Causes of Construction delay in UNRWA projects in the Gaza Strip

Construction delay causes time and cost overruns for both owners and contractors. Claims and disputes may also be created due to construction delay. This paper investigated the causes and levels of delay on 90 completed projects in the Gaza Strip. The investigated projects are public nonresidential projects (mainly schools and medical centers). The result of this research reveal that the main causes of construction delay are unavailability of materials, political instability, bad weather, design changes, additional works, owners delay, and site conditions. The improvement of materials supply to Gaza Strip by establishing an independent materials resource and improving the owner’s contract document preparation will mitigate the delay of construction projects

Support vector machine cost estimation model for road projects

A cost estimate is one of the most important steps in road project management. There are ranges of factors that mostly affect the final project cost. Many approaches were used to estimate project cost, which took into consideration probable project performance and risks. The aim is to improve the ability of construction managers to predict a parametric cost estimate for road projects using SVM (support vector machine). The work is based on collecting historical road executed cases. The 12 factors were identified to be the most important factors affecting the cost-estimating model. A total of 70 case studies from historical data were divided randomly into three sets: training set includes 60 cases, cross validation set includes three cases and testing set includes seven cases. The built model was successfully able to predict project cost to the AP (accuracy performance) of 95%

Modelling the parametric construction project cost estimate using fuzzy logic

The research aims to model to predict the parametric cost estimation in construction building projects in Gaza Strip using Fuzzy logic. The building factors which effect the parametric cost estimation were surveyed. A questionnaire survey and relative index ranking technique were used to indicate the most five important factors from the view points of contractors, clients and consultants. 106 Case studies from real executed construction project in Gaza Strip were collected for the most important five factors to build up Fuzzy logic Model. The results revealed the ability of Fuzzy Model to predict cost estimate to an acceptable degree of accuracy

Factors affecting stakeholder management in construction projects in the Gaza Strip

One of the major emerging concerns in the management of construction projects is the recognition and management of project stakeholders, since the stakeholders are a major source of uncertainty in construction projects. The construction industry in the Gaza Strip has involved a diverse range of stakeholders. This research aims to evaluate the most common factors affecting the stakeholder management process in construction projects. A literature review was conducted on topics related to stakeholder management. A questionnaire survey was carried out among professionals in the construction industry. Ninety-eight questionnaires were distributed to experts from government, municipality, and non-government organizations. Sixty-seven questionnaires were received, with a 68% response rate. The mean and relative importance index were used to analyse the questionnaire results. The main factors affecting the

Multi-Attribute Utility Model for Selection of Appropriate Procurement Method in the Construction Projects

The selection of an appropriate procurement method is becoming an increasingly important issue due to complex decision-making that has to be made by clients early in the project lifecycle. The aim at this paper is to improve and enhance procurement system in the construction industry through developing a model using the multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT) as a decision support system for the selection of appropriate procurement method for construction projects in the Gaza Strip. Factors that influence the selection of an appropriate method for construction projects in Gaza Strip were identified. The results indicated that the top significant six factors that have most influence on the selection of procurement methods in the Gaza Strip construction projects are: price competition, degree of project complexity, time constrains of project, project size, client's financial capability, and client's experience in procurement methods. The study concludes that there is no variety of procurement methods used in the Gaza Strip construction industry where a traditional procurement method is preferred. This is because most of professionals' in Gaza Strip are not familiar and not widely experienced with the other alternative procurement methods. A model was developed using Multi Atrribute Utility Theory to select the most appropriate procurement method. The multi-attribute utility-theory (MAUT) as a decision support system was able to identify the appropriate procurement method

A neural network model for building construction projects cost estimating

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model for forecasting early design construction cost of building projects using Artificial Neural Network (ANN). Eighty questionnaires distributed among construction organizations were utilized to identify significant parameters for the building project costs. 169 case studies of building projects were collected from the construction industry in Gaza Strip. The case studies were used to develop ANN model. Eleven significant parameters were considered as independent input variables affected on" project cost". The neural network model reasonably succeeded in estimating building projects cost without the need for more detailed drawings. The average percentage error of tested dataset for the adapted model was largely acceptable (less than 6%). Sensitivity analysis showed that the area of typical floor and number of floors are the most influential parameters in building cost

Application of Project Time Management Tools and Techniques to the Construction Industry in the Gaza Strip

The objective of this paper is to investigate the level of applying theproject time management tools and techniques by public ownersand construction contractors in the Gaza Strip. This study hasbeen conducted by means of a survey questionnaire. Seventythreequestionnaires were distributed to target constructioncontractors and twenty-five questionnaires to public owners. Sixtycompleted questionnaires from contractors and twenty-threequestionnaires from public owners were received and analysed. The survey results indicated that contemporary project timemanagement tools and techniques are not widely used amonglocal contractors and owners. Lack of subcontractor’s knowledgeand awareness of the importance of project time managementtools and techniques are still major obstacles toward the efficientutilisation of such tools. This study recommended that there is anurgent need to establish a professional industry body such as anInstitute of Building to review and evaluate existing local projectmanagement practices. This professional body may be establishedby the government through the Ministry of Housing and PublicWorks or by the local university in cooperation with a similarinternational professional industry body. Current training effortshould be tailored to encourage owners and contractors to usework breakdown structures, resource optimisation, and networkscheduling

Multi-Attribute Utility Theory for Selecting an Appropriate Procurement Method in the Construction Projects

The selection of an appropriate procurement method is becoming an increasingly important issue due to complex decision making that clients are facing early in the lifecycle of construction projects. The aim of this paper is to improve the procurement system in the construction industry by developing a model using the multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT) as a decision support system for the selection of an appropriate procurement method for construction projects in the Gaza Strip. Factors that influence the selection of an appropriate method for construction projects in the Gaza Strip are identified and the results indicate that the most significant six factors influencing the selection of procurement methods in the Gaza Strip construction projects are price competition, degree of project complexity, time constraints of the project, project size, client financial capability and client experience in procurement methods. The study concludes that there is no variety of procurement methods used in the Gaza Strip construction industry, as a traditional procurement method is preferred. This is because most professionals in the Gaza Strip are not familiar or experienced with alternative procurement methods. A model was developed using the MAUT to select the most appropriate procurement method. The MAUT as a decision support system was successful in identifying the appropriate procurement method

Causes of Non-Prioritization of Infrastructure Projects in the Gaza Strip

Infrastructure projects are the backbone of the economy of the developed counties. Gaza Strip is suffering from non-prioritization of infrastructure project implementation. The objective of this paper was to identify the causes of nonprioritization infrastructure projects in the Gaza Strip. This paper considers the key causes of non-prioritizing infrastructure projects in Gaza Strip. Using an empirical questionnaire survey targeting groups consist of 5 ministries, 25 municipalities, 25 NGOs, international agencies and 59 consultancy firms working in Gaza Strip, respondents were invited to rate the level of importance of 52 causes have been finalized to be involved in this study from the literature. Results revealed that the most important causes are related to the project and its location, the surrounded political and economic environment, donors and project's owner. There is no consideration for local needs in the implementation of the infrastructure projects in the Gaza Strip and there are problems in the process of selecting infrastructure projects priorities by owners of these projects. Furthermore, several donors placing limitations on the type of infrastructure that it can support that related to their working area of aids and according to their political directions. Finally, the political and economic situation in Gaza Strip, and imposed borders blockade affects the decision-making process for the selection of the proposed projects. This paper will help the decision makers to consider the important aspects that should be considered when planning to infrastructure projects

MODELLING THE COMPETITIVENESS STRATEGIES OF CONTRACTORS IN PALESTINE

Contractor competitiveness strategies are one of the most important factors that contribute to the success of Construction Company. This research is to develop a model to enable contractors to measure the company competitiveness strategies. Factors that affect contractor competiveness strategies were evaluated through structured questionnaire. Nine groups of factors that affect contractor competitiveness strategies were developed. Relative Importance Index (RII) was used to identify the most important factors. The most 25 important factors (MIFs) that contribute to the company competitiveness were identified. The MIFs were modelled using multiple regressions. Factor Analysis technique was used followed by measuring the correlation and multiple regression analysis. The model that has the highest R², which represents the best values, was selected. The model was successfully able to measure the company's competitiveness in the Gaza Strip