• Innovative Protocols and Technologies as a Means of Complying with the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payments Act 1999 (NSW) Australia

      Ward, Peter; Sher, William; Gameson, Rod; Aranda-Mena, Guillermo (Routledge (Taylor & Francis), 2007)
      The Building and Construction Industry Security of Payments Act 1999—updated 27 November 2003, New South Wales, Australia provides a statutory framework which governs compulsory progress payments for those who undertake works or provide goods or services as part of a construction contract. Respondents to the process are being disadvantaged as a result of complying with the Act. Claimants are purported to be taking months to prepare detailed and comprehensive payment claims, prior to serving them on the respondents, who, under the Act, have limited time to compile a detailed payment schedule in response. This research investigates the use of two recent innovations that could assist in the administration of the process. The first is the Society of Construction Law's Delay and Disruption Protocol's model clauses, and the second is the use of web-based technology as a project administrative tool. A literature search was carried out, together with semi-structured qualitative interviews, to determine opinions of their use and effectiveness. Results indicate a recognition and appreciation of the likely benefits of transparency, efficiency and improved cost effectiveness of the project administrative processes, possibly resulting in potential savings and improved cost recovery opportunities, with the potential to reduce and/or avoid disputes. (Routledge)
    • Modelling the Satisfaction of Contractors: The Impact of Client Performance

      Soetanto, Robby; Proverbs, David G. (Wiley InterScience, 2002)
      An assessment of the performance of UK clients on 55 ‘case projects’ as considered by contractors is presented and used to develop models of contractors' satisfaction. Principal component analysis (PCA) reveals five dimensions to contractor satisfaction, classified in this research as (i) support provided to contractors, (ii) clients' attitude, (iii) clients' understanding of their own needs, (iv) quality of clients' brief, and (v) financial aspects of performance. Knowledge of these models should enable clients to perform better, which is conducive towards satisfactory participant performance and overall project performance. The models identify three key aspects of client performance that are found to significantly influence contractors' satisfaction levels, namely, (i) the capability of the client's representative, (ii) the client's past performance and project management experience and (iii) the financial soundness and reputation of the client. Additionally, the nature of the project and certain characteristics of contractors also influence satisfaction levels. The models demonstrated accurate predictive power and were found to be valid and robust. Clients could use the models to help improve their performance, leading to more successful project implementation. This will also promote the development of harmonious working relationships within the construction project coalition (PC). (Emerald Group Publishing Limited)
    • The impact of strategic decisions on construction client satisfaction: an assessment framework

      Proverbs, David G.; Cheng, Jianxi (University of Wolverhampton, 2008)
      For some considerable time, client satisfaction has been a problematic issue in the UK construction industry with many projects failing to satisfy the client needs and meet or exceed the client expectations. Client satisfaction is, however, a key performance measure and a major determinant of project success. There is a common belief that strategic decisions made by clients have a significant impact on the levels of client satisfaction. Strategic decisions in the context of construction projects are often associated with project stages including pre-design, design, tender, construction, occupancy & maintenance and disposal and vary in nature. Consequently the impact of strategic decisions on client satisfaction depends as much on timing as on the subjects of the decisions. While such findings are useful to facilitate the industry’s focus on addressing the failure in achieving client satisfaction, and point to the route for improvement, they are arbitrary and do not provide a systematic basis for investigating the real impact on client satisfaction. The nature of strategic decisions and the significance of its impact on client satisfaction have not been clearly identified and client satisfaction has remained an elusive issue for a majority of construction professionals. This research was hence undertaken to seek empirical evidence of an interrelationship between strategic decisions and client satisfaction. Defining strategic decisions, often associated with project stages, as ones that are complex and made under uncertainty and have a long-term impact on project success, a quantitative research methodology combined with qualitative approaches, was adopted in investigating the interrelationship between strategic decisions and client satisfaction. Findings of a detailed literature review revealed that client satisfaction at any stage depends as much on the service quality attributes of service providers including overall service delivery, people of service providers and communications with clients as on the influence of strategic decisions and the client itself. These performance attributes and the groups of strategic decisions, referred as strategic decision cluster (SDC), were further assessed and the relationships between these measures and strategic decisions were examined using factor analysis and multiple regression modelling techniques. Analyses revealed SDCs including Design Approach, Procurement and Implementation predict better the outcomes of service quality and hence higher levels of client satisfaction. Service delivery and communications with clients have a positively significant correlation with the levels of client satisfaction. Of these two attributes, communications with clients makes the largest unique contribution to the variance and is considered the better predictor for client satisfaction. The developed models is validated via external and internal validation and the findings support the thesis that strategic decisions have a impact on client satisfaction by strongly influencing the performance of service quality although causality cannot be assumed. It is recommended that service providers including contractors and consultants devote more efforts to improve their performance on the attributes of service quality identified as having significant association with client satisfaction, particularly service delivery and communications with clients. Further research efforts focusing on providing a practical tool or expert system so as to address the practical issues for a wider range of clients and service providers are also recommended.
    • The Performance of Contractors in Japan, the UK and the US: A Comparative Evaluation of Construction Cost

      Xiao, Hong; Proverbs, David G. (Routledge (Taylor & Francis), 2002)
      Globalization of the world economy demands that performance comparisons are undertaken at an international level. A new research protocol has been developed for comparing contractor performance internationally by combining the appropriate characteristics of two established approaches in order to balance the requirements of comparability and representativeness. This new approach is used to reveal some important international performance characteristics among Japanese, UK and US contractors. Building costs in the UK, when adjusted for exchange rate fluctuations, are significantly higher than those in Japan and the USA. Furthermore, cost certainty and client satisfaction are higher in Japan than in the UK, but there is no significant difference between Japan and the USA. Disparities in cost performance between the three countries are believed to originate from differences in the relationships between contractors and clients and also in the construction process. (Routledge)
    • Understanding the Construction Client

      Boyd, David; Chinyio, Ezekiel A. (John Wiley, 2006)
      This book breaks new ground by creating a framework to understand clients' actions and needs. Most construction management books focus on improving the construction process; this one focuses on a better engagement with the client. It challenges conceptions of both the construction industry and clients' businesses so that a more effective process and greater client satisfaction can be achieved. The book suggests that 'buildings are not about building but about changing and developing the client'. The technical, organisational and psychological aspects of this are described and analysed in detail so that current experience can be explained and better practice determined. The book offers well-researched information about clients in a number of sectors - developers, supermarkets, NHS, government, airports and housing associations - which will help you understand what these client's business or service needs are and how construction fits into this. It demonstrates how to develop an appreciation of the client's perspective with a toolkit for ensuring successful client engagement. This makes Understanding the Construction Client a user-friendly and practical guide, as well as significant text for academia. (Blackwell Publishing)