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Construction Engineering

2009

Australia

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Architecture

A Refined Basket Of Goods Approach For Comparing Construction Costs Between Countries, Rick Best Nov 2009

A Refined Basket Of Goods Approach For Comparing Construction Costs Between Countries, Rick Best

Rick Best

Most comparisons of construction industry performance require that construction costs be converted to a common base. Existing mechanisms for such conversions produce unreliable results. A proposed method for producing industry-specific conversion factors was tested using a single building type. A basket of materials and labour was identified and weighted to reflect the cost share of each item in a completed project. Prices for the basket were gathered in three cities and simple construction specific conversion indices were calculated based on the construction purchasing power of each currency. The construction purchasing power parities (CPPPs) showed marked differences from other available conversion …


Critical Foundations: Providing Australia’S 21st Century Infrastructure, Michael Regan Aug 2009

Critical Foundations: Providing Australia’S 21st Century Infrastructure, Michael Regan

Michael Regan

Extract:

Infrastructure is undoubtedly the least understood of the major asset classes in Australia. A tradition of public ownership and operation, its status as a public good and a lack of information about its investment characteristics in both public and private hands has contributed to limited recognition of its role in national and regional economies. However, this situation is changing. A coincidence of political, economic and financial events in the lead up to the worldwide economic recession of the late 1980s and Australia's microeconomic reforms of the 1990s b[r]ought into sharper focus the central role that infrastructure plays in both …