Many building projects do not meet owners' performance expectations. Integrated project delivery (IPD) has emerged as a new delivery system with the potential to provide better performance through ...more supply chain integration. However, there is a knowledge gap surrounding how project delivery systems, IPD in particular, affect supply chain relationships and potential project performance. To fill this gap, we applied a simulation method, General Performance Model (GPM), to assess the interactions between numerous project delivery variables and compare potential performance between delivery systems. This study presents a GPM analysis of a complex hospital project and based upon cross-impact assessments by owners, architects, constructors, and specialty contractors from the building industry. The results found the most influential drivers of project delivery performance to be communication, alignment of interest and objectives, team working, trust, and gain/pain sharing. The performance of the supply chain was found to drive the project delivery performance.
•The performance of the supply chain was found to drive the project delivery performance.•The owner’s strategy decisions impact the management of the supply chain relationships.•IPD has emerged as a new system with the potential to provide better performance through more supply chain integration.
AbstractThe design-build (DB) project delivery method continues to grow as a viable alternative delivery method for highway projects. The primary reason for selecting DB delivery is to take advantage ...of the time savings inherent in the process. However, because of low levels of design at the time of contract awards, DB contracts often carry more risks and uncertainties than other contracts, which makes the decision to select DB delivery complex. Applying risk analysis strategies and tools to the delivery selection process will help decision makers evaluate and select the DB delivery method consistently and defensibly. This paper examines 39 generic risk factors related to the DB delivery selection process. These risks were identified through previous research and risk analysis workshops on transportation projects worth more than $10 billion. To explore how these risks impact DB delivery selection, a questionnaire was developed to collect data from a national cross section of professionals with an average of 25 years of experience related to risk and project delivery methods in the transportation industry. An exploratory factor analysis was used to investigate the relationship between DB delivery selection and the 39 generic risk factors. The results indicate that seven delivery selection risk factors have the most influence on DB delivery selection: (1) scope risk; (2) third-party and complexity risk; (3) construction risk; (4) utility and right-of-way (ROW) risk; (5) level of design and contract risk; (6) management risk; and (7) regulation and railroad risk. This study compares risk preferences of public owners and design-builders for choosing DB delivery. Understanding these risk factors will help professionals not only select DB for appropriate projects but also allocate risks more properly in DB contracts.
Construction Project Cost Escalation Factors Shane, Jennifer S; Molenaar, Keith R; Anderson, Stuart ...
Journal of management in engineering,
10/2009, Volume:
25, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Construction projects, private and public alike, have a long history of cost escalation. Transportation projects, which typically have long lead times between planning and construction, are ...historically underestimated, as shown through a review of the cost growth experienced with the Holland Tunnel. Approximately 50% of the active large transportation projects in the United States have overrun their initial budgets. A large number of studies and research projects have identified individual factors that lead to increased project cost. Although the factors identified can influence privately funded projects the effects are particularly detrimental to publicly funded projects. The public funds available for a pool of projects are limited and there is a backlog of critical infrastructure needs. Therefore, if any project exceeds its budget other projects are dropped from the program or the scope is reduced to provide the funds necessary to cover the cost growth. Such actions exacerbate the deterioration of a state’s transportation infrastructure. This study is an anthology and categorization of individual cost increase factors that were identified through an in-depth literature review. This categorization of 18 primary factors which impact the cost of all types of construction projects was verified by interviews with over 20 state highway agencies. These factors represent documented causes behind cost escalation problems. Engineers who address these escalation factors when assessing future project cost and who seek to mitigate the influence of these factors can improve the accuracy of their cost estimates and program budgets.
Highway megaprojects (construction projects over $100 million) are fraught with uncertainty. These projects have historically experienced increases in project costs from the time that a project is ...first proposed or programmed until the time that they are completed. Persistent cost underestimation reflects poorly on the industry in general but more specifically on engineers. Traditional methods take a deterministic, conservative approach to project cost estimating and then add a contingency factor that varies depending on the stage of project definition, experience, and other factors. This approach falls short, and no industry standard stochastic estimating practice is currently available. This paper presents a methodology developed by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) for its Cost Estimating Validation Process. Nine case studies, with a mean cumulative value of over $22 billion, are presented and analyzed. Programmatic risks are summarized as economic, environmental, third party, right-of-way, program management, geotechnical, design process, construction, and other minor risks. WSDOT is successfully using the range cost output from this procedure to convey project costs to management and the public.
This paper presents the results of a structural equation model (SEM) that describes and quantifies the relationships between corporate culture and safety performance. The SEM is estimated using 196 ...individual questionnaire responses from three companies with better than average safety records. A multiattribute analysis of corporate safety culture characteristics resulted in a hierarchical description of corporate safety culture comprised of three major categories—people, process, and value. These three major categories were decomposed into 54 measurable questions and used to develop a questionnaire to quantify corporate safety culture. The SEM identified five latent variables that describe corporate safety culture: (1) a company’s safety commitment; (2) the safety incentives that are offered to field personal for safe performance; (3) the subcontractor involvement in the company culture; (4) the field safety accountability and dedication; and (5) the disincentives for unsafe behaviors. These characteristics of company safety culture serve as indicators for a company’s safety performance. Based on the findings from this limited sample of three companies, this paper proposes a list of practices that companies may consider to improve corporate safety culture and safety performance. A more comprehensive study based on a larger sample is recommended to corroborate the findings of this study.
The management of threats and opportunities plays a key-role in enhancing project performance. However, there is a gap in literature concerning how general contractors manage threats and ...opportunities in construction projects, in particular in the use of time and cost contingencies. This research partially addresses this gap through a case study of two large Spanish construction companies. The research presented two key factors determining how the contractors analyzed manage time and cost contingencies: project objectives and existing mistrust among the contractor’s team members. The research also found that managers use time and cost contingencies not only to manage threats, but also as tools for managing opportunities, thereby providing insight into a previously undescribed form of contingency: the negative contingency. The research results enable a better understanding of the actual behavior of general contractors, which contributes to paving the way for developing enhanced methods for contingencies management.
This paper describes the results of research on alternative project delivery methods in transit projects in the United States. The research, sponsored by the Transit Cooperative Research Program, ...aimed to identify those factors that drive the decision in the choice of project delivery method. A rigorous case study analysis based on on-site structured interviews with the directors of several transit projects was used to identify decision drivers and the rationale behind the delivery method selection decision in transit agencies. The nine case studies conducted in this research represent a cross section of delivery methods, including design-bid-build/multiprime, construction manager-at-risk, design/build, and design/build-operate-maintain. The interviewees agreed that the use of alternative delivery methods have resulted in savings in schedule and cost for transit agencies. The research also found that achieving aggressive schedule compression is the most influential factor when selecting alternative delivery methods. Also, implementation of a formal risk analysis as part of the project development process appears to improve the project’s chances of meeting budget and schedule objectives.
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