AN ASSESSMENT OF FACTORS AFFECTING MATERIAL STOCK CONTROL PRACTICE ON SELECTED CONSTRUCTION SITES IN NIGERIA

This research examines the stock control methods utilized by construction firms on construction sites with a view to assessing the factors affecting material stock control practice by construction firms as well as determining the impact of factors affecting material stock control on building project performance. Data were collected with the aid of well-structured questionnaire administered on a number of construction professionals and technicians in some randomly selected building construction firms in South Western Nigeria. The data generated were further analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study showed that the stock control method utilized by most construction firms on their sites is the Action Level method. Also, the identified factors that affect material stock control practice on construction sites have significant impact on building project performance in respect of cost, time and quality. Based on the findings, it was recommended that material stock control should be practised on all sites and by all categories of building construction firms in strict compliance with Action Level Method coupled with proper use of project bill of quantities, schedule of materials, construction programme, specification, proper stock accounting and security systems; also a competent and experienced personnel with basic managerial skills in material management should be engaged on site as store officer to enhance material stock control practice

Effected factors on standard measurement method adoption in construction projects using SEM approach

Various factors affect the standard method of measurement adoption in civil construction projects, especially in developing countries such as Malaysia. Hence, this study investigates the relationship between affected factors towards standard adoption using the SEM approach. As a case study, this study focused on quantity surveyors working at a consulting firm in Selangor, Malaysia. This study identifies the effect of standard measuring technique adoption in Malaysian building projects that have a beneficial impact. The factors research model is the first stage in determining the reasons for using the most recent standard measuring technique in civil engineering construction projects and explaining the link between the barrier factors and standard adoption. The information was gathered using a questionnaire survey sent to participants at construction firms that used the standard measurement method. The PLS-SEM approach was used by SmartPLS 3 software to construct and assess a hierarchical model to assess variables and their effects on measuring method adoption. The findings revealed that 17 barrier factor indicators had a significant impact on adopting the standard assessment technique. The coefficient of determination (R2 value) of 0.307 represents the proportion of variance in the dependent variable that one or more predictor variables can explain. Furthermore, the conceptual model’s predictive significance value Q2 is 0.156 greater than zero, indicating that it can predict endogenous latent components. The measured effect size (f2) between the barrier factors (exogenous latent) and the adoption of the model’s standard (endogenous latent) was 0.443, indicating that the developed model had significant explanatory power to represent the relationship among the variables of the factors and the effect on measurement method adoption. There is a need to improve the methods and increase the driver elements described in this study to promote the adoption of standard measurement in construction projects, which impacts the adoption of the standard method of measuring. In the future, researchers can start from this study to compare the situation in Malaysia with developed countries to discover shortcomings and develop a framework for measurement factors that can be applied

Review of digital technologies to improve productivity of New Zealand construction industry

The New Zealand construction industry continues to face pressures to improve productivity and lower construction costs. With the need to build more houses and infrastructure, quicker, to high quality and on time, there is a need to upscale the use of advanced technologies. Going digital is a solution that can transform the construction industry by improving productivity measures. The objectives of this paper are to: 1 Identify the availability of transformative technologies and their potential impact on productivity improvement across the construction life cycle and, 2. To investigate the benefits and barriers to technology-uptake in New Zealand construction. This paper is a review of digital technologies that analyzes their impact on productivity across the construction life cycle. As a basis for analysis, the digital technologies are isolated into three key productivity improvement functions: (1) Ubiquitous Digital Access, (2) Whole Building Whole-of-Life (WBWOL) decision\ making, and (3) Cost Reduction Engineering. This study is a literature-based theoretical exploration, aimed at signifying digitization as a function of productivity performance in the New Zealand construction industry. From a practical perspective, clients and contractors may be convinced to invest in digital technologies, increasing or accelerating uptake and more fully realizing the benefits digital technologies could add to productivity performance, growth and long-term success. This study may provide useful information for researchers regarding the development of case studies by analyzing organizations that implement technological innovations, their successful actions/processes, barriers overcoming actions, and sources of new ideas

An assessment of risk factors impacting budget variability in New Zealand commercial construction projects

A review of several authors shows that various risk factors abound which potentially impact on the outturn tender sums (OTS) of construction projects from the design stage elemental cost plans (ECPs)/budget estimates. Proper risk analysis could at least partially solve this problem, by lowering the variation between the design-stage ECPs and their OTS. The concern of the current study is the variability between design-stage ECP and OTS, whereas the conjecture is that risk could be responsible for the observed variability. Empirical data was obtained from 208 practising New Zealand (NZ) construction consultants through an online survey. A quantitative analysis was performed to determine the most critical risk factors that impact ECPs. Findings revealed variation between ECPs and OTS (inflated risks) within the region of +1% and 23.86%. These verify discrepancies in the budgeted costs of commercial projects at preconstruction phase, and the risk factors responsible should be the initial focus of construction project consultants. The research provides invaluable insights from practice that could propose and strengthen the development of an effective mitigation strategy by using risk management approach which promotes risk/cost management integration in project delivery for the construction industry. This study therefore attempts to influence government policy to develop support mechanisms to encourage effective risk management practice in the construction industry in NZ