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Item Open Access Qualitative content analysis from the lean construction perspective: a focus on supply chain management(University of the Free State, 2012) Emuze, FidelisEnglish: The performance of projects in terms of targeted objectives has always been a very contentious issue in the construction industry. The constant issue at stake is the inability of projects to satisfactorily meet agreed delivery targets. In order to address this quagmire, performance improvement tools such as supply chain management (SCM) were introduced into the industry. The central theme of this discourse is thus concerned with the need to promote performance improvement in construction through the exploitation of the concepts inherent in SCM from the perspectives of lean construction researchers as documented in the annual International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC) conferences. The methodological approach adopted for the discourse is qualitative in nature as recent SCM literatures available on the IGLC web portal were subjected to a qualitative content analysis. The research outcomes, which have implications for South African construction, attempt to offer solutions to the mirage of performance-related project management and/or supply chain problems, especially in terms of improving ‘how organisations working together’ overcome complexities and deliver value to stakeholders.Item Open Access Financial implications for built environment consultants working at risk in South Africa(University of the Free State, 2012) Adendorff, Chris; Botha, Brink; Van Zyl, Angelo; Adendorff, GillianEnglish: Consultants in the built environment of South Africa are facing financial risks due to clients’ expectations of completing certain portions of work at risk. Thus, consultants would complete projects at risk in return for the possibility of remuneration in the long run. A descriptive survey was conducted among various professional consultants working within the built environment in South Africa. The findings include that a large percentage of work was expected to be completed at risk. Once work was completed at risk, a relatively small percentage continued to a stage where the actual consultant received remuneration. As a result of the current global economic climate, the amount of work required to be completed at risk increased and the percentage of work continuing to a stage of remuneration has also decreased. A greater percentage of clients therefore expected more work to be done at risk than the actual amount of work for which consultants are remunerated.Item Open Access Assuring health and safety performance on construction projects: clients’ role and influence(University of the Free State, 2012) Musonda, Innocent; Pretorius, Jan-Harm; Haupt, TheoEnglish: This article presents findings from an investigation conducted in Botswana and South Africa on how construction clients could influence health and safety (H&S) performance on construction projects. The continued poor state of construction H&S and the inability of designers and contractors to influence an industry-wide H&S culture change motivated the article. It was also recognised that one of the reasons the construction industry continued to lag in H&S performance was the way in which H&S implementation and management was organised. The article proposes a client-centred model for H&S performance improvement. The conceptual model and its factors were developed from both literature and a Delphi survey. Structural equation modelling was applied to data collected from a questionnaire survey to design a best fit model. The key finding was that, generally, client H&S culture impacted on project H&S performance. The influence of clients was found to be statistically significant when commitment, communication and H&S procedures were evident. This finding was encouraging as it specifically shows how clients could influence performance. However, it remains to be seen whether these results could be replicated in other datasets. If indeed that is the case, then this article contributes significantly to the body of knowledge.Item Open Access Project cost estimation techniques used by most emerging building contractors of South Africa(University of the Free State, 2012) Seeletse, Solly; Ladzani, WatsonEnglish: This article investigates newly emerging building contractors of South Africa who are expected to survive by projects obtained mainly through tendering. Some of these contractors fail even before obtaining the first tender while many fail in the first three years of their formation. The research population used was restricted to formally registered businesses found at the time in the register of the Construction Industry Development Board (cidb). The population of 792 businesses, registered as Grade 5 class, consisted of five distinct types of contractors, general builders, civil engineers, electricians, mechanical builders and other sundry players. A sample of 160 was used which is approximately 20% of the population. The literature was reviewed on tendering and related aspects: competitive bidding, estimating activities, pricing a tender, and evaluating a tender. The research tool used was a questionnaire, which investigated biographical and company information, proposal management and estimation, programming and scheduling, estimating strategies, understanding of basic cost concepts, project risk management, pre-tender internal price evaluation, and tender submission. Findings of this research revealed that South African emerging contractors showed inadequacies and variations in cost concepts, scheduling tools, risk management and tender price estimation. They also lacked essential resources and skills for competing for tenders. Emerging contractors are advised to use consultants to assist them and/or subcontract to established contractors with a reputable history. They should use these opportunities to learn superior estimation methods (which are also more complex) and apply them to improve their own tendering practices.Item Open Access ’n Model vir die meting van die bourekenaar se kommunikasievolwassenheid(University of the Free State, 2012) Berry, Frank; Verster, BasieEnglish: The aim of this article is to describe the identification and measurement of the determinants important for a communication maturity model leading to the development of a communication maturity model to measure the communication capabilities of the quantity surveyor. The survey has been conducted amongst practising quantity surveyors, architects, engineers, clients and contractors chosen from all 9 provinces in South Africa. The questionnaire which was distributed and returned by respondents by email in 2010, was aimed at measuring the importance of the determinants according to the quantity surveying standard. Views on the quantity surveying standard of maturity in communication based on the chosen determinants which forms the communication maturity model for the quantity surveyor in the construction industry were also collected. The results of the survey indicated that respondents identified the following determinants as important elements of the communication maturity model: verbal communication, written communication, contractual communication, information technology communication, leadership communication and instruments communication. The views of respondents regarding the quantity surveying standard in maturity from the chosen determinants which form the communication maturity model, showed that all determinants were positively experienced and that the determinant ‘Contractual communication’ showed the highest valuation result. The determinant ‘Verbal communication’ is in relation to other determinants identified as an area that should be developed.Item Open Access A linear regression modelling of the relationship between initial estimated and final achieved construction time in South Africa(University of the Free State, 2012) Aiyetan, Olatunji Ayodeji; Smallwood, John; Shakantu, WinstonEnglish: The estimation of contract completion time has always been inaccurate despite there being a need for certainty regarding the completion of projects. This article reports on an investigation of the relationship between initial and final contract time with the aim of developing an equation for reasonably estimating project period. Data for the study was secured from a total of eighty-eight questionnaires and sixty-five projects. The sample population consisted of architects, contractors, quantity surveyors, structural engineers and clients. Five metropolitan cities in the provinces of the Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Western Cape, namely Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth, constitute the geographical area in which the study was conducted. Inferential statistical analysis, including regression analysis, was used to evolve, inter alia, a model and linear equations for estimating building construction time. The equations involved in the respective phases of the study are Y = 9.9 + 1.0586x for phase one, and Y = 13.1159 + 1.1341x for phase two. During phase two of the study, it was determined that 35.3% additional time needs to be added to the amount of the initial contract period in order to estimate final contract time. It is recommended that either the equation Y = 13.1159 + 1.1341x be used, or that 35.3% additional time be added to the amount of initial contract time to estimate the final contract time.Item Open Access Perceptions of the quality of low-income houses in South Africa: defects and their causes(University of the Free State, 2012) Zunguzane, Nyameka; Smallwood, John; Emuze, FidelisEnglish: A number of low-income houses recently built in South Africa are reportedly defective. The sheer number of low-income houses that failed to conform to quality expectations, especially in certain provinces, has become a source of concern for the national Department of Human Settlements (DHS) and other construction industry stakeholders. This article assesses issues related to non-conformance to quality requirements in low-income houses from the perspective of both owners and contractors. A quantitative survey was conducted among housing beneficiaries in a post-1994 township in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. The initial findings were further complemented with the perceptions of contractors registered with the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC). Selected findings suggest that the principal causes of defects in low-income houses is perceived to be related to the use of emerging contractors who are presumably not experienced enough, and to the use of unskilled labour by the contractors. By implication, the respondents were of the opinion that poor workmanship could be the primary cause of defects in low-income houses. It can, therefore, be argued that, apart from adequate monitoring and inspection of projects, stakeholders in the form of emerging contractors and their labour should endeavour to improve their competencies pertaining to quality.