scholarly journals Assessment of Construction Project Complexity

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 414-423
Author(s):  
Hossam E. Hossny ◽  
Ahmed H. Ibrahim ◽  
Abeer Elnady

Objective: Project complexity is a crucial factor in project management that presents auxiliary obstacles to reaching project objectives (cost, time, safety, and quality). This study aims at understanding project complexity and factors affecting project complexity. The overall objective of the study is to determine the nature of complexity and characteristics, identify the important complex factors that influence the complexity of the project, factor weight of the complex factors, and develop a proposed construction complexity index (CCI). Methods: According to the literature review, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method is used to measure the affecting factors of project complexity. Results: This paper developed an index to measure complexity based on factor weights called construction complexity index (CCI). The validity of this index was verified by studying 3 cases. The construction complexity index (CCI) proposed here allows measuring the complexity of the projects in Egypt. The results of this paper provide guidelines on how to successfully manage the complexity of the project. Conclusion: Project complexity management relates to the challenge of dealing with technical competence, professional diversity, uncertainties, and unforeseen events in project implementation. Project managers, who are critical to effectiveness or failure, need skills such as adaptation, creativity, and flexibility to meet this challenge. Therefore, this study provides guidelines to help practitioners to develop their capabilities in managing complex projects. Moreover, this paper enables participants to identify factors affecting the complexity of projects and how to calculate this complexity through the complex index. The outcomes of this study can be used by practitioners to develop a complexity assessment and management tool, which would enable industry practitioners to allocate resources effectively on complex construction projects. This research aimed to develop a measure by which the complexity of construction projects in Egypt can be evaluated and establish guidelines on avoiding complexity in projects.

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 619-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan Fazliani ◽  
Chotchai Charoenngam

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to investigate the factors affecting the claim negotiations in Iranian oil and gas construction projects. The findings of this paper give better understanding of claim negotiations in Iranian oil and gas projects. Design/methodology/approach – The research methodology for this study involved the use of Delphi technique, conducted with non-Iranian stakeholders being involved in Iranian oil and gas construction projects more than five years and determined the major factors, affecting claims negotiations. Subsequently, factors’ weightings were derived using analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Findings – In total, 13 affecting factors identified in three categories of: external, cultural and personal behavioral. Finally, the weights of factors were identified. Research limitations/implications – This research was conducted in the context of Iranian oil and gas projects. This industry has high standards and its employees are well chosen and have frequent in job training. All these affect the organization, working and people’s culture and behavior compared to other sectors of construction business. Therefore, the results of this research are specific to the oil and gas industry. Practical implications – The findings of this paper can be considered as a practical guide for dealing with Iranian counterparts during claims negotiations to ensure amicable settlement. Also, it is useful for Iranian stakeholders to have better understanding of concerns of non-Iranian stakeholders. Originality/value – The paper is the original work of the authors, and to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper has for the first time introduced the factors affecting claims negotiations. The findings of this paper provide useful insight into effective claims negotiations of Iranian oil and gas projects.


2016 ◽  
Vol 145 ◽  
pp. 491-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bac Dao ◽  
Sharareh Kermanshachi ◽  
Jennifer Shane ◽  
Stuart Anderson

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benviolent Chigara ◽  
Tirivavi Moyo

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of construction professionals relative to factors that affect the delivery of optimum health and safety (H&S) on construction projects during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a quantitative design which entailed the distribution of a web-based questionnaire among construction professionals, namely, architects, construction/project managers, engineers, H&S managers and quantity surveyors working for contractors and construction consultants in Zimbabwe. The data were analysed with descriptive and inferential statistics. Factor analysis was used to reveal interrelated significant sets of factors affecting the delivery of optimum H&S. Findings Factor analysis revealed nine components/factors: change and innovation-related, monitoring and enforcement-related, production-related, access to information and health service-related, on-site facilities and welfare-related, risk assessment and mitigation-related, job security and funding-related, cost-related and COVID-19 risk perception-related factors as the significant factors affecting the delivery of optimum H&S during the COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe. Research limitations/implications The results highlighted the need for social dialogue among construction stakeholders to support initiatives that will enhance the delivery of H&S on construction projects. Construction stakeholders may find the results useful in highlighting the areas that need improvement to protect workers’ H&S during the pandemic. However, the small sample limits the generalisability of the results to construction sectors in other regions. Originality/value The study investigated factors affecting the delivery of optimum H&S during the COVID-19 to inform interventions to enhance H&S.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 301-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bassam A. Tayeh ◽  
Khalid Al Hallaq ◽  
Wesam Salah Alaloul ◽  
Ahmed Reyad Kuhail

Background: The construction sector is the main pillar in the Palestinian economy, where the Qatari Grant projects form the largest part of the construction projects spent in Gaza Strip. Objective: This research aims to improve the performance of all parties involved in the Qatari projects by identifying the factors of success and revising the factors of failure dominating the construction projects in Gaza strip. Methods: This study was carried out through distributing ninety-three questionnaires to the contracting companies working in Qatari grant projects, the consulting offices supervising Qatari grant projects, the Ministry of Public Works and Housing, and the Qatari committee. Results: The study found that the most affecting factors are: the clear scope of the project, the experience of the design team, the experience of the contractor, closure of crossing points, the highly qualified technical staff, the availability of funding, the mechanism of payments, reputation of the contractor, delay in obtaining fund and sufficient time for design. Conclusion: The results have led to several recommendations aimed to achieve the success of construction projects in general and Qatari projects in Gaza Strip in particular. These are: the need to give sufficient time to design, sufficient consideration of all proposals, the inclusion of all parties in the design phase, studying the surrounding circumstances, identifying alternatives to materials to be used instead of others, and the need to employing a highly experienced technical team and conducting training courses. In addition, the contractor's interest in delivering a high-quality work that satisfies all parties must be taken into consideration.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Cerezo-Narváez ◽  
Andrés Pastor-Fernández ◽  
Manuel Otero-Mateo ◽  
Pablo Ballesteros-Pérez

Scope management allows project managers to react when a project underperforms regarding schedule, budget, and/or quality at the execution stage. Scope management can also minimize project changes and budget omissions, as well as improve the accuracy of project cost estimates and risk responses. For scope management to be effective, though, it needs to rely on a robust work breakdown structure (WBS). A robust WBS hierarchically and faithfully reflects all project tasks and work packages so that projects are easier to manage. If done properly, the WBS also allows meeting the project objectives while delivering the project on time, on budget, and with the required quality. This paper analyzes whether the integration of a cost breakdown structure (CBS) can lead to the generation of more robust WBSs in construction projects. Over the last years, some international organizations have standardized and harmonized different cost classification systems (e.g., ISO 12006-2, ISO 81346-12, OmniClass, CoClass, UniClass). These cost databases have also been introduced into building information modeling (BIM) frameworks. We hypothesize that in BIM environments, if these CBSs are used to generate the project WBS, several advantages are gained such as sharper project definition. This enhanced project definition reduces project contradictions at both planning and execution stages, anticipates potential schedule and budget deviations, improves resource allocation, and overall it allows a better response to potential project risks. The hypothesis that the use of CBSs can generate more robust WBSs is tested by the response analysis of a questionnaire survey distributed among construction practitioners and project managers. By means of structural equation modeling (SEM), the correlation (agreement) and perception differences between two 250-respondent subsamples (technical project staff vs. project management staff) are also discussed. Results of this research support the use of CBSs by construction professionals as a basis to generate WBSs for enhanced project management (PM).


Author(s):  
Jesper Kranker Larsen ◽  
Thomas Ditlev Brunoe ◽  
Søren Munch Lindhard ◽  
Kim Noergaard Jensen

Effective project coordination and management of time and cost scheduling in public funded construction projects receive a considerable focus from academics, politicians, and the construction industry itself with opposing points of view. The study objective is therefore to investigate the process of time and cost scheduling during the different project stages, and their relationships between critical factors affecting project schedules. Applied data collection was based on semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey with publicly agency employed project managers and property managers. A multiple research approach was thus utilized to mix the two dataset. Findings demonstrate that project complications in the execution stage is associated to lack of project requirements and design with too optimistic project deadline and budget from the initial project stages. Moreover, a relationship was found between the presence of experienced consultants and the achievement of project success throughout the project phases as particular vital.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amin Mahmoudi ◽  
Mehdi Abbasi ◽  
Xiaopeng Deng ◽  
Muhammad Ikram ◽  
Salman Yeganeh

PurposeSelecting a suitable contract to outsource construction projects is an ongoing concern for project managers and organizational directors. This study aims to propose a comprehensive model to manage the risks of outsourced construction project contracts.Design/methodology/approachTo employ the proposed model, firstly, the types of contracts and risks in the organization should be identified, then, to prioritize the contracts, the identified risks are considered as criteria. After receiving the experts' opinions, the best–worst method (BWM) integrated with grey relation analysis (GRA) method was used to prioritize the contracts. BWM and GRA are multi-criteria decision-making methods with different approaches and applications. In the current study, BWM has been employed to calculate the weights of criteria because it has better performance than other methods such as the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). After calculating the weights of criteria, the GRA method has been utilized for ranking the alternatives.FindingsAccording to the results obtained from the case study, the cost plus award fee contract is the most suitable alternative for outsourcing construction projects. The proposed methodology can be practically applied through different types of the projects such as construction or “engineering, procurement and construction”.Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge, this is the first time a conceptual model has been proposed to select an appropriate contract for construction projects. Also, for the first time, the BWM integrated with GRA method has been used to prioritize project contracts based on the potential risks. The proposed model can contribute to project managers for selecting a suitable contract with the least risk in construction projects.


Author(s):  
Swapan Saha ◽  
Scott Jessup

There has been growing concern about the efficiency of the Australian construction industry. It has been identified that inefficiencies due to industry fragmentation has significant impacts on the way construction projects are delivered. It is largely believed that Building Information Modeling (BIM) has the potential to significantly improve the efficiency of a project throughout its entire lifecycle. The main focus of BIM research has, up until now, been principally focused on its ever increasing use in the design phase of a project. The construction phase of a project has been largely overlooked, particularly the implementation of BIM during this phase of a project.. A mixed method approach has been utilised in this study comprising of quantitative and qualitative techniques. The quantitative method was conducted through the distribution of a statistically analysed questionnaire survey to a sample population of construction professionals within Australia. Concurrently, the qualitative method of analysis is conducted through case studies of selected construction projects with some involvement of BIM. Through the research, it was proven that Australian construction projects are far from the full utilisation of BIM as a construction management tool. The factors affecting BIM’s utilisation were also discovered in this research and validated through statistical analysis of the population data found by the questionnaire survey.


2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 169-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Mwanaki Alinaitwe ◽  
Jackson A. Mwakali ◽  
Bengt Hansson

Poor productivity of construction workers is one of the causes of cost and time overruns in construction projects. The productivity of labour is particularly important especially in developing countries, where most of the building construction work is still on manual basis. This paper reports on a survey made on project managers of building projects in Uganda, where an increase in productivity is being sought. Respondents were required to rate using their experience how 36 factors affect productivity with respect to time, cost and quality. The survey was carried out by a questionnaire and responses received over a period of 3 months. The ten most significant problems affecting labour productivity were identified as incompetent supervisors; lack of skills from the workers; rework; lack of tools/equipment; poor construction methods; poor communication; inaccurate drawings; stoppages because of work being rejected by consultants; political insecurity; tools/equipment breakdown; and harsh weather conditions. Although lack of materials is ranked highest with regard to average rating on loss of time, it was not ranked among the top ten using the importance index that takes into account time, cost as well as work quality. The policy makers and researchers should focus on the identified major factors in order to improve productivity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 524-533
Author(s):  
Morteza Bagherpour ◽  
Mohammad Khaje Zadeh ◽  
Amin Mahmoudi ◽  
Xiaopeng Deng

The primary purpose of the current study is introducing a comprehensive approach to identify the relationship among different criteria in Earned Value Management (EVM). EVM is a well-known approach in project management context that can monitor schedule and cost performance indexes in projects simultaneously. The EVM detects current project performances and also predicts at completion costs of the project. In this study, employing Interpretive Structural Modelling, interactions which exist among affecting factors on EVM’s success are determined. First, all of the practical factors on EVM are determined and categorized into four main clusters; then the most effective ones are separated from the clusters; eventually, ISM is used based on eleven ultimate critical criteria. The results demonstrate that “Instability in the construction market” and “Macroeconomic indicators” are the most influencing factors affecting the EVM. Finally, a novel method for enhancing the performance of conventional EVM is presented. The proposed approach would be highly applicable for engineering managers who are willing to promote the current performance of the systems. Most studies have been previously carried out on the applications of the EVM in terms of improving final cost and total duration elapsed whereas there is not any particular study on the EVM issue which has stated the key factors that influence the EVM and lasting effect on the project performance. It should be noted that the proposed approach can be employed through the life cycle of any project particularly in construction projects.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document