Assessment of Constructability Practices Among General Contractors In The Eastern Province

1. Assessment of Constructability Practices Among General Contractors In The Eastern Province By Fawzi Al Yousif Presented in June, 2001 Thesis Committee: Chairman: Dr. Saadi Assaf Member: Dr. Osama Jannadi Member: Dr. Elahi Ishteeaque

2. Definition of Constructability “The optimum integration of construction knowledge and experience in planning, engineering, procurement and field operations to achieve overall project objectives”. Why constructability is needed? “What is really required is the participation of owners, consultants, suppliers, designers, and builders… in exchanging knowledge during the pre-construction stage to develop the best design solution”.

3. Definition of Constructability The Construction Industry Institute has developed the following 14 points: 1-A Constructability program is an integral part of a project execution plan. 2-Project planning involves construction knowledge and experience. 3-Early construction involvement is considered in development of contracting strategy. 4-Project schedules are construction sensitive.

4.   5-  Basic design approaches consider major construction methods 6-Site layouts should promote efficient construction 7-Project team participants responsible for constructability are identified early. 8-Advanced information technologies are applied throughout the project 9-Design and procurement schedules are construction- sensitive 10-Design elements are standardized 11- Construction efficiency is considered in specification development. 12-   Module/preassembly designs are prepared to facilitate fabrication, transport, and installation. 13-Designs promote construction accessibility of personnel, material, and equipment. 14- Designs are configured to enable efficient construction.

5. Research Objectives The purpose of the present piece of research is to: 1- Determine current implementation practices for constructability in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. 2- Assess the existance of common barriers to constructability implementation.

6. Research Methodology The research consisted of the following steps: 1- Literature Review 2- Collecting Data using a questionnaire, from 31 General Contractors in the Eastern Province in order to assess how effectively implemented is their constructability program. 3- Management and Data Analysis.

7. Research Methodology: The questionnaire consisted of three parts: A- The first set of question was to obtain information about the characteristics of the organization (name, nationality, what sector, type of work, annual volume of work, and type of contract). B- This part will define the term “constructability” to the participant and assess his awareness of it, but also help him understand it better in order to better answer the survey questions.

8. Research Methodology: C- The third part of the questionnaire was designed to determine the opinions of the general contractors on the following issues: • Their participation during the construction phase. • Rating a list of barriers to constructability. • Indicating the type of projects where it should be implemented. • Difficulties using the traditional method. • The affect of constructability on the drawings and specifications. • Should it be included in the design as another specialty.

9. Results The response rate as we previously indicated was only 40%. The results were presented in four major parts: 1-Characteristics of the Organization 2-Respondants Opinion about Constructability 3-Barriers to Constructability 4-The use of Consturctability in different projects

10. Results – Characteristics of the Respondants The The results from the first Part of is summarized in the following Table:

11. Results – Respondants Opinion about Constructability

12. Results - Barriers to Constructability

13. RESULTS The implementation of the Constructability Program

14. Results – Statistical Analysis 1- Saudi General Contractors use constructability in the preparation of schedule, estimates, and budget more than joint ventures and others. 2- General Contractors in the public sector, participate more in the construction phase and they have very good management support for participating in constructability. 3-There was no relation between constructability and the building contractors. 4-Industrial contractors participate more during the conceptual phase and are also concerned with the use of pre-assembly and transfer to lesson-learned to future projects. That’s because of the size of their projects. 5-It was found that organizations with a larger volume of work tend to spend more on the implementation of Constructability to reduce loss and increase profitability. 6- The Design-Build contracts use Constructability more efficiently that the other type of contract. Construction Management Type of Contract are less interested.

15. Conclusions and Recommendation 1- Various studies of the facts that have its affect on the project objectives, the researcher concludes that. ·        Most of the general contractors prefer Coustrctability to be implemented in all projects irrespective of project size or type, and it should be included as another requirement during the design phase to produce better drawings and specifications. ·        Design without construction input designers lack of construction experience and technologies least preference for Constructability and it’s concepts were the significant barrier highlighted by the general contractors. ·        The general contractors implement construability programs, as they are well aware of the benefits of Constructability. The researcher summarizes the dependence between implementation of Coustructability concepts in industrial type of work and design build contract.

16. The researcher based on general findings of support for Constructability suggests that Constructability be included during pre-construction phase and it should be implemented in all projects irrespective of size. General Contractors to practice Constructability and educate the clients, owners, designers and contractors should form an association for it. Owners should insist on involving general contractors in the initial and design phase General and heavy construction contractors should practice successful implementation of constructability concepts and make use of the lessons learned based on facts and figures witnessed during all construction projects. Constructability is included in the curriculum in engineering and management colleges of construction. Finally the researcher stresses the need for more studies on the constructability barriers, to overcome them.