Client and contractor attitudes to prequalification

The article discusses the prequalification criteria that are believed to be good indicators of future construction performance by both clients and contractors. A crucial task in contractor prequalification is to establish a set of decision criteria through which the capabilities of contractors are measured and judged. The use of universal prequalification criteria seems to be a widely researched utopian&quot; ideal. Standard prequalification criteria provides more consistency across the industry.<br /

Benchmarking occupational health and safety performance of Australian construction companies.

It is mandatory for Australian construction companies to provide a safe working environment for their workers and sub-contractors. Consequently, occupational health and safety (OHS) is a major issue for construction firms mainly due to the fear of prosecution. The recent introduction of Zero Tolerance by the Victorian government WorkCover Authority provided even higher OHS safety standards for the construction industry. This has placed a increased burden on construction companies especially small firms that are not in a position of financial strength.The size of the companies has been found to be a major contributing factor to the OHS performance of construction contractors. This research is based on benchmarking study of 44 construction companies in Victoria, Australia. The results show that the major factors influencing safety performance were; company size, and management commitment to OHS.<br /

Property and Construction Professions: The Views of Industry Leaders

The role of professionals has changed significantly, and sotoo should the role of professional societies. The future isvery unclear, and it is likely that professional societies willcontinue to change and adapt. But what is their role today;is it to provide leadership, serve their members, or promotetheir professions? These questions were put to a numberof construction industry leaders to seek their views. Thepresidents of three professional institutes and a governmentregulator for the construction industry were approachedand their opinions recorded. Each interviewee was chosenbecause of their leadership role within the property andconstruction industries. Using an informal exploratoryinterview approach each respondent discussed issuesfacing their professional society. The results show thatindemnity insurance, continuing professional development,and public recognition were key concerns

The role of professional institutes today

Dr. Anthony Mills, President AIQS Victorian Chapter speaks with Ms Eli Giannini, President of the Victorian Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architect

A systematic approach to risk management for construction

Systematic risk management is expecting the unexpected &ndash; it is a tool which helps control risks in construction projects. Its objective is to introduce a simple, practical method of identifying, assessing, monitoring and managing risk in an informed and structured way. It provides guidance for implementing a risk control strategy that is appropriate to control construction projects at all levels. This paper will review systematic management approaches to risk. It discusses the allocation of risk and suggests that risk needs to be identified and managed early in the procurement process. In addition, a case study of a small project that was affected by difficult economic circumstances is included to demonstrate the effectiveness of systematic risk management.<br /

Response of kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum) to irrigation with saline, sodic wastes and nitrogenous, manganiferous effluent

The Manganese Metal Company (MMC) situated in Nelspruit, Eastern Transvaal, South Africa produces a manganiferous saline effluent from a manganese ore leaching process. The high NH₄ content of the waste has been identified as a possible nitrogen fertilizer source. Irrigation of the MMC waste over nearby kikuyu ( Pennisetum clandestinum) pastures could thus potentially solve a waste disposal problem as well as provide fertilization of the pastures, although the high manganese content of the waste poses a risk of manganese toxicity or pollution. The kikuyu pastures are presently used as a land disposal system for a saline waste from a pulp bleaching process. Due to process changes, the dominant salt type in the waste is anticipated to change from KaCl to Na₂SO₄. Pot experiments with kikuyu were undertaken to investigate NaCl versus Na₂SO₄ salinity effects, Mn toxicity threshold levels and MMC waste versus a standard nitrogen fertilizer (NH₄NO₃) yield response. The results demonstrated that kikuyu grass is both salinity and Mn tolerant. Kikuyu salinity tolerance, using electrical conductivity as a salinity index, was significantly greater in NaCl than Na₂SO₄ salinity. This difference was attributed to the formation of SO₄ neutral ion pairs in Na₂SO₄ treatments which decreased cation uptake, increased osmotic stress relative to electrical conductivity and led to a possible SO₄-induced Ca deficiency. Cl adsorption in manganous sulphate and Na₂SO₄ treated soils was speculatively attributed to the formation of an undocumented ettringite-like mineral. Kikuyu exhibited both a fertilization effect and a Mn toxicity effect with manganous sulphate applications. An increase in yield occurred between Mn applications of 800 and 1600 mg/kg soil. This effect was attributed to increased nutrient availability as a result of nitrogen mineralisation and soil desorption processes. Mn applications of 3200 and 8000 mg/kg resulted in severe Mn toxicity symptoms and reductions in yield. Fertilization of kikuyu with NH₄NO₃ and MMC waste produced similar yield responses. Manganese toxicity did not manifest itself in MMC waste treated kikuyu, even at nitrogen loadings of 800 kgN/ha. Manganese attenuation in the soil by MnCO₃ precipitation, oxidation of Mn²⁺ and Mn adsorption are expected to prevent excess Mn²⁺ accumulation which would pose a Mn toxicity and water pollution risk. The disposal of untreated MMC waste as a nitrogen fertilizer substitute for kikuyu pastures is thus in principle a feasible operation in terms of maintaining pasture sustainability and preventing pollution of water resources

The impact of client attitudes on the selection of contractors

This research is concerned with identifying prequalification criteria that both clients and contractors believe are good indicators of future construction performance. Criteria used in the past have been developed by clients in a largely idiosyncratic manner with little or no consultation with the contractors affected. The methodology chosen for the research was a survey which probed stakeholder attitudes to commonly used prequalification criteria. This was carried out via a postal questionnaire involving contactors and clients across Australia. The data was analysed using Discriminant Analysis, which is a multivariate statistical approach that determines the differences between groups. The research is structured around 39 criteria that were developed as part of a whole-of&ndash;government task force into best practice in procurement. The findings identified the most important criteria from both a client&rsquo;s perspective, and a contractor&rsquo;s perspective. The purpose was to discover if those differences reduce the effectiveness of the procurement process. This paper contributes to a more clarified understanding of the impact or contrasting views between the stakeholders involved in the prequalification process. This work is innovative because it is one of a few pieces of research that showed that clients and contractors do actually have divergent opinions on the importance of some criteria currently relied upon in the decision making process. The most important prequalification criteria are identified and possible reasons for these differences are discussed

Cost factors affecting the design of ground-supported floors

The cost of concrete ground-supported floor slabs represents a significant proportion of the total capital cost of industrial projects. There are many structural design issues that impact on the concrete contractors&rsquo; method of construction. This is becoming more apparent with the use of new high-technology levelling and trowelling equipment, which has significantly increased the pour and finishing rates, resulting in much faster slab construction times compared with the traditional methods of construction. Selection of both the design and the construction methods exerts a large influence on the initial cost. According to the results of the research reported in this paper, it may be possible to save between 2-4 per cent of the building cost if high technology solutions are incorporated into the design and construction process. This paper investigates cost issues that impact on the design and construction of ground-supported floors for industrial buildings.<br /