Barriers to lean implementation in the construction industry in China

Building energy renovations contribute significantly to energy sustainability and environmental protection. These advantages have increased the importance of renovating existing residential buildings in many countries. In China, the government has supported the energy-saving renovation of existing urban residential buildings since 2007. However, quality failures, which do not meet the technical requirements, occur during construction processes in building energy renovation projects. Although quality failures are regarded as a crucial problem in building energy renovation projects, the identification of quality failures and their sources, likelihood, impacts, and causes remain mostly unknown. This paper investigates the nature of quality failures in building energy renovation projects. A total of 25 quality failures were first identified through five cases, and interviews with six experienced construction professionals in China. A questionnaire survey was further conducted to evaluate the frequency of quality failures. The results show the nature of quality failures that arise during construction and their sources, occurrence frequency, causes, and impacts. The research reveals that quality failures are caused by defaults by workers; inadequate checking procedures; incomplete construction site surveys; inaccurate design work; fraud of construction companies; and inefficient cooperation between different departments. Above all, the behaviors of the main actors are responsible for poor construction quality. Additionally, emphasis on quality control during the renovation preparation stage is critical to ensure that quality failures are reduced in numbers and severity.

Section: Inefficient Cooperation In Different Departmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of Quality Failures in Building Energy Renovation Projects in Northern China

Qian

Meijer

et al. 2019

“…Therefore, it was important for construction enterprises to understand the tax cut policies, financial subsidies, building risk protection and environmental contribution awards for construction industrialization [26]. The lack of policy support restricted the advance of industrialization in the Chinese construction industry [7,[92][93][94].…”

Section: Challenges In Industrializationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positioning and Priorities of Growth Management in Construction Industrialization: Chinese Firm-Level Empirical Research

Zhang

Xie

2017

Abstract:The purpose of this research is to quantitatively evaluate the growth phase, position, and priorities of the industrialization policy management of the construction industry at firm level. The goal is to integrate quantitative dynamics into the policy-making process for sustainable policy development in future China. This research proposes an integrated framework, including growth management model and industrial policy evaluation method, to identify the challenges of construction industrialization and policy management. The research applies the mixed system method, which includes entropy method and average score method, to analyze the growth stage and major impact indexes targeting 327 survey samples. The empirical results show that the proposed conceptual framework and policy evaluation method could effectively determine the growth position and directions of the construction industrialization. For verification purpose, the study uses the local industry data from Shaanxi Province, China. The calculation results substantiate that the construction industry is in the middle section of the third growth phase. The comparison of the results from statistical methods shows that the local construction industry still needs substantial effort in policy management to improve its sustainable industrialization level. As countermeasures, the policy priorities should concentrate on: (1) enhancing effective cooperation among universities, research institutions and enterprises; (2) improving actions towards technology transfer into productivity; and (3) encouraging market acceptance of construction industrialization. This research complements the existing literature of policy evaluation of construction industrialization. Moreover, it provides theoretical and operational steps on industry policy evaluation and growth management framework, with accurate and ample data analysis on firm-level survey. Researchers and policy makers can use this research for further extensions of policy management for construction industrialization.

“…As construction industry managers often cannot clearly understand their own industry's status, it creates an iterating process throughout its industrial growth, and of course, internal barriers may be dominant caused by government policy initiative. According to previous research [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11], several causes may be put forward to explain the barriers of construction industry growth management in the transition process.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis and Potential Application of the Maturity of Growth Management in the Developing Construction Industry of a Province of China: A Case Study

Zhang

Wang

2017

Construction industry is one of the major drivers of the economic sustainability of China's provinces. An investigation of the status of the construction industry in China is needed to find out its maturity and health. The results of this investigation may help China define the impact factors required in order to promote the growth level of its construction industry. This research assesses the growth level of the construction industry in Shaanxi Province, China. This study utilizes both the original average score method and the newer entropy method to analyze the growth level of the construction industry based on its growth management model and growth drivers. An empirical survey of this research includes 123 construction companies in Shaanxi Province. The results show that the entropy method is better than the average score method to use when analyzing the maturity status of a local industry for future development. The maturity level of Shaanxi's construction industry lies on the second tier in a four-tier ranking system. The advanced professional skills of project management are critically needed for future growth. Brand building is the most important factor needed to drive up Shaanxi's construction industry. Standardization, knowledge management through lessons learned, and cost management for budget control by using information systems are required for Shaanxi's construction project management. The Excellent Project Management Model of China is often used in Chinese project knowledge management. After maturity analysis, China's local industries would be able to develop a sustainable strategy for optimizing their outcomes by removing the hurdles preventing future growth.