An application of the construction management framework in highways major maintenance

Abstract

Purpose -This paper describes the use of the construction management framework (CMF) in the Highways Agency's (HA) Areas 9 and 10, two of the HA's 14 areas within England, defined by geographical boundaries. It examines: how the CMF has adapted itself to the changing needs of the client; how it has captured and used innovation and lessons learnt; and how the number of companies involved has impacted on the effectiveness of the framework. Design/methodology/approach -The research compares the advantages and disadvantage of frameworks as reported in literature with the case study of the HA's CMF. The framework is examined in terms of: how well it met the client's changes/expectations; how it can be used to anticipate those changes; how it used innovations and lessons learnt to achieve competitive advantage; and how the number of parties involved in the framework can affect the effectiveness of this arrangement. Findings -The CMF in Areas 9 and 10 has formed its own "Community" and established joint processes, including procedures and measures that have been put in place following changes in HA policy. The innovations process used in the CMF shows that savings of 6.3 per cent on average can be made with clear benefits resulting from the lessons learnt. Finally, it is recommended that the selection of specialisms in the framework should be considered carefully, taking into account the likely workload over the anticipated life of the framework in terms of continuity and percentage share of construction works for each specialism. Practical implications -This research provides a model of the CMF that can be used in other HA areas. Presenting the CMF model will: allow better informed decisions to be made on whether or not to adopt the CMF; help identify how many specialist contractors are to be included; and raise awareness of some of the potential pitfalls. Originality/value -This paper presents a review of an application of the HA's CMF, an innovative long-term collaborative working arrangement. The CMF is an option for delivering highways major maintenance and renewal schemes which is expected to be extended to other HA areas. This paper also helps to identify how this option can be best implemented.

Logistics Planning Within the Last Planner System for Highway Construction Projects

“…8 Highways England is a government initiative that aims to improve the overall performance of the supply chain and meet the performance goals and cost reduction targets established by the government of the United Kingdom (HE -Highways England, 2018). The Lean implementation pilot project was developed throughout 2006, culminating in the paper published by Ansell et al, in 2007. The authors analyzed production constraints, measured the number of weekly planned and completed activities, and analyzed the root causes of nonfulfillment with the scheduled tasks through routines and tools based on LPS.…”

Barriers of Sustainable Lean Construction Implementation: Hierarchical Model.

“…Some of these studies concentrated on identifying factors that are effective in the implementation of lean construction (Abdullah et al, 2009;Oladiran, 2008) while others focused on investigating the factors that are active during the execution of lean construction (Alarcón et al, 2002;Johansen and Porter, 2003). Other researches have classified lean barriers into different categories wherein some of these studies concentrated on structural and cultural aspect (Samari et al, 2013; Sarhan and Fox, 2013) or management and strategy aspect (Ayarkwa et al, 2012;Bashir et al, 2010) or barriers that exist during the implementation of lean construction practices (Alarcón et al, 2005;Ansell et al, 2007). Bashir et al (2015) presented ten challenges related to management, technical, human, and educational issues when organizations are applying lean process.…”

Using social capital to organise for success? A case study of public–private interface in the UK Highways Agency

“…Prior to this, contracts for highway maintenance had been awarded solely on the lowest price tender which met the specification. Outturn project costs were typically 40% above the original tender (Ansell, Evans, Holmes, Price, & Pasquire, 2009). The new approach was part of a response to Egan's (1998) 'Rethinking Construction', which sought improved delivery of maintenance and improvement schemes, and was labeled the Construction Management Framework (CMF).…”