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Item Open Access Green buildings: a Mauritian built environment stakeholders’ perspective(University of the Free State, 2011) Buys, Fanie; Roneesh, HurbissoonEnglish: The earth’s health is deteriorating and will deteriorate even more rapidly unless people adopt eco-friendly policies. Green building has long been a concept but it has not yet been universally applied in practice. The concept of sustainability emerged in 1713 in Germany and was internationalised in the 1970s and can be associated with the energy crisis and environmental pollution concerns. This research is aimed at comparing ‘green’ buildings with ‘non-green’ (traditional) buildings in terms of cost and to determine contractors’ and professionals’ knowledge of green buildings and materials. The literature reviewed and results of a survey among professionals and contractors from the island of Mauritius formed the basis of the study. The literature study on green buildings generally revealed that green buildings may be more costly at the outset, but they contribute to long-term savings. This was confirmed by the majority of the survey respondents who stated that green building materials are more durable than traditional materials, resulting in cost savings. Furthermore, the most emphasised advantage is reduced energy and water use. Contractors are more familiar with traditional materials than green materials and professionals do not have sufficient experience in green building materials/concepts, resulting in a low growth rate of green building construction. The outcome of the study is very important for construction and design team members, clients and environmentalists.Item Open Access Exploring the People’s Housing Process: an application of the 1986 Rhodes Policy Network model(University of the Free State, 2011) Clark, AnnekeEnglish: A formal policy supporting the People’s Housing Process (PHP) was released in 1998. This policy and subsequent support measures in many ways mandates a policy implementation network. The South African Department of Housing’s (DOH) interpretation of self-built housing as expressed in the PHP should, however, be regarded as a response to and reflection of survival strategies that had already been employed by communities prior to 1998. The researcher therefore turned to the policy network literature to explore PHP project characteristics. The central research question was whether the 1986 Rhodes Policy Network model is a useful heuristic device for exploring PHP project characteristics. This was done by first subsuming network characteristics as contained within the 1986 Rhodes model under appropriate network dimensions. Using case studies, indicators were then developed for the presence of various network characteristics.Item Open Access Doubts raised on the validity of construction and payment guarantees(University of the Free State, 2011) Maritz, TinusEnglish: It has become common practice in the building industry for contractors to provide employers with a construction guarantee. These guarantees, which are defined as being on call or on demand, usually provide that a certificate issued by the agent or the principal agent will provide conclusive proof that the employer is entitled to call in the guarantee (Fenster, 1998). In a number of recent decisions, such a conclusive proof provision has been the subject of judicial scrutiny, and there is now an ever-increasing doubt as to the validity of these guarantees. The Joint Building Contracts Committee (JBCC) 1991 suite of contracts was the first in South Africa to introduce the concept of construction and payment guarantees that provided the requisite cover available on call from approved financial institutions. In the process the construction guarantee replaced the performance guarantee (surety) that prevailed in addition to the retention fund in construction contracts. Various standard forms, which embodied the terms and conditions of the guarantees, were prepared for this purpose by the JBCC. These terms and conditions had been negotiated by the JBCC with the legal/ technical committees of the banking and insurance institutions and were fully approved by them. However, for some time now concerns have been raised regarding the difficulties experienced in getting all banks and/or their property finance divisions to comply with the JBCC guarantees. Because the construction and payment guarantees are so closely linked to the terms and conditions of the JBCC principal and nominated/selected subcontract agreements, changes made to the pro forma guarantees or agreements, which disturb the risk of the guarantor, could very well render the guarantee null and void. This article will report the interpretation of construction and payment guarantees as held in recent court decisions, the findings of an investigation conducted on perceived problems being experienced by the South African construction industry with regard to these guarantees, and will present what is considered to be best practice to ensuring the continued effective use thereof.Item Open Access Health and safety in the Malawian construction industry(University of the Free State, 2011) Chiocha, Charles; Smallwood, John; Emuze, FidelisEnglish: Construction Health and Safety (H&S) is of significant importance to the improvement and sustainability of the construction process. This is why at various levels of the construction process, clients, project managers, architects, engineers, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and manufacturers have endeavoured to improve H&S management practices in construction. However, the implementation of H&S in construction has not resulted in a commensurate improvement in the industry. The thrust of the issue is the assessment of the level of knowledge of legislation through the devolution of responsibilities to stakeholders; and perceptions relative to H&S in Malawi. Therefore, for objectivity purposes, a quantitative survey was conducted among key construction industry stakeholders such as clients, architects, engineers, project managers, and contractors. Selected findings include that the status of H&S in Malawian construction is sub-optimal, and that the contributions of clients, project managers, architects, engineers, building and civil engineering contractors have been sporadic, rather than significant. Notably, poor H&S recurs in construction, and H&S is perceived to be the duty of site managers.Item Open Access Causes of construction cost and time overruns: the 2010 FIFA World Cup stadia in South Africa(University of the Free State, 2011) Baloyi, Lucius; Bekker, MichielEnglish: The FIFA World Cup is the largest international sports event in the world. Hosting the FIFA World Cup remains a sought after goal for any country. Due to the magnitude of spectators and scale of participation the hosting of the event requires substantial investment in infrastructure, especially the stadia where the various football games will be played. The award of the 2010 FIFA World Cup to South Africa resulted in ten stadia to be either upgraded or newly constructed for the event in South Africa. Even though all the stadia were ready for the tournament, nearly all projects experienced time delays and cost overruns. This article investigates the reasons or causes of cost overruns and time delays during the upgrading and construction of the various stadia. A three-tier research approach covers a comprehensive literature review on the causes of cost overruns and time delays on construction-related projects globally as well as an investigation into the factors that caused cost overruns and time delays on six of the stadia. Finally, the results for the global and stadia projects are compared. The results indicate that the increase in material cost is the single largest contributor to cost overruns for both global and stadia projects. With respect to time delays the most significant contributing factor for global projects was late delay in payments while for the stadia projects design-related factors caused the most delays. The results provide valuable information on the unique challenges facing those who are interested in investing or managing construction projects in South Africa.