Optimum construction worker (CW) performance is required to achieve project delivery within project parameters. It is not always the case as CWs are regularly exposed to hazards, involved in accidents, their productivity is poor, they suffer from ill health, suffer from work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) and contractors lack resources to allocate towards H&S. However, the lack or the absence of health and safety (H&S) measures, which the aforementioned depend on, has a negative impact on workers’ performance. Two descriptive surveys were conducted among professional construction project managers (CPMs) registered with the South African Council for Project and Construction Management Professions (SACPCMP) and general contractors (GCs) registered with the East Cape Master Builders Association (ECMBA). Interviews were also conducted with CPMs registered with the SACPCMP residing in the Nelson Mandela Bay metropolitan area. The salient findings include: • Accidents, which occur on construction sites, impact workers’ performance; • Inadequate H&S implementation affects both CW skills and motivation, which in turn affects their performance; • Poor constructability is relevant to H&S and CWs’ skills; • Provision and maintenance of welfare facilities are commonly inadequate and affect workers’ performance, and • Projects do not benefit from the adequate financial provision for H&S. It was concluded that exposure to hazards, poor site conditions, inadequate provision of welfare facilities, WMSDs, and insufficient financial provision for H&S affect workers’ performance by either incapacitating or demotivating them. Recommendations include : CPMs should make better use of their influence on clients; they should improve communication channels between project stakeholders; legislators need to raise awareness regarding H&S and worker welfare, and training and education institutions need to empower workers and professionals with H&S knowledge.

This research reviews the challenges and obstacles confronting multinational civil engineering consulting and contracting companies seeking to conduct project developments within Emerging Markets, specifically with regard to the regions of Africa and the Middle East. With the increasing convergence of the global economy towards an interconnected and co-dependant system, the emerging economies of previously underdeveloped parts of the world are now capturing the focus of the civil engineering industry as the primary area of operation. Multinational companies that historically were restricted to construction of the developed world must now adapt and reposition themselves with a footprint in these emerging markets, if they are to take advantage of the changing conditions within the global infrastructure construction industry. For companies historically unfamiliar with operating in Africa and the Middle East, a plethora of potential risks are associated with project development. This research incorporated a substantial literature study that determined a number of critical issues that directly and indirectly influence a company’s ability to complete a project within time and under budget. The literature bank was then tested against the expert opinions of four selected respondents utilising a case study research methodology, as detailed by Yin (1994: 1-17). The respondents represented two selected civil engineering consulting firms, one based in a developed country with an extensive interest in the Middle East, and the other based in an emerging country itself, with operations throughout Africa. The outcome of the research ii highlighted several internal risk factors affecting development in Africa and the Middle East, such as capacity, staff experience, available resources and corporate culture. External factors were, however, the primary focus of respondents’ feedback, and included the reliability of energy supply in the target country, the condition of the built infrastructure such as roads and ports, tax rates and cost of finance, the prevalence of corruption as well as the risk of civil conflict and political instability. The Project Risk Guideline was the final output of this research process, which represented a synthesis between the literature review, the case study investigations as well as synthesis of various accepted risk evaluation techniques. The Guideline is a stage-gate sequential process, and may be utilised by civil engineering consulting or contracting firms with an interest in risk profiling and mitigation for project developments in emerging nations.

The South African construction industry is faced with challenges which impede on successful project delivery. While incentives have been recognised as motivational tools for individual employees to achieve certain goals, the South African construction industry has not fully exploited the various avenues to initiate motivational approaches aligned with project objectives to enhance successful delivery of construction projects. This study is therefore aimed at exploring which monetary and non-monetary incentives would compel construction and consultant team members to improve successful project delivery. The study adopted a deductive approach whereby hypotheses were formulated based on motivation theories and applied them in construction project team situations. In this regard, the extensive literature related to motivation theories such as the hierarchy of needs, incentives, organisational commitment, and teamwork environment were reviewed. A web survey was adopted for the empirical data gathering by means of a questionnaire e-mailed to nationwide selected construction and consultant firms. Data analysis was done by means of ranking, paired sample test, T-Test, ANOVA test, Mann- Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis test of association, and the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The reliability test was done using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of reliability. In total, 164 respondents participated in the study. It was revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between mean rankings of motivational factors, and organisational commitment was perceived as the most important motivational factor that compelled construction and consultant team members to achieve project success. There was no statistically significant difference between various demographics (gender, qualification, and experience) pertaining to self-development needs, organisational commitment, and teamwork environment motivational factors, except age groups, which displayed a statistically significant difference in self-development needs and teamwork environment. There was a statistically significant difference between mean rankings of monetary and non-monetary incentives, and non-monetary incentives were preferred to monetary incentives in achieving higher performance. There was no statistically significant difference between various demographics (gender, age, qualification, and experience in the construction industry) of construction and consultant team members pertaining to monetary and non-monetary incentives. There was no statistically significant difference between mean rankings of primary project objectives aligned with monetary incentives, where time was perceived as the most important. There was no statistically significant difference between various demographics (gender, qualification, and experience in the construction industry) of construction and consultant team members pertaining to project objectives aligned with incentives, except age groups which displayed a statistically significant difference in project objectives aligned with monetary and non-monetary incentives. Two models have been developed based on the PCA results of project objectives aligned with monetary and non-monetary incentives. Each model consisted of four parts, namely project objectives, demographic information, short-run project-based interventions, and long-run interventions. The PCA results showed monetary incentives could be a useful project-based intervention mechanism in the short-run to achieve secondary project objectives, such as the provision of work opportunities to SMMEs. In the long-run, this confirms the usefulness of the CIDB initiative consisting of the provision of work opportunities to SMMEs through the National Contractor Development Programme (NCDP) guidelines. The PCA results showed non-monetary incentives could be a useful project-based intervention mechanism in the short-run to achieve primary project objectives, such as quality. In the long-run, a continuous improvement mechanism by various construction industry stakeholders is deemed necessary to maintain project delivery standards.

This diploma thesis is focused to requirements for manager in the construction engineering. The theoretical part briefly describes the management and its role in the construction. After that, the work devotes itself to the requirements, functions and techniques of construction manager. The empirical part is looking into the establishment of hypotheses which were either confirmed or disproved in a questionnaire research, concentrated on construction companies and senior students in the field of Management building at the Faculty of Civil Engineering. One of the empirical part is analysis of jobs as a manager in the construction industry. This research is enriched by guided interviews, which is followed by conclusions and subsequent recommendations for both civil society, students and also for the faculty.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil Engineering, 1980. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Bibliography: leaf 84. / by Andrea Dickenson White. / M.S.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of: Master of Science in Building (Project Management in Construction) / In 2009 an article titled “Crisis hits another WITS department” appeared in the Business Day newspaper. The article was based on the results that came from an internal quality review performed by the university on the School of Construction Economics and Management. The issues pertaining to the article were that the school was experiencing a shortage in staff that led to the deterioration of standards and the quality of graduates in the year 2008 and 2009. The School of Construction Economics and Management is a major source of young professionals into the built environment, which is important for the country’s ability to deliver infrastructure projects. This research examines the graduateness and employability of graduates that were produced from the school in the period between 2008 and 2011. Questionnaires were sent out to graduates and employers in order to find out what the perceptions were of both the concept of graduateness and employability. The key findings were that whilst the graduates said that they were ready for employment after completion of their respective degrees, the employers said that graduates did not have sufficient experience to enter the working world. Thus it is clear a gap certainly exists between the perceptions of graduates and employers. It was concluded that an effort must be made between the different stakeholders to breach this gap.

Rework is an insidious problem in the construction industry. According to the Construction Industry Institute (CII) Source Document 29, the cost of rework is 12.4% of the total project cost. However, these costs are just the tip of the iceberg, because they do not represent schedule delays, litigation cost, and other intangible costs of poor quality. Therefore, the complete cost of rework is estimated to be much greater than 12.4%. To effectively reduce the cost of rework, it is necessary to not only study the causes of rework, but also to study the effectiveness of activities designed to reduce rework. This research studied the relationships between rework activities and prevention and appraisal activities on four construction projects. This research addressed two questions: 1) What is the effect of prevention and appraisal activities on the reduction of rework, and 2) What is the effect of prevention activities occurring in the design phase on rework due to design errors in the construction phase? Based on the project data collect by the Quality Performance Management System (QPMS), this research concluded there was a slight relationship between increasing prevention and appraisal activities and the reduction of rework. There was a direct relationship between the increase of prevention activities in design and the reduction of rework due to design errors in the construction phase. The relationships were stronger for both questions at the project level than at the discipline level. At the project level, the aggregation of all the disciplines appears to negate the biases created within the specific disciplines. This research helps to provide real-world data to emphasize the importance of prevention activity in the design phase of a construction project. / Master of Science

A phenomenological study was conducted to explore and understand the personal experiences and meaning ascribed by senior leaders within a large multidisciplinary construction company. An effort was made to understand how they personally experienced leading others, what they learnt about themselves, what challenged them most, and what support, if any they had during their leadership of large-scale organisational change. The research found that there is a significant personal cost to the individual. This cost comes in terms of career, work-life balance and even reputation. It provides an opportunity to grow in self-knowledge, provided leaders are open to learn and reflect and that there is a substantive support structure both internally and externally to the organisation in order to ‘survive’. Without this malleable disposition, the already high cost escalates to the extent that it could be life threatening. In spite of the prolific literature available, the leaders claim that shareholders and most others do not understand the extreme length of time it takes to start and embed change that is sustainable. Without that understanding from the other role players, the leader carries not only the blame but also the scars of failed change. / Industrial & Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Thesis (MEng)-- Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Worldwide the civil construction industry is one of the biggest and most influential industries but has proven to be lacking in the development of technology-aided construction. In contrast, the automotive manufacturing industry is very reliant on the use of highly advanced technology. Literature showed that specific focus is being put on increased technology investments and development of infrastructure in South Africa in order to solve various problems in the country. In light of these realisations, the objective of this research study was to establish a process that can be used to assist technological investments that solve areas of concern in the construction industry. The research was conducted by following a procedure of identifying problematic areas in construction, scrutinising the biggest problem to identify its key elements and finally selecting a decision support model to select technological solutions. The research sequence therefore established the steps of a process that can assist technological investment decisions that solve areas of concern in the construction industry. The first step of this process necessitated the identification of the most influential area of concern in South African construction. A series of interviews and surveys with experienced senior managers in different divisions of the South African civil construction industry showed that the low productivity of labourers is the most influential area of concern in terms of impact on construction projects. Consequently, labour productivity was scrutinised as part of the second step of the process. It was found that there are different methods to measure productivity and that factors influencing labour productivity can be grouped into managerial practices, labour effectiveness and material timeliness. The scrutiny, together with the productivity improvement system and lessons learned from other industries, gave input to the third step of the process, viz. to identify technological solution alternatives for the area of concern. Wireless technology and visual analysis were identified as two groups of technology that could improve labour productivity. The final step of the process evaluated the effects the different solution alternatives could have on a company and a tailored set of criteria together with a fuzzy multi-criteria decision model was proposed for use in this step. The research study identified that there are generic areas of concern in construction and that technology can be used to improve problem solving processes in companies. Furthermore, a generic and flexible four step process was formulated that can incorporate multiple criteria, stakeholders’ opinions, business strategy and the necessary benefits the problem requires in one evaluation model. This process was found to be able to assist technological investment decisions in the construction industry specifically to eliminate or improve on existing areas of concern. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die siviele konstruksiebedryf is een van die grootste en mees invloedryke industrieë wêreldwyd, maar is bewys om agter te wees in terme van ontwikkeling in tegnologie-gesteunde konstruksie. In teenstelling hiermee is die motor-industrie afhanklik van die gebruik van hoogs-gevorderde tegnologieë. Literatuur het getoon dat daar spesifiek gefokus word op die investering in tegnologie- en infrastruktuurontwikkeling in Suid Afrika sodat bestaande probleme in die land opgelos kan word. In die lig van hierdie bevindinge, is die doel van hierdie studie om ‘n proses te vestig wat kan help om besluite rakende tegnologiebeleggings te vergemaklik sodat probleem areas in die konstruksie industrie met dié beleggings opgelos kan word. Die eerste stap van die navorsingsprosedure was om probleem areas in die konstruksie industrie te identifiseer en daarna is die probleem met die grootste impak op konstruksie projekte in diepte ontleed om die eienskappe daarvan te bepaal. Laastens is ‘n besluitnemings model gekies sodat tegnologiese beleggings geëvalueer en gekies kan word. Die navorsingsprosedure het daarom die struktuur gegee om ‘n proses te vestig wat gebruik kan word om besluite oor tegnologiese beleggings te vergemaklik om sodoende probleme in die konstruksie industrie op te los. Die eerste stap in hierdie proses het vereis dat die probleem met die grootste impak op konstruksie projekte in die Suid-Afrikaanse konstruksie industrie geïdentifiseer moes word. Na afloop van ‘n reeks onderhoude en opnames met ervare senior bestuurders in verskeie afdelings van siviele konstruksie, is gevind dat lae arbeidsproduktiwiteit die mees invloedryke probleem area is. Lae produktiwiteit van arbeid is om hierdie rede in diepte ontleed as deel van die tweede stap in die proses. Daar is gevind dat daar verskillende maniere is waarop produktiwiteit gemeet kan word en dat faktore wat produktiwiteit beïnvloed gekategoriseer kan word in bestuur praktyke, arbeid effektiwiteit en stiptelikheid van materiaal. Die ontleding, tesame met die produktiwiteitsverbeteringstelsel en lesse wat geleer is in ander bedrywe, het gelei tot die derde stap van die proses, naamlik die identifisering van tegnologiese oplossings-alternatiewe. Draadloostegnologie (“wireless technology”) en visuele analise is geïdentifiseer as twee groepe van tegnologie wat die produktiwiteit van arbeid kan aanspreek. Die finale stap van die proses het gebruik gemaak van ‘n stel kriteria en ‘n ‘fuzzy multi-criteria’ besluitnemingsmodel om die verskillende tegnologie alternatiewe te evalueer. Hierdie navorsingstudie het daarin geslaag om te identifiseer dat daar generiese probleem areas in die konstruksiebedryf is en dat tegnologie gebruik kan word om probleme op te los en om dienooreenkomstig siklusse in maatskappye te verbeter. Verder is 'n generiese en buigsame vier-stap proses geformuleer wat verskeie kriteria, opinies van belanghebbendes, korporatiewe strategieë en die nodige voordele om die probleem op te los, alles in een evalueringsmodel inkorporeer. Hierdie proses is bewys om te kan help om tegnologiese beleggings in die konstruksiebedryf te vergemaklik om sodoende reeds-bestaande probleme op te los.

Mini-Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree Master of Science (Environmental Sciences) School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences University of Witwatersrand School: Mining Engineering (Centre For Sustainability In Mining And Industry) 26 January 2017 / The Gautrain Rapid Rail Link project is one of the biggest transport projects undertaken in South Africa. One of the unique features of this project was the manner in which public participation was conducted. There were two stages of public participation, one for the EIA process and the other for the EMP process. The research undertaken sought to study the influence of public participation on the development of mitigation measures in an EMP following EIA. The aim of the research project was to assess how the mitigation of environmental impacts, developed for an EMP during the construction phase, were affected by public participation, using the Gautrain Rail Link as a case study. When the comments were classified according to how they related to the different mitigation management plans it was found that the issues most commented on were those pertaining to public consultation and disclosure, noise vibration, visual/aesthetics, working hours, surface water, traffic as well as construction sites. Approximately 7% of the comments made by IAPs could be linked to specific changes to DFEMPs. Approximately 4% of the changes suggested by IAPs were rejected by Bombela. Prior to changes being made the DFEMP 2 had 238 targets; by the end on DFEMP5 the number of targets was 217 which reflected an 8.8% reduction. Prior to changes being made the DFEMP 2 had 789 method statements; by the end on DFEMP5 the number of method statements was 845 which reflected a 7.1% increase. These changes were mostly due to some of the targets being replaced by a “No complaints from the public” target and then the shifting of the previous targets into method statements. There was a change in the overall approach of mitigation targets to what could be viewed as more ‘people-orientated’ as opposed to mitigation that aimed to prevent adverse impacts to the environment. This was evident in the change of targets focusing on having no complaints from the public as opposed to setting targets that related to standards and specific environmental conditions. It was also found that the public input at the EMP stage could not have altered the mitigation strategy significantly but could have likely assisted in improving and refining the mitigation measures that had been selected. Public preference on the mitigation strategies applied was observed in the research as was the “Not In My Back Yard” phenomenon where the IAPs were more concerned with the impacts that directly affected their everyday lives and not the natural environment as a whole. It was noted that the input from the public resulted in valuable information being added and improved decision-making. It was found that the Independent Auditor’s comments resulted in the most evident changes in the DFEMPs. The public input process was able to highlight the feasibility and practicality of the targets set in the DFEMPs. It also gave IAPs an opportunity to voice their opinion on socioeconomic issues that they would otherwise not have been able to raise. A drawback from the public participation process was that the comments made by the IAPs were often repetitive which led to generic responses being given and also increased the likelihood of both IAP and developer participation fatigue. There was an agreement by all the interview participants for the need to EMP to be developed as continuous documents through the different phases of the project. Overall, the case study could add valuable input to the environmental management body of knowledge in South Africa. / MT2017