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Articles 1 - 13 of 13
Full-Text Articles in Construction Engineering
Quantity Surveyors Without Borders - Providing Cost Advice In A Global Construction Market, Rick Best
Quantity Surveyors Without Borders - Providing Cost Advice In A Global Construction Market, Rick Best
Rick Best
Providing sound advice on construction costs across national boundaries requires special care. It is seldom sufficient to look up a suitable cost/m2 rate in a price book and then apply the current exchange rate. There are three main issues here: one relates to the reliability of the price data, another to differences in design in different places and the third to the method used to bring costs in different currencies to a common base. Different sources of cost data can suggest very different rates and money market exchange rates provide nothing more than a snapshot of relative prices at one …
Measuring Construction: Prices, Output And Productivity, Rick Best, Jim Meikle
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
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
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
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 …
Using Purchasing Power Parity To Assess Construction Productivity, Rick Best
Using Purchasing Power Parity To Assess Construction Productivity, Rick Best
Rick Best
For many reasons comparing construction productivity between countries is a difficult task. One key problem is that of converting construction costs to a common currency. This problem can be overcome relatively simply by using a basket of construction materials and labour, termed a BLOC (Basket of Locally Obtained Commodities), as a unit of construction cost. Average BLOC costs in each location are calculated from data obtained from a number of sources (quantity surveyors, estimators). Typical building costs obtained from published construction cost data are expressed in BLOC equivalents. Lower BLOC equivalents represent higher productivity as other inputs (largely materials) are …
Comparing Construction Costs Between Countries, Rick Best
Comparing Construction Costs Between Countries, Rick Best
Rick Best
This is a somewhat unusual book, in the context of the books found in contemporary construction management and construction economics. It is neither a textbook nor a guide to any of the many and varied functions and tasks of construction managers and construction economists. Instead it is a collection of chapters all of which are concerned in different ways with the question of how we analyse and understand the industry.
The Use Of Assessment Hurdles: Pedagogy V. Practicality, Rick Best, Ron Best
The Use Of Assessment Hurdles: Pedagogy V. Practicality, Rick Best, Ron Best
Rick Best
The setting of assessment hurdles, i.e. components of assessment schemes that must be passed in addition to passing on aggregate marks, is a common feature of construction courses in Australia. The practice is not endorsed by all staff and is not allowed in two of the schools offering construction courses in Australian universities. A desktop survey of the rules governing the use of hurdles in universities generally was carried out. Construction academics in most of the universities offering construction courses were interviewed in order to gain a greater understanding of how hurdles are used and what the staff perceptions are …
A Refined Basket Of Goods Approach For Comparing Construction Costs Between Countries, Rick Best
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 …
The Development Of A Bim Based Building Measurement Learning Tool, Rick Best
The Development Of A Bim Based Building Measurement Learning Tool, Rick Best
Rick Best
The paper discusses the development of an integrated tool for teaching and learning building measurement. A 3D CAD IFC-compliant building information model of a small two-storey residential building was created complete with electrical and hydraulic services and all specification information using Archicad. A complete bill of quantities was measured from the BIM using Buildsoft, and exported to Microsoft Office. The exported dimensions and quantities were used to produce a fully annotated version of the BQ.
The outcome is a package comprising a CD-ROM and a conventional book. The CD containing the BIM, the Buildsoft files, a 3D model viewer and …
The Development And Testing Of A Purchasing Power Parity Method For Comparing Construction Costs Internationally, Rick Best
Rick Best
Over the past fifty to sixty years there have been numerous attempts to compare the performance of the construction industries of different countries. In almost all cases the cost of construction has been an important, sometimes the single parameter Cost performance has sometimes been equated to productivity, and productivity measurement and comparison is attempted by governments and their agencies on a regular basis.
Fundamental to these exercises has been the necessity to bring construction costs in different national currencies to a common base. This is imperative as amounts in different currencies cannot be directly compared.
Money market exchange rates do …
Evaluation Of Construction Contractor Performance: A Critical Analysis Of Some Recent Research, Rick Best, Craig Langston
Evaluation Of Construction Contractor Performance: A Critical Analysis Of Some Recent Research, Rick Best, Craig Langston
Rick Best
International comparisons of construction industry performance are notoriously difficult. A recent comparative study, extensive in scope and using an innovative approach, is reviewed and questions raised regarding various aspects of the methodology adopted, the validity of the conclusions drawn and manner in which outcomes were reported. Particular areas of concern include the unequivocal statement of conclusions that are based on a small sample, and the use of data from that sample that are, in fact, no more than estimates of project performance. Attention is drawn to the limitations of the research reported and the reliability of the methods used, and …
Workplace Strategies And Facilities Management: Building In Value, Rick Best, Craig Langston, Gerard De Valence
Workplace Strategies And Facilities Management: Building In Value, Rick Best, Craig Langston, Gerard De Valence
Rick Best
This book provides comprehensive coverage of issues that facility managers in the property industry need to understand and apply in the pursuit of value for money over the life span of built facilities. The authors introduce the fast-growing discipline of facility management, examine the core competencies that facility managers should possess and study different contemporary drivers of change. The book emphasises the need to consider facilities management issues at the pre-design stage of the construction process, rather than only when the building is completed, in order to maximise value for money.