Indicators for measuring satisfaction towards design quality of buildings

Design quality is an important component in measuring satisfaction towards total product quality (TPQ) of buildings, the product of construction projects. Design Quality Indicator (DQI), developed by the Construction Industry Council (CIC) in the UK looking at three quality fields, i.e. functionality, build quality, and impact of building in measuring the quality of design embodied in the buildings through feedback and perceptions of all stakeholders involved in the production and use of buildings. Design quality is always a major concern in the Malaysian construction industry. With inspiration from this DQI, this study was carried out to identify indicators for measuring the satisfaction towards design quality of buildings and to evaluate the suitability of the indicators for application in the context of Malaysian construction industry. Through literature survey, 32 indicators of design quality were identified and grouped into the three design quality fields. A questionnaire survey was carried out among Malaysian construction professionals (architects, engineers, quantity surveyors, contractors and developers) to assess the identified design quality indicators in terms of their relevance and significance in the context of construction industry in Malaysia. The survey reveals that access, natural lighting, access and use, structure element, landscape, finishes, location, external environment, urban and social integration and noise are among the design quality indicators that were perceived as the most important to be looked at. In overall, all the indicators are relevant for adoption in the Malaysian construction industry to measure the satisfaction towards design quality of buildings

Characteristics of Procurement Methods in Malaysia – Comparing Design-Bid-Build, Design-Build and Construction Management

Design-Bid-Build (DBB) or commonly known as Traditional method is the earliest and most prevalent procurement method used in Malaysian construction industry. Design-Build (DB) and Construction Management (CM) procurement methods were later introduced in Malaysia as an endeavour to satisfy and accommodate the increase in project complexity and the need for avoiding drawbacks of the Traditional methods. Each procurement method has different nature and possesses certain characteristics. Therefore, this study was carried out to ascertain and compare the characteristics of these three procurement methods that are implemented in building construction projects in Malaysia. A questionnaire survey was conducted among architects, consultants, contractors and owners or developers to elicit their feedback on the characteristics which were categorised into time, cost, quality, complexity and flexibility, degree of involvement and responsibility allocation and technical expertise. The findings indicated that only DB method almost fulfils all the characteristics under the six categories, whereas, DBB methods garnered agreement only for certain characteristics under time, cost, complexity and flexibility and technical expertise categories. Meanwhile, the only CM method’s characteristics that satisfy agreement from the respondents are the often used of fast track approach and lack of certainty in price. This study concludes that when a procurement method is adopted for a construction project, not all the features or characteristics will turn out as expected. There are many factors that contribute and are influential on the success in procurement methods that are worth for further investigation

Working from Home (WFH): Challenges and Practicality for Construction Professional Personnel

Implementing working from home (WFH) is seen as the most effective approach to control the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections cases in Malaysia. However, when operating from home, the crucial problem is the need for existing workers to transition from working in an office to home. By doing so, the reliance on the Internet of Things (IoT) technology significantly increases as workers are forced to conduct work online. Hence, this study aims to explore the challenges of WFH among construction professional personnel and their preferences using IoT technology in contributing to their work effectiveness. A questionnaire survey through Google Form was released, and 65 respondents living in Selangor participated in this survey. The data collected was analysed descriptively. The results revealed that respondents experienced some key challenges related to social connectivity, emotional support and sense of belonging, mental and physical health, and fear of job security during WFH. Microsoft Team and Zoom are main platforms always used for virtual meeting. The use of IoT technology for design work and site monitoring during WFH is still very limited. In conclusion, WFH is practical among construction professional personnel despite the challenges they experienced. To overcome the challenges, improvement of WFH policy is required for the future of construction industry practitioners. The finding of this study helps understand Malaysia’s key practitioners’ experience with WFH and the progress of IoT technology during the pandemic

Improving thermal conductivity of fired clay brick using sawdust waste

The demand for energy efficient design and construction has become progressively important with the growing energy costs and increasing awareness on the effects of global warming. Global warming causes a higher temperature of the surrounding, which will give significant effect to the energy consumption in commercial and residential building. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the possibility of incorporating sawdust as an additive material to improve thermal insulation properties of clay brick through lowering its thermal conductivity value. This study uses three types of soils with the proportion of clay soil (80%), laterite soil (10%) and grey soil (10%). The percentages of sawdust waste used as an additive are 2.5%, 5% and 7.5% by weight. The laboratory works performed involve the geotechnical gradation, physical, mechanical, chemical composition and thermal conductivity of fired clay brick. There are two types of brick that were produced in this study, which are control brick (CB) and sawdust brick (SB). The results show that the thermal conductivity of fire clay brick improves with the increasing percentage of waste material. Therefore, in this study, it appears that the brick incorporated with 5% of the sawdust waste is the optimum value that can achieve 7.5 MPa of compressive strength, 23.01.56% of water absorption and 0.384 W/m˚C of thermal conductivity. Thus, 5% of sawdust waste is chosen as the optimum percentage that yields better fired clay brick. This study reveals that the sawdust is a potential waste material that can be used to improve the thermal property and as a sustainable construction material

Tourists' Perspectives on Condition of Heritage Buildings and Resiliency of the Heritage Tourism Industry in Melaka

Heritage buildings have been seen as an asset that needs to be maintained not only for the sake of history and culture but also as a legacy for future generations. In Melaka, heritage buildings have become a source of pride for the people of Malacca and also the main source of income for the state government through heritage tourism activities. It is important to ensure that these heritage buildings continue to recover and be free from damage so that the tourists who come have a good experience. This study is focused on the issues which were concerning the condition of heritage buildings in Malacca from the perspective of tourists. Heritage buildings around the tourist spot in Malacca were selected as locations for this study. The study adopted a questionnaire survey, that involved 211 local tourists as the respondents of the survey. The respondents were requested to gauge the conditions issue and the resiliency of heritage buildings using 5-points Likert scale. The collected data were analysed descriptively. The results found that the overall average condition issue mean value is high (M = 4.05) and can be interpreted as satisfactory. This indicates that the level of satisfaction with the condition received is high. Although most respondents expressed a good experience with the condition of the heritage buildings that they had visited, there is still room for improvements. The findings also show that all the agreement statements related to the resiliency of the heritage tourism industry in Melaka have an average score of 79%. As a result of the survey, it is important that the parties involved in heritage management follow the conservation standards, promote, and practice good integrity, especially in ensuring the originality and authenticity of materials used as well as good work procedures to ensure the future resiliency of the heritage tourism industry in Malacca

Observation of temporary accommodation for construction workers according to the code of practice for temporary construction site workers amenities and accommodation (ms2593:2015) in Johor, Malaysia

The Malaysian government is currently improving the quality of workers temporary accommodation by introducing MS2593:2015 (Code of Practice for Temporary Site Workers Amenities and Accommodation) in 2015. It is in line with the initiative in the Construction Industry Transformation Programme (2016-2020) to increase the quality and well-being of construction workers in Malaysia. Thus, to gauge the current practice of temporary accommodation on complying with the particular guideline, this paper has put forth the observation of such accommodation towards elements in Section 3 within MS2593:2015. A total of seventeen (17) temporary accommodation provided by Grade 6 and Grade 7 contractors in Johor were selected and assessed. The results disclosed that most of the temporary accommodation was not complying with the guideline, where only thirteen (13) out of fifty-eight (58) elements have recorded full compliance (100%), and the lowest compliance percentage (5.9%) are discovered in the Section 3.12 (Signage). In a nutshell, given the significant gap of compliance between current practices of temporary accommodation and MS2593:2015, a holistic initiative need to be in place for the guideline to be worthwhile

The change in roles of architec's and quantity surveyor's from conventional to partnering approach

Architects and quantity surveyors are among the principal stakeholder using partnering. Partnering is intended to improve the way projects are designed and constructed. Consequently, partnering has a n impact on the d esign and construction process. This research project aims to investigate how the various aspects of an architect's and quantity surveyor's job have changed when comparing conventional projects with those involving a partnering agreement. This study intends to identify the practical impact of partnering on the architect's and quantity surveyor's role in the construction process and ascertain the strategy undertaken by the architect and quantity surveyor to adapt to partnering. The means of data collection used was a postal questionnaire distributed to architects and quantity surveyors with partnering experience. Two separate sets of questionnaires were produced for each category of respondent and were designed to allow comparisons to be drawn between the architect and quantity surveyor. Based on the literature review, partnering benefits and impacts were grouped into seven headings. The results obtained, do not support the hypotheses that partnering has a great impact on their roles and practices. They perceived that the highest severities of impacts are at major scale: procurement and contract issue for the architects, information exchange and dispute avoidance and resolution issues for the quantity surveyor. The survey revealed that an architect's role as a designer is the most frequently adopted in a partnering approach compared to lead consultant and contract administrator in a conventional approach, whereas, a quantity s urveyor's r ole as a cost adviser remains dominant. These do not support the hypotheses that their roles adopted in a conventional approach will change radically in a partnering approach. The hypotheses that a quantity surveyor is more flexible than an architect in adapting to change imposed by a partnering approach are also not supported by the results. The results do suggest that an architect has a preference to develop a close relationship with design-build contractors, while quantity surveyors prefer to market themselves to clients who can potentially initiate partnering arrangements as a strategy to adapt in a competitive partnering market. The role as an independent client adviser and project manager are the two roles discovered by the survey as potentially the most suitable potential to architects and quantity surveyors to take on as alternative roles in a partnering era

A Review of Effectiveness of Construction Waste Minimization Practices in Bauchi State, Nigeria

This paper reviewed the existing literature on effectiveness of construction waste minimization in Nigeria with particular interest in Bauchi State. The study highlighted the menace of construction waste to the environment. The Nigerian construction industry comprises foreign and indigenous firms which are classified into small, medium and large according to their level of capitalization and annual turnover. In the real industrialized countries, the construction industry can be responsible for up to 20 % of the GDP and employs up to 12 % of the total labour force. In Nigeria, the sector contributes 3.2 % of GDP. This is a clear indication that construction industry in Nigeria failed to meet expectations of governments, clients and society. The material and method of this research study utilized a secondary source of data. A critical review of this recent journal articles posited new findings of effectiveness of construction waste minimization. To ascertain the actual happenings in the construction industries within and beyond the study area. The findings of this research study indicated that environmental pollution is caused by construction waste in the study area. It is also revealed that indigenous firms generate large volume of construction waste. It was evident that construction waste is ineffective to the health condition of the environment. The conclusion is drawn from the study also revealed that different approach and method should be applied to curtail and minimize construction waste effectiveness in the study area

Working from Home (WFH): challenges and practicality for construction professional personnel

Implementing working from home (WFH) is seen as the most effective approach to control the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections cases in Malaysia. However, when operating from home, the crucial problem is the need for existing workers to transition from working in an office to home. By doing so, the reliance on the Internet of Things (IoT) technology significantly increases as workers are forced to conduct work online. Hence, this study aims to explore the challenges of WFH among construction professional personnel and their preferences using IoT technology in contributing to their work effectiveness. A questionnaire survey through Google Form was released, and 65 respondents living in Selangor participated in this survey. The data collected was analysed descriptively. The results revealed that respondents experienced some key challenges related to social connectivity, emotional support and sense of belonging, mental and physical health, and fear of job security during WFH. Microsoft Team and Zoom are main platforms always used for virtual meeting. The use of IoT technology for design work and site monitoring during WFH is still very limited. In conclusion, WFH is practical among construction professional personnel despite the challenges they experienced. To overcome the challenges, improvement of WFH policy is required for the future of construction industry practitioners. The finding of this study helps understand Malaysia’s key practitioners’ experience with WFH and the progress of IoT technology during the pandemic

1D Compressibility of DMS Treated With Cement-GGBS Blend

Great quantities of dredged marine soils (DMS) have been produced from the maintenance of channels, anchorages and for harbour development. DMS have the potential to pose ecological and human health risks and it is also considered as a geowaste. Malaysia is moving towards the sustainability approach and one of the key factors to achieve it is to reduce waste. Thus, this geowaste should be generated as a new resource to substitute soil for civil works such as for land reclamation and backfilling. This shows the improved settlement of consolidation in treated DMS. DMS is referred to as a cohesive soil which includes clayey silt, sandy clay, silty clay and organic clay. This type of soil has low strength and high compressibility. The objectives were achieved through literature review analysis and also laboratory test which was one dimensional oedometer test. On the other hand, treated DMS with more ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) gives a lower settlement compared to specimen with higher percentage of cement in a treated soil. Thus this shows that cement content can be reduced in soil solidification when GGBS is added. The optimum binder ratio found was 3:7 where 3 is cement and 7 is GGBS