Virtual reality learning resources in building pathology

Building surveying students must be capable of analysing the condition of buildings and their components and, where this falls below an agreed standard, make recommendations for their repair. Hence university courses must provide opportunities for students to learn about the main causes of deterioration. Fieldwork exercises are essential but there are often problems locating appropriate buildings, programming visits to satisfy course timetables and complying with health and safety requirements. Whilst virtual surveys of existing buildings are not considered to be a substitute for real-life educational visits, this paper critically examines the development of a novel building pathology educational resource. Alternative technologies for creating digital panoramas are examined, prior to the development of an interactive case study, which enables students to conduct an on-line survey of a Grade 1 listed 16th Century hunting lodge. 360 degree panoramic scenes are linked with hot spots to create an interactive virtual tour of the building. The paper considers how virtual resources can be embedded within the curriculum, gauges tutor reaction to case study materials and identifies opportunities for the development of a suite of building pathology educational media-rich learning materials

Risk Management practices of leading UK cost consultants.

Risk management (RM) is now widely accepted as an important tool in the management of projects. Through a series of semi-structured interviews with RM facilitators, current practice is explored. The findings provide a number of soft benchmarks. Interest in RM comes largely from educated clients and is regularly adopted as an integrated front-end service. Ongoing RM studies throughout the project life cycle are limited largely to the public sector and utilities. The use of RM workshops and the production of risk registers are commonplace. The use of Monte Carlo simulation through specialist software is widespread as a means of obtaining a greater degree of confidence in project budgets. There is scepticism regarding the usefulness of complex risk analysis techniques and a predisposition to rely on judgement based on experience. The use of historical data is limited. Evaluation of the service is informal and there is a relative lack of training and skills development underpinning RM provision

Main contractor experiences of partnering relationships on UK construction projects.

Partnering provides a major opportunity for improving project performance, whilst offering direct benefits to the whole of the supply chain. Many research studies reinforce this assertion although there is less critical analysis examining the nature of partnering in practice and whether the claims made for it are consistently justified. The experiences of commercial surveyors and managers within the UK construction industry have been gathered in a pilot study, drawing on the opinions of 48 commercial managers employed by a leading national contractor. The perceptions and experiences of partnering relationships are generally positive, although the early optimism at the beginning of such arrangements is seldom sustained throughout the project lifecycle. Attitudes to partnering are similar whether the relationship is upstream (client/main contractor) or downstream (main contractor/subcontractor). The growth in popularity of alternative procurement methods and statutory adjudication are both regarded as having placed contracting parties on a more equal footing. However in today's competitive environment, contractors continue to operate on tight margins and, common to all project stakeholders, the financial imperative remains the commercial manager's principal consideration. Trust is hard-earned and relationships are still characterised by a cost driven agend

Value Management practices of leading UK cost consultants

Value management (VM) is widely accepted as an important tool in the management of projects. Through a series of semi-structured interviews, this paper attempts to add to the qualitative exploration of VM, by investigating the attitudes and experiences of VM facilitators within major UK cost consultancies. Clients cut across all sectors, but relatively few subscribe to a formal VM process. Despite the acknowledged importance of early interventions, the focus for many VM studies tends to be at spaces and element levels, rather than at the earlier concept level. VM continues to be used as a cost-cutting exercise, particularly so on projects which are experiencing problems. Formal VM rarely extends beyond tender stage. Workshops remain the common format, but these are often compressed, due to commercial pressures, into a half-day. Techniques are adapted to suit the needs of the project, team and client rather than being rigidly applied according to the theoretical approaches outlined in the literature. The potential to integrate VM and risk management (RM) services is recognized by all, although such integration is yet to be fully developed and implemented