SUITABILITY OF PACKAGE DEAL CONTRACTS FOR RESIDENTIAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION

Residential construction is becoming an increasingly important subdivision of construction industry, necessitating advanced procurement methods in order to accommodate changing requirements. Commonly, residential construction demand is met by the informal sector of construction industry. With the changing environments, a novel trend of package deal contracts is spreading in the context bringing in formalities to the residential construction projects. Package deal is a developed procurement method with unique characteristics. However, in selecting an appropriate procurement method for a specific housing construction project, proper understanding of characteristics of available procurement options are utmost of importance. Therefore, this research aimed to elucidate the suitability of package deal contracts for residential building construction, against time, cost and quality benefits. Study identified 43 time, cost, and quality related expectations through a comprehensive literature survey, which residential construction clients would expect to be born of package deal contracts. The factors were ranked against industry experts' view and further, tested via a survey with a sample of clients with package deal and informal construction experience. Data were analysed for medians and standard deviations in to rank the factors considering the reliability. Consequently, experts appreciated time and cost benefits of package deal contracts over informal construction. Importantly, projects start quickly with known early commitments under package deal contracts. However, informal construction offers better quality with attractive finished products. Therefore, the package deal is suitable for the clients, who are concerned of time and cost benefits, while informal construction is suitable for the client’s with prime concern of quality benefits

As espécies de tauari (Lecythidaceae) em florestas de terra firme da Amazônia: padrões de distribuição geográfica, abundâncias e implicações para a conservação "Tauari" species (Lecythidaceae) in non-flooded Amazon forest: patterns of geographic distribution, abundance, and implications for conservation

Conhecer a distribuição de uma espécie é essencial para o conhecimento de sua ecologia e conservação. Neste estudo, foram levantadas a composição, a abundância, a estrutura diamétrica e a distribuição geográfica das espécies de tauari (Lecythidaceae), um dos grupos de árvores mais explorados na Amazônia. Foram utilizados dados de herbários para definir a área de distribuição das espécies e inventários em seis áreas do bioma (totalizando 401,25 ha) para estimar abundâncias e estruturas diamétricas. Das 14 espécies ocorrentes na Amazônia, nove foram encontradas nos inventários. Couratari guianensis apresentou a maior área de distribuição contínua, porém sempre com densidades baixas. Couratari stellata apresentou a segunda maior área de distribuição, porém disjunta e, em geral, com densidades altas. Cariniana micrantha e Couratari multiflora apresentaram ampla distribuição e densidades variáveis, enquanto a maioria das demais espécies mostrou distribuição regional ou endêmica, e densidades menores que um indivíduo por hectare. A classificação das espécies em relação ao tipo de raridade divergiu daquelas descritas para Couratari guianensis e C. multiflora. Os resultados ressaltam a escassez de dados sobre espécies madeireiras nas regiões mais desmatadas da Amazônia, a necessidade do levantamento da abundância populacional local e regional para a melhor caracterização do seu padrão de distribuição e fornecem bases para a revisão das categorias e critérios de ameaças das espécies de Couratari na lista vermelha da IUCN.<br>Understanding the range of a species is essential to understanding its ecology and conservation. In this study we collected data on the composition, abundance, diametric structure, and geographic distribution of "tauari" species (Lecythidaceae), which are among the most exploited timber trees of the Amazonian forest. We used herbarium data to define the areas of distribution and inventories of 401.25 ha from six areas of Amazonia to list species for estimating abundance and diametric structure. Of the 14 species that occur in the biome, nine were sampled in the inventories. Couratari guianensis had the largest continuous area of distribution, but always at low densities. Couratari stellata had the second largest distribution, but it was discontinuous and usually at high densities. Cariniana micrantha and Couratari multiflora had wide distributions and variable densities, whereas most of the other species showed regional or restricted ranges and densities below one individual per hectare. The classification of species according to rarity type diverged from that described for Couratari guianensis and C. multiflora. These results point out the lack of data for timber species in the most deforested regions of Amazonia, the need for local and regional abundance investigation for better understanding of distribution patterns, and to provide support for reviewing the categories and criteria of threats of Couratari species on the IUCN Red List