Editorial

The Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industries have long sought techniques to decrease project cost, increase productivity and quality, enhance safety, and reduce project delivery time. Building Information Modeling (BIM) offers the potential to achieve these goals. BIM simulates the construction project in a virtual environment. With BIM technology, an accurate virtual model of a facility is digitally constructed. When completed, the computer-generated model contains precise geometry and relevant data needed to support the programming, fabrication, procurement, construction, and post-construction activities. It can be used by project stakeholders for planning and decision making throughout the project life cycle. BIM represents a new paradigm within AEC, one that encourages integration of the roles of all stakeholders on a project. It has the potential to promote greater efficiency and harmony among players who, in the past, saw themselves as adversaries

Lessons learnt from the use of relationship-based procurement methods in Australia: clients’ perspectives

This paper aims to review the use of various construction procurement systems and present the development of Relationship-Based Procurement (RBP) Methods currently in use within the Australian construction industry. Therefore, this paper provides the historical development of procurement briefly and then focuses on the adoption of Relationship-Based Procurement (RBP) approaches in the Australian construction industry to investigate the future direction of the collaborative project procurement arrangements. Semi-structured interviews with high-level managers in the Australian state government organizations have been conducted to answer the research question. A discussion has been presented about the potential future tendency of the industry in adopting a RBP. The findings suggest that even though relationship based procurement systems offer significant benefits; they are not popular among the public sector decision makers because of inability to demonstrate Value for Money (VfM) propositions for public projects. Other reasons which may cause a move away from using RBPs in the future include the need for managers to fully engage throughout the project, and the lack of collaborative environment within the construction industry in general.

MANAGING SUSTAINABILITY WITHIN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

This paper presents a 'Sustainability Management Activity Zone' (SMAZ) to support the implementation of sustainable construction practices integrated within a generic design and construction process map, the Process Protocol (1998). This is being investigated within the C-SanD Project (Creating, Sustaining, and Disseminating Knowledge for Sustainable Construction: Tools, Methods and Architectures). A brief overview of sustainable development and sustainable construction is presented, followed by an introduction to the C-SanD project and its initial findings related to current practice and the perception of sustainability within the construction industry based on the first round of interviews. The paper also discusses some of the sustainability issues identified during the field work, and highlights the need for a structured framework to consider and incorporate sustainability issues during the whole design and construction process of a project. The latter part of the paper discusses the incorporation of these issues within the Process Protocol, as SMAZ. The paper argues that the key for successful use of SMAZ within the industry is the awareness about the sustainable development among design and construction staff and operatives, knowing the importance of different activities and sub-activities within the SMAZ tool, and motivation to bring changes for betterment within the current day-to-day construction and design processes. The paper towards the end also highlights the areas which need further research and development.Sustainable development, construction industry

REJUVENATION OF PUBLIC SECTOR PROCUREMENT THROUGH FRAMEWORK AGREEMENTS: A CASE STUDY FROM THE UK

INTRODUCTIONIn the North West Region of England, innovative councils have found ways to deliver better services and best value at reasonable costs through a variety of ways, including streamlining their procurement processes, working in partnership, pooling buying power, establishing partnerships and framework agreements with the private sector, building internal capacity and capability, using current stock and assets to catalyse community regeneration, reconfiguring and modernizing operational portfolios, raising capital through asset sales (for example, non-operational properties) and co-locating services in shared multi-service centers (ConEx, 2007)

Lessons learnt from the use of relationship-based procurement methods in Australia: clients’ perspectives

This paper aims to review the use of various construction procurement systems and present the development of Relationship-Based Procurement (RBP) Methods currently in use within the Australian construction industry. Therefore, this paper provides the historical development of procurement briefly and then focuses on the adoption of Relationship-Based Procurement (RBP) approaches in the Australian construction industry to investigate the future direction of the collaborative project procurement arrangements. Semi-structured interviews with high-level managers in the Australian state government organizations have been conducted to answer the research question. A discussion has been presented about the potential future tendency of the industry in adopting a RBP. The findings suggest that even though relationship based procurement systems offer significant benefits; they are not popular among the public sector decision makers because of inability to demonstrate Value for Money (VfM) propositions for public projects. Other reasons which may cause a move away from using RBPs in the future include the need for managers to fully engage throughout the project, and the lack of collaborative environment within the construction industry in general.

A FRAMEWORK FOR MANAGING SUSTAINABILITY KNOWLEDGE, THE C-SAND APPROACH

There has been growing awareness of the importance of sustainable development and sustainable construction around the globe for the last few decades. Sustainable development can be defined as the development, which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own needs. Sustainable construction is the application of sustainable development practices to the construction industry domain. In this field and despite governmental strategies and initiatives, much more has to be done to make construction more sustainable and achieve the targets set for sustainable developments. One of the major obstacles is to capture and manage the knowledge required to improve sustainability in construction. To support this there is a need for a framework to incorporate sustainability issues within the whole construction process including pre- and post- construction phases. After a comprehensive literature review on sustainable development and sustainable construction, the paper presents current practice and perception of sustainability within the industry based on field work conducted as part of the C-SanD Project (Creating, Sustaining, And Disseminating Knowledge For Sustainable Construction: Tools, Methods And Architectures) interviews, with a focus on creating and sharing knowledge for sustainable development and sustainable construction. Finally we present a framework to support the implementation of sustainable construction practices based on a generic design and construction process (Process Protocol)