Better health through better infrastructure

Welcome to HaCIRIC’s 2009 Progress Report. Better Health through Better Infrastructure offers a chance to reflect on both the achievements of our short history and on the strategy for going forward. The Centre is now in its third year since foundation. In that time, we have taken enormous strides and have begun to fulfill the imagination and foresight of our funders. We are starting to make a real, measurable impact on the health and care sectors and their supply chains. We have also grown to understand much better the main issues facing our stakeholders and to fashion four key areas upon which to focus our future activity. HaCIRIC, as Patricia Leahy of the National Audit Office says, is ‘bringing innovative, rigorous analysis to the field’. She highlights the useful outputs that are now emerging from all the universities involved. Our mission – to improve health outcomes through innovative thinking about infrastructure – is bold and creative. It is helping, as Professor Duane Passman of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, suggests, ‘to take us back to being world class researchers in infrastructure and the built environment’. This goal is absolutely right for the times, as governments all over the world struggle to create greater value out of tighter budgets. As is clear from this report, HaCIRIC understands the real needs of the sector. It has created the capacity, the vision and the drive to deliver what is needed

Tolerance Management in Construction: A Conceptual Framework

Defects associated with dimensional and geometric tolerance variability (tolerance problems) are often dealt with during the construction phase of projects. Despite the potentially severe consequences of those defects, tolerance management (TM) is a perennial challenge, and the construction industry lacks a systematic and practical process to provide insight into avoiding the reoccurrence of tolerance problems. The aim of this research is to present a conceptual framework to proactively reduce the reoccurrence of tolerance problems at stages preceding on site construction. The research uses an exploratory case study approach exploring TM in a civil engineering consultancy. Evidence was collated from semi-structured interviews and document analysis, and validated in a group interview. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. The study contributes to knowledge in engineering management by providing new insights into drawbacks of existing TM guidelines. It also describes a good practice application of TM by a civil engineering consultancy, and proposes a conceptual framework to improve TM, which provides a basis to develop more effective practical solutions for TM

Deploying Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing in Construction

No standardised approach appears to exist in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry for the communication of tolerance information on drawings. As a result of this shortcoming, defects associated with dimensional and geometric variability occur with potentially severe consequences. In contrast, in mechanical engineering, geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) is a symbolic language widely used to communicate both the perfect geometry and the tolerances of components and assemblies. This paper prescribes the application of GD&T in construction with the goal of developing a common language called geometric dimensioning and tolerancing in construction (GD&TIC) to facilitate the communication of tolerance information throughout design and construction. design science research is the adopted methodological approach. Evidence was collated from direct observations in two construction projects and two group interviews. A focus group meeting was conducted to evaluate whether the developed solution (GD&TIC) fulfilled its aim. The contribution of this paper to designers, to organisations involved in developing AEC industry standards, and to the scholarly community is twofold: (1) It is an attempt to develop a standardised approach (GD&TIC) for the communication of tolerance information in AEC, and (2) it identifies discrepancies between GD&TIC rules and some of the commonly used American and British standards on tolerances

Health and Care Infrastructure Research and Innovation Centre final report 2014

Improving healthcare, while containing costs, demands sophisticated understanding of three core elements in healthcare systems: infrastructure, technology and services. Their tripartite relationship is extremely complex, not least because the pace of change for each is different. That creates considerable challenges in planning for future needs and makes the management of innovation and change difficult. [Continues.

AN IT TOOL FOR MANAGING THE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

ABSTRACT Throughout the last two decades a number of improved product development processes have been suggested that illustrate and clearly define the nature, scope and holistic representation of the issues involved in understanding and managing the product development process (PDP). The degree to which they have actually added value in the industry, even when lean principles have been incorporated, has been debated by many authors. Many agree that one of the main reasons for the above is that those processes/models are rarely implemented fully or the integrity of the embedded philosophy has been diluted through wrong adaptation. One such model of an improved PDP is the Process Protocol. This paper presents how the development of an IT tool can enable the easy and fast adaptation of the Process Protocol Model without loosing the integrity of the holistic approach and without diluting the Philosophies on which it was based. The IT tool adopts the Process Protocol model as a template with enough information that makes it appropriate but flexible enough to allow individual company innovations to be part of the model in a nonprescriptive nature

Factors Driving Success of Cost Management Practices in Integrated Project Delivery (IPD)

Integrated project delivery (IPD) is a mode of project procurement recognised as facilitating superior project performance. However, this success is contingent on effective cost management practices that share cost data with all project stakeholders in an accurate, timely and transparent manner. Despite an extensive literature on aspects of cost management, none identifies the essential ingredients required of an effective cost management system, sufficiently robust to support successful IPD projects. Candidate cost management augmenting practices are drawn from the literature, and presented for scrutiny in questionnaire form, to fifty IPD experienced experts, based in the USA, UK and Australia. Findings reveal activity-based costing (ABC) to be effective at identifying overhead costs and creating accounting transparency. Similarly, earned value management (EVM), in combination with ABC, is effective at developing mathematical models for equitable risk-reward distribution. Moreover, web-based management systems, as supported by Building Information Modelling (BIM), are effective at generating trust and collaboration on which IPD success depends. A questionnaire survey using purposive sampling was conducted to assess the factors driving success of implementing IPD regarding cost management process. The contribution to knowledge made by this paper is in identifying requisite support mechanisms essential to elevate traditional cost management practices to the higher standard needed to ensure IPD delivery success

Toward digitalization in the construction industry with immersive and drones technologies: a critical literature review

Purpose In this study, a critical literature review was utilized in order to provide a clear review of the relevant existing studies. The literature was analyzed using the meta-synthesis technique to evaluate and integrate the findings in a single context. Design/methodology/approach Digital transformation in construction requires employing a wide range of various technologies. There is significant progress of research in adopting technologies such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, and immersive technologies in the construction industry over the last two decades. The purpose of this research is to assess the current status of employing UAVs and immersive technologies toward digitalizing the construction industry and highlighting the potential applications of these technologies, either individually or in combination and integration with each other. Findings The key findings are: (1) UAVs in conjunction with 4D building information modeling (BIM) can be used to assess the project progress and compliance checking of geometric design models, (2) immersive technologies can be used to enable controlling construction projects remotely, applying/checking end users’ requirements, construction education and team collaboration. Practical implications A detailed discussion around the application of UAVs and immersive technologies is provided. This is expected to support gaining an in-depth understanding of the practical applications of these technologies in the industry. Originality/value The review contributes a needed common basis for capturing progress made in UAVs and immersive technologies to date and assessing their impact on construction projects. Moreover, this paper opens a new horizon for novice researchers who will conduct research toward digitalized construction

Causes of Defects Associated with Tolerances in Construction: A Case Study

Defects associated with dimensional and geometric variations (tolerance issues) are among the most costly and recurring defects in construction projects, yet the identification and mitigation of the causes of tolerance issues appear to be lacking in the construction industry. To enable the development of widely acceptable solutions for the perennial challenge of tolerance management, a more in-depth understanding of the causes of tolerance issues should be established. The aim of the research presented in this paper is to identify the potential causes of tolerance issues in construction based on a literature review and empirical studies. This research uses a case study approach. The empirical data are collected through direct observations, group interviews, semistructured interviews, and document reviews. Having triangulated the findings, a list of 18 potential causes was derived for the 11 observed tolerance issues in two case study projects. The contribution of this paper to knowledge in engineering management is fourfold: (1) the limitations of prior studies on causes of tolerance issues are revealed, (2) the empirical studies led to not only verifying and refining the causes collected from the literature by considering them in the context of the identified tolerance issues, but also finding new causes in the context of tolerance management when compared to literature, (3) the identified causes provide insight into reasons behind the recurrence of tolerance issues across the industry, and (4) it investigates the causes of tolerance issues while balancing managerial and engineering views. The findings of this study provide a pivotal basis for construction practitioners to develop effective solutions for tolerance management whereby tolerance risks can be identified and mitigated in a prescient manner, which can result in a significant amount of savings

Labor Waste in Housing Construction Projects: An empirical study

Purpose - High-level labor waste is a major challenge in construction projects. This paper aims to identify, quantify and categorize labor waste in the context of Iranian housing construction projects. Design/methodology/approach – This research uses a case study approach, with empirical data collected through direct observations and semi-structured interviews. Findings – Having triangulated the findings from the literature review and empirical studies, a list of eight types of waste was derived for the thirteen observed laborers in ten case study projects. The empirical studies allowed the labor waste identified from the literature to be verified and refined by considering it in the context of the observed activities, and led to two new types of waste being identified which were not considered in the literature. Findings indicate that nearly 62% of laborers’ time is spent on non-value adding activities. It appeared that ‘unnecessary movement’, ‘waiting’ and ‘indirect work’ make up the highest labor waste. Research limitations/implications - This research focuses only on onsite resource flows in a housing construction site. It does not include offsite flows such as material delivery to site. Originality/value - The findings have provided substantial evidence on type and amount of labor waste and provide a solid basis to stimulate construction actors to participate in reducing labor waste and improving productivity

HyCon - a virtual reality design support tool for hybrid concrete structural frames

Hybrid concrete can provide high quality, cost effective structural frames in a variety of situations when compared to other, more conventional, solutions such as in-situ concrete and steel frames. The key players in the design and construction supply chain process for hybrid concrete are lead frame contractors and design engineers. The use of hybrid concrete, however, is sometimes not considered by contractors and designers during the initial stages of design. This is often because of a lack of reliable and accessible hybrid concrete cost and production time information. Without this information, contractors and designers may disregard hybrid concrete as a design alternative, potentially omitting the most appropriate solution before it has even been considered. This paper reports on a collaborative research project in the United Kingdom which has developed HyCon - a prototype design support tool which allows contractors and designers at the conceptual design stage to carry out "what if?" analysis in a virtual reality environment to consider various hybrid concrete alternatives against a range of 'hard' and 'soft' performance criteria. The 'hard' criteria allow contractors and designers to assess initial and whole life cycle cost and production duration implications. The 'soft' criteria encourage the whole project team to assess and prioritise the importance and performance of design alternatives against criteria such as physical form and space