In recent decades, the use of construction manager-at-risk (CMAR) has surged as an innovative construction project delivery method in comparison to traditional competitive bid procurement methods. The conceptual pros and cons of the method are widely accepted throughout the construction industry; however, very little quantitative research exists validating such beliefs. The study presented in this technical paper empirically compares the performance of CMAR to that of the more traditional method of competitive sealed proposal (CSP) in the construction of higher educational facilities. In a study of 33 projects constructed by The Texas A&M University System, 19 procured using CMAR and 14 procured using CSP, observed results show a reduction in schedule growth and change order quantity when using CMAR over CSP. However, additional results show that CSP is more apt to result in decreased project and construction costs than CMAR. Business practices of The Texas A&M University System, statistical significance testing of research data, and practical applications of research findings are included.

This thesis deals with the content of documentation for building permit, required for build a family farm with space for family living and accommodation. The aim is to design a project, that its content will meet the conditions for the granting of a building permit, according the Building Act and the relevant regulations and will respect the conditions of planning documentation with respect to architectural and structural design.

Bakgrund Byggföretagen står för en väsentlig del av det svenska näringslivet och har de senaste åren upplevt en hög omsättningstillväxt. Dessa företag arbetar i en projektbaserad miljö vilket skapar ett behov av en styrning för att hantera alla projekt ur ett helhetsperspektiv. Med hjälp av Project Portfolio Management kan byggföretagen hantera den risk och låga marginaler som präglar branschen och i bästa fall öka sin lönsamhet. Syfte Syftet med denna studie är att skapa en helhetsbild av hur hanteringen av projektportföljen ser ut i svenska byggföretag och att analysera vilka faktorer som är betydelsefulla vid projekturvalet. Detta sker genom att utveckla en teoretiskt förankrad referensram som sedan används för att analysera byggföretagens process för hanteringen av företagets projektportfölj. Metod Studien är baserad på en kvalitativ forskningsmetod där semi-strukturerade intervjuer genomförts med beslutsfattare och chefer inom respektive byggföretag. Intervjuerna har genomförts för att söka efter mönster och samband mellan de studerade byggföretagens hantering av projektportföljen. Slutsats De svenska byggföretagens hantering av projektportföljen sker i en decentraliserad organisation där graden av formell styrning varierar beroende på företagets storlek. En formalisering av byggföretagens PPM kan bidra till förbättrad riskhantering och en möjlighet för ökad lönsamhet. Resurser, tid och kompetens är grundläggande kriterier för att byggföretaget ska kunna ta sig an ett projekt. Vem kunden är och vad det är för typ av projekt har också en betydelse då byggföretagen är riskaverta och föredrar att ge sig in i projekt de är duktiga på. / Background The construction industry represents a vital part of the Swedish GDP and have been experiencing a high revenue growth during the last years. The construction companies work in a project based environment which calls for a holistic management system. Using Project Portfolio Management, the construction companies can manage their risks and low profit margins that characterizes the industry and in best case scenario increase their margins. Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to create a holistic view of the management of the project portfolio in Swedish construction companies and to analyze which factors are important in the project selection process. This is done by developing a theoretically-based reference frame that is used to analyze the construction companies process for managing their project portfolios. Method The thesis is based on a qualitative research method where semistructured interviews were conducted with decision makers and managers within each construction company. Interviews have been conducted to search for patterns and relationships between the studied construction companies' management of the project portfolio. Conclusio The management of the Swedish construction companies’ project portfolios occurs in decentralized organizations where the degree of formal management varies depending on the size of the company. A formalization of construction companies' PPM can contribute to improved risk management and an opportunity for increased profitability. Resources, time and skills are fundamental criterias for the construction company to be able to undertake a project. Other significant criterias in this process are the customer and the type of project.

Os atrasos de obra têm se tornado comuns na indústria da construção, afetando o desempenho dos empreendimentos e causando prejuízos consideráveis para todos os envolvidos. Este trabalho analisa as principais causas de atraso em projetos de construção e propõe um método estruturado que auxilie o uso efetivo de ferramentas de planejamento físico, bem como boas práticas e instrumentos de controle de prazo. Inicialmente, realizou-se uma ampla revisão bibliográfica sobre o tema. Em seguida, uma pesquisa de campo em 50 obras relacionadas a empreendimentos imobiliários (construídos em um período de cerca de nove anos) para se identificar os principais fatores que influenciaram seus atrasos. Com base neste estudo inicial, propôs-se um primeiro referencial estruturado de práticas de planejamento e gestão de prazos que evitem a ocorrência dos vários problemas ou causas de atrasos levantados na pesquisa anterior. Estudou-se a viabilidade destas práticas através de uma segunda pesquisa de campo detalhada, em outras 8 obras mais recentes de mesma tipologia. Além disso, buscou-se uma validação das práticas por profissionais que atuam nos processos de planejamento de construtoras. Finalmente os resultados de todas estas análises são utilizados para refinar e consolidar um método que evite a ocorrência de atrasos e que apoie uma boa gestão de prazos de obra em projetos imobiliários. / Delays are common in the construction industry. They create many concerns for project performance and cause considerable losses to project parties. This research analyze the main causes of delay in construction projects, and it propose a structured method to improve the current use of time planning tools and control instruments. Initially, a literature review and a field survey with 50 real estate construction projects in Brazilian cities (built in a period of nine years) are conducted to identify the main factors influencing the delays. Next, tools and assumptions to improve the control of project deadlines are identified, thus avoiding the occurrence of various problems raised in the previous survey. This study also proposes a time management framework that consolidates these practices and tools studied. The viability of the practices is measured in other recent projects, by a second field survey in 8 recent construction projects. In addition, validation of the practices by professionals who work in planning processes in construction companies was done. Finally, the results of all these analyses are used to consolidate a method to avoid delay occurrence and to support good time management in real estate projects.

Many construction projects suffer from mismanagement despite continuous improvement in the field of project risk management. With the construction boom in the Middle East, and especially the Gulf region, construction projects suffer from a high failure rate. The lack of the implementation of standard risk management methods in the construction industry of the Gulf region leads to construction projects that suffer from poor performance, delays, disputes and claims. In order to design a standard risk management model, there is a need for an in-depth study of the construction environment to lay down the foundation for designing a Standard Construction Risk Management Model in the future. This study aims to identify and assess risk factors during the construction phase of construction projects in the Gulf region focusing on two countries of the Gulf region – the State of Kuwait and Kingdom of Bahrain. The risk factors (RF) were identified and assessed and responsiblty shares were allocated to construction parties: clients, consultants and contractors. The research strategy was a Sequential mixed-method. It was adopted by means of interview surveys followed by a questionnaire. The study started with a qualitative approach in which eleven practitioners were interviewed to evaluate and validate a questionnaire. This was followed by questionnaires distributed to a representative sample of 140 consultants, 128 contractors and 139 clients in the State of Kuwait, in addition to 71 consultants, 99 contractors and 78 clients in the Kingdom of Bahrain, to assess the negative impact of the risk factors during the construction phase on the completion of construction projects. Parametric tests were used to analyse the collected data. Including, the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test, the independent-samples t-test, and Pearson correlation coefficient (r) test. The study revealed a difference in perception of the risk factors negative impact on project completion between Kuwait and Bahrain, Bahrain perceives highest degree of impact on projects. On the categories level, both countries agreed on the Finance category as the main factor threatening project completion, and the External category as having the least impact. In Kuwait, almost all parties agreed on the negative impact of all categories on project completion except contractors who have different perception on management category. Furthermore, clients and consultants held different perceptions on the impact of design category. Bahrain results reveal significant differences in perceptions on the impact of categories between clients and the other parties, however there are slight differences between consultants and contractors in all categories. The limitations of the study include only large contractors and consultants in Kuwait and Bahrain were included in the study. The study was limited to the construction phase of construction projects and only six categories of risk factors were included in the study and This research was based on practitioners and participants opinions rather than actual occurrences on projects.

This research explores the theory and practice of risk assessment and project evaluationand proposes novel alternatives. Reviewing literature revealed a continuous endeavourfor better project risk modelling and analysis. A number of proposals for improving theprevailing Probability-Impact (P-I) risk model can be found in literature. Moreover,researchers have investigated the feasibility of different theories in analysing projectrisk. Furthermore, various decision support systems (DSSs) are available for aidingpractitioners in risk assessment and decision making. Unfortunately, they are sufferingfrom a low take-up. Instead, personal judgment and past experience are mainly used foranalysing risk and making decisions.In this research, a new risk model is proposed through extending the P-I risk model toinclude a third dimension: probability of impact materialisation. Such an extensionreflects the characteristics of a risk, its surrounding environment and the ability ofmitigating its impact. A new assessment methodology is devised. Dempster-ShaferTheory of Evidence (DST) is researched and presented as a novel alternative toProbability Theory (PT) and Fuzzy Sets Theory (FST) which dominate the literature ofproject risks analysis. A DST-based assessment methodology was developed forstructuring the personal experience and professional judgment of risk analysts andutilising them for risk analysis. Benefiting from the unique features of the EvidentialReasoning (ER) approach, the proposed methodology enables analysts to express theirevaluations in distributed forms, so that they can provide degrees of belief in apredefined set of assessment grades based on available information. This is a veryeffective way for tackling the problem of lack of information which is an inherentfeature of most projects during the tendering stage. It is the first time that such anapproach is ever used for handling construction risk assessment. Monetary equivalent isused as a common scale for measuring risk impact on various project success objectives,and the evidential reasoning (ER) algorithm is used as an assessment aggregation toolinstead of the simple averaging procedure which might not be appropriate in allsituations. A DST-based project evaluation framework was developed using projectrisks and benefits as evaluation attributes. Monetary equivalent was used also as acommon scale for measuring project risks and benefits and the ER algorithm as anaggregation tool.The viability of the proposed risk model, assessment methodology and projectevaluation framework was investigated through conducting interviews with constructionprofessionals and administering postal and online questionnaires. A decision supportsystem (DSS) was devised to facilitate the proposed approaches and to perform therequired calculations. The DSS was developed in light of the research findingsregarding the reasons of low take-up of the existing tools. Four validation case studieswere conducted. Senior managers in separate British construction companies tested thetool and found it useful, helpful and easy to use.It is concluded that the proposed risk model, risk assessment methodology and projectevaluation framework could be viable alternatives to the existing ones. Professionalexperience was modelled and utilised systematically for risk and benefit analysis. Thismay help closing the gap between theory and practice of risk analysis and decisionmaking in construction. The research findings recommend further exploration of thepotential applications of DST and ER in construction management domain.

El desarrollo físico y emocional de las personas empieza en la etapa de la niñez, es por ello, que es necesario enfatizar en la salud física y psicológica de los niños. El Instituto Oncológico Pediátrico se da como respuesta a la necesidad de salud pública que se ve en el país. No obstante, es necesario diferenciar el tratamiento que se da en un niño y un adulto para obtener mejores resultados. El presente proyecto mediante una simbiosis entre la arquitectura y el uso del énfasis arquitectónico “neuroarquitectura”, genera espacios intermedios donde los pacientes puedan recuperarse de forma psicológica y física. Es por ello que el proyecto toma como objetivo principal la importancia de que los niños tengan acceso a establecimientos de salud con espacios eficientes que mejoren la autoestima de los niños. Esto se ve a través de la iluminación y ventilación natural, ambientes para la integración y el encuentro entre los niños y familiares. Sin perder la funcionalidad de un hospital debido a su alto nivel de complejidad. / The physical and emotional development of people begins at the childhood stage, which is why it is necessary to emphasize the physical and psychological health of children. The Pediatric Oncology Institute is created in response to the need for public health seen in the country. However, it is necessary to differentiate the treatment given to a child or an adult to obtain better results. The present project, through a symbiosis between architecture and the use of the architectural emphasis “neuroarchitecture”, generates intermediate spaces where patients can recover psychologically and physically, Therefore the main project’s objective is the importance of children having access to health facilities with efficient spaces that improve children's self-esteem. This is achieved through natural lighting and ventilation, meeting areas for children and their families without losing the functionality of a hospital due to its high level of complexity. / Trabajo de investigación

The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate how architects and project managers can improve their work process within an architecture firm, in order to become more competitive and cost efficient. To fulfil the purpose of the thesis, the research has been based on an interview study that draws upon the challenges the construction industry is currently facing, especially within architecture and project management, which means that firms working in the early phases of a project must do some changes in their work processes to meet those challenges. Hence, the research question has been based on the firm’s ability to improve their work processes in different and new types of projects. The investigation has been based on semi-structured interviews and a literature study of scientific articles and academic literature. The interviews have been made with group managers, a design manager, internal project managers and external project managers from the Swedish architecture firm White AB in Stockholm, which has collaborated with the researcher when writing the master thesis. The interviews has shown difficulties in managing projects for both architects and project managers, and in defining roles and dividing of tasks, which has resulted in the lack of collaboration and communication, design problems, time and budget constraints, client dissatisfaction and cultural barriers within the firm. To handle and prevent these difficulties from occurring the researcher has provided the firm’s steering committee with guidance on how to improve the difficulties with two overall objectives. The objectives were based on the current situation analysis, which in turn was based on interviews and literature study that entailed architects’ increased collaboration with project managers and the definition of the project manager’s role. Hence the following guidelines can be achieved: internal and external marketing, education, experience feedback, common objectives and shared leadership. / Syftet med detta examensarbete är att undersöka hur arkitekter och projektledare kan förbättra sina arbetsprocesser, i en arkitektfirma, för att bli mer konkurrenskraftiga och kostnadseffektiva. För att uppfylla syftet av examensarbetet, har forskningen varit baserad på en intervjustudie som bygger på de utmaningar som byggbranschen för närvarande står inför, särskilt inom arkitektur och projektledning, vilket innebär att företag som arbetar i de tidiga faserna av ett projekt måste göra vissa förändringar i sina arbetsprocesser för att möta dessa utmaningar. Därför har forskningsfrågan varit baserad på företagets förmåga att förbättra sina arbetsprocesser i olika och nya typer av projekt. Undersökningen har baserats på semistrukturerade intervjuer och en litteraturstudie av vetenskapliga artiklar och akademisk litteratur. Intervjuerna har gjorts med gruppchefer, en projekteringsledare, interna och externa projektledare från den svenska arkitektfirman White AB i Stockholm, som har samarbetat med forskaren vid skrivning av examensarbetet. Intervjuerna har visat på svårigheter i att hantera projekt för både arkitekter och projektledare och I att definiera roller och uppdelning av arbetsuppgifter, vilket har resulterat i samarbets- och kommunikationsbrister, utformningsproblem, tid- och budgetbegränsningar, klientmissnöje och kulturella barriärer inom företaget. Att hantera och förebygga dessa svårigheter från att uppstå så har forskaren tillhandahållit företagets styrgrupp med vägledning om hur svårigheterna kan förbättras utifrån två övergripande mål. Målen baserades på nulägesanalysen, vilket i sin tur grundade sig på intervjuer och litteraturstudier som innebar ett ökat samarbete mellan arkitekter och projektledare och att definiera projektledarens roll. Därmed kan följande riktlinjer uppnås: intern och extern marknadsföring, utbildning, erfarenhetsåterföring, gemensamma mål och delat ledarskap.

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