Academic literature on the topic 'Confidential construction projects'

ABSTRACT A net environmental benefits analysis (NEBA) approach offers a powerful set of tools for rigorously evaluating and comparing the natural resource benefits of alternative mitigation, restoration, enhancement, and preservation actions for compensating for natural resource damages, site remediation and pipeline-siting projects, for example. Combining the results of the NEBA with an assessment of the costs of the alternative measures shows which alternative(s) achieve a net environmental benefit at least cost. NEBA uses environmental or monetary metrics to measure the change in the value of ecological services from the site under alternative actions compared to the baseline condition. This presentation describes a NEBA application to a pipeline-siting project. The approach is equivalent to evaluating compensatory restoration as part of a natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90). For example, under NRDA, a habitat equivalency analysis (HEA) model almost always is used in a two-sided NEBA, which sums the negative environmental benefits—interim losses—that result from the oil spill injury on the debit side and compares to the sum of the positive environmental benefits due to the compensatory restoration actions on the credit side. Most reports prepared as part of NRDAs are confidential. However, the NEBA used in the present pipeline-siting example is equivalent to how it has been applied in NRDA applications including two oil spills involving pipelines, the Colonial Pipeline Sugarland Run NRDA and the Colonial/Texaco Pipeline San Jacinto River Oil Spill. The present pipeline-siting example uses NEBA to determine the quantity of quality-adjusted acres of forested wetland that are needed to offset a loss in forested wetland acreage because of the construction and operation of the proposed pipeline.

AbstractThis article explores the use of specially trained canines to detect the location of human burials in nonmodern archaeological contexts. It discusses the history of the discipline, training and field methods, the importance of developing a working relationship with descendant communities, project examples, an assessment of canine detection effectiveness, and ways to select a canine detection team. The article highlights how the application of canine detection training and protocols to the archaeological record makes it possible to locate potential precontact Native American burial areas without ground disturbance. In some cases, probable burial areas located by canines can be confidentially mapped to ensure avoidance during upcoming construction projects. For a variety of reasons, many Native American communities have been wary of embracing this new method to locate ancestral burials. Today, however, canine detection is widely accepted by many tribal groups in California to locate ancestral burials that might be impacted by construction. Although additional controlled studies and rigorous field laboratory experiments are needed to understand the range of variation in efficacy fully, available results in both North America and Europe demonstrate that specially trained canines can often accurately locate human burials that are more than a thousand years old to within a few meters.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the factors relating to the implementation of a new procurement initiative that affect performance and value for money (VFM). The study is based on a four-year research project carried out on behalf of the Scottish Government to monitor and evaluate the performance and efficiency of a bulk procurement vehicle for social housing. Design/methodology/approach – The researchers had a brief to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the procurement process and its influence on cost and efficiency targets. The study employed a mixed method approach with annual rounds of qualitative and quantitative data collection from project stakeholders including the contractors, consultants, clients and sponsor. Confidential semi-structured interviews were conducted on conclusion of the project to gauge views on how well the procurement process worked from the various perspectives and to reflect on the influence of the process on VFM. Findings – The procurement programme failed to achieve the capital cost and efficiency savings targets quantified at the outset and on this measure alone VFM was not demonstrated, although there were a number of reported benefits. A major factor was the extent of process and behavioural change required from the project team and, although a procurement consultant was engaged to facilitate this, the theoretical benefits of “best practice” were not realized. The picture was further complicated by rapidly changing economic conditions experienced, and debate about the robustness of original cost savings targets. Research limitations/implications – The findings and conclusions are of relevance and interest to clients and construction organisations undergoing change through adopting novel procurement processes. Originality/value – The empirical nature of the study provides a comprehensive evidence base for the performance of a collaborative procurement programme and an understanding of the potential difficulties in attaining the theoretical benefits of procurement innovation.

Nigeria has recently renewed efforts towards stamping out corruption in every area of its national life. Given that construction procurement is particularly prone to corrupt practices, this study investigated the prevalence of unethical tendering practices in the Nigerian public sector. In particular, a comparison to bare the similarities or differences in the prevalence of unethical tendering practices at national and subnational levels is scarcely available in literature. This study’s objective was to determine and compare the prevalence of unethical tendering practices at the national and subnational levels in Nigeria. The data analysis was based on 120 acceptably filled questionnaires obtained from contractor, client and consultant organisations previously involved in public sector projects. The unethical tendering practices were analysed using prevalence indices and Mann–Whitney U tests. Findings include that the three most prevalent unethical tendering practices are contractor-based, namely: (1) competitors offer bribes to gain access to confidential tendering information (C1); (2) competitors overstate their capacity, experience and qualifications to secure construction contracts (C2); (3) the same owner(s) use different firms to tender for the same project (C3), in descending order of prevalence. No significant difference exists between unethical tendering practices in federal and state government projects. The findings of the study will help the Nigerian government and other stakeholders to better understand unethical practices at the tender stage of construction procurement in the public sector and to evolve better strategies for dealing with them. The study contributes to existing knowledge by separately identifying the prevalent unethical tendering practices in the Nigerian context and comparing unethical tendering practices at national and subnational levels within a country

The definition of a project is that an individual or group of individuals carries out a work that results in a unique product or service. What is usually discussed in both the media and in the construction industry is the type of project that you can talk about. In this study, this is called conventional construction projects. There are also projects that you are not allowed to talk about and that must be kept secret for various reasons. These can, for example, be based on protecting national interests. In these projects, integrity is one of the most important parameters to keep track of from a management perspective. This study examines the work methodology in this area of the Swedish construction industry. The study is based on traditional project management theory and begins with a review of concepts such as critical success factors (CSF), the distinction between confidentiality and conventionality, key performance indicators (KPI) and the classic iron triangle. The study's question is whether these concepts appear and are applied differently in confidential construction projects compared to conventional ones. Are there any activities that are of utmost importance that they are carried out for a confidential project to be considered successful? The study was conducted as a qualitative, abductive study where information was obtained through semi-structured interviews. In total, eleven interviews were conducted with individuals who participated in some form of confidential construction project. All respondents have represented construction contractors during their time in confidential construction projects. The conclusion after the completed analysis of the interviews shows that confidential projects do not differ significantly in terms of project structure. On the other hand, this type of project is characterized by a much higher degree of accuracy regarding planning and implementation than a comparable conventional construction project.
Definitionen av ett projekt är att en enskild eller grupp av individer genomför ett arbete som resulterar i en, på något sätt, unik produkt eller tjänst. Vad som vanligtvis diskuteras i både media och i byggbranschen är den typ av projekt som du faktiskt får prata om. I denna studie kallas detta för konventionella byggprojekt. Det finns även projekt som du inte får prata om och som måste hållas hemliga av olika anledningar. Dessa kan exempelvis vara grundade i nationella skyddsintressen. I dessa projekt är integritet en av de viktigaste parametrarna att hålla koll på ur ett ledningsperspektiv. Denna studie undersöker arbetsmetodiken inom detta område i byggbranschen. Studien tar avstamp från traditionell projektledningsteori, och inleds med en genomgång av koncept såsom kritiska framgångsfaktorer (CSF), distinktionen mellan konfidentialitet och konventionalitet, nyckeltal (KPI) samt den klassiska järntriangeln. Studiens frågeställning är om dessa begrepp ter sig och tillämpas annorlunda i konfidentiella byggprojekt jämfört med konventionella. Är det några aktiviteter som är av yttersta vikt att de genomförs för att ett konfidentiellt projekt ska anses vara framgångsrikt? Studien har genomförts som en kvalitativ, abduktiv studie där informationsinhämtningen har skett genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Totalt har ett antal om elva intervjuer genomförts med individer som deltagit inom någon form av konfidentiellt byggprojekt. Samtliga respondenter har representerat byggentreprenörer under deras tid i konfidentiella byggprojekt. Slutsatsen efter den genomförda analysen av intervjuerna visar att konfidentiella projekt inte skiljer sig avsevärt mycket sett till struktur på projektet. Däremot karakteriseras denna typ av projekt av en mycket högre grad av noggrannhet avseende planering och genomförande än ett jämförbart konventionellt byggprojekt.