Architecture Commons^™

Dispute Resolution Under The Principal Irish Forms Of Building Contract, Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

The construction industry is known to be litigious (Latham, 1994). This is hardly surprising given the industry’s fragmented nature in which project teams comprising an extensive network of employers, designers and constructors are brought together to deliver once-off projects, following which, the organisation is almost always disbanded. The short term objectives of the various groupings are often competing and occasionally incompatible. For example, many employers will wish to minimise costs in developing a project, designers may resist pressures on budgets in order to safeguard their ‘brand’, and the commercial imperative of maximising profit will drive contractors towards charging what the …

Risk Allocation Under The Principal ‘Traditional’ Irish Forms Of Building Contract, Tony Cunningham

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Construction projects are risky ventures. Risks are inevitable and cannot be entirely eliminated but they can be transferred through appropriate wording in the clauses of a contract. Construction contracts allocate particular risks between the parties in order to identify who bears the cost if a particular risk comes to pass.

This study examines how contractual risks are allocated to the contracting parties under the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland Form, 2012 version, where quantities form part of the contract, commonly known as ‘the Yellow Form’, and the Public Works Contract PW CF1 Form v 1.10, 2014 where the design …

Cost Control During The Pre-Contract Stage Of A Building Project – An Introduction, Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

Cost overruns are commonplace on construction projects.

One of the most important tasks carried out by quantity surveyors (QS) involves providing advice to clients and design team colleagues to enable the design to be finalised within the approved budget. This financial management process is referred to as cost control. Cost control seeks to deliver a high degree of cost certainty during the various stages of the building project in order that the project can be completed within budget. Successful projects are those which are delivered to the required quality standards, on time, and within budget. Effective cost management therefore is …

A Fiscal Model Program Theory Proposal For Training Reentry Citizen Ex-Convicts To Remodel Abandoned Houses, James A. Hanson

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to develop and examine a fiscal program theory model and proposal for training reentry citizen ex-convicts to remodel abandoned houses. A sustainable program theory model describes ways that training and employing these citizens to remodel abandoned houses may be expected to have benefits to a community. The recently released ex-convicts will learn a construction trade, earn a sustainable wage, and the once-abandoned houses will be returned to the city tax rolls. Vocational education and workforce training are key to this program. The literature indicates that national jobless rates for recently released inmates is well …

The Question Of Slim | A Critical Look At Manhattan's Recent Trend Towards Slenderness, Raymond Sova

Architecture Senior Theses

Manhattan’s real estate market since the turn of the 20th century to present day can be characterized as an extreme optimization of the economical elements of architecture. Most of the buildings in Manhattan’s diverse and complex skyline share a tenacious desire to maximize the profitability and feasibility of a site while minimizing overall building expenditure. This concept is defined in Koolhaas’s ‘Delirious New York,’ as the relationship between “the Needle” and “the Globe.” Seemingly immeasurable wealth and investment have given rise to a new sub-typology of super-tall strikingly skinny (Slim) residential skyscrapers that may very well result in the demise …

Hacking The Urban Village | Architecture As Board Game, Xuyun Liu

Architecture Senior Theses

This thesis proposes the board game as a new research methodology and platform for the study of southern China's urban villages.

Hacking the Urban Village examines the urban villages that have, in recent decades, become a common but informal settlement type in China as a result of China's unprecedented period of urbanization.

This research forms the contextual core of a board game where game settings present the current urban conditions and players may explore alternative forms of urbanism. The board game offers players the opportunity to investigate both he formal conditions of the urban village life along with it attendant …

Exploring Emerging Technologies For The Built Environment Circa 2015 For Use In Architectural Engineering And Related Majors, Connor J. Hanlon

Architectural Engineering

For this senior project I am seeking to combine my knowledge of Structural Engineering with Construction Management. For this task, I have decided to look at Building Information Modeling (BIM). In this project I investigate the BIM tools Trimble Tekla Structures and Autodesk Navis- works Manage. Tekla is a modeling, fabrication, and design program. Navisworks is a visualiza- tion and Clash Detection tool. For this project I have identiÅied two main goals relating to Navis- works and Tekla:

1. Create content to allow students and professors learn how to use Tekla and Navisworks

2. Determine the capabilities of these softwares, and Åigure …

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Tender Documentation For Construction Projects - An Overview, Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

The tender documents form the basis of the contractor’s offer to construct the works. The tender documents are the means by which the employer’s design and/or works requirements are communicated to the tendering contractors. These inform the contractor of the scope and detail of the project, the conditions under which the work will be executed, and they identify the rights and obligations of the various participants under the proposed contract. The tender documents enable contractors to price the works requirements and submit an offer (bid) which, if accepted by the employer becomes a binding contract. Some of the tender documents …

"Defining Job Titles And Career Paths In Bim", Malachy Mathews

Conference papers

Ireland is undergoing a digital transformation. Some industries particularly in the areas of travel and retail have been radically transformed. However many industries are facing their biggest challenge in their existence already weakened by the economic crisis and constrained by their legacy business, it will be difficult for them to adapt and embrace the new rules dictated by digital change. Irelands design and construction industry is on the cusp of a digital transformation with early adopters now deriving some benefits from a move to a building information modeling (BIM) process. Digital transformation cannot happen unless there are personnel with the …

Appointing Main Contractors For Construction Work In The Republic Of Ireland. – An Overview., Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

This study examines the various options available for a client to appoint a contractor. The study investigates open tendering, selective tendering, prequalification, two stage selective tendering, competitive dialogue, negotiation and serial tendering. In most building contracts the contractor is selected on the basis of competitive tendering. The price which the contractor quotes for the job is heavily influenced by both the amount and intensity of the competition. Even in the case of negotiated tenders there is implicit competition, as the employer can break off negotiations. If there is no competition the contractor can, in effect, ‘name his price’. This study …

Bs News November/December

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Future Of The Library? Turning Conflicting Pressures Into Compelling Opportunities, Gerald Jay Schafer, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham

Ludmilla D Pavlova

Many institutions are scrutinizing library space as a potential space bank in times of tight capital resources, while librarians are seeking ways to shift lesser-used collections into storage, create more user space, and improve services. Accomplishing these tasks at University of Massachusetts Amherst's Du Bois Library, a 26-story tower, posed a particular challenge. The library's master plan needed to explore compatible uses, partners for integrated services, and identify opportunities to repurpose space for university needs as well as the library's future vision.

Umass Amherst Green Building Guidelines 2013, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Ted Mendoza, Ezra Small, Patricia O'Flaherty, Nariman Mostafavi, Mohamed Farzinmoghadam, Somayeh Tabatabaee Pozveh

Ludmilla D Pavlova

Facilities & Campus Services, Sustainable UMass and Campus Planning support sustainability and energy conservation initiatives by providing in-house resources to campus staff as well as designers and contractors working with the University. The UMass Amherst Green Building Guidelines provide a framework for approaching new construction and major renovation projects at UMass Amherst that are undergoing LEED certification by focusing the conversation on green building aspects that are most important to the campus. They are intended to be the beginning of a dynamic conversation between designers, environmental consultants and constructors, university stakeholders, and users of new high performance buildings.

University Of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries Master Plan, Shirley Dugdale, Gerald Schafer, Bryan Harvey, James Cahill, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Leslie Button, Theresa Warner, Pam Rooney, John Cunningham

Ludmilla D Pavlova

Amherst Libraries, which is on the edge of significant change moving into a new era serving scholars, researchers and learners in the 21st Century. Over the last decade the Library has been a leader in many initiatives: increasing development of digital resources; collaborating with the Five Colleges Consortium, which was one of the first in the country to develop a shared book depository; developing a highly successful Learning Commons that engages partners in providing a broad range, of services and settings for learners; providing services through partners welcomed into library facilities, such the peer learning activities of the Learning Resources …

Umass Amherst Campus Master Plan Sustainability Chapter, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Nariman Mostafavi, Mohamad Farzinmoghadam, Kylie A. Landrey, Somayeh Tabatabaee Pozveh, Ezra Small, Ted Mendoza, Jason J. Burbank, Robert Ryan, Dennis Swinford, Niels La Cour, Alexander Stepanov

Ludmilla D Pavlova

The UMass Amherst Campus Master Plan Sustainability Chapter articulates the manner in which the Campus Master Plan 2012 principles translate into specific recommendations for campus systems development in support of future smart growth. It summarizes the current physical campus-scale planning projects that Facilities & Campus Services have completed during and after the Master Plan process, and incorporates other operational and educational initiatives that have engaged our campus community as we plan for sustainability. The CMP Chapter is organized in three major sections: i) sustainability overview; ii) campus master plan systems; iii) current initiatives; and iv) next steps. The first section …

Seeps And Springs At A Platteville “Observatory” On The River Bluffs, Bj Bonin, Greg Brick, Julia R. Steenberg

Sinkhole Conference 2015

Residential building construction along the Mississippi River bluffs in the 1970s created a unique enclosed outcrop of the Late Ordovician Platteville Formation at Lilydale, Minnesota. This outcrop was examined in early 2013 after a newly-formed spring flooded an elevator shaft the previous year, drawing attention to the foundation conditions. The Lexington Riverside property is a six story condominium complex constructed within the top of the bluff. A two-level underground parking garage was built into the bluff. Bedrock was mechanically excavated to accommodate the construction of the building, creating an unweathered rock surface. The space between the structure and the excavated …

Composing Descriptions For Bills Of Quantities In Accordance With Arm 4 – Worked Examples, Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

Two basic skills are at the heart of the measurement process: quantification and description. Descriptions answer the question, what is it? This paper examines the process of composing descriptions for bills of quantities measured in accordance with the ARM4 (Agreed Rules of Measurement). This process involves ‘translating’ design information contained in models, drawings and specifications into bill descriptions in order to enable tendering contractors to accurately price the work. The quantity surveyor’s task is to effectively communicate the cost significant information so that the estimator can visualise what is being described.

Descriptions contained in bills of quantities measured in accordance …

Measuring Building Perimeters And Centrelines - Worked Examples, Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

Quantity surveyors are expected to be able to measure the perimeters of buildings as part of their routine practice. Building perimeter measurements are very useful in finding out the overall lengths of foundations, external walls, external wall finishes and associated items. One of the earliest difficulties faced by quantity surveying and construction management students, is mastering the technique of calculating perimeters of awkwardly shaped building plans. The student is typically required to calculate a perimeter and adjust this to derive the centrelines of various elements in the associated construction details. In this paper, the author aims to explain these processes, …

Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Newsletter (Fall 2015), Cheryl Stevens, Dean

Ogden College of Science & Engineering Publications

No abstract provided.

Bim; Postgraduate Multidisciplinary Collaborative Education, Malachy Mathews

Conference papers

BIM Technologies and Process are steadily increasing in the design and construction industry. The amount of undergraduate courses delivering BIM based applied and theory courses is also on the rise. These students will be entering a job market where their skillsets in digital modelling and collaborative practice will be in demand. However, existing AEC (architectural, engineering, construction) professionals are recognising the changes happening in the industry. Each domain is influenced and challenged by BIM. The traditional process and workflows will change as BIM adoption grows. Tobin [1] states the long-term impact of any innovation is often not understood when it …

Measuring Construction: Prices, Output And Productivity, Rick Best, Jim Meikle

Rick Best

Despite the size, complexity and importance of the construction industry, there has been little study to date which focuses on the challenge of drawing reliable conclusions from the available data. The accuracy of industry reports has an impact on government policy, the direction and outcomes of research and the practices of construction firms, so confusion in this area can have far reaching consequences. In response to this, Measuring Construction looks at fundamental economic theories and concepts with respect to the construction industry, and explains the merits and shortcomings, sometimes by looking at real life examples.

The International Comparison Program And Purchasing Power Parities For Construction, Rick Best, Jim Meikle

Rick Best

Extract: It is not uncommon to hear or read statements that suggest that people in some countries are living on just a couple dollars a day. "How can they survive?" we ask ourselves. The answer is that price levels are different between countries, and that is very much the case between wealthy industrialized nations and poorer developing countries. If one earns five local dollars a day and it costs only two to live, then survival at least is possible. The inconsistency lies in the use of money market exchange rates to convert amounts of money to the same currency and …

Setting The Scene, Jim Meikle, Rick Best

Rick Best

Extract: Peter Drucker, a prolific writer on various aspects of management, is often erroneously cited as the originator of the phrase, "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it". Exactly where the phrase came from is unknown, but the idea remains valid. Measuring construction in the sense of measuring quantities of building work is a well-established technical process carried out routinely by quantity surveyors and estimators, and in many places there are agreed-upon rules and procedures that are used for such work. Measuring construction industries or parts of those industries is another matter. While there must have been construction …

International Construction Cost Comparisons, Rick Best, Jim Meikle

Rick Best

Extract: Comparisons of the cost of construction across national boundaries have been routinely undertaken for many years for a variety of purposes. For clients, the reason may be as simple as wanting to know how much it will cost them in their own national currency to build a facility in another country; for governments and other agencies, it may be about how competitive their industry is in a global marketplace. For example, in 1949, a UK group, the Building Industry Productivity Team, visited the US (Anglo-American Council on Productivity 1950). A primary purpose of the visit was to compare the …

Grey Forecasting Of Construction Demand In Hong Kong Over The Next Ten Years, Yongtao Tan, Craig Langston, Min Wu, Jorge Ochoa

Craig Langston

The Hong Kong construction industry since 1997 has experienced a difficult time in regard to construction output until recently. The future of the local construction industry remains uncertain. Forecasting of future development would be attractive to parties in the industry. Based on past data of the local construction industry, a grey forecasting model is developed to predict the annual growth of construction demand for Hong Kong over the next ten years. With the implementation of ten large infrastructure projects and further collaboration with the Pearl River Delta region, there will be many potential opportunities for the local industry, especially in …

A Cost-Effective Integral Bridge System With Precast Concrete I-Girders For Seismic Application, Justin R. Vander Werff, Rick Snyder, Sri Sritharan, Jay Holombo

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

To promote accelerated bridge construction in seismic regions, a large-scale experimental investigation was conducted to examine the seismic sufficiency of precast concrete I-girders in integral bridge super-structures. Such structures are not frequently used in high seismic regions due to lack of design guides and overly conservative design approaches. A half-scale,17.8 m (58.5 ft) long test unit modeling a portion of a prototype bridge incorporating a concrete column, ten I-shaped precast concrete girders, and an inverted-tee concrete cap beam was used to experimentally verify that precast concrete members employing accelerated construction techniques can be used in integral super-structures and provide excellent …

Bs News September/October

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Internationalization Of The Construction Industry, Weisheng Lu, Huan Yang, Craig Langston

Craig Langston

Extract: With the globalization of the world economy, today’s construction business is fast becoming an internationally interdependent marketplace. Construction yields on the order of USD4.6 trillion annually and contributed 6.6% to the global gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011 (Davis Langdon 2012). A significant part of that total is attributable to international contractors. With the rise of modern industrialized countries, more and more complex civil engineering projects are being procured, and the increased scale of these projects has provided a launching pad for international construction. For instance, data published by Engineering New-Record (ENR) shows that ENR’s top 225 international contractors …

Performance Measures For Construction, Craig Langston

Craig Langston

Extract: The global construction industry is highly competitive, fragmented and cyclical and frequently operates on low margins (Loosemore 2003). Yet construction accounts for a significant portion of economic activity and is a catalyst for many other sectors. The industry is also labour intensive and project specific and involves team relationships that form and disband on a regular basis. It is not surprising, therefore, that construction performance and reform have dominated research within the industry for more than 50 years.

Refining The Citibloc Index, Craig Langston

Craig Langston

Extract: The previous chapter investigated the performance of selected high-rise construction projects completed between 2003 and 2012 in the five largest cities in Australia and the United States. Part of this research required the conversion of cost data into a comparable form. Cost conversion is critical to international performance comparisons. A reliable method for doing this is necessary. Purchasing power parity (PPP) is generally accepted as the appropriate philosophy, but there are a number of detailed approaches for determining indices. Which one should be used? How can we be sure that cost conversion using currency exchange rates is unreliable? How …