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1
Fevre, Ralph. "Subcontracting in Steel." Work, Employment and Society 1, no. 4 (December 1987): 509–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0950017087001004006.
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Research on the UK construction industry has identified growth in the use of subcontractors as one explanation for the increased number of small firms (and self-employed workers) in that industry. Other research suggests that there has been growth in the use of contractors in manufacturing industry: has the construction industry pattern been replicated in any manufacturing industry? Data from the steel industry suggests that it has: in steel the increased use of subcontractors has accompanied the increased use of contractors. At BSC Port Talbot, for example, an informal cartel of established, local contractors has been replaced by large national contractors who make use of `cowboy' subcontractors. These subcontractors are economically dependent on the larger firms but legally distinct. The fact that steel turns out to be so similar to the construction industry raises doubts about the `special' circumstances which were thought to have led to the growth of subcontracting in construction.
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Yoke-Lian, Lew. "Review of Subcontracting Practice in Construction Industry." International Journal of Engineering and Technology 4, no. 4 (2012): 442–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.7763/ijet.2012.v4.406.
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SOZEN, ZEYNEP, and MEHMET ALI KUCUK. "Secondary subcontracting in the Turkish construction industry." Construction Management and Economics 17, no. 2 (March 1999): 215–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/014461999371718.
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Akinwale, A. A., and O. A. Olusanya. "Influence of Subcontracting Processes on Wages and Workloads in the Building Construction Industry in Nigeria." Journal of Construction Business and Management 4, no. 2 (December 4, 2020): 1–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.2.788.
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There is a paucity of information on the experience of subcontracted work despite the widespread use of subcontracting in the building construction industry. This study examined the influence of subcontracting processes on wages and workloads in the building construction industry in Nigeria. Data collection for the study was based on a cross-sectional research design with a survey research strategy, including a structured questionnaire and some key informant interviews. A sample of 908 subcontracted workers was randomly selected from 388 building construction sites in Lagos State, Nigeria. Data obtained from the structured questionnaire were subjected to descriptive statistics and regression analysis, while an ethnographic technique was used to analyze the data from the interviews. The regression results (β = –0.046; p < 0.05) showed that to some extent subcontracting processes significantly influenced workers’ participation in wage determination; and that the regression results (β = –0.040; p < 0.05) revealed that to some extent subcontracting processes significantly influenced workers’ participation in the determination of workloads in the building construction industry in Nigeria. Wages and workloads are inappropriate when the degree of influence of the subcontracting process on workers' participation in the determination of wages and workloads in the building construction industry is considered. These findings imply that working in a subcontracting system could promote the alienation of subcontracted workers from the determination of wages and workloads, thereby showing the need for adequate protection for the affected workers. Therefore, the subcontracted workers in Lagos state should strengthen their associations to achieve justice and decent work in the building construction industry.
Keywords: Building Construction; Subcontracted Workers; Wages; Workload.
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Olusanya, Olasunmbo Ayanfeoluwa. "Subcontracting Systems and Social Protection in the Informal Building Construction Industry in Lagos, Nigeria." Journal of Construction Business and Management 2, no. 1 (January 3, 2018): 10–19. http://dx.doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.2.1.91.
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Subcontracting systems are entrenched in the building construction process in Nigeria. However, the implications for informal building construction industry workers' access to social protection measures are a cause for concern. This study examined the influence of subcontracting systems on access to social protection measures by workers in the informal building construction industry in Lagos, Nigeria, based on a cross-sectional research design, agency theory and the general theory of employment. The secondary and primary data used for the study were derived from a systematic review of relevant literature, a questionnaire administered to 908 respondents and 50 key informant interviews among informal building construction workers and subcontractors. The structured questionnaire was subjected to internal and external validity; the Cronbach's Alpha reliability test of the survey stood at 0.722. Data extracted from the structured questionnaire and interviews were analysed through the use of descriptive statistics, correlational analysis and narrative analysis. Findings revealed that workers got financial and health assistance from employers and government respectively. Results also show that informal building construction workers perceived provision of social protection as inadequate. The results of Pearson Correlation indicate that subcontracting systems have an inverse and statistically significant relationship with access to free or subsidised medical care, the remedy to accident on site and pattern of savings. Therefore, subcontracting systems influenced the availability of social protection measures significantly. Based on the findings and the important roles of subcontractors in the building construction industry, it is recommended that appropriate legislative instrument should be developed to address the challenges posed by subcontracting concerning access to social protection measures in the informal building construction industry. It is also suggested that steps should be taken by the government to promote formalisation of employment in the informal sector and support community-based social insurance schemes in Nigeria.
Keywords: Building construction, Informal economy, Lagos, Social protection, Subcontracting systems.
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Yik, F. WH, J. HK Lai, K. T. Chan, and E. CY Yiu. "Problems with specialist subcontracting in the construction industry." Building Services Engineering Research and Technology 27, no. 3 (August 2006): 183–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.1191/0143624406bse160oa.
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Choudhry, Rafiq M., Jimmie W. Hinze, Muhammad Arshad, and Hamza F. Gabriel. "Subcontracting Practices in the Construction Industry of Pakistan." Journal of Construction Engineering and Management 138, no. 12 (December 2012): 1353–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(asce)co.1943-7862.0000562.
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Mambwe, M., E. M. Mwanaumo, F. Phiri, and K. Chabota. "The Construction Subcontracting Policy Framework for Developing Local Contractors Capacities in Zambia." Journal of Construction Business and Management 4, no. 1 (April 27, 2020): 60–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.1.644.
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The Zambian construction industry, like many developing countries, has over the past years experienced an imbalance in the distribution of works between local and foreign contractors. In a bid to bridge the gap, the Government of the Republic of Zambia in 2012 introduced a policy on subcontracting which provided for mandatory subcontracting of 20% of all major contracts to local contractors. There has however been outcries from subcontractors that the policy has not been beneficial. The study sought to investigate subcontracting practices in order to develop a framework for building capacity for local contractors within the construction industry in Zambia. The objective of the study was to explore the regulatory requirements on subcontracting in Zambia and establish the 20% subcontracting policy inadquescies . The study adopted the mixed-method approach in which both semi-structured interviews (main contractors, sub-contractors consultants and project owners) and survey questionnaire were adopted for primary data collection. The questionnaire was distributed to 70 respondents and a response rate of 71% was attained. The investigation was conducted on 40 projects implemented in Zambia between 2012 and 2015. The study established four major deficiencies of the policy which include: subcontractors do not participate early in the procurement process and are introduced after contract is awarded; no clear guidelines on the implementation of the policy; subcontractors do not take part in determining works; and it is difficult to grow capacity of local contractors using the 20% subcontracting policy because contractors engaged to be main on projects do not show interest in developing and building local contractors capacity due to lack of incentives. A framework was developed that can be used to meet the study objectives and that of the policy in subcontracting and reduce the current inadequacies. The study recommended the use of the proposed framework by the government to reduce the current gaps.
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Yi, Sohoon, and Jennifer Jihye Chun. "Building worker power for day laborers in South Korea’s construction industry." International Journal of Comparative Sociology 61, no. 2-3 (December 4, 2019): 122–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0020715219889383.
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This article examines how unions build worker power for day laborers in South Korea’s construction industry in the context of widespread informality. Drawing upon regional case studies of the Korean Construction Workers Union (KCWU), we find that construction day laborers experience poor working conditions and rampant employment violations under multiple layers of subcontracting that enable capital to bypass existing labor laws and regulations. Despite the regulatory challenges of complex subcontracting systems, unions can still exert direct pressure on firms to improve informal working conditions by securing and enforcing creative collective agreements. Key to this process is the development of regionally-specific forms of worker power that target firms located higher up the subcontracting chain to take responsibility for informal working conditions. Although the scope of influence varies depending on the type of worker power that unions cultivate (e.g. structural, associational, and symbolic), each form of worker power has enabled unions in different regional contexts to establish uniform standards regarding job quality and job security despite formal restrictions on the legal authority of unions as bargaining agents for informal workers. While such approaches require a high level of organizational and strategic capacity, they demonstrate the ongoing relevance of unions in challenging the global turn to informal work through workplace organizing and collective bargaining.
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Zhang, Shui Bo, Junying Chen, and Yafan Fu. "Contract complexity and trust in construction project subcontracting." Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management 27, no. 9 (May 2, 2020): 2477–500. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ecam-02-2019-0113.
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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to unpack the “black box” of the relationship between contract and inter-organizational trust, both theoretically and empirically. Two mediators, namely perceived safeguard and restriction, are identified to build up two seemingly contrary possible paths between contract and trust from current literature. Both paths are tested in the context of Chinese construction industry due to our access to sample.Design/methodology/approachA survey of 295 contractor-subcontractor relationships from Chinese construction industry was conducted. A three-step multiple regression model was employed to test the mediating effect of perceived safeguard and restriction. Then, a hierarchical regression model was used to test the possible moderating effect of bilateral transaction-specific investment.FindingsThe empirical results support the mediating effect of perceived safeguard between contract and trust in the construction subcontracting industry. Bilateral transaction-specific investments enhance the positive effect of contract on safeguard perception.Originality/valueTheoretically, this study contributes to governance literature by opening up the “black box” of the relationship between contract and trust. It provides a better understanding of how and when contract complexity impacts trust, instead of simply focusing on whether contract and trust act as complements or substitutes. Practically, this study provides guidelines for construction firms to decide the degree of contract complexity under various degrees of bilateral transaction-specific investments to enhance the other party’s trust, so as to improve performance outcomes.
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MacKenzie, Robert. "From Networks to Hierarchies: The Construction of a Subcontracting Regime in the Irish Telecommunications Industry." Organization Studies 29, no. 6 (June 2008): 867–86. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0170840608088706.
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The perceived displacement of bureaucracy by external market relationships through the use of subcontracting has brought about an increase in interest in inter-organizational relations. The development of such relationships can be a protracted process, characterized by tensions and contradictions. The article traces the development of subcontracting within Eircom, the Irish telecommunications provider, from its relatively ad hoc origins in the mid-1990s to the development of a far more sophisticated contracting regime by 2003. The article explores the relationship between internal and external organizational changes associated with the construction of the subcontracting regime and the development of inter-organizational relationships. The subcontracting regime was transformed from a reliance on a series of decentralized local networks of suppliers to a highly centralized arrangement that bore increasing semblance to a unitary hierarchy. The transactions costs implications of such developments are considered throughout. The dynamics of change in this case reflect an incremental learning process as the organization adapted to changes in its environment and the emergent limitations of existing practices. Trust played an important role in the mediation of the subcontract relationships; however, the development of trust-based relationships was not a linear process.
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YIN, Luo, and Shuzo FURUSAKA. "STUDY ON CHARACTERS OF SUBCONTRACTING SYSTEM IN CHINESE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY." Journal of Architecture and Planning (Transactions of AIJ) 73, no. 632 (2008): 2181–87. http://dx.doi.org/10.3130/aija.73.2181.
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Debrah, Yaw A., and George Ofori. "Subcontracting, Foreign Workers and Job Safety in the Singapore Construction Industry." Asia Pacific Business Review 8, no. 1 (October 2001): 145–66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/713999129.
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Lew, Yoke-Lian, Sok-Yeng Lai, Tien-Choon Toh, Ooi-Kuan Tan, Yong-Yan Yan Felicia, and Li-Ping Yow. "Quality Performance of Multi-layered Subcontracting Practices in Malaysian Construction Industry." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 498 (June 16, 2020): 012092. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/498/1/012092.
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Standish, Barry, and Warren Krafchik. "Inward industrialisation, subcontracting and the construction industry in the Western Cape." Development Southern Africa 8, no. 2 (May 1991): 203–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03768359108439581.
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Lai, Lawrence Wai Chung. "The Coasian market-firm dichotomy and subcontracting in the construction industry." Construction Management and Economics 18, no. 3 (April 2000): 355–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/014461900370717.
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Lingard, Helen, and Andrew Saunders. "Occupational rehabilitation in the construction industry of Victoria." Construction Management and Economics 22, no. 10 (December 2004): 1091–101. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0144619042000241426.
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Sodangi, Mahmoud, Ahmed Fouad Salman, and Muhammad Saleem. "Building Information Modeling: Awareness Across the Subcontracting Sector of Saudi Arabian Construction Industry." Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering 43, no. 4 (July 31, 2017): 1807–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13369-017-2756-z.
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Moshanyana, L., and J. Smallwood. "Subcontractors’ Health and Safety Compliance on a Water Board’a Projects." IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1218, no. 1 (January 1, 2022): 012050. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1757-899x/1218/1/012050.
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Abstract Compared to other industrial sectors, the construction industry is responsible for a disproportionate number of fatalities and injuries. Subcontracting constitutes a significant portion of all construction projects, and it is noted for its adverse H&S influence in the industry. Health and safety (H&S) risks related to subcontracting pose a significant business risk to principal contractors (PCs) who employ subcontractors (SCs). Some PCs report that their sites have been shut down because of poor H&S compliance by the SCs. This situation has a negative impact on time schedules, and the overall profitability of projects. The study seeks to examine why construction SCs undertaking projects for a Water Board located in Johannesburg do not comply with H&S regulations. Quantitative methods were employed for the study. Literature was reviewed, followed by a questionnaire survey to obtain primary data. A total of 174 construction managers, supervisors, and H&S officers in the employ of PCs and SCs participated in the survey to gather data relative to SCs’ degree of compliance with H&S legislation, H&S regulations, and the Water Board’s H&S specifications. The literature suggests that there is general H&S non-compliance on construction projects by SCs. The salient findings include: SCs on the Water Board’s projects do not comply with H&S legislation and regulations, and H&S specifications; SCs’ management is not trained in terms of H&S; PCs do not issue work stoppage orders relative to SCs’ unsafe acts / behaviour; SCs further subcontract; the contractual relationships between PCs and SCs are not clear due to unauthorised subcontracting, and H&S enforcement by PCs and the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) is inadequate. Recommendations include: PCs must ensure that H&S practices are implemented; PCs and the DEL must enforce H&S requirements, and a framework must be evolved for ensuring SCs’ H&S compliance on construction. must be evolved for ensuring SCs’ H&S compliance in construction.
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Peters, Susan E., Hao D. Trieu, Justin Manjourides, Jeffrey N. Katz, and Jack T. Dennerlein. "Designing a Participatory Total Worker Health® Organizational Intervention for Commercial Construction Subcontractors to Improve Worker Safety, Health, and Well-Being: The “ARM for Subs” Trial." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 14 (July 15, 2020): 5093. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17145093.
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Background: Evidence supports organizational interventions as being effective for improving worker safety, health and well-being; however, there is a paucity of evidence-based interventions for subcontracting companies in commercial construction. Methods: A theory-driven approach supplemented by formative research through key stakeholder interviews and focus groups and an iterative vetting process with stakeholders, resulted in the development of an intervention for subcontractors in the commercial construction industry. We piloted the intervention in one subcontracting commercial construction company. We used these findings to adapt and finalize the intervention design to be tested in a future large-scale trial. Results: There were several key findings from the formative research, including challenges faced by companies and assets that should be considered in the intervention design. This resulted in a communication infrastructure company-based, continual improvement, participatory intervention design, consisting of a needs assessment and report, committee-led prioritization, action planning and implementation, and worker communication/feedback cycle. The pilot contributed to the final intervention design with modifications made with respect to timing, implementation support, capacity building, adaptability and sustainability. Conclusions: The use of a theory-driven participatory approach to developing an integrated organizational intervention for commercial construction subcontracting companies was important and necessary. It allowed us to consider the empirical evidence and relevant theories and tailor these to meet the needs of our target population. This study gives pragmatic insight into the early development of a complex intervention, with practical experience of how we adapted our intervention at each stage. This intervention will be tested in a future randomized trial.
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Galli, Brian J. "Effect of Cultural Diversity in Communication on Project Success Within Multinational Construction Companies in the United Arab Emirates." International Journal of Risk and Contingency Management 8, no. 4 (October 2019): 39–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/ijrcm.2019100103.
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All industries rely on communication and its effectiveness to run a system of subcontracting. There are many subcontractors in the construction industry that are involved in processes, such as design, plumbing, electrical, and project management. Communication facilitates cooperation, but when it is ineffective, then it leads to poor performance. The situation is even more critical in a culturally diverse environment, such as the UAE construction industry. This study sought to investigate the risks that ineffective communication can have on a construction industry by using the UAE as a case study. The researcher collected secondary data by conducting an in-depth analysis of past studies. Also, the qualitative analysis of the information led to the realization that communication failure could cause sub-contractor failure, scope changes, design changes, ineffective knowledge transfer, poor stakeholder engagement, time differences, and geographical distance.
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Chernysh, Iryna, Alla Glebova, and Oleh Maksymenko. "Business Processes Outsourcing in Building Enterprises." International Journal of Engineering & Technology 7, no. 3.2 (June 20, 2018): 59. http://dx.doi.org/10.14419/ijet.v7i3.2.14376.
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The article explores the role and importance of outsourcing for managing business processes at enterprises of the construction industry. Since the main purpose of managing construction enterprises is to achieve high technical and economic indicators, compliance with the terms of construction of objects and their construction, ensuring an increase in profitability and profitability of operations in the long-term perspective. This is possible with the use of outsourcing, which, unlike subcontracting, is aimed at providing profitability by concentrating on the performance of priority activities for which the construction company has the highest level of competence. Also, outsourcing involves taking risks and responsibilities of an outsourcing company for the quality of running business processes. This is a significant difference from the subcontract works and allows forming the long-term competitive advantages of the construction enterprise.
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Shang, Gao, and Low Sui Pheng. "Barriers to lean implementation in the construction industry in China." Journal of Technology Management in China 9, no. 2 (July 1, 2014): 155–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jtmc-12-2013-0043.
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Purpose – This study aims to build on previous research into lean practices and the associated barriers reported in various contexts to empirically address the question of what possible barriers exist to hinder the implementation of lean practices in the construction industry in China. Despite the potential that lean practices have to improve quality and productivity while reducing costs, successful stories of lean deployment are not frequently heard of. Design/methodology/approach – A large-scale survey of Chinese building professionals is used to identify these barriers. Findings – The results suggest that the most crucial barriers to implementation of lean practices, as perceived by Chinese building professionals, include “their lack of a long-term philosophy”, “the absence of a lean culture in their organizations”, “the use of multi-layer subcontracting” and others. This study also reports the findings using a factor analysis that shows the six underlying factors hindering the implementation of lean practices in the Chinese construction industry, namely, people and partner issues, managerial and organizational issues, lack of support issues, culture and philosophy issues, government issues and procurement issues. Originality/value – This study offers a thorough overview of the barriers to implementing lean practices in various contexts, with a focus on construction. This study also contributes to the knowledge by recommending the measures that can be taken to appropriately overcome the barriers identified.
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Ayers, Gerard Francis, John F. Culvenor, Jim Sillitoe, and Dennis Else. "Meaningful and effective consultation and the construction industry of Victoria, Australia." Construction Management and Economics 31, no. 6 (June 2013): 542–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2012.726366.
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Hossain Chowdhury, Mohammad Fazley. "Challenges for a Safe Workplace and Cope Up Strategy: A Case Study for Construction Industry in Sarawak, Malaysia." Journal of Cognitive Sciences and Human Development 4, no. 2 (December 10, 2018): 42–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.33736/jcshd.1124.2018.
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Like many other parts of the globe, in Malaysia, construction industry has a vital support to the national economy, even though statistics indicates that, at the same time, it is an extremely risky profession due to high accident rate. In addition, current evidences suggest that, in general, safety in Sarawak construction industries lack attention. As, human behavior is regarded as the principal component that contributes to accidents in this industry, this study intends to explore existing barriers in development and maintaining safety performance behavior as well as possible coping strategies. A qualitative analysis of in-depth interview (N=4) among different levels of professions within industries in Kuching, Sarawak reveals that, price sensitive subcontracting, short-term projects, irregular cash flow, dependency on larger companies, less managerial and supervisory engagement, and priority on progress alone create obstacles for safety behavior. On the other hand, possibly, the challenges can be managed through integration of safety into contracts as compliance, associated disbursement, and introducing incentives.
Keywords: Construction industry in Sarawak; safety performance behavior
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De Silva, Dakshina G., Georgia Kosmopoulou, and Carlos Lamarche. "Subcontracting and the survival of plants in the road construction industry: A panel quantile regression analysis." Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 137 (May 2017): 113–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2017.02.016.
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Debrah, Yaw A., and George Ofori. "Flexibility, labour subcontracting and HRM in the construction industry in Singapore: can the system be refined?" International Journal of Human Resource Management 8, no. 5 (January 1997): 690–709. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/095851997341469.
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Przywara, Daniel, and Adam Rak. "Analysis construction industry on the basis of price trends of labor cost." MATEC Web of Conferences 174 (2018): 04005. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201817404005.
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Records of the national, average pay rates in the construction industry, at quarterly intervals, allow cost - planning departments of contractors and investment services to assess current market conditions in the construction industry. Price quarterly publications, such as Sekocenbud and Intercenbud, contain important information, enabling production preparation departments to prepare a comparison of the production in-house labor rates with the market production labor rates. The article attempts to analyze the economic situation of domestic construction production in the years 2010-2016 based on the emerging price trends of the of labor cost estimates in this period, taking into account the impact of seasonal construction services. In "Polish cost estimates standards", the labor cost estimate rate is present in one form: the net labor cost estimate rate, which fully corresponds to the rate defined in calculation formulas. The rates of labor cost estimates, in individual regions of Poland, are shaped according to the presented market situations. This clearly is reflected in the periodic (quarterly) regional records of labor rates in the Sekocenbud system. The Act on prices of July 5, 2001 does not contain any normative regulations regarding the methods of cost estimation of construction works. The necessity to remain competitive forces large construction corporations to use a subcontracting system, involving several or even several dozen smaller, specialized in a narrow range of works, business entities in which labor costs are definitely lower, because they are reduced by a lower value of internal costs.
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Chancellor, Will. "Drivers of Productivity: a Case Study of the Australian Construction Industry." Construction Economics and Building 15, no. 3 (August 31, 2015): 85–97. http://dx.doi.org/10.5130/ajceb.v15i3.4551.
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Australian construction productivity has grown slowly since 1985 and remains arguably stagnant. The importance of this study is therefore to examine several factors through to be drivers of construction productivity and to understand possible avenues for improvement. The drivers tested are research and development, apprentices, wage growth, unionisation and safety regulation. Expenditure on research and development and the number of apprentices were found to be drivers of productivity growth in Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia. These findings are important because collectively, these three states account for a majority of construction activity in Australia.
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Haakestad, Hedda, and Jon Horgen Friberg. "Deskilling revisited: Labour migration, neo-Taylorism and the degradation of craft work in the Norwegian construction industry." Economic and Industrial Democracy 41, no. 3 (December 5, 2017): 630–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0143831x17735671.
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This article discusses the effects of large-scale migration on work organization within major construction companies in Norway. Based on extensive ethnographic data in combination with descriptive statistics, the study shows how large-scale labour migration has induced a shift towards more flexible employment, which in turn has changed class and authority relations, and the appreciation of manual skills in the production process. It is argued that the observed shift from ‘craft-centred’ to ‘neo-Taylorist’ management principles conforms to the classical deskilling process in several respects. First, the use of formally unskilled temporary agency workers has prompted management to intensify supervision and separate conception from execution of craft tasks. Second, more competitive subcontracting has fragmented the building process, with multiple actors operating within the jurisdiction of one trade. Although ideological and technological changes have contributed to these developments, the article argues that free movement of labour has played a vital role, and provided employers with the necessary leverage to implement new practices.
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Mills, Anthony, Jim Smith, and Peter Love. "Barriers to the Development of SME's in the Australian Construction Industry." Construction Economics and Building 2, no. 2 (November 17, 2012): 71–79. http://dx.doi.org/10.5130/ajceb.v2i2.2902.
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Small and medium sized companies (SMEs) operating in the construction industry in regionalareas of Australia often struggle to compete against city-based companies for constructionwork. This paper identifies the barriers that confront SMEs in areas outsidemajor cities, specifically in regional areas of Victoria (Australia) where local firms oftencompete unsuccessfully against large Melbourne-based organisations. The authors alsolook at the possibility of using e-commerce solutions to give regional SMEs greater competitivenessas well as considering possible policy initiatives that may assist these companiesto be more successful in tendering against city-based competition.
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Adediran, Abdurauf, and Abimbola Windapo. "The influence of government targeted procurement strategies on the growth performance of construction small and medium-sized contractors (SMCs) in South Africa." International Journal of Construction Supply Chain Management 7, no. 3 (December 31, 2017): 151–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.14424/ijcscm703017-151-164.
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This paper examines government targeted procurement (TP) strategies in South Africa and whether these strategies have an influence on the growth performance of Small and medium-sized contractors (SMCs) in the construction industry. The rationale for this study stems from reports that while TP has been widely used as an instrument to improve the position of SMCs in the South African construction industry, three out of five SMCs do not become established firms. In addition, the nature of the influence of TP strategies on the growth performance of SMCs is not known. Following a review of existing literature, the study mainly adopted a quantitative research approach. Questionnaire surveys were administered to Construction Industry Development Board (cidb) Grades 3 to 6 contractors that have executed TP projects within the last 5 years. The collected data was subjected to descriptive and inferential statistical analyses –Spearman’s rank order correlationwas used as an index of association between the study variables. The study found that tendering equity is the most frequently used TP strategy, closely followed by preferencing and mandatory subcontracting. The study also found that positive significant associations exists among preferencing and turnover; third-party management and company assets; tendering equity, turnover and number of employees; as well as accelerated rotations, turnover and number of employees. The study concluded that government intervention through targeted procurement has the potential to achieve its intended results of improving the position of historically disadvantaged SMCs in the construction industry in South Africa if selected and implemented appropriately.
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Jia, Sun Zhenyun, Guanzhong Cao Wei, and Lin Wu Yutang. "Factors Affecting Construction Sector Safety Performance: Exploratory Factor Analysis Evidence from China." Journal of Entrepreneurship & Project management 6, no. 1 (January 13, 2022): 21–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.53819/81018102t4031.
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Construction industry is a significant contributor to the Chinese economy. The industry has more than 12 million employers with over 250 million employees and creates almost $1.9 trillion worth of structures yearly. Civil construction remains the main driver of growth in China. Basically, a task is developed to meet market demands or demands in a timely fashion. Different possibilities may be thought about in the conceptual drawing board, and also the technical and also financial feasibility of each alternative will be assessed and compared in order to select the very best feasible job. The construction industry in China is forecast to grow by 7.7% in 2021, driven by strong Y-o-Y growth in the first quarter, reflecting the comparison to the previous year's period when construction work was halted across most of the country. Thereafter, the construction industry is expected to record an average annual growth of 4.2% between 2022 and 2025. The industry's growth over the forecast period is expected to be driven by investments on new infrastructure, including investment in the areas of 5G networks, Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, and data centers. According to the government-backed think tank, the China Electronic Information Industry Development, the country is expected to spend CNY10 trillion (US$1.4 trillion) on new infrastructure projects between 2020 and 2025. This study evaluated factors affecting construction sector performance: explanatory factor analysis evidence from China. From the literature reviewed, it was established that entering the Chinese construction market is still seen as exciting but difficult by many foreign contractors and consultants. The study found out that rising material and labor costs, labor woes, increased competition and shrinking profit margins were some of the challenges construction firms in Chin face. The study concludes that the implementation of construction safety laws and the rate of subcontracting are relevant factors affecting construction sector in China, while neither the extent of using temporary workers, nor the availability of resources, nor the level of per capita GDP has any effects. Keywords. Construction sector, safety performance, construction sector, labor costs, increased competition, shrinking profit margins
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Shi, Wang Wuei. "Impact of Agile Project Management on the Competitiveness of Chinese Software Development Organizations." Journal of Entrepreneurship & Project management 6, no. 4 (August 26, 2022): 1–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.53819/81018102t4067.
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Software industry is a significant contributor to the Chinese economy. The industry has more than 12 million employers with over 250 million employees and creates almost $1.9 trillion worth of structures yearly. Software industry remains the main driver of growth in China. Basically, a task is developed to meet market demands or demands in a timely fashion. Different possibilities may be thought about in the conceptual drawing board, and also the technical and also financial feasibility of each alternative will be assessed and compared in order to select the very best feasible job. The software industry in China is forecast to grow by 7.7% in 2021, driven by strong Y-o-Y growth in the first quarter, reflecting the comparison to the previous year's period when construction work was halted across most of the country. Thereafter, the software industry is expected to record an average annual growth of 4.2% between 2022 and 2025. The industry's growth over the forecast period is expected to be driven by investments on new infrastructure, including investment in the areas of 5G networks, Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, and data centers. According to the government-backed think tank, the China Electronic Information Industry Development, the country is expected to spend CNY10 trillion (US$1.4 trillion) on new infrastructure projects between 2020 and 2025. This study evaluated factors affecting construction sector performance: explanatory factor analysis evidence from China. From the literature reviewed, it was established that entering the Chinese software development marketis still seen as exciting but difficult by many foreign contractors and consultants. The study found out that rising material and labor costs, labor woes, increased competition and shrinking profit margins were some of the challenges construction firms in Chin face. The study concludes that the implementation of construction safety laws and the rate of subcontracting are relevant factors affecting construction sector in China, while neither the extent of using temporary workers, nor the availability of resources, nor the level of per capita GDP has any effects.
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Uğural, Mehmet Nurettin, Heyecan Giritli, and Mariusz Urbański. "Determinants of the Turnover Intention of Construction Professionals: A Mediation Analysis." Sustainability 12, no. 3 (January 28, 2020): 954. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12030954.
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The voluntary turnover rate of qualified professionals is both a critical issue and a priority issue that affects organizations in different ways. The construction industry has a set of very specific and unique characteristics that demarcates it from all other sectors. This situation is related with strong precariousness and employee turnover, as well as the extensive practice of subcontracting. Furthermore, the construction sector, with its project-based production, is more vulnerable to voluntary turnover intention. Therefore, we aimed, in this study, to determine the key factors that contribute to the voluntary turnover intentions of qualified construction professionals. In this paper, the impact of individual-level value orientations on turnover intention in the construction settings, focusing on the mediating effect of external prestige and organizational identification, are investigated. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is employed to estimate the causal relationships between the turnover intention and other research variables. The analyses are based on questionnaire responses from 441 construction professionals living in Istanbul. The findings indicate that an individual difference in the self-construal is related to turnover intention indirectly by virtue of employees’ perceptions of organizational prestige. Organizational identification also partially mediated the relationship between the self-construal and the turnover intention.
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hUallacháin, B. Ó. "The Restructuring of the US Steel Industry: Changes in the Location of Production and Employment." Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 25, no. 9 (September 1993): 1339–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1068/a251339.
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Recent reorganization of the US iron and steel industry provides a useful setting for an analysis of the relationship between industrial location and institutional forms. Regression analysis shows that institutional shifts in the organization of production dominated geographical shifts in employment and product value as integrated maxi-mills sought to raise productivity. The reorganization of production includes mill abandonment, increased subcontracting by maxi-mills in the initial stages of production, horizontal penetration by mini-mills in the sheet-steel market, and the growing integration of steel finishing and automobile assembly as firms that belong to Japanese corporate groups expand their operations in the USA. Maxi-mills are concentrating investment and production in the Midwest states as their joint ventures with Japanese steel firms specialize in the mass production of galvanized sheets for the automobile industry. Locational shifts also include the national spread of scrap-processing mini-mills and the rapid decline of raw-steel production in Pittsburgh as maxi-mills close furnaces and mills producing construction-grade bars and rods.
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Barff, R., and J. Austen. "‘It's Gotta Be Da Shoes’: Domestic Manufacturing, International Subcontracting, and the Production of Athletic Footwear." Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 25, no. 8 (August 1993): 1103–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1068/a251103.
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An apparent paradox exists in the geography of athletic footwear production. The industry is highly labor intensive; it is also locationally volatile. Although most production now takes place in Southeast Asia, the United States nevertheless still contains significant enclaves of athletic footwear production. Moreover, the cheapest shoes continue to be produced in the United States whereas more complex, expensive models tend to be manufactured in Asia. To understand this geography, we must move beyond the basic consideration of international labor-cost differentials. By means of two case studies, it is shown that domestic production involves very different labor processes from those of production based in other countries and, like many other sectors of the economy, domestic producers gain advantage by carrying smaller inventories through faster lead times. The best explanation, though, centers on the shoes themselves. Athletic shoes produced in the United States tend to have many fewer stitches in them than those manufactured elsewhere, which minimizes the most expensive component of the production process. Furthermore, tariffs on athletic shoes massively discriminate against imported shoes of a particular construction.
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Gharaie, Ehsan, Ron Wakefield, and Nick Blismas. "Explaining the Increase in the Australian Average House Completion Time:Activity-based versus Workflow-based Approach." Construction Economics and Building 10, no. 4 (December 16, 2010): 34–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.5130/ajceb.v10i4.1688.
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The Australian house building industry has been facing an increase in the average house completion time in the last decade. This increase in some states is quite dramatic. For instance, Western Australia has faced a 70 percent increase in the average house completion time during this period. This paper uses two planning approaches to explain this; i) the activity-based planning methods and ii) the workflow-based planning methods. In addition, this research investigates the strengths and weaknesses of these two planning approaches in explaining the behaviour of the house building industry. For this purpose, a national case study and five state case studies including Victoria, Western Australia, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia have been used. The data related to the key parameters have been collected and their correlation with the average house completion time has been investigated. These key parameters include the average house floor area, the number of house completions and the number of houses under construction. The reasons for the increasing trend of the average house completion time have been postulated in all case studies. According to this research, the increase in the average house completion time cannot be explained using activity-based planning methods. In contrast, by using workflow-based planning methods, it has been shown that the average house completion time is correlated with the number of houses under construction. This paper shows that the average completion time is influenced directly by the workflow in the house building industry and that workflow planning should be the basis for the house building industry planning.
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Biggs, D. A. J. "BASS STRAIT GAS TO NEW SOUTH WALES—THE COMMERCIALISATION OF THE EASTERN GAS PIPELINE." APPEA Journal 41, no. 1 (2001): 787. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/aj00048.
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The Eastern Gas Pipeline is an 18-inch diameter pipeline running from Longford in Victoria to Horsley Park in Sydney, New South Wales—a distance of some 795 kms (Fig. 1).While the construction of the pipeline in approximately 12 months is a considerable achievement, it took more than six years to establish the regulatory and market fundamentals to allow construction to commence. The commercialisation of the Eastern Gas Pipeline took place during a period in which the Australian gas industry was subject to much regulatory and market reform. The project provided some impetus for that reform, particularly in NSW.The pipeline was the first interstate gas pipeline to be committed under the National Gas Pipeline Access Code. It also represented the means by which significant quantities of Bass Strait gas could be supplied to the NSW gas market for the first time.This paper discusses the variety of commercial and regulatory issues that needed to be resolved to allow the Eastern Gas Pipeline to become a reality.
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Ma, Le, Chunlu Liu, and Anthony Mills. "Construction labor productivity convergence: a conditional frontier approach." Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management 23, no. 3 (May 16, 2016): 283–301. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ecam-03-2015-0040.
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Purpose – Understanding and simulating construction activities is a vital issue from a macro-perspective, since construction is an important contributor in economic development. Although the construction labor productivity frontier has attracted much research effort, the temporal and regional characteristics have not yet been explored. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the long-run equilibrium and dynamics within construction development under a conditional frontier context. Design/methodology/approach – Analogous to the simplified production function, this research adopts the conditional frontier theory to investigate the convergence of construction labor productivity across regions and over time. Error correction models are implemented to identify the long-run equilibrium and dynamics of construction labor productivity against three types of convergence hypotheses, while a panel regression method is used to capture the regional heterogeneity. The developed models are applied to investigate and simulate the construction labor productivity in the Australian states and territories. Findings – The results suggest that construction labor productivity in Australia should converge to stable frontiers in a long-run perspective. The dynamics of the productivity are mainly caused by the technology utilization efficiency levels of the local construction industry, while the influences of changes in technology level and capital depending appear limited. Five regional clusters of the Australian construction labor productivity are suggested by the simulation results, including New South Wales; Australian Capital Territory; Northern Territory, Queensland, and Western Australia; South Australia; and Tasmania and Victoria. Originality/value – Three types of frontier of construction labor productivity is proposed. An econometric approach is developed to identify the convergence frontier of construction labor productivity across regions over time. The specified model can provides accurate predictions of the construction labor productivity.
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Lingard, Helen, Michelle Turner, and Sara Charlesworth. "Growing pains: work-life impacts in small-to-medium sized construction firms." Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management 22, no. 3 (May 18, 2015): 312–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ecam-07-2014-0100.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare the quality of work-life experiences of workers in construction firms of differing sizes and explored the work conditions and circumstances that impact upon the work-life experiences of workers in small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Australian construction industry. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected in two stages. First, data from a sub-set of construction industry workers were extracted from a large scale survey of workers in Victoria, Australia (the VicWAL survey). The survey measured work-life interference using the Australian Work and Life Index (AWALI). Next a subset of survey respondents was identified and interviewed to gain more detailed explanatory information and insight into work-life experiences. Findings – The survey results indicated that respondents who reported working for a construction firm with between 16 and 99 employees reported significantly higher AWALI scores (indicating high work-life interference) than workers in organisations employing 15 or less or more than 100 workers. The follow-up interviews revealed that workers in small construction organisations were managed directly and personally by the business owner/manager and able to access informal work-life supports that were provided on an “as needs” basis. In comparison workers in medium-sized firms perceived higher levels of work pressure and an expectation that work would be prioritised over family life. Research limitations/implications – The research shows that the findings of work-life balance research undertaken in large construction organisations cannot be generalised to SMEs. Organisation size should also be treated as an important variable in work-life balance research in construction. Practical implications – The research suggests that a better understanding of how workers in SME construction firms experience work-life balance is important in the design and development of work-life balance programs. In particular the challenges faced by workers as companies grow from SMEs require careful consideration and management. Originality/value – Previous research has focused on the work-life balance experiences of employees in large construction firms. Little was previously known about the experiences of workers in SME construction firms. The research provides new insight into the work-life experiences of construction workers in organisations of varying sizes.
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Kannimuthu, Marimuthu, Palaneeswaran Ekambaram, Benny Raphael, and Ananthanarayanan Kuppuswamy. "Resource Unconstrained and Constrained Project Scheduling Problems and Practices in a Multiproject Environment." Advances in Civil Engineering 2018 (July 15, 2018): 1–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/9579273.
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Construction companies execute many projects simultaneously. In such situations, the performance of one project may influence the others positively or negatively. Construction professionals face difficulties in managing multiple projects in limited resource situations. The purpose of this study is to identify the problems in multiproject scheduling from the practitioner’s perspective and to discover current practices under resource unconstrained and constrained settings. The specific objectives are (1) determining the most challenging issues being faced in handling multiproject environment, (2) enumerating the practices adopted in the industry, and finally (3) identifying the practitioners' perceptions on the multiproject scheduling aspects such as network modeling approaches; activity execution modes; concept of sharing, dedicating, and substituting resources; centralized and decentralized decision-making models; solution approaches; and tools and techniques. An online questionnaire survey was conducted to address the objectives above. The top challenging issues in managing multiproject environment are identified. Factor analysis identified the factors by grouping the variables (a) decision-related, (b) project environment-related, (c) project management-related, and (d) organization-related factors. Resource-unconstrained situation mainly faces the issue of underutilization and wastage of resources leading to lower profit realization. The following findings were identified to overcome the unconstrained resource situation such as identifying the work front, adopting pull planning approach, creating a common resource pool, and allotting it on a rental basis. On the contrary, resource-constrained situation faces the issues of prioritization of resources, coordination, communication, collaboration, quality issues, and rework. The findings suggest the strategies such as top-up via subcontracting, proactive pull planning, introducing buffers, training the culture of the organization towards better communication, coordination, and collaboration, to improve the reliability of achieving baseline project performances. Various multiproject aspects suggested for effective management. The identified problems, practices, and various multiproject aspects are expected to contribute better management of multiproject resource unconstrained and constrained project scheduling.
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Lingard, Helen, Rita Peihua Zhang, and David Oswald. "Effect of leadership and communication practices on the safety climate and behaviour of construction workgroups." Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management 26, no. 6 (July 15, 2019): 886–906. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ecam-01-2018-0015.
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Purpose The leadership style and communication practices of supervisors in the Australian construction industry were measured. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of leadership style and communication practices of Australian construction supervisors on workgroup health and safety (H&S) climate and behaviour. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire was administered to members of 20 workgroups engaged in rail construction work on the Level Crossing Removal Project and the Melbourne Metro Tunnel Project in Victoria, Australia. The survey measured components of supervisors’ transformational and transactional leadership, communication practices, the group H&S climate and workers’ self-reported H&S compliance and participation. Findings Supervisors’ transformational and transactional leadership, as well as communication practices, were all positively and significantly correlated with group H&S climate and workers’ self-reported H&S behaviours. The transformational leadership component of providing an appropriate model was the strongest predictor of H&S participation, while H&S compliance was predicted by the transactional leadership component of providing contingent reward, as well as supervisors’ communication practices. H&S climate fully mediated the relationship between supervisory leadership and workers’ self-reported H&S behaviour. Originality/value The research demonstrates that both transformational and transactional supervisory leadership are important in the construction context. Effective communication between supervisors and workers is also important for H&S. The findings suggest that supervisory leadership development programmes may be an effective way to improve H&S performance in predominantly subcontracted construction workgroups.
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Forsyth, Anthony. "Industrial legislation in Australia in 2016." Journal of Industrial Relations 59, no. 3 (May 22, 2017): 323–39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022185617693876.
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After three years of trying, the Coalition Government finally succeeded in obtaining passage of several key workplace reform statutes in 2016. This followed the outcome of the federal election held on 2 July, delivering the Government a differently composed Senate and a new opportunity to secure support for its legislative program. This review article explains key aspects of the industrial legislation passed by federal Parliament in 2016, including statutes abolishing the specialist road transport industry tribunal, re-establishing the Howard-era regulator for the construction industry, and setting up a new agency to enforce enhanced governance and accountability standards for registered unions and employer organisations. Legislative amendments aimed at resolving the long-running bargaining dispute in Victoria’s Country Fire Authority are also considered, along with the Government’s muted response to the 2015 Productivity Commission review of the workplace relations framework. The article then examines developments at state level, including a major rewrite of Queensland’s industrial legislation, structural changes in New South Wales, and proposed changes to long service leave and the labour hire sector in Victoria. It concludes by noting the irony that just as the federal Government has tasted some success after a long legislative ‘dry spell’, its labour law reform agenda appears limited and piecemeal.
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Lew, Yoke-Lian, Zan-Xian Ho, Tien-Choon Toh, Ooi-Kuan Tan, Yan-Yan-Yong Felicia, and Li-Ping Yow. "CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN MALAYSIA INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT: ROLE OF SUBCONTRACTORS." International Journal of Industrial Management 8 (December 3, 2020): 43–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.15282/ijim.8.0.2020.5762.
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Implementation of change management is necessary for any construction projects especially infrastructure projects where government allocated billions of ringgit for the country development and the impact of change can be minimised if attended earlier. Nowadays, subcontractors were hired by the contractor to carry out the actual work as subcontracting is a very common practice in this industry. This research was initiated to identify the possible causes of change and then investigated the current status of change management implementation in Malaysia’s infrastructure project. A questionnaire survey was designed to collect data for this research. 102 out of 130 sets of questionnaires were collected from the targeted respondents. Then, a comprehensive analysis was conducted. It was discovered that “design change”, “addition/omission of scopes” and “ambiguities and mistakes in specifications and drawings” were ranked as top three factors contributing to change in Malaysia’ infrastructure projects. This research also discovered that the implementation status of change management was surprisingly high with 72.54% of the infrastructure projects implemented change management. Lastly, the subcontractors’ involvement in contractor’s change management process affected the project performance positively was confirmed in this research as the projects with subcontractor involvement had statistically significant better project performance in terms of time, cost and quality of work. The identification of the root cause for change in infrastructure project helps the future project practitioners to avoid such situation and more well-prepared for it. Subsequently, this research discovered the benefit of practising change management within the infrastructure projects and getting the subcontractor involvement statistically. The findings of this research could improve the project performance of Malaysia’s infrastructure projects.
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Litherland, Steven, Peter Miller, Nic Droste, and Kathryn Graham. "Male Barroom Aggression among Members of the Australian Construction Industry: Associations with Heavy Episodic Drinking, Trait Variables and Masculinity Factors." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 13 (June 24, 2021): 6769. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18136769.
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Introduction and Aims: Past research indicates heavy episodic drinking (HED), trait aggression, male honour and conformity to masculine norms are risk factors for male barroom aggression (MBA) perpetration. However, little is known about the impact of these variables on experiences of MBA victimization. Further, data derived previously, particularly in relation to perpetration have come from relatively low-risk samples comprising university students, limiting the generalizability of findings to other, at-risk male groups. Thus, the present study assessed the impact of the aforementioned variables as well as personality constructs of impulsivity and narcissism on both the perpetration of and victimization from MBA among a high-risk sample sourced from male members of the Australian construction industry. Method: A purposive sample of Australian male construction workers aged 18 to 69 years (n = 476, Mage = 25.90, SDage = 9.44) completed individual interviews at their current place of employment or while training at various trade schools in Geelong and Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Items related to past month HED, past year experiences of verbal and physical MBA (perpetration and victimization), trait aggression’s four factors (physical, verbal, anger, hostility), impulsivity, narcissism, male honour and conformity to masculine norms. Results: Participants reported high levels of verbal (24.2%) and physical (21%) MBA perpetration and verbal (33.6%) and physical (31.1%) MBA victimization. Hierarchical binary logistic regression analyses identified HED as the strongest predictor of aggression involvement, while trait physical aggression, trait anger, narcissism and conformity to norms endorsing violence and a need to win were significantly and positively associated with MBA perpetration. Conclusions: The present study reinforces the key relationships between heavy drinking and aspects of personality and MBA, while also highlighting narcissism as a risk factor for barroom aggression perpetration. Indeed, personality profiles and HED appear to exert stronger influences on MBA perpetration than socially constructed masculinity factors, most of which were unrelated to aggression involvement in bars, clubs or pubs.
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Mahmoodian, Mojtaba, Farham Shahrivar, and Chunqing Li. "Maintenance Prioritisation of Irrigation Infrastructure Using a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Methodology under a Fuzzy Environment." Sustainability 14, no. 22 (November 9, 2022): 14791. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su142214791.
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The aging infrastructure and rising demand in the irrigation industry as a result of population growth have increased maintenance works in recent years. The most efficient asset maintenance practice is proactive. However, while a limited budget and an increase in aging infrastructure has made proactive asset maintenance challenging, customers still expect quality service, and contemporary challenges such as climate change and the competitive market further add to the existing pressure on asset owners. In this context, the present work has the primary objective of developing a novel, accurate, efficient and straightforward methodology for measuring assessment criteria weights and using them to prioritise assets for maintenance. For this aim, fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods are developed for the optimisation of asset maintenance prioritisation. Using objective and subjective data, the proposed method will be utilised to prioritise six irrigation channels in Northern Victoria, Australia, for maintenance. To verify the efficiency and accuracy of the developed MCDM method, the prioritised channels are validated by comparing against their existing physical condition. Results prove the ability of the proposed method in distinguishing and taking into account the differences between the channels (in terms of their size, physical condition, financial impacts, etc.) in prioritisation for maintenance. This study will also provide suggestions to improve the existing asset maintenance prioritisation methods in practice
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Barrymore, Stuart, and Ann-Maree Mathison. "Carbon capture and storage—deelopments in Australia." APPEA Journal 49, no. 1 (2009): 65. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/aj08006.
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Legal and non-legal developments in the carbon capture and storage (CCS) arena continue to gain momentum in Australia. On 22 November 2008 the Offshore Petroleum Amendment (Greenhouse Gas Storage) Act 2008 (Cth) (GGS Amendments) came into force. The GGS Amendments follow the amendment in February 2007 of the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972 and 1996 Protocol Thereto (London Protocol) which allows the storage of carbon dioxide under the seabed. The GGS Amendments amend the Offshore Petroleum Act 2006 (Cth) (OPA), which has now been renamed the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (Cth) (Act), to establish a system of offshore titles that authorises the transportation, injection and storage of greenhouse gas (GHG) substances in geological formations under the seabed and manage the inevitable interaction with the offshore petroleum industry. In addition, the States of Queensland and Victoria have now enacted onshore CCS legislation. In September 2008, the Federal Government announced $100 million in funding for an Australian Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute (AGCCSI), which will be an international hub for co-ordinating public and private sector funding of CCS research projects and will provide international policy and management oversight. The AGCCSI was formally launched on 16 April 2009. The goal of the AGCCSI is to deliver at least 20 commercial scale CCS plants around the world by 2020. There are numerous examples in Australia and internationally of CCS pilot projects underway with the goal of deploying CCS on a commercial scale. The Callide Oxyfuel Project in Central Queensland that began construction recently will retrofit an existing coal fired power station with a CCS facility, with plans for the oxyfuel boiler to be operational in the Callide A power plant by 2011.
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Wilkinson, Sara. "Building approval data and the quantification of sustainability over time." Structural Survey 33, no. 2 (May 11, 2015): 92–108. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ss-02-2015-0009.
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Purpose – The fifth IPCC report on climate change concluded current progress to mitigate anthropocentric climate change is not making any impact. As the built environment emits 50 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions, mitigating climate change through sustainable construction and adaptation is a priority. Although many new buildings have sustainability ratings, they comprise a minute amount of the total stock. Meanwhile policy makers are adopting strategies to become carbon neutral with targets that require measurement. The purpose of this paper is to propose a means of quantifying the uptake of sustainability across all stock over time using existing policy frameworks. Design/methodology/approach – Given that this is a scoping study to explore the potential to adapt existing frameworks to facilitate the quantification of the uptake of sustainability measures over time, the research adopted a focus group technique with experienced stakeholders in Australia and England. Qualitative research is inductive and hypothesis generating. That is; as the research assimilates knowledge and information contained in the literature ideas and questions are formed, which are put to research participants and from this process conclusions are drawn. Findings – It is technologically feasible to collect data on sustainability measures within the building approvals systems in Victoria and NSW Australia and England and Wales and a conceptual model is proposed. Economically, costs need to be covered, and it is unclear which group should pay. Socially, the benefits would be to determine how society is progressing towards goals. The benefits of achieving reduced carbon emissions would be mitigation of the predicted changes to climate and informing society of progress. Politically, it is unlikely there is a will to make provisions for this proposal in existing regulatory systems. Research limitations/implications – The key limitations of the research were that the views expressed are those of a select group of experienced practitioners and may not represent the consensus view of the professions and industry as a whole. The limitations and criticisms of focus group data collection are that the sessions may be dominated by individuals holding strong views. Practical implications – The findings show that adaptation of the existing data collected by building control authorities could allow some quantification of the uptake of sustainability measures over time. A simple initial system could be implemented with relative ease to ascertain the value of the data. Over time the system could be extended to collect more data that could facilitate more precise quantification of sustainability. Significantly policy makers would have a tool that would allow them to measure the success or otherwise of mandatory and voluntary measures introduced to increase the uptake of sustainability. Originality/value – To date, no one has considered the practicality or potential utility of adapting existing information gathered for building approval purposes for the quantification of the up-take of sustainability across the whole stock over time. The value of using building approval data are that all building types are required to have building approvals prior to work being undertaken.
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Burka, Volodymyr. "Scientific-technical progress and transport as essential factors of territorial organization of building-industrial complexes." Науковий вісник Чернівецького університету : збірник наукових праць, no. 826 (November 27, 2020): 62–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.31861/geo.2020.826.62-67.
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Industrialization calls significant changes into traditional methods of building and precondition the transfer of some portion of the process of building from building sites to steady-state plant conditions. It is now due to assemblable parts, prefabricated structures and plant production of ready-to-use oversize blocks and parts that that the scope of works on building sites is essentially resuced. The process of building is characteristic for different forms of its organization that manifests itself in specialization, concentration, cooperation and combination. Development of these forms results in deeper specialization of labor, as well as in deepening of sectoral and technological specialization supported by transport means. A scope of building and assembly within specific territory leads to concentration of big number of building organizations. Concentration of building-related companies and organizations predefines the necessity of coordination of their efforts. The speed of construction requires still deeper specialization. The stage-based process of building rooted in by the technologies requires strict organization between inter-unit attachments that produce building materials, parts and constructions, and those that build. The pre-planned organization between the participants of the process of building is reached by way of cooperation. Coordination of the scope of building between the companies and organizations is executed by the general contraction organization that is responsible for the whole construction. Cooperation of contracting and subcontracting general building and special organizations is helpful in such coordination and timely completion of works. It is due to transport that cooperation involves local and remote companies and organizations. In the aspect of territory, these companies and organizations form district inter-district, regional, inter-regional, and international links that make up the basis for the formation of building-industrial complexes. Development of the levels and forms of territorial organization of building-industrial complexes depends on the scope of building, natural and economic specificities of the area, and the level of provision with material-technical and industrial-material bases, etc. Carpathian administrative oblasts are the territories with sufficiently developed material-technical and industrial-material bases. This means that they possess highly qualified staff and may use the systems of special highly productive building machines and mechanisms, implement automation of some technological operations, and, with well-organized transport system, therefore improve territorial forms of the process of building. Transport within the system of productions in building industry has internal and external functions. The internal function of transport lies in provision of technological processes of building (technological transport). The material-technical basis of this kind of transport is predominantly concentrated in building-related companies and organizations. The external function is performed by transport means that provide the process of building with necessary material resources. It is, as a rule, the transport of different companies and organizations that specialize in distant transportations. Their material base has no relation to the same of the building industry. The level of development of internal transport depends on equipment status of building companies and organizations, and building technological achievements on the level of country and some of its regions. The level of development of external transport is provided by the level of development of the whole transport system of the state and its each separate region in particular. In both cases, transport represents an important factor that effects on the formation of building-industrial complexes of every level of development. The division into internal and external transport is conventional, since each of them can perform both functions. The work of the transport system significantly depends on the development of transport network, which is too far in Ukraine from the present-day world standards. However, the transport means themselves used in this country are in the majority of cases the production of known world companies. Geographical disposition and specificities of economic development have predefined the formation of practically all types of transport on the territory of Ukraine. Railway and automobile transport are the leading types in all economic rayons of the country, while pipeline, water and air kinds of transport are well developed in some other rayons. The total length of public road network in Ukraine was 169,5 thousand km in 2019, railway lines – 22,0 thousand km, river navigable waterways – 2,3 thousand km. Automobile roads and railway constitute the basis of the transport network in the Carpathian oblasts. The highest density of roads is found in the Lviv Oblast (over 60 km/1000 km2. The best provision with auto-roads is observed in the Chernivtsi and the Lviv oblasts. It is only natural that mountain regions suffer from worse provision with communications than those in plain and pre-mountain territories. Automobile and railway transport play the key role in provision of the process of building.