Thesis (M.S.)--Worcester Polytechnic Institute. / Keywords: quality construction documents; computers. Includes bibliographical references (p. 78-81).

Comparative research is undertaken on certain aspects of standard forms of building contract claims within the framework of Scottish, English and Malaysian laws. This thesis examines 'consideration' and '<i>jus quaesitum tertio</i>' in contract to provide an alternative to negligence actions in tort for claims arising out of defects in building. Issues pertaining to 'Practical Completion' and 'Final Certificate' in JCT 80, JCT 63 and PAM69 standard forms are studied to settle the difference between the practice in the building industry and the legal expectation. An examination on the validity of 'automatic determination' clause is made and a revision is suggested. An old Scottish case, <i>Arthur de Mornay Bidoulac and others v. James Kidd (Sinclair's Trustee</i>) (1889) 17 R 144, is analysed in this context. Arbitration, being a preferred method of settling disputes, is comparatively analysed in relation to the powers of the court to supervise and hear appeals therefrom. A claim for economic loss in tort relating to defective works is examined in the light of <i>Murphy v. Brentwood District Council</i> [1990] 2 All ER 908. <i>Junior Books Ltd. v. Veitchi Co. Ltd</i>. 1982 SLT 492, [1982] 3 All ER 201 (HL) is defended as a sound authority for the recovery of pure economic loss by an employer from a third party specialist subcontractor. The English Defective Premises Act 1972 is examined in search of a better approach to the situation in Malaysia. The law relating to prescription and limitation period is analysed. Malaysia still enforces the law disapproved in <i>Pirelli General Cable Works Ltd. v. Oscar Faber & Partners (a firm)</i> [1982] 3 All ER 201 (HL). The work identifies important issues relating to building contract claims and provisions in the laws that need to be addressed and attended to for future development.

published_or_final_version / Real Estate and Construction / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Problem – The construction industry builds the engine of a nation’s economy. In unstable times like these, knowledge of how to keep this sector healthy is vital. One way of doing so is to use the main driver of the 21st century economy – leadership. Yet, there is little research to be found regarding the connection between leadership and growth in a construction sector context. Though, it is important for companies to know and execute this tool to use it as an advantage in this highly competitive market. The government is one important driver for growth, though its linkage on how to support the construction sector is weak. Research question - How is leadership connected to sustainable growth in the construction industry, using two different approaches – seen from a company’s and governmental perspective? Purpose – The purpose of this study is to find patterns, differences and similarities of how leadership affects sustainable growth among Swedish and Austrian construction companies. Further, the thesis should contribute to the research field, which has to be expanded to cover the construction industry. Method – An abductive approach was chosen to collect secondary data about leadership in relation to growth in the construction industry to gain a broader but also deeper understanding of the topic and comply with the purpose of this study. The empirical data was built as a case study, consisting of four companies and governmental institutions. The information was collected by using a qualitative approach in the form of almost exclusively interviews and one focus group. Conclusions – This study shows that all companies and governmental institutions accept leadership as an important driver for growth. The concepts of leadership and growth are interlocked with many factors. The chosen drivers of growth showed that the company, which actively wanted to grow, used leadership to enforce those drivers in particular. Innovation was one growth driver, which set Beta, the growing aspirant, apart from the other companies, which do not want to grow anymore. Leadership was executed by offering support, understanding and commitment. Both Swedish and Austrian governmental institutions provided a growing region for the companies and aspire continuous growth for the region. Yet, they had no direct influence on the companies’ growth performance.

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Design Effectiveness is the degree to which the design effort helps in achieving project value objectives. Because Design Effectiveness largely exists within the context of the design phase, considerations on other project phases, such as front-end development or construction management, have been excluded from this study. Practices that promote Design Effectiveness are called Design Effectiveness Practices (DEPs), and the primary aim of this research was to develop a method for identifying suitable DEPs on a given project. The research consisted of three segments. The first segment of the research consisted of an ANOVA analysis of the CII benchmarking database to analyze the effect of Design on project performance metrics. The second (and main) segment of the research was the development and validation of a Design Effectiveness Practices Selection Tool. The MS Excel[Trademark] based tool determines the priority of application of 30 different DEPs on a project given the project's desired benefits (from 11 Project Value Objectives), design phase, and unique characteristics. All the 30 DEPs were correlated with the three input parameters using Score Matrices with the aid of expert opinion. The Score Matrices produced a score for each of the input parameters, and the three scores were combined to form a Composite Index Score for each DEP. The Selection tool was also validated in a two-step process, and met the validation thresholds set out for it. The third segment of this research involved the development of a Design Effectiveness Evaluation Tool, also based on MS Excel [Trademark]. This dissertation contributes to a growing area of research by providing comprehensive, structured compilation of DEPs and also by developing a selection method to effectively recommend the most suitable DEPs. From the perspective of the industry, the results of this research (and most notably the Selection Tool), facilitate the implementation of the DEPs and should help in maximizing the potential benefits to a particular project.

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