A scheme design buildability assessment model for building projects

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to depict the developmental process of a buildability assessment model for use at the scheme design stage of building projects, which have a priority requirement for functional performance rather than aesthetic performance. Design/methodology/approach -First, major decisions made at the scheme design stage of building projects were identified through pilot interviews and a questionnaire survey on designers. Second, these decisions were rated for their relative importance towards buildability through another questionnaire survey on contractors, analysed using the reliability interval method. Based on these results, a list of buildable and non-buildable features and their impacts is compiled by interviewing major contractors. These findings were incorporated into a modified framework of buildability assessment for complete design, substituting information available at the scheme design stage. Validation was carried out using four sample projects and feedback from practitioners. Findings -The results obtained from the Scheme Design Buildability Assessment Model have been demonstrated as reflective of actual buildability level. Buildable and non-buildable features, as exemplified by typical building projects in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, have been identified. Originality/value -This is the first model which provides a tool for use by the design team to evaluate the buildability of their designs at an early stage, so that necessary improvements can be made without affecting the development program.

Thermal performance simulation

“…So the notices requiring for an efficient and fluent review process presented by building service designers, and the requests for an early participation in the review process announced by site managers should be considered in the development of design and construction process. The problem of timing the assessment of constructability was also recognized in the resent research done by Lam et al (2012).…”

“…Design-relevant constructability factors (CF) were identified and formed on the basis of earlier studies (Alkass et al 2009, Lam et al 2012) and interviews (Tauriainen et al 2012 and2014). Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique (Saaty 2008, Lam et al 2007) was used to weight the relevance of the ratings of constructability factors (W c ) and the importance of building elements (W e ).…”

Critical Constructability Principles for Girder Bridge Construction in Malaysia

“…A research gap were identified as the existing models were mostly developed for the assessment of building projects. Previous researchers (Ugwu, Anumba, & Thorpe, 2004;Nourbakhsh et al, 2012;Lam, Wong, Chan, Shea, & Lau, 2012) had also recommended to extend their building design assessment methods to cover infrastructure projects. The researchers of the present paper intend to develop a constructability assessment models for girder bridge construction in the future.…”

Competency-based measures for designing out construction waste: task and contextual attributes

“…Constructability of a design refers to the extent to which it facilitates ease of construction (Lam et al, 2012). A construction project tends to be waste intensive if buildability/constructability, as basic design quality, is not thoroughly considered in the design process (Yuan, 2013b).…”