abstract: Over the past couple of decades, quality has been an area of increased focus. Multiple models and approaches have been proposed to measure the quality in the construction industry. This paper focuses on determining the quality of one of the types of roofing systems used in the construction industry, i.e. Sprayed Polyurethane Foam Roofs (SPF roofs). Thirty seven urethane coated SPF roofs that were installed in 2005 / 2006 were visually inspected to measure the percentage of blisters and repairs three times over a period of 4 year, 6 year and 7 year marks. A repairing criteria was established after a 6 year mark based on the data that were reported to contractors as vulnerable roofs. Furthermore, the relation between four possible contributing time of installation factors i.e. contractor, demographics, season, and difficulty (number of penetrations and size of the roof in square feet) that could affect the quality of the roof was determined. Demographics and difficulty did not affect the quality of the roofs whereas the contractor and the season when the roof was installed did affect the quality of the roofs. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Construction 2013

The construction industry is one of the most significant industrial contributors to the economy in terms of gross product and employment. As a result, the success of a construction project is a fundamental issue to most governments, users and communities. The thesis addresses the role of the contractor in construction project success as one of the main stakeholders in the project.The research aims to study the impact of contractors’ attributes on project success from a post-construction evaluation perspective to identify what goes right and to recognise the most critical success factors (CSFs) of contractors that greatly impact on project success and link those factors to project success objectives. Initially, a literature review on construction project success was conducted to investigate the success criteria and CSFs of contractors in project success. This was followed by a survey to establish construction professionals’ perceptions of the CSFs of contractors that greatly impact on the success of construction projects.One hundred and sixty-four (164) completed surveys were returned, representing a 32% response rate. The data gathered was analysed using quantitative analysis tools (SPSS). Factor analysis reveals nine underlying clusters perceived to greatly impact the success of projects, namely: (i) health, safety and quality; (ii) past performance; (iii) environment; (iv) management and technical aspects; (v) resource; (vi) organisation; (vii) experience; (viii) size/type of previous projects; and (ix) finance.Four logistic regression and artificial neural network models were developed to predict the most important contractor factors associated with project success. The predictive ability of neural network models outperforms that of logistic models by 47.5% for scheduling model; 34.8% for budget model; 46.2% for quality model; and 46.5% for contractors’ impact model. Assuming that project success is repeatable, these findings provide a clear understanding of contractors’ performance and could potentially enhance existing knowledge of construction project success.

Clients within the construction industry have become more aware of benefits that exist and can be reached when going through a major construction project, benefits that invite for efficiency improvements both during construction and its prophases. New methods of execution and their different advantages are evaluated. This change has opened the door for new business models such as Construction Management (CM) but it also demands the contractors to adapt and come up with more client-customized methods. The thesis goes further into the question of when to use which execution method and describes how the client thinks in the decision-making process. What factors affect the client when making the choice between CM and contractors? It investigates and highlights the behaviors, features and processes that affect the client in their way towards an optimal investment. It further explores what the contractors and CM firms can do in order to adapt to their clients and win their trust. The Analysis & Conclusion chapter provides a summarized view of What the clients have in mind but also Why and How they make their decisions. Throughout the literature review and interviews we found five different parameters as particularly important: • Experience – what has been done before and was it successful? • Availability – how easy is it for clients to recall the different actors? • Relations – optimal teamwork and collaborations or just personal relations and quick fixes? •Price/Risk – what risks are included and how is that linked to costs? •In-House Resources – what does the clients’ own organizations look like and what resources are available? Clients wish for a riskless, cheap and short construction process with retained good quality and without friction between organizations. On their way towards this goal they face several complex aspects as well as their own human characteristics, being affected by biases and heuristics. This thesis shows that the choice between these two business models is complex and not obvious but that improvements in the client’s evaluation and decision-strategies can be made. The right business model for a projects specifics’ can, in particular for redevelopment projects, give several benefits. It also shows that the execution firms can change and adapt in many ways in order to influence their situation with the clients.

Corporate interlocks between U.S. firms are a long-studied issue, and the apparent influence of these interlocks can be examined by applying theories of capitalism vs. the state arguments in examining the actual policy power that these interlocks potentially wield. This study investigates the link between corporate executives of the United States petroleum and military-defense industries, and examines the implications of the interlocking directorates that exist between these two industries, along with the strength of ties to government through former lawmakers and bureaucrats seated on these boards. The purpose of this research is to uncover evidence as to whether these interlocks and social network-ties are being utilized to further mutual interests of both these industries, along with the state, notably U.S.-led or U.S.-financed military or covert actions in petroleum-rich regions across the globe. The analysis reveals that interlocking directorates between the petroleum and defense industries show a high frequency of interlocks relative to other industries, along with a strong connection to government. This study points to the potential that oil-rich regions may have undergone U.S. military and covert interventions in an effort to not only gain access to petroleum, but to further the economic interests of the petroleum and defense industries. These findings lead to the conclusion that a real "Syriana," as in the plot of the 2005 film, may have been executed on two primary occasions during the George W. Bush administration. / Ph. D.

Vid årsskiftet 2022 trädde en ny lag i kraft med syfte att bidra till en lägre klimatpåverkan vid produktion av nya byggnader, denna lag är klimatdeklarationen. Klimatdeklaration bygger på metodiken ifrån en livscykelanalys men är begränsad till att enbart titta på produktskedet och byggproduktionsskedet (A1-A5), då dessa skeden ses som de mest kritiska sett till klimatpåverkan av byggnadens livscykel. Genom att implementera en klimatkalkyl i tidigt skede av byggprocessen med samverkan av samtliga berörda aktörer, beskriver Boverket att byggnadens miljöpåverkan kan påverkas betydligt. Miljöpåverkan av de ingående produkterna av byggnaden redovisas som kg koldioxidekvivalenter per kvadratmeter bruttoarea med data som finns att tillgå som specifika data eller som generiska data. Denna fallstudie har som syfte att besvara hur en totalentreprenörs arbetsprocess har påverkats och vilka utmaningar som tillkommit sedan klimatdeklarationen trätt i kraft. Dessutom är syftet med studien att bidra med en ökad förståelse kring hur implementeringen påverkat berörda. Studien har genomförts genom att granska en fallstudie med hänseende på en entreprenadform, detta har gjorts genom kvalitativ forskningsmetodik. I studien har det hållits semi-strukturerade intervjuer med aktörerna för att få problemformuleringarna besvarade. Entreprenadformen i studien består av en totalentreprenad viket vidare bestod av entreprenören Peab. Konstruktörskonsult och arkitekter har varit medverkande i studien genom intervjuer, dock har de valts att hållas anonyma. En litteraturstudie har även gjorts för att erhålla kunskap kring ämnet. Från de utförda intervjuerna har det framkommit att de berörda aktörerna i fallstudiens entreprenadform berörts varierande av klimatdeklarationens tillträdande. Aktörerna ifrån Peab beskriver sig bli mer berörda framöver då projekten kommer att beröras av lagkravet. Arkitekt och konstruktör beskriver sig inte alls vara berörda av klimatdeklarationen och beskriver att den ekonomiska aspekten fortfarande är avgörande. Sammanfattningsvis har det konstaterats att klimatdeklarationen delvis givit den effekt som den är menad till att ge för en totalentreprenör. Det har dock kunnat konstaterats att den som bär huvudansvaret för upprättningen för klimatdeklarationen är kalkylingenjören. / As of January first, 2022 a new law was implemented to control the environmental impact of the construction industry this law is the climate declaration. This law has its fundamental pillars from what´s known as life cycle analysis but is limited to, as of today, only the stages of (A1-A5) which are defined as the product stage and the construction stage. These stages have the biggest impact on the climate seen from the perspective of a life cycle analysis. The climate impact of building materials is stated as kilogram carbon dioxide equivalent per square meter gross area with available data in forms of specific data or generic data. The purpose of this study is to answer any uncertainties that the climate declaration may entail and the effect it has had on a contractor´s work process. The study was conducted by performing semi structured interviews. The contract form consisted of a main contractor positioned by Peab. By using this research methodology, the issue of the study has been answered. Examining the data from performed interviews, it was stated that the climate declaration had variously affected the roles in the case study. Peab´s actors describe themselves getting more involved with climate declaration work as more projects are being affected by the new requirement. The architect and construction designer seems not to be affected by the climate declaration and mentions that the economic aspect is still the dominant factor. In summary it has been shown that the climate declaration partly has affected the main contractor and that the main contractors engineer for calculations will have the responsibility for establishing the climate declaration.

No description available.

Infrastructure is one of the top priorities of the South African Government. Substantial amounts will be invested by the Government in infrastructure between 2014 and 2016 as good infrastructure plays a pivotal role in the growth of the South African economy. Government does not have sufficient resources to meet its infrastructure goals and is therefore dependent on the private construction sector to provide assistance. Discrepancies were noted between the judgment laid down in CSARS v South African Custodial Services (Pty) Ltd (SACS) and the interpretations from the relevant sections contained within the Income Tax Act governing the normal tax treatment of construction contractors. The aim of this study was to determine whether reliance could be placed on the judgement laid down in CSARS v South African Custodial Services (Pty) Ltd in order to determine the nature and deductibility of expenditure incurred by construction contractors in future. It is crucial that tax legislation should be correctly interpreted and applied in determining the taxable income of taxpayers as it is evident that tax consequences influence the behaviour of South African taxpayers. A literature study of prior case law, sections of the Income Tax Act governing the normal tax treatment of construction contractors as well as other relevant literature was performed in order to determine the correct application of sections governing the normal tax position of construction contractors. The negative tax consequences suffered by SACS as a main contractor due to judgement laid down in CSARS v South African Custodial Services (Pty) Ltd could influence the willingness of the private construction sector to provide assistance to Government in future. Based on the literature study performed it was found that the court's application of Section 22(2A) of the Income Tax Act was correct. It was further found that the Court erroneously applied Section 11 (a), and as a result incorrectly determined the normal tax position of SACS. In response to this it is recommended that no reliance should be placed on the judgement laid down in CSARS v South African Custodial Services (Pty) Ltd in respect of determining the nature and deductibility of fees paid to subcontractors by construction contractors, as this could result in negative tax planning consequences. / MCom (South African and International Tax), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Infrastructure is one of the top priorities of the South African Government. Substantial amounts will be invested by the Government in infrastructure between 2014 and 2016 as good infrastructure plays a pivotal role in the growth of the South African economy. Government does not have sufficient resources to meet its infrastructure goals and is therefore dependent on the private construction sector to provide assistance. Discrepancies were noted between the judgment laid down in CSARS v South African Custodial Services (Pty) Ltd (SACS) and the interpretations from the relevant sections contained within the Income Tax Act governing the normal tax treatment of construction contractors. The aim of this study was to determine whether reliance could be placed on the judgement laid down in CSARS v South African Custodial Services (Pty) Ltd in order to determine the nature and deductibility of expenditure incurred by construction contractors in future. It is crucial that tax legislation should be correctly interpreted and applied in determining the taxable income of taxpayers as it is evident that tax consequences influence the behaviour of South African taxpayers. A literature study of prior case law, sections of the Income Tax Act governing the normal tax treatment of construction contractors as well as other relevant literature was performed in order to determine the correct application of sections governing the normal tax position of construction contractors. The negative tax consequences suffered by SACS as a main contractor due to judgement laid down in CSARS v South African Custodial Services (Pty) Ltd could influence the willingness of the private construction sector to provide assistance to Government in future. Based on the literature study performed it was found that the court's application of Section 22(2A) of the Income Tax Act was correct. It was further found that the Court erroneously applied Section 11 (a), and as a result incorrectly determined the normal tax position of SACS. In response to this it is recommended that no reliance should be placed on the judgement laid down in CSARS v South African Custodial Services (Pty) Ltd in respect of determining the nature and deductibility of fees paid to subcontractors by construction contractors, as this could result in negative tax planning consequences. / MCom (South African and International Tax), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Att nå effektivitet, en bra kostnadsbild och hantera den växande frågan gällande minskad belastning på miljön är viktiga delar i dagens byggprojekt. Att välja totalentreprenad som entreprenadform kan vara ett sätt att nå detta. För att bland annat hantera brister med denna entreprenadform kan man istället använda sig utav den relativt nya metoden ECI (Early Contractor Involvement). Metoden bygger på att få tillgång till entreprenörens kunskap tidigt och att gemensamt kunna angripa de utmaningar projektet står inför. Detta ställer höga krav på relationen mellan parterna. Syftet med denna studie uppnås först genom att visa att tidigare studier konstaterar att ECI bidrar gällande aspekterna effektivitet, kostnadsbild och i viss mån även till miljö- och hållbarhetsarbete, att fördelsfaktorerna överträffar nackdelsfaktorerna och att metoden är att föredra kontra en traditionell totalentreprenad. Sedan genom en surveystudie med en webbaserad enkätundersökning hos beställare, entreprenörer och projektörer/byggledare på en SME-byggentreprenörs (små och medelstora företag) marknad baserad i Stockholm. Här erhölls information om att ECI i det stora hela bidrar väldigt väl i aspekter kopplade till effektivitet och kostnadsbild och väl gällande miljö- och hållbarhetsfrågor kontra en traditionell totalentreprenad. Även information om att fördelsfaktorerna överträffar nackdelsfaktorerna på marknaden erhölls här, vilket stämmer överens med tidigare studier. Det kunde även konstateras att relationsbaserade faktorer är oerhört viktiga i ECI. Implementeringen och skapandet av ett gemensamt engagemang med tydliga ramar framhävs i de rekommendationer för ECI som lämnas i slutet. / Achieving efficiency, a satisfactory project cost and dealing with the growing issue of reduced impact on the environment are important parts of today's construction projects. Choosing design and build contract (D&B) in your project can be a way to achieve this. A way to manage shortcomings with this form of contract, you can instead use the relatively new method ECI (Early Contractor Involvement). The method is based on gaining access to the entrepreneur's knowledge early on and being able to jointly tackle the challenges the project faces. This places high demands on the relationship between the parties. The purpose of this study is first achieved by showing that previous studies state that ECI contributes in terms of efficiency, project cost and to some extent also to environmental and sustainability work, that the benefit factors outweigh the disadvantage factors and that the method is preferable to a traditional D&B-contract. Then through a survey study with a web-based survey of clients, contractors and designers/construction managers at a SME-construction company’s market (Small and Medium Enterprises) based in Stockholm. Here, information was obtained that ECI, overall, contributes very well in aspects related to efficiency and project cost and well regarded environmental and sustainability issues versus a traditional D&B-contract. Information showed that the advantage factors exceed the disadvantage factors on the market, which is then consistent with previous studies. It could also be stated that relationship-based factors are extremely important in ECI. The implementation and creation of a joint commitment with a clear framework is emphasized in the recommendations for ECI that are provided at the end.

Stora industriprojekt med många involverade parter är komplexa redan som de är. Därav är ett inarbetat och noga planerat systematiskt arbetsmiljöarbete avgörande för en god arbetsmiljö där många personer vistas och arbetar på samma yta. “Ju fler kockar, desto sämre soppa” är ett svenskt ordspråk som till viss del lämpar sig för projektet Scania Nya Gjuteri. Även om mycket av det systematiska arbetsmiljöarbetet har varit exemplariskt och slutprodukten har blivit bra så har vägen dit inte varit felfri. Denna rapport behandlar projektet Scania Nya Gjuteri och de projektspecifika utmaningarna som har förekommit vad gäller den systematiska arbetsmiljön. Skanska har stått för utförandet men har även varit samordningsansvarig på byggarbetsplatsen och efter ett antal produktionsstopp, några entreprenörer som missköter sig och flera oförutsägbara risker som inträffat börjar man fundera på om det kanske finns ett samband mellan allt. För att ge svar på frågeställningarna har en juridisk metod med rättskällor används som sedan kompletterats med en samhällsvetenskaplig metod med empiriskt material bestående av intervjuer med företagsverksamma personer och interna dokument från Skanska och Scania. Tidigare forskning visar att avtalsförhållandena är betydande för styrningen av entreprenader och genom djupare studier och bättre förståelse om utmaningarna som har inträffat kan man förebygga detta organisatoriskt och byggtekniskt för framtida samarbeten. Med facit i hand hade många utmaningar hindrats eller åtminstone blivit hämmade om man hade diskuterat ansvarsgränserna och kraven noggrannare innan produktionsstart. Förhoppningsvis kan den här rapporten användas som en utvärdering av arbetsmiljön på Scania Nya Gjuteri för att man tillsammans ska lära sig från projektet och undgå liknande situationer i framtiden. / Large industrial projects with many parties involved are already complex as they are. Therefore, an established and carefully planned systematic work environment is crucial for a safe work environment where many people stay and work in the same area. "The more chefs,the worse the soup" is a Swedish saying that is suitable for the Scania New Foundry project in certain areas. The journey has not been easy although much of the systematic work environment management has been exemplary and the end product has turned out good. This report addresses the Scania New Foundry project and the specific challenges that have arisen in terms of the systematic working environment during production. Skanska has been responsible for the production and has also been responsible for coordination at the construction site.After some production stoppages, several contractors who misbehaved and many unpredictable risks that occurred Skanska realized that there may be a connection between everything. To provide answers to the questions, a legal research methodology has been used, which has been supplemented with a scientific method with empirical research consisting of interviews with enterprising people and internal documents from Skanska and Scania. Previous research shows that contractual conditions are significant for the management of the contractors and through deeper studies of the challenges that have occurred at the project we can get a better understanding for better collaborations in the future. All things considered, many challenges would have been prevented or at least inhibited if the responsibilities and requirements had been discussed more carefully ahead. Hopefully this report can be used as an evaluation of the work environment at Scania Nya Gjuteri in order tolearn from the project and avoid similar situations in the future.