D.Ing. / The construction industry has changed dramatically over the past thirty odd years. The following factors played a significant role in this change: (1) The building boom around the 1970s pressurized the industry to work faster. This was followed by periods of variation in workload, which have over the last number of years manifested in a permanent low demand for construction in South Africa. (2) Projects became larger and more complex. (3) An over-regulated labour environment not only leads to the downsize of organizations, but is a main contributor towards the increased use of subcontracting. (4) The time value of money causes owners to specify compressed project schedules and lowest price is often the only selection factor in the award of contracts. The shift in work from predominantly public sector towards the private sector, which by nature is more time conscious, is another factor pressurizing the industry to work faster. The industry has introduced amongst others the following measures to cope with these demands: (1) Main contractors are subcontracting more and more of the work. (2) The traditional in-series concept came under pressure - the management approaches became formal procurement concepts and design-build re-appeared. (3) New construction techniques such as fast-tracking and the movement towards factory produced elements in certain areas, for example precast concrete elements, reduced project schedules and replaced previously time consuming activities and counteracted to a certain extent the shortage of skilled tradesmen. The author argues that in the process to combat these external pressures, the following problems, amongst others, manifested: (1) Ineffective project procurement. (2) Unethical and unsound practices between main contractors and subcontractors. (3) Lack of quality and reliability of a substantial share of end-products. Another problem burdening the industry is historical, namely cultural differences between designers and contractors.

As computer hardware becomes smaller and increasingly less expensive, more contractors can now use computers to do a number of construction computations which were formally done on hand calculators. The advent of user-oriented software packages has had a significant impact on the traditional data processing procedures of the construction industry. Among the software packages that are available for a large number of computer systems are electronic spreadsheets. Electronic spreadsheets packages, such as Multiplan, are widely used where the display of information can best be depicted in an array of rows and columns. It is frequently useful in situations in which the user wants to change various elements of information or try out various assumptions in a “what if” analysis. This paper discusses, among other things, models for two very important aspects of construction: those of cost estimating and scheduling. The paper further discusses the capabilities of spreadsheets in general as they relate to specific application to the construction industry. A graphical model of a CPM precedence diagram to be used in construction scheduling is presented along with a table for estimating the cost of a building based on the structural components of which it is made. There is also discussion of other software packages with similar capabilities to Multiplan.

published_or_final_version / Surveying / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

No description available.

No abstract

University of Macau / Faculty of Science and Technology. / Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

by Kwan Chi Ping. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1988. / Bibliography: leaves 53-54.

Thesis (B.Sc)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 161-165)

Absenteeism is a factor that adversely influences construction productivity. Construction employers in Alberta have been trying to address high levels of absenteeism on their projects but they have not been successful so far. This study aims at a better understanding of absenteeism on construction projects for its possible mitigation in the future. A hierarchy of causes of absence and factors affecting it in construction projects were identified. A survey and an Absenteeism Tracking Tool designed to capture the causes of absence were piloted on an industrial multi-contractor project in Alberta. Different survey administration methods were tested to successfully administer the survey. The study identified top ten causes of absence on the pilot project. Using statistical analyses (e.g., correlation with dummy variables), the study found that specific groups may have different absence cultures and attitudes toward absenteeism. Such findings can be used to improve the absence culture among the designated workforce. / Construction Engineering and Management