Constructability obstacles: an exploratory factor analysis approach

Constructability is a concept with relative and not absolute value to increase optimization capacity of resources such as workforce, time, cost, quality, and working environment conditions. Given the growing complexity of projects and the increased number of failed and abandoned projects, the necessity to implement constructability in projects has become more tangible. Although the effects of lack of quantitative definition of constructability role in the traditional construction approaches are evident and have led to lack of coordination in performance of construction projects, so far no comprehensive quantitative approach has been considered to analyze the obstacles to constructability implementation. This study aims to identify and categorize the obstacles to facilitating the presence of contractors in the early stages of planning and design to implement constructability. In this study a comprehensive list of obstacles to constructability implementation is developed as a questionnaire. This questionnaire was presented to the experts, active in the field of construction. Finally, its results were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis method. Totally, 63 obstacles were questioned, then they were categorized by some of the experts of this industry into five categories of macro factors, including contractual, environmental, managerial, technical, and organizational. The significance of this study is due to this fact that identifying and categorizing the key obstacles to constructability implementation provides a useful reference for managers and owners of the construction industry to identify and develop solutions to resolve them. Identifying the obstacles to the presence of contractors in the planning and design stage and having a quantitative view toward this issue affects project implementability. In this regard, one can present more effective solutions to facilitate the presence of contractors in the early stages of design and also improves the effectiveness of constructability.Constructability is a concept with relative and not absolute value to increase optimization capacity of resources such as workforce, time, cost, quality, and working environment conditions. Given the growing complexity of projects and the increased number of failed and abandoned projects, the necessity to implement constructability in projects has become more tangible. Although the effects of lack of quantitative definition of constructability role in the traditional construction approaches are evident and have led to lack of coordination in performance of construction projects, so far no comprehensive quantitative approach has been considered to analyze the obstacles to constructability implementation. This study aims to identify and categorize the obstacles to facilitating the presence of contractors in the early stages of planning and design to implement constructability. In this study a comprehensive list of obstacles to constructability implementation is developed as a questionnaire. This questionnaire was presented to the experts, active in the field of construction. Finally, its results were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis method. Totally, 63 obstacles were questioned, then they were categorized by some of the experts of this industry into five categories of macro factors, including contractual, environmental, managerial, technical, and organizational. The significance of this study is due to this fact that identifying and categorizing the key obstacles to constructability implementation provides a useful reference for managers and owners of the construction industry to identify and develop solutions to resolve them. Identifying the obstacles to the presence of contractors in the planning and design stage and having a quantitative view toward this issue affects project implementability. In this regard, one can present more effective solutions to facilitate the presence of contractors in the early stages of design and also improves the effectiveness of constructability

Evaluating the Existing Barriers in Implementing Constructability

In fact, constructability is facilitating the construction of a project through integrating knowledge and experience to achieve the overall and common objectives of the project in all stages of it, but practically there is still a significant gap between design, construction, and achieving the desired project objectives. Studies show that separating the design and construction processes and lack of presence of the contractor in the design stage, prevent the effective use of experiences and specialty of the contractor to improve and develop design processes. This issue results in increasing project time and cost, poor relationships, and also increasing project waste and duplication. The barriers to implementing this concept can have major differences with each other in different locations all over the world, due to the unity of the executive conditions in various countries. This paper evaluates the existing practical barriers to implementation of constructability in the construction industry. A comprehensive literature review has been performed by the authors through using the Meta-Synthesis method and findings were used to form research assumptions. Three case studies of Mass Housing project (MHP) in Tehran were instigated. Outputs taken from nine interviews with different experts in this industry working in diverse areas, including owners, consultants and contractors are then ranked after theoretical saturation compared using the NVIVO Software and through pattern and descriptive analyses. The concept of constructability is focused on the early presence of contractors in the initial stages of the project. So that, through integrating knowledge and experience, problems due to lack of their presence in the early stages of the project can be reduced. Comparing the existing barriers to implementing constructability in Iran with those of the wider world, presents some effective solutions to facilitate the presence of the construction contractors in the early stages of projects

Strategic Alliance Critical Success Factors in Iranian Project Based Organizations

In today's competitive environment, organizations are able to support the individual individually and simply by replenishing their resources to organize you for strategic use; And they have to partner with other companies and organizations. The purpose of this study is to succeed in the success of the strategic union in project organizations in Iran. In this research, the key task of influencing the success of the strategic union in the organization of projects using the systematic review method; Identified and classified using descriptive analysis. Then, using a survey strategy and by distributing questionnaires among activists in the organization of political projects, these factors were caused and analyzed using the fuzzy Delphi technique by distributing 12 questionnaires among experts in this field. The most effective factor used in the success of the strategic union is the existence of problem solving teams, which were classified in the source perspective group. The preference of this theory, as the most important theoretical support explaining the key factors of success in the strategic union of project production organizations can be the lack of transparency and confidence in the relations of industry actors and ineffectiveness

A practical framework to facilitate constructability implementation using the integrated project delivery approach: a case study

Having integrated contractual strategies for projects and developing a transparent and unambiguous contract is highly effective for properly implementation of constructability. This study uses integrated project delivery (IPD) as the most recent contractual delivery approach to facilitate easier constructability implementation in the construction industry. The aim of this study is to present a practical framework to reduce changes and duplications, and facilitate constructability through focusing on the IPD approach. A case study on mass housing projects in Tehran is applied to provide supportive research data. This study uses qualitative analyses of data from both literature and the case study. Previously, comprehensive studies have been done by the authors through conducting a meta-synthesis technique. Outputs of the study, which were barriers and solutions to facilitate constructability implementation, are used in this study as presumptions. Data was collected from in-depth interviews with expert, including owners, consultants and contractors. The results were classified and compared with each other through descriptive and pattern analyses using the NVIVO Software. As determining constructability of a project needs experience and expertise, lack of constructability can be due to late or improper decision making in planning and design. The outcome of this study shows that `IPD implementation facilitates such harmony and coordination. The case is from Tehran of Iran. Given the geographical restriction of this case study that was in Iran, there were not adequate experts in the field of IPD. Currently, in Iran, these concepts are just implemented in large projects. This study uses IPD as the most recent contractual delivery approach to facilitate easier constructability implementation in the construction industry. Having coordination between construction and pre-construction stages is very significant to reduce duplications and improve real implementation of designs