The rebirth of design-build, design-build-operate, and build-operate-transfer as viable alternatives for the delivery of major capital projects is symptomatic of dynamic changes in the relationship between producers and clients throughout the construction industry. In the private sector, these...

The just-in-time (JIT) philosophy has been used in the manufacturing industry for some forty to fifty years. This system increased not only the productivity of the industry but also the quality of its products. Explorative studies have been completed in recent years to see how JIT can be applied...

Plan shape indices are based on the geometry of the plan shape rather than on empirical data, and are problematic as they embrace implicit assumptions that are not tested empirically nor justified theoretically. Empirical research using data in Hong Kong confirms that these plan shape indices...

This paper discusses the content, origin and development of tendering theory as a theory of price determination. It demonstrates how tendering theory determines prices and how it is different from game and decision theories, and that in the tendering process, with non-cooperative, simultaneous,...

A model is presented for analysing the subcontractor's risk elements in construction refurbishment projects. The system is based on the use of fuzzy set theory with the fuzzy set representing the overall weighted average rating of refurbishment contractors criterion for the selection of...

An analysis is described of a sample of pre-bid forecasts for 181 Singapore building contracts awarded between 1980 and 1991 in comparison with previous research results in this topic. Despite the apparent contradictions that occur between findings, it is shown that such differences could be...

Design organizations play a major role in the construction industry: they are the media that transfer the requirements of the client to the contractor and ensure that they are met. Thus they need to provide a high quality of service to ensure that their client's project achieves the best...

This paper describes a method for apportioning contingency in a probabilistic network. It distinguishes between two requirements for contingency: for high variance crucial activities, and for high float noncritical activities. This enables a logical two-step apportionment, the first based upon...

An overview is given of occupational safety and health and of training in the construction sector, summarizing the findings of different researchers. The studies discussed emphasize safety instruction and on the job training at sites, especially the teaching of first aid skills and accident...

Construction managers are interested in the direction of movement of cash flow at valuation periods rather than its forecast value, and fuzzy set theory applied to decision making might help in this process. Fuzzy models are particularly suited to making decisions involving new technologies...