Thesis (Ph. D.)--Building Construction Program, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007. / Lauir Koskela, Committee Member ; Godfried Augenbroe, Committee Co-Chair ; Linda Thomas-Mobley, Committee Chair ; Thomas L. Galloway, Committee Member ; Brian Bowen, Committee Member.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

M.Ing. (Engineering Management) / Ensuring and maintaining positive cash flow is becoming more and more difficult, especially in the construction industry. Payments need to be collected to be able to sustain a positive cash flow and this is not an easy process. Organizations fail due to insufficient available liquid assets and this study is done to determine why payments aren’t made, including information on what payment provisions contractors agree upon, and why the trend in the industry is to keep cash rather than pay suppliers. The collection of outstanding payments is also investigated, including actions taken if payments are not made, what clauses are included in contracts to ensure payment and if interest is charged on outstanding payments. A credit application processes need to be in place to ensure the credit worthiness of the clients/ employers is reviewed. It is also very important that some form of contract is agreed upon, understood and signed by both parties. There are instances where the contract documentation is not provided or the contract documents is provided and signed, but one of the parties has not read or understood some of the payment clauses. This could also lead to delayed payments. Collection of outstanding payments could be to propose a payment agreement, by charging interest or alternatively, enforcing early payments by providing a settlement discount. One of the most mentioned reasons for companies holding onto cash is to ensure liquid capital is available to ensure positive cash flow and the continuation of the business. The main reasons why liquid capital is not available is poor management of funds, poor payment procedures and mismanagement of funds. It was found that most of the construction companies have credit application processes, contracts and payment provisions in place, but most of these companies don’t adhere strictly to the procedures set out in these documents. More attention need to be given to enforcing credit and collection policies in practice, as well as following the payment provisions set out in the construction documentation. Questionnaires were only sent to companies operating in the construction industry. Further investigations can be done on other industries (including construction, mechanical, electrical, medical, farming, food sector, fashion sector etc.), which can assist in assisting with payments made by companies or individuals.

published_or_final_version / Real Estate and Construction / Master / Master of Science in Construction Project Management

published_or_final_version / abstract / Architecture / Master / Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Design and Management

The construction industry has a reputation for low productivity, waste, low use of new technologies, and poor quality (Egan, 1998; Wakefield & Damrienant, 1999). It is estimated that up to 30% of construction is rework, and recognised that site teams spend too much time and effort making designs work in practice (Egan, 1998). The aim of the research project was to develop a visualisation and communication environment that would assist design teams in communicating design details that may be problematic for construction teams. The investigation was based on the need for a tool that facilitates detail design information communication. The VISCON (computer visualisation support for buildability) environment provides support for general information sharing in the context of a collaborative building project. This prototype is Web based and can be accessed from any location. This will allow for construction information to be readily communicated and shared between head offices and construction sites and any other locations to provide better visualisation of design details. Three scenarios were developed as case studies for demonstration purposes based on real projects. These case studies used a paper factory, a bay barrage building and a swimming pool recently constructed at Loughborough University. In the development of the case studies, 3D models were produced using components from the selected prototype buildings that may inherently be difficult to assemble. The VISCON prototype demonstrates the various functionalities of the system in creating intricate design details that can be animated or interacted with in real time. The main achievements of the research are: The review of buildability problems and their causes during the construction stage of a facility; The development of an architecture for a computer visualisation tool for buildability (VISCON); Implementation and validation of the proposed system (VISCON) through the use of a number of case studies. The system was found to be useful and demonstrated that computer visualisation tools provide considerable potential in improving clarity of information and also a new way of visualising and solving design problems that arise during the construction stage of a project. It also demonstrated the ease of use of the proposed system, and its efficiency and application to the construction industry. The research concludes that the use of computer visualisation can improve the construction project delivery process by providing guidance on how components are assembled together and how buildability problems can be solved during the construction stage. Furthermore, the use of effective communication tools will improve collaboration between construction and design practitioners.

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M.Com. (Business Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract