Thesis (M.A.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Title from title screen (viewed on 27 Mar. 2006) "Master of art in arbitration and disputes resolution." Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title from title screen (viewed on 27 Mar. 2006) "MA in arbitration and disputes resolution." Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2006. / "MA in arbitration and dispute resolution, LW6409 dissertation" Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on May 23, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis ( Masters Diploma(Civil Engineering))--Cape Technikon, Cape Town, 1991 / The incidence of disputes has long frustrated effective management and completion of Construction Contracts. Very little material is available on the causes of disputes and how the respective General Conditions of Contract used in this country handle circumstances relating to these areas of dispute. Causes of dispute can be divided into two categories, namely Primary Causes and Secondary Causes. The Primary Causes are Time, Cost and Quality and the Secondary Causes are Risk. Variations and Alterations, Delays, Claims, Adverse Physical Conditions, Extensions of Time and Payment. All the secondary causes of dispute are risk related and a consideration of risk is therefore of utmost importance with regard to avoidance of disputes. To avoid disputes. risk has to be fairly allocated amongst the parties involved in the Contract. Before this can be done, however, risk first has to be identified and an attempt has to be made to reduce it. For a long time General Conditions of Contract have been used in this country which have been closely allied to British General Conditions. The General Conditions of Contract (1982) (Blue Book) is very closely allied to the I.CR General Conditions of Contract (4th edition). The latter contract was revised in 1979 and was generally considered to be more favourable toward the Contractor. It has become known as the LCE. General COnditions of Contract (5th edition). Both the General Conditions of Contract (1982) and the ESKOM General Conditions of Contract have recently been reVised, and on comparison of the clauses relating specifically to the major causes of disputes mentioned preViously, were found to be more biased in favour of the Employer and more closely allied to the C.S.R.A. General Conditions of Contract 1986, also widely used in South Africa The major reason for having drawn this conclusion is that in the case of GC C '90 and ESKOM '90, all claims have to be made in accordance with a general claims clause which involves a procedure which subjects the Contractor to unfair requirements and allocates risk unfairly on him. The General Conditions of Contract 1990 do, however, represent improvements in certain respects, namely with respect to clauses relating to Care of Works, Excepted Risks, Valuation of Variations, Monthly Payments, Time of Payments and Correction or Withholding of Certificates. No set of General Conditions can provide a completely equitable situation and each has its pros and cons. This thesis should provide an easy reference as to which are the major causes of disputes and as to how the respective General Conditions of Contract in this country handle the circumstances relating to these areas of dispute. It will also put forward recommendations on how disputes can be avoided and how certain clauses of the relevant documents can be improved.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree Master of Technology (Construction Management) In the Faculty of Engineering 2014 / According to findings presented in literature, construction projects are restrained within budgeted cost. Hence, the operational system is challenged within prohibitive cost limits to deliver projects at a stipulated time and at a satisfactory quality. This has prompted the intention of establishing effective management of cost constraint on building project delivery in South Africa. Data for the main study were collected through observations, semi-structured and unstructured qualitative interviews and quantitative close-ended questionnaires administered to construction stakeholders working in the Western Cape and Gauteng provinces, South Africa. Findings are that the following are factors that affect cost during building production process: additional works without contractual procedure, inadequate co-ordination of design phase and construction phase during production by project managers, financial mismanagement, frequent changes in design, cost of materials in the market, fluctuation of price of materials. Additional findings are proper monitoring and controlling at stages during production, procurement of competent contractors and subcontractors, involvement of experienced professionals in production, proper briefing by the client during production process, targeting quality during production, prompt decision taking during production, and the establishment of effective communication systems on site during production, frequent changes in building design by the client during production affect construction cost; frequent changes in building design during production cause rework; changes in building design during construction caused by errors and omissions detected affects quality of project delivered; and specification due to procurement of new materials during construction causes changes in building design, labour productivities, wrong planning for machine usage on site, late delivery of equipment during production and unanticipated increases in prices of building materials. Late delivery of materials also affects production process. Regular meetings on site will promote efficient productivities of human resources, team work on site during production, general progress reports on site during production, projects schedule/timetable for production and work programmes for site activities. The study concluded by recommending that proper adoption of these findings by the South African construction stakeholders during production processes will enhance delivery of building projects at reduced construction resources, at the standard of quality expected, at the time stipulated, at the budgeted cost specified, and to the satisfaction of the client. Interest will be achieved as illustrated under each objective of the research study. This research recommends further investigation of the effects of building material supply management during production processes in the South African construction industry.

With the growth experienced in the Building Industry, it is increasingly important to have a contract document that can be used on projects that is reasonably acceptable to all parties concerned. The objective of the research was to determine the effectiveness of the Joint Building Contracts Committee Series 2000 Principal Building Agreement (JBCC 2000 PBA)(Edition 4.1, March 2005) currently used in the Building Industry. The literature reviewed and results of quantitative research amongst contractors formed the basis of this study. The study revealed that the JBCC 2000 PBA is the most favourable contract document used by contractors in the Building Industry. With the inclusion of a range of construction guarantee alternatives in the contract document in lieu of the retention clause, more than half of the respondents have indicated that they are in favour of a retention clause to be included in the contract document as an alternative security option. The study also showed that there are still areas of concern with regards to the difficulty in interpreting and implementing numerous clauses of the document and that amendments were made to the document without legal advice, resulting in disputes. The research further also revealed that developing building contractors experience difficulties in general where the JBCC 2000 PBA is used as contract document on projects. There also seems to be no balance of risk between the employer and contractor in most cases where this contract document is used. The research concluded with proposals on revisions to some clauses to ensure a better contract document that will be acceptable to all contractors in the Building Industry and ultimately to be an internationally acceptable document.

This research focuses on and summarises the methodology followed to demonstrate that the South African construction industry can use the Construction Registers Service, in particular the Register of Contractors, as a tool to measure the competitiveness of Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs). The Register of Contractors (RoC) was developed by the Construction Industry Development Board (cidb) in terms of the Construction Industry Development Board (cidb) Act 38 of 2000. As a tool, it was designed to offer a basis for sustainable constructor development, growth, improved delivery, performance and sustainable empowerment. It was also developed to be used by the construction industry to, inter alia, and provide statistical data which would enable the construction industry to better understand the contracting capacity in South Africa. Beyond providing the statistical data, the register of contractors was meant to be enhanced with functionalities that would measure the growth and performance of contractors as they apply business practices that improve their value offering to the construction industry as a whole. This research looks at how this tool can be used by the construction industry to measure the competitiveness of the contractors within the selected grades, with the intent of demonstrating the overall value of the RoC as a tool. The research undertaken looks at how the use of the RoC can measure the competitiveness of a targeted group of small contractors. The research limits itself to the entry levels of contractors registered with the cidb between grades 2 and 5 with a view to establish a benchmark for contractor competitiveness within those bands. The research further proves the correlation between contractor capability and the ‘ability’ to be competitive in growing their value proposition and businesses. The unit of study for the purposes of this research is at firm level drawing from a reflection on who is an active participant in the South African construction industry particularly as it pertains to the smaller contractors within the targeted group elucidated above. The focus of the research is on the efficacy of the RoC as a tool that identifies the areas needing targeted development to support SMMEs and the subsequent demonstration of improved business processes within that sector. The qualitative research methodology was followed through this study as its nature was such that there was no requirement to rely only entirely on statistics or numbers due to the articulated problem there needed to be a qualitative enquiry into data needed which would adequately land to a significant synthesis on the responses and arrive at suitable solutions to the identified problem. The qualitative research methodology followed by this study was used to gain insight into the construction SMMEs’ attitudes towards the sector within which they trade, their behaviours, their value systems [to the extent where this was possible], their concerns, their motivations and aspirations. All of these, the study concluded that they inform the business decisions which the SMMEs make. How structured information was collected and analysed provided a synthesis of themes and aided in extracting meaning. The main findings of the research were that there is no shared understanding within the local construction industry of what contractor competitiveness is and to what extent it would benefit both the industry and the SMME sector. As a result of this competitiveness could not be measured and there was no clarity as to what tools of measure could be used to forecast the capabilities of the industry. This research was focused on exploring how the RoC can be used to measure improved capability and competitiveness on the part of SMME contractors. The implications of these findings are that there would now be improved and measurable competitiveness allowing the contractors to bid for work both within their provincial regions but also outside of their geographical location and to measure their growth as they achieve higher grading statuses within the register of contractors (RoC). The efficacy of contractor development programmes would also improve as they go beyond enhancing contractor capacity but also include competence improvements, training for business acumen, improved capability and innovation. The conclusion is that South Africa’s construction industry could achieve sustainable development and growth as a result of SMME contractors whose competitiveness would have been measured through the use of the RoC tool. The main recommendation is that there be a clear understanding of competitiveness and what its benefits to the South African construction industry are whilst at the same time the RoC is acknowledged as the tool embedded with functionalities able to measure this competitiveness amongst graded contractors. The RoC would allow construction clients to not only measure contractor competitiveness but also that they may have an improved ability to measure the direct impacts of contractor development interventions. / Lolucubungulo lugxile ekubhekeni izimo ezinqala ngaphakathi komkhakha wezokwakha. Lubuka igalelo losonkontilaka abasebancane kulomkhakha ekuzithuthukiseni kanti futhi nemizamo eyenziwe uHulumeni endimeni edlalwe uhlu olushicilwelwe iBhodi yomkhakha wezokwakha (i-cidb). Umbhali walolucubungulo ukholelwa ekutheni loluhlu lungasetshenziswa hhayi kuphela ekuthuthikiseni ononkontilaka kodwa futhi ekwenzeni ukuthi bakhule kulo lona loluhlu baze bakwazi ukuthola amathuba angcono emisebenzi. Uhlu ekukhulunywa ngalo lapha lwashicilelwa i-cidb ngomgomo womthetho kaHulumeni we-Act 38 of 2000. Luyithuluzi elenzelwe ukuba likhulise umkhakha wezokwakha, lithuthukise osomabhizinisi abasebancane, likhuthaze imigomo efanelekile ekwakheni (improved delivery). Enye injongo yokushicilela lelithuluzi kwakuwukwenzela ukuthi kwaziwe inani labo osonkontilaka, ubulili babo nokuthi bagxile-phi ngokwezindawo zokusebenza. Konke loku kwakufanele ukuze uHulumeni kanye nabanye abaqashi bazi ukuthi uma kusikelwana ngemisebenzi bangaki na ononkontilaka abazokwazi ukufeza izidingo zemiphakathi esiphila kuyo? Lolucubungulo luzobheka ithuluzi elasungulwa umkhakha wokwakha ekutheni lingakwazi na ukudlondlobalisa osonkontilaka abasafufusa phakathi kwalemikhakha (grades) ababekwe kuyo? Kuzobhekwa futhi ubugugu balo lona lelithuluzi. Akuzoqxilwa kubo bonke osonkontilaka, kodwa kulabo abasabancane ngokwamabhizinisi abo ababekwe emazingeni kusukela ku-2 kuya ku-5 ngokoshicilelo le-cidb. Kuzobhekwa amakhono abo labosonkontilaka, kubhekwe futhi izinkomba ezingabadlondlobalisa ngokwamabhizinisi. Okunye okuhloswe yilolucubungulo ukubheka ukuthi umkhakha wezokwakha uyakwazi na ukukhiqiza amathuba anele isikhathi eside kwenzelwa osonkotilaka belu nokuthi uyakwazi na ukuqhubeka wakhe amathuba azokhuthaza ukukhula kwabo. Ekugcineni okufanele kufezwe yilolucubungulo wukuthi uhlu olushicilelwe losonkontilaka lungasiza ekukhuthazeni udlondlobalo losonkontilaka abancane.

Although the client's objectives of balancing cost, time and performance have not changed, the complexity of the design and construction of modern buildings today requires a thorough understanding of the factors affecting these objectives if they are to be accomplished. This study therefore begins by analysing the client's objectives to establish the factors affecting each objective and to determine the inter-relationship and possible conflict between these factors. The principal types of contracts and methods of selecting a contractor are then identified. The methods of selecting a contractor are then evaluated according to these factors and their effects on the client's objectives are established. This evaluation is then used as the basis for recommending a procedure to choose which method should be used to select a contractor, in order to accomplish the client's objectives, under differing circumstances.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil Engineering, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Bibliography: leaves 134-135. / by Roscoe Dillard George III. / M.S.