savings in two of the buildings.

As Total Building Commissioning (TBCX) gaining acceptance and becoming a required process for federal, state and LEED projects, the required system guidelines are likewise being developed per Guideline 0-2005 recommendations. One of the most essential systems of any construction process is the structural system; however, there has been limited research in developing a guideline dedicated to structural systems. The Owner's Project Requirement (OPR) is the heart and soul of every guideline, in which Owners specify the requirements of the project in each system. A well-developed OPR for any system will guide the project stakeholders to achieve this goal; it will also, identify the responsibility of professionals in each system of the TBCX. To address this need, this fundamental research will develop a framework for the Owner's Project Requirement (OPR) for Total Structural Systems (OPRTSS). The goal of this research is to develop a model for identifying and implementing the major design and construction variables that impact structural performance of a project, especially during project delivery of concrete or steel framed projects; these are variables that are generally not defined or required by contracts, applicable building codes or engineering principles; that need to be outlined at the pre-design stage. Then, these variables are incorporated into the OPR to reduce the design and construction process uncertainty and help to achieve Owner's requirements for the project. Consequently this will increase Owners satisfaction, quality of the built environment and reduce time, cost and litigation.

The aim of this thesis was to develop a methodology to systematically investigate the effect of different procurement options on the outcome of a construction project. This methodology combined the qualitative analysis based on experts' performance assessment of each procurement option with quantitative analyses of generic process models for each option, in order to perform a comprehensive analysis of different procurement alternatives. This methodology was further applied to the specific problem of this research which was to assess the performance of Commissioning Delivery Systems (CDS). The goal was to use the findings from the study to provide a comparison between CDS, and assist Construction Owners in identifying the appropriate commissioning delivery option for their project. The process of each CDS was modeled, and systematic differences between different options were analyzed. Five major internal performance aspects of the commissioning process were identified based on literature: PAi1: Communication; PAi2: Validation; PAi3: Collaboration; PAi4: Integration; and PAi5: Integrity. These performance aspects were used as a basis for a Delphi study to obtain commissioning experts assessment of each CDS. Fourteen experts, representing different disciplines in the construction industry, participated in three phases of the Delphi study. A statistical measure was used to validate the expert performance assessments by measuring their level of consensus. Experts did not show any agreement on two performance aspects of Communication and Integration. These aspects were further investigated through quantitative analyses of process models. The developed methodology proved to be a valuable technique in analyzing the effect of procurement options on the outcome of a construction project. Based on the findings of the study, Owner-led Commissioning presented a higher performance rating than Designer-led Commissioning in four out of five performance aspects. Hence, Owner-led Commissioning is identified as a better alternative for procuring commissioning services on construction projects. Designer-led Commissioning presented a higher Communication performance than Owner-led Commissioning. At the same time, the Communication performance of both delivery options was very poor, which further indicates communication difficulties in current commissioning practices. Therefore, this study suggests a more-thorough investigation of the Communication aspect of commissioning process as a follow-up investigation.