Through the analysis of the exceptional accounting documents of 1517 related to the construction of the Monastery of Jerónimos (Lisbon), this paper discusses the main characteristics of a new model ...of construction site organization. In the later Middle Ages we can find, among others, two main models of constructing site organization. One, older and more widespread, consisted in a centralized and pyramidal management model. The other, apparently more recent, was based in the existence of several autonomous teams working simultaneously, each one responsible for building a specific part or section of the building. This paper describes and discusses this new organizational model as it was adopted and implemented by João de Castilho (1470–1552) for the construction of the Monastery of Jerónimos in 1517, probably for the first time in Portugal, but with some parallels in other places in Europe.
This paper discusses how building commissioners in the Low Countries operated to obtain the best quality in form and construction when they commissioned a building to a contractor. In the Low ...Countries, building contracts have been used since the late fourteenth century and in many of them the quality of materials and constructions were prescribed. Municipal regulations and guild regulations were important in ensuring the quality of the construction, but despite these general provisions and statutory inspections, building commissioners usually inserted extensive clauses in contracts, which related to the quality of wood, stone, brick and other materials. Based on the investigation of approximately 250 building specifications and contracts dating back to before 1650, this paper shows how the development of quality descriptions for brick, stone, wood and other products changed over time. For carpentry and stone, known quality specifications date back to the end of the fifteenth century. Quality requirements for brick masonry date from the sixteenth century while for other materials they don’t appear until the end of the sixteenth century. Contracts also included provisions regarding force majeure and unforeseen circumstances. These provisions could relate to ambiguity in the wording of the contract as well as to procedures in case of sickness or death of the contractor. However, this did not prevent disputes, which on some building projects lasted for decades.
20 years lie between the construction of the two tubes of the Roppen tunnel, during which time the world has changed not only politically and in general thinking but has also produced dramatic ...technical progress. Above all with the development of communication and information technology, the environment for the tunnel builder and the proceedings on the construction site have changed, unfortunately not always for the better. The positive and negative developments are discussed in a critical manner and a return to more community and more dialogue on site are proposed.
Zwischen dem Bau der beiden Röhren des Roppener Tunnels liegen 20 Jahre, in denen sich das Weltbild nicht nur politisch, in der allgemeinen Denkweise sondern auch im technischen Fortschritt dramatisch verändert hat. Vor allem die Entwicklung der Kommunikations‐ und Informationstechnologien hat auch das Umfeld der Tunnelbauer und die Umgangsformen auf der Baustelle nachhaltig – und leider nicht nur zum Positiven – verändert. In einer kritischen Betrachtungsweise werden die positiven und negativen Entwicklungen der letzten 20 Jahre aufgezeigt und die Rückkehr zu mehr Gemeinsamkeit und mehr Dialog auf der Baustelle gefordert.
