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Prefabricated buildings are the direction of the future development of the construction industry and have received widespread attention. The effective execution of prefabricated construction project scheduling should consider resource constraints and the supply arrangement of prefabricated components. However, the traditional construction resource-constrained project scheduling implementation method cannot simultaneously consider the characteristics of the linkage between component production and on-site assembly construction. It cannot also fully adapt to the scheduling implementation method of the prefabricated construction projects. It is difficult to work out a reasonable project schedule and resource allocation table. In order to determine the relevant schedule parameters that can reflect the actual construction situation of the prefabricated building and meet the scheduling requirements of the prefabricated project, this study proposes a prefabricated construction project scheduling model that considers project resource constraints and prefabricated component supply constraints. Additionally, it improves the design of traditional genetic algorithms (GAs). Research results of the experimental calculation and engineering application show that the proposed project scheduling optimization model and GA are effective and practical, which can help project managers in effectively formulating prefabricated construction project scheduling plans, reasonably allocating resources, reducing completion time, and improving project performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction activities taken place in ecologically fragile regions (EFRs) of China are facing a series of environmental obstacles. Studying critical success factors (CSFs) to arrive at the sustainable objectives for construction project in EFRs is needed. Understanding the interrelationships of these CSFs is one of the vital ways to achieve this. This paper identifies and analyzes 18 CSFs for construction projects in EFRs through a literature review from a multi-perspective and a case study of Korla City in China. The causal relationship between each CSF is obtained by pairwise comparisons and thereafter, an ISM (Interpretative Structural Modeling) method is employed to study the hierarchical structuring of the CSFs. As a result, we established a five-level ISM. Subsequently, an MICMAC (cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification) approach is implemented to partition and classify each CSF into four quadrants (independent, linkage, autonomous, and dependent) according to their driver and dependence powers. Through the implementation of an MICMAC approach, the degrees of relationship between each CSF is gained. The findings reveal that the studied 18 CSFs have a strong hierarchy and interrelationship. The project manager's leadership style and economic viability are the root source of project success and has the highest influence, which is supported by the result of MICMAC analysis. CSF planning and implementation of sustainable strategies are more dependent and are influenced by others. The CSFs on the top level of ISM: conflict resolution, planning and implementation of sustainable strategies and resources of water play a significant role in arriving at the project success, and has a great potential for future study. The approaches implemented in this paper can be helpful for decision-makers and managers of construction projects in comprehending the interrelationships and the degrees of CSFs for construction projects in EFRs and for efficiently achieving the project success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality control is essential to a successful modular construction project and should be enhanced throughout the project from design to construction and installation. The current methods for analyzing the assembly quality of a removable floodwall heavily rely on manual inspection and contact-type measurements, which are time-consuming and costly. This study presents a systematic and practical approach to improve quality control of the prefabricated modular construction projects by integrating building information modeling (BIM) with three-dimensional (3D) laser scanning technology. The study starts with a thorough literature review of current quality control methods in modular construction. Firstly, the critical quality control procedure for the modular construction structure and components should be identified. Secondly, the dimensions of the structure and components in a BIM model is considered as quality tolerance control benchmarking. Thirdly, the point cloud data is captured with 3D laser scanning, which is used to create the as-built model for the constructed structure. Fourthly, data analysis and field validation are carried out by matching the point cloud data with the as-built model and the BIM model. Finally, the study employs the data of a removable floodwall project to validate the level of technical feasibility and accuracy of the presented methods. This method improved the efficiency and accuracy of modular construction quality control. It established a preliminary foundation for using BIM and laser scanning to conduct quality control in removable floodwall installation. The results indicated that the proposed integration of BIM and 3D laser scanning has great potential to improve the quality control of a modular construction project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the effects of the contractor’s conflict behaviors on the project benefit, a decision model between the owner and contractor’s conflict behaviors in construction projects was constructed using the principal-agent theory and game theory. The model was analyzed under nonconflicting and conflicting conditions, and a numerical simulation and example analysis were proposed to verify the constructed model’s conclusion. The results showed that the effort levels of the owner and contractor not only relate to benefit-sharing coefficient and effort outcome coefficient but also depend on the contractor’s ability of converting the conflict into benefit and the loss caused by conflict behaviors. A higher ability of converting conflicts into benefits and lower levels of the loss caused by conflict behaviors for the contractor lead to lower levels of the net benefit of the owner, conversely higher levels of the net benefit of the contractor. Balancing the contractor’s ability of converting conflicts into benefits and the loss caused by conflict behaviors lead to a more reasonable risk allocation between the owner and contractor, improving the effort level and net benefit. To add value to the construction project, the owner should establish an impartial and reasonable benefit-sharing mechanism, optimize the owner and contractor’s resource arrangement, maximize the positive effect of conflict on project benefits, and avoid the negative effect of conflict. Few studies to date have investigated the effects of conflict behaviors on project benefits in terms of modeling and simulation in construction projects. As such, this study bridges this gap and contributes significant theoretical and practical insights about managing conflict behaviors in an interorganizational context, thus enhancing performance in construction projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The project schedule delay problem has received considerable attention for its significance in impeding project performance. Compared to conventional projects, prefabricated construction projects could suffer more from schedule delay problems. A possible solution to such problems is to provide countermeasures by referring to valuable experience of historical cases. This paper proposes a case-based reasoning (CBR) model to leverage past experience and knowledge to address the schedule delay problems in prefabricated construction projects. The study explains the development processes of the CBR model in detail, including the case base construction, case retrieval, case reuse and update. Subsequently, the study develops the CBR system and presents a case study to demonstrate the validity and practicality of the proposed approach. This study provides a potential tool to facilitate schedule management of prefabricated construction projects. It offers an effective reference for decision-makers, such as project managers, to tackle schedule delays through experience mining. • The schedule of prefabricated construction projects is vulnerable to the disruption of unexpected events. • With the valuable experience of historical cases, it can offer solutions to problems with a strong need for experience. • A schedule delay settlement model for prefabricated construction projects is based on the Case-Based Reasoning approach. • The developed CBR system is a potential tool for promoting the schedule management of prefabricated construction projects. • The proposed model provides significant guidance for decision-makers to tackle similar project schedule delay problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]