Search

Construction projects are complex endeavors where achieving higher quality standards is challenging due to the intrinsic difficulties and dynamic quality management processes. Several quality management techniques exist to overcome quality concerns, such as the cost of quality (COQ). However, implementing COQ in building construction is challenging due to the absence of a comprehensive quality cost-capturing system. Several studies have tried to quantify different quality costs but are mainly focused on visible failure cost—the tip of the iceberg while the base of the iceberg has rarely been explored. This study develops and quantifies each component of the visible and hidden quality costs—the base of the iceberg. Accordingly, a modified prevention, appraisal, and failure model is developed and applied to the primary data of 25 building projects. The findings highlight the unfamiliarity and passive attitude of the involved construction firms towards quality, thus, incurring higher failure costs amounting to over 12% of the total project cost. Most of this cost remains hidden as traditional accounting systems cannot capture it. Such costs must be eliminated by implementing COQ systems as utilized in the current study. Further, a quality costing framework is established for building projects and applied to the local construction industry to reduce construction failures and improve the quality performance of building projects.

Buildings consume a large amount of energy for space cooling during the summer season, creating an overall sustainability concern. The upfront cost associated with sustainability repels the decision-makers to often end up adopting solutions that have huge operations and maintenance costs. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to assess the lifecycle cost (LCC) implications of optimum configurations of active and passive strategies for reducing the cooling load in buildings. Several green building active and passive strategies and technologies were assimilated and their thermal performance in a hot semi-arid climate of Lahore in Pakistan using DesignBuilder V6.1 was simulated to obtain the most optimum cooling load configuration. Furthermore, LCC is estimated, and overall efficiency is evaluated to identify the most effective space cooling configuration. The results suggest that a configuration of EPS for external wall insulation, vertical louvers for external shading, 6 mm blue HRG (low-E soft coated) + 12 mm air space + 6 mm clear glass for windows, polystyrene as roof insulation, cross ventilation through windows, and LED lighting system has the best performance. This is the first-of-its-kind study in the hot semi-arid climate of South Asia with the city of Lahore in Pakistan as the test case and can be generalized for places with similar conditions. The findings will help the decision-makers in selecting the most load-efficient and cost-effective green building technologies to help improve overall sustainability. The implementation of the proposed strategies not only aids in providing user-friendly and effective decision-making but also promotes the adoption of sustainability in buildings by leveraging the existing green building technologies to enhance the environmental and economic aspects. This is a promising approach to facilitate the spread of green building construction in developing countries. It is recommended to utilize the strategies grouped in Scenario 8 to achieve a reduced cooling load and LCC of a residential building throughout its lifecycle.

Based on the limitations of traditional procurement, this study uses analytical network process (ANP) for contractor selection. Using extensive literature review, best value (BV) contributing factors are identified. Experts are involved to get their feedback for shortlisting the identified factors. An ANP-based decision support system has been developed using data collected through a detailed questionnaire survey in the local construction industry for evaluating the selection process. Further, five case studies of completed road construction projects have been used to validate the decision support system. The findings indicate that in almost all the cases, the traditional procurement system, owing to its stringent prequalification measures, subliminally took into consideration the overall value proposition, and only one case study showed anomalies for which detailed reasoning is deliberated. This highlights the tendency of practitioners to overweigh the cost-based criteria, despite an established significance of other factors, treating the intangible value factors of quality, health and safety, environmental impact, etc. as less important. It reflects that the local construction industry attaches marginal value to qualitative factors. The construction industry will benefit from implementation of BV procurement system and a prolonged exposure may help improve its value system to realize the contribution of non-cost-based factors.

International joint ventures (IJVs) are both advantageous and challenging due to differing technical abilities, economic and political environments, and cultural and legal frameworks. This study identifies the external risks particularly political, economic, legal, social and environmental in IJVs carrying out construction projects in Pakistan. It further analyzes the impact of these risks on the project success criteria of time, cost and quality. Data are collected using questionnaire-based survey and with the help of factor analysis, 16 critical external risks are identified. The top most critical risks are fluctuation in exchange rate, weather systems, political instability and delay in approval. Analytical Hierarchy Process is applied to prioritize critical external risks discretely for project success criteria. As a result, time is found to be the most influenced project criterion by the critical external risks, followed by cost and quality. The results are of importance for local practitioners in the form of recommendations for better management of IJV risks. Future research can benefit from incorporation of more dimensions of project success.