DETERMINANTS OF CONSTRUCTION FIRMS' COMPLIANCE WITH HEALTH AND SAFETY REGULATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA

The management of health and safety issues is very significant in the construction industry in South Africa in terms of accident rates and cost to contractors. The costs arise from both the cost of compliance with regulations and the cost of accidents and injuries. In spite of the fact that available evidence shows that construction-related accidents and injuries are on the increase in South Africa, many designers and contractors regard the cost of complying with regulations as unnecessary additional financial burdens. It is against this background that this study investigated the statutory regulations relating to health and safety in construction in South Africa and the level of compliance with the regulations and motivation for compliance by contractors. Data obtained from contractors in a questionnaire survey the Western Cape Province of South Africa were analysed using percentage scores and mean score analysis with the aid of the SPSS software. Although the validity of the findings is limited by sample size used in the survey, it is hoped that the findings will provide empirical basis for a more inclusive survey of H&S in the construction industry in South Africa. Keywords: health and safety, regulations, enforcement & compliance, construction industry, South Africa

Construction Innovation: The Implementation of Lean Construction towards Sustainable Innovation

The prevalent theory of construction has been seen as a hindrance to construction innovation. The concept of lean construction is concerned with the application of lean thinking to the construction industry. However, in lean construction there are many arguments supporting the view that ‘the prevalent theory of production (or specifically, theory of construction) is counterproductive, and leads to added costs and reduced overall performance through the deficient production control principles based on the theory’. Presently, the construction industry and all other organisations face various problems as a result of the uncertainties of the global economic climate; including labour redundancies, delayed projects and zero margin contract bids. The construction industry is seen as one of the worst performing industry as regards innovation. This calls for concern about the poor state of construction innovation. The emergence of lean construction is to bring significant reform to the construction industry to achieve the objectives of sustainability within the built environment in the critical social, economic and environmental aspects. Increasingly, lean construction offers new techniques of constructing sustainable projects. It is about reducing costs by cutting waste, innovating by engaging people and organising the work-place to be more efficient. Hence, the aim of this paper is to highlight the cost and benefits of the potential contribution of lean construction to the attainment of sustainable innovation in construction. An exploratory method of investigation is adopted in achieving the aim of this paper by critically reviewing, exploring, and synthesising literature and industry case studies related to the subject matter. Evidence from the literature reveals that innovation through lean improvement in construction processes has provided proof of sustainability outcomes in terms of reduced waste, effort and time. Hence, lean construction impacts significantly on innovation by enhancing competitiveness, innovativeness, and resource efficiency within the construction industry. Keywords: Construction industry, Construction innovation, Lean construction, Sustainabilit

LEAN PROCUREMENT: THE USE OF LEAN CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES IN PROJECT VALUE ENHANCEMENT

Lean construction is characterised by a set of clear objectives in project delivery involving the concurrent design of products and processes, and the application of production control throughout the project life cycle to maximise value for money to customers. The successful delivery of construction projects requires the effective use of project management techniques such as risk and value management to achieve the optimum performance of a constructed facility over time. However, it has been argued that lean construction came about as a result of the failure of traditional project management to provide an integrated project delivery process in which design, construction, operation, and maintenance are considered as a whole with an understanding of how to enhance value delivery to clients, stakeholders (including occupants), and society in general. This paper explores in depth the lean construction techniques that support environmentally sustainable benefits and value enhancement in the design and construction processes (including supply chain management). It also explains how the implementation of lean techniques in construction project delivery and procurement strategy (including partnering relationships between contractors, consultants and manufacturers) delivers a high level of benefits and value. Keywords: construction project, lean construction, procurement, value, value managemen

A Review of Lean Concept and its Application to Sustainable Construction in the UK

The UK Government has recognised the importance of the construction industry in achieving the overall goals of sustainable development. Therefore the Government has put several policies and strategies in place to achieve a more sustainable construction. Sustainable construction is considered as the application of sustainable practices and sustainable development principles to the activities of the construction sector. Lean construction is a new production philosophy which has the potential of bringing innovative changes in the construction industry. The Lean principles focus on the minimisation of both material and process wastes which in turn contribute to sustainable construction in terms of energy consumption and improvement in health and safety etc. This study aims at exploring the concept of sustainable construction and examines how the lean approach can impact on the sustainability practices within the construction industry. The study uses literature review to achieve the stated aim. The findings revealed that the application of lean construction principle, tools and methods have direct contributions to the attainment of sustainable practices within the construction industry. However, the study postulates that the better understanding of lean concept, proper implementation and integration of lean and sustainability concepts are required for lean construction to contribute to sustainable construction

Construction Innovation: The Implementation of Lean Construction towards Sustainable Innovation

Abstract The prevalent theory of construction has been seen as a hindrance to construction innovation. The concept of lean construction is concerned with the application of lean thinking to the construction industry. However, in lean construction there are many arguments supporting the view that 'the prevalent theory of production (or specifically, theory of construction) is counterproductive, and leads to added costs and reduced overall performance through the deficient production control principles based on the theory'. Presently, the construction industry and all other organisations face various problems as a result of the uncertainties of the global economic climate; including labour redundancies, delayed projects and zero margin contract bids. The construction industry is seen as one of the worst performing industry as regards innovation. This calls for concern about the poor state of construction innovation. The emergence of lean construction is to bring significant reform to the construction industry to achieve the objectives of sustainability within the built environment in the critical social, economic and environmental aspects. Increasingly, lean construction offers new techniques of constructing sustainable projects. It is about reducing costs by cutting waste, innovating by engaging people and organising the work-place to be more efficient. Hence, the aim of this paper is to highlight the cost and benefits of the potential contribution of lean construction to the attainment of sustainable innovation in construction. An exploratory method of investigation is adopted in achieving the aim of this paper by critically reviewing, exploring, and synthesising literature and industry case studies related to the subject matter. Evidence from the literature reveals that innovation through lean improvement in construction processes has provided proof of sustainability outcomes in terms of reduced waste, effort and time. Hence, lean 2 construction impacts significantly on innovation by enhancing competitiveness, innovativeness, and resource efficiency within the construction industry

A review of maintenance prioritisation techniques in sustainable housing

Purpose and Objective The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the methods that can be used to prioritise maintenance needs in housing to optimise the use of scarce resources for sustainability. Problem Investigated Housing is a very important human need and the need for sustainable housing cannot be over-emphasised. One of the requirements of sustainable construction is to maximise the service lives of structures through a combination of appropriate design and adequate maintenance. Hence maintenance is critical to sustainable housing. Increasing the service life of buildings through maintenance helps in reducing both the consumption of resources and the production of wastes that negatively impact the environment. In spite of this, maintenance is generally given very little in budgetary allocations compared to new works. As the construction market is experiencing dwindling maintenance budgets in the face of increasing maintenance costs globally, maintenance expenditure prioritisation has become more important than ever before in ensuring the optimum use of limited maintenance funds for sustainability. This paper reviews the available maintenance prioritisation methods as part of an ongoing research in sustainable housing maintenance. Methodology Various methods of maintenance priority setting are identified from available literature. The underlying principles and workings as well as the relative merits and demerits of each method are discussed. Value of the research This paper brings together various maintenance prioritisation methods to give maintenance managers and researchers a holistic view of the methods and their theoretical bases and procedures. It will enable maintenance managers to make informed choices in selecting appropriate priority setting techniques in facilities management. Conclusion The current global economic crisis has made the need for housing managers to adopt appropriate techniques to prioritise the use of limited financial resources more urgent than ever before. This paper provides the basic theoretical knowledge of the maintenance priority setting methods in use and should be of benefit particularly to housing managers. The next stage of the research will apply an appropriate method to a case study housing organization to provide an empirical demonstration of maintenance priority setting. Keywords: Maintenance prioritisation, housing, facilities management, sustainabilit

A study of the causes and resolution of disputes in the Nigerian construction industry

The construction industry worldwide is dispute-prone due to the complex and fragmented nature of the industry and the adversarial relationships that traditionally exist between project participants. The aim of the study was to highlight the state of dispute management in the Nigerian construction industry. A questionnaire survey of industry participants provided data on the incidence and management of disputes. Analysis of the data using percentage score and severity index methods with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) showed that disputes occurred very often due mainly to clients’ payment delays and contractors’ contractual claims. Adjudication is the most commonly used method of dispute resolution and mini-trial the least. The results also showed that arbitration and litigation are still popular while adjudication and negotiation are the only ADR methods in common use. Widespread use of the other ADR methods is hindered mostly by a general lack of awareness of their existence and unfamiliarity with their workings among stakeholders in the industry