Developing a Holistic Fire Risk Assessment Framework for Building Construction Sites in Hong Kong

Amongst all types of construction accidents, industrial practitioners tend to pay less attention to the prevention of fires at construction sites.  Although fires may not occur frequently on construction sites, statistics show that when they do, the consequences are very serious; involving fatalities, injuries, serious project delays and financial loss.  There are many reasons why fires occur on sites, but a simple lack of awareness of the risks of fire is a major contributor.  Fire risk assessment is not commonly performed on sites.  Hence, it is believed that an appropriate assessment method for evaluating potential fire risk is required in order to improve the awareness of fire risk on construction sites.  This paper reports on the key findings of a research project which aims to develop a comprehensive, objective, reliable, and practical fire risk assessment framework for building construction sites based in Hong Kong.  A comprehensive list of those factors (or conditions) which may constitute a fire risk was compiled using desktop research and structured face-to-face interviews with experienced site personnel.  This list of factors was then used to develop a questionnaire survey form and the Reliability Interval Method (RIM) was used to analyse the survey results and determine the relative importance and rankings of the various fire risk factors at a broad level and risk sub-factors at a detailed level.  It was found that the fire risk factor of “Fire Services Equipment and Installations” has the greatest impact on construction site fire safety, with “Means of Escape in Case of Fire” being the second, and “Attitude of Main Contractor towards Fire Safety” being the third.  In fact, it is the main contractor who plays the pivotal role in maintaining construction site fire safety, which is in line with the high ranking given to the fire risk factor of “Attitude of Main Contractor towards Fire Safety”.  The proposed fire risk assessment framework can be used to develop a useful checklist for assessing the overall level of fire risk for a construction site, and to identify any areas needing improvement.  Although the fire risk assessment framework was developed locally in Hong Kong, the research methodology could be replicated in other countries to produce similar frameworks for international comparison.  Such an extension would aid the understanding of the management of fire risk on construction sites and help discover differences between countries

A Decision Support System for Construction Project Risk Assessment

This paper presents an integrated system in which a computer-based decision support system (DSS) for construction project risks assessment at stage of contracting and construction. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method is used to determine the weightings of risk factors from subjective judgment of experts and practitioners, and Fuzzy Multiple Criteria Decision Making (FMCDM) is used to assess the synthetic judgment of risk degree for the main activities of a construction project in different phase. A simple case study illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed approach and developed system

Development of a Fuzzy Fire Risk Evaluation Model for Building Construction Sites in Hong Kong

Earlier research works on fire risk evaluation indicated that an objective,reliable, comprehensive, and practical fire risk evaluation model is essentialfor mitigating fire occurrence in building construction sites. Nevertheless,real empirical studies in this research area are quite limited. This journalpaper gives an account of the second stage of a research study aiming atdeveloping a fuzzy fire risk evaluation model for building construction sitesin Hong Kong. The empirical research findings showed that the overall firerisk level of building construction sites is 3.6427, which can be interpretedas “moderate risk”. Also, the survey respondents perceived that “Restrictionsfor On-Site Personnel” is the most vital fire risk factor; with “Storage ofFlammable Liquids or Dangerous Goods” being the second; and “Attitudeof Main Contractor” the third. The proposed fuzzy fire risk evaluationmodel for building construction sites can be used to assess the overall firerisk level for a building construction site, and to identify improvementareas needed. Although the fuzzy fire risk evaluation model was developeddomestically in Hong Kong, the research could be reproduced in othernations to develop similar models for international comparisons. Suchan extension would provide a deeper understanding of the fire riskmanagement on building construction sites

Solving Civil Engineering Problems by Means of Fuzzy and Stochastic MCDM Methods: Current State and Future Research

The present review examines decision-making methods developed for dealing with uncertainties and applied to solve problems of civil engineering. Several methodological difficulties emerging from uncertainty quantification in decision-making are identified. The review is focused on formal methods of multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM). Handling of uncertainty by means of fuzzy logic and probabilistic modelling is analysed in light of MCDM. A sensitivity analysis of MCDM problems with uncertainties is discussed. An application of stochastic MCDM methods to a design of safety critical objects of civil engineering is considered. Prospects of using MCDM under uncertainty in developing areas of civil engineering are discussed in brief. These areas are design of sustainable and energy efficient buildings, building information modelling, and assurance of security and safety of built property. It is stated that before long the decision-making in civil engineering may face several methodological problems: the need to combine fuzzy and probabilistic representations of uncertainties in one decision-making matrix, the necessity to extend a global sensitivity analysis to all input elements of a MCDM problem with uncertainties, and an application of MCDM methods in the areas of civil engineering where decision-making under uncertainty is presently not common.The present review examines decision-making methods developed for dealing with uncertainties and applied to solve problems of civil engineering. Several methodological difficulties emerging from uncertainty quantification in decision-making are identified. The review is focused on formal methods of multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM). Handling of uncertainty by means of fuzzy logic and probabilistic modelling is analysed in light of MCDM. A sensitivity analysis of MCDM problems with uncertainties is discussed. An application of stochastic MCDM methods to a design of safety critical objects of civil engineering is considered. Prospects of using MCDM under uncertainty in developing areas of civil engineering are discussed in brief. These areas are design of sustainable and energy efficient buildings, building information modelling, and assurance of security and safety of built property. It is stated that before long the decision-making in civil engineering may face several methodological problems: the need to combine fuzzy and probabilistic representations of uncertainties in one decision-making matrix, the necessity to extend a global sensitivity analysis to all input elements of a MCDM problem with uncertainties, and an application of MCDM methods in the areas of civil engineering where decision-making under uncertainty is presently not common

Applying a new systematic fuzzy FMEA technique for risk management in light steel frame systems

Light Steel Frame (LSF) system is mainly used for construction of short and intermediate-height buildings in developed countries whereas considerable heed is not given to it in developing countries. Unfamiliarity to LSF risks is one of the main reasons for this averseness so risk management can remedy this challenge and develop application of the LSF. Hence, this paper investigates the risk management of LSF system considering design, construction and operation phase. Three main steps entailing risk identification, assessment and responding using fuzzy Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) technique are suggested for risk management implementation and for validation of responses, a novel index with respect to weighted combination of project quality, time and cost are calculated. The methodology is demonstrated on a pilot study in a developing country. By using interview, 29 significant risks are extracted in design, construction and operation and then evaluated by proposed fuzzy method. Results showed that the share of the risks in these steps are 21%, 31% and 48% respectively. The results revealed that the risks in the construction and operation phases are higher than those in the design phase. The results also show that involving safety as a project object in the risk management process could eventuate acceptable results

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT BASED GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR LAND SUITABILITY OF PETROL FILLING STATIONS

A sustainable approach for protection of the natural environment remains the topic of interest for the developers in the developing countries. There has been a growing concern that development activities have the potential to cause severe damage to the environment. The rapid growth in urbanization offered an ample demand of vehicles, resulting more fuel consumptio

Methodology to predict construction contractors’ performance using non-price measures

Despite being one of the largest industry sectors in the world, construction continues to suffer from underperformance. Contractors are the driving force behind built assets, and selecting high-performing contractors is crucial to the success of construction projects. However, the industry lacks a systematic and purpose-driven method of assessing contractors’ performance using objective metrics. Furthermore, contractors do not have a systematic way to gauge their own performance in the pursuit of continuous improvement. Although there are numerous approaches to the measurement of contractors’ performance, the literature suggests that most are complicated and highly dependent on data that are difficult to attain. The research presented in this thesis addresses this knowledge gap by creating a model for predicting construction contractors’ performance based on directly attributable measures that are quantitatively measurable and easily accessible. The findings of this research make a number of contributions to theory and practice. The developed performance model—the Contractors’ Performance Index (CPIx) provides a performance score based on seven non-price CMoPs. As the CPIx is based on factors that are within the control of the contractor, it provides a fair and independent assessment of performance that is not influenced by other factors. In an industry significantly driven by pricebased decisions that are solely based on non-price measures, the CPIx shifts the focus towards other aspects such as quality, health and safety, sustainability and productivity when evaluating performance, leaving price based measures for commercial considerations. Contractors can use the CPIx to self-evaluate their levels of project and organisational performance. If implemented as a sector-based performance evaluator, it can then be used to develop industry benchmarks for different categories of construction. The CPIx is presented as a prototype mobile application that can be conveniently used by various stakeholders to track performance within the construction industry

Development of Geospatial Models for Multi-Criteria Decision Making in Traffic Environmental Impacts of Heavy Vehicle Freight Transportation

Heavy vehicle freight transportation is one of the primary contributors to the socio-economic development, but it has great influence on traffic environment. To comprehensively and more accurately quantify the impacts of heavy vehicles on road infrastructure performance, a series of geospatial models are developed for both geographically global and local assessment of the impacts. The outcomes are applied in flexible multi-criteria decision making for the industrial practice of road maintenance and management

Training of Crisis Mappers and Map Production from Multi-sensor Data: Vernazza Case Study (Cinque Terre National Park, Italy)

This aim of paper is to presents the development of a multidisciplinary project carried out by the cooperation between Politecnico di Torino and ITHACA (Information Technology for Humanitarian Assistance, Cooperation and Action). The goal of the project was the training in geospatial data acquiring and processing for students attending Architecture and Engineering Courses, in order to start up a team of "volunteer mappers". Indeed, the project is aimed to document the environmental and built heritage subject to disaster; the purpose is to improve the capabilities of the actors involved in the activities connected in geospatial data collection, integration and sharing. The proposed area for testing the training activities is the Cinque Terre National Park, registered in the World Heritage List since 1997. The area was affected by flood on the 25th of October 2011. According to other international experiences, the group is expected to be active after emergencies in order to upgrade maps, using data acquired by typical geomatic methods and techniques such as terrestrial and aerial Lidar, close-range and aerial photogrammetry, topographic and GNSS instruments etc.; or by non conventional systems and instruments such us UAV, mobile mapping etc. The ultimate goal is to implement a WebGIS platform to share all the data collected with local authorities and the Civil Protectio

A fuzzy multiple attribute utility model for intelligent building assessment

Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) is an evaluation scheme which is very popular by decision makers for evaluating their judgments. According to MAUT, the overall evaluation U(x) of an object x is defined as a weighted addition of its evaluation with respect to its relevant value dimensions. The recent years have witnessed a huge concentration and interest in intelligent buildings’ performance that is increasingly evidenced in building design and construction. Intelligent buildings (IBs) are also under assessment according to their IB related characteristics and actual circumstances. For this aim, in this paper a fuzzy multiple attribute utility model for intelligent building assessment is proposed and three alternative intelligent buildings for a business center in Istanbul are evaluated