scholarly journals A Refined Basket of Goods Approach for Comparing Construction Costs between Countries

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rick Best
Keyword(s):  
Exchange Rates ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
International Comparison ◽  
Purchasing Power ◽  
Simple Construction ◽  
Construction Costs ◽  
Single Base ◽  
Industry Performance ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Purchasing Power Parities

Most comparisons of construction industry performance requirethat construction costs be converted to a common base. Existingmechanisms for such conversions produce unreliable results.A proposed method for producing industry-specifi c conversionfactors was tested using a single building type. A basket ofmaterials and labour was identifi ed and weighted to refl ect the costshare of each item in a completed project. Prices for the basketwere gathered in three cities and simple construction specifi cconversion indices were calculated based on the constructionpurchasing power of each currency. The construction purchasingpower parities (CPPPs) showed marked differences from otheravailable conversion mechanisms such as exchange rates andgeneral purchasing power parities (PPPs) that have been used inprevious international comparison studies. While the study waslimited in scope, and is only the fi rst stage of a longer process, thesubstantial differences in comparative costs based on purchasingpower illustrate the problems inherent in international costcomparisons. For example, comparing Singapore and Sydney,Singapore costs appear to be only 40% of those in Sydney (basedon exchange rates) about two-thirds the cost of Sydney (usinggeneral PPPs) or almost the same (using the preliminary CPPPs).These results illustrate the problems of converting costs fromlocal currencies to a single base currency and suggest that furtherdevelopment is needed to improve the reliability of outcomes.

scholarly journals International comparisons of cost and productivity in construction: a bad example

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 82-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rick Best
Keyword(s):  
Exchange Rates ◽  
International Comparisons ◽  
Careful Analysis ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Purchasing Power ◽  
Infrastructure Projects ◽  
Construction Costs ◽  
International Construction ◽  
The Us ◽  
Purchasing Power Parities

In a report published in June 2012 the Business Council of Australia (BCA) reported that it costs considerably more to build a variety of types of infrastructure in Australia than it does in the US. Airports (90% more costly) and hospitals (62%) were quoted as the worst cases with other projects ranging from 26% to 43% more. They used these figures to conclude that Australia is a high cost, low productivity environment for building infrastructure projects. These claims were based on cost/m2 figures published by a major international construction consultancy. The method used by the BCA is flawed in two ways: one is the in the use of costs that are recognised as giving only the broadest of indications of probable costs and the second is the use of exchange rates to convert Australian construction costs to US dollars. Careful analysis of the methodology used, supported by a series of other comparisons based on other data sources and other conversion factors (purchasing power parities or PPPs), suggests that in real terms it probably costs no more to build in Australia than it does in the US and that it may well be cheaper to build in Australia than it is in the US.

scholarly journals Overdesign of Villa Structures in Oman

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 68
Author(s):  
A.S. Alnuaimi ◽  
M. Al Mohsin ◽  
A. Hago ◽  
S. El Gamal
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Structural Design ◽  
Field Survey ◽  
Construction Costs ◽  
Code Of Practice ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Clear Cases ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Residential Projects

Residential projects represent the largest section of the construction industry in Oman. It is widely claimed that designers in Oman tend to unnecessarily overdesign structures, thereby aggravating construction costs. The aim of this research was to investigate the existence and extent of structural overdesign through the investigation of 31 villas which were approved by Muscat Municipality between 2000–2010. The specified villas were structurally redesigned based on the British Code of Practice using the same geometry and material strengths recorded in the drawings. The required reinforcement resulting from the redesign work was compared with the provided reinforcement as per the drawings. The results showed clear cases of extra reinforcement in almost all villas. The difference between required and provided reinforcements in the villas ranged from 2.3– 104.8%, with an average of 48.5% and a standard deviation of 24.0. The required and provided weights of reinforcement per square meter of the built-up area ranged from 25.7–71 and 40.9–87.9 kg/m2, respectively. The largest differences between the required and provided reinforcement were in the slabs, followed by the footings. A field survey of consultants and municipality engineers indicated that the most notable reasons for overdesign are the absence of authorized agents specialized in reviewing structural design, a lack of an engineering licensing system in Oman, and the phenomenon of experienced engineers leaving design offices for better paying jobs elsewhere. Finally, the cost implication of overdesign is minor compared to the overall cost of building. 

On the Global International Comparison of GDP for Reference Year 2017

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-87
Author(s):  
Yu. N. Ivanov ◽  
T. A. Khomenko
Keyword(s):  
International Comparison ◽  
World Bank ◽  
The Body ◽  
Purchasing Power ◽  
Project Coordinator ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Standards Of Living ◽  
The World ◽  
The Government ◽  
Purchasing Power Parities

The article outlines main results of global international comparison of GDP on purchasing power parities (PPPs) for 2017 published by the World Bank in July 2020. This comparison is the project of international statistics, which secures unique data on the world economy, on the place of countries in the world and regional economies, on standards of living in different countries, on differences between purchasing power parities and exchange rates, and so forth. These data are of interest to the government in relation to the development of economic policy. This comparison required collaboration between the World Bank as the overall project coordinator, regional coordinators and statistical offices producing baseline data on GDP in national currency.In the body of the article, the authors consistently consider the following issues: the basic methodology used in the International Comparison Program, main findings, limitations and the degree of reliability of the results of the international global comparisons. In this context issues of methodology of comparison and features of direct binary and multilateral comparisons are considered, in particular the formula for the computation of PPPs, which ensures transitivity (mutual consistency of results).The article concludes by emphasizing the multifaceted tasks of the International Comparison Program based on purchasing power parities, led by the World Bank.

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