A comparison of two editions of the RIBA plan of work

The RIBA Plan of Work describes the way a construction process should be organized. Although not officially approved by the RIBA council, a new plan of work was published in 2000 with the intention of replacing the RIBA Plan of Work, so it is useful to analyse both in terms of the organizational structure they impose upon construction projects. Using analytical principles from organizational theory, both plans are analysed by converting them into organizational matrices and assessing their relative complexities, the load on participants, decentralization of responsibility, number of interfaces and the extent to which they provide for co-ordination and control. This demonstrates first, that the analysis of organizational structure is an appropriate approach for undertaking comparisons of such documents; and second, that while both plans of work are of roughly equal complexity, the new one is more demanding on the participants; produces a higher number of interfaces between processes, and provides for more co-ordination than the old one. Neither plan deals with controlling the output of individuals, leaving it as an internal matter for each participating organization.

Assessing the process of knowledge transfer – An empirical study

This paper investigates and evaluates the process of knowledge transfer in construction projects. Due to the highly competitive nature of business environments, knowledge transfer between organisations has become increasingly popular in recent years. However, although organisations can realise remarkable benefits by transferring knowledge from one unit to another, successful knowledge transfer can be difficult to achieve. The discussions presented in the paper are mainly based on findings of two case studies. The two cases were selected from Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects in the UK. According to the case study findings, different stages of a knowledge transfer process can be overlapped, omitted, repeated as well as intermitted and then restarted. One of the significant findings of the case studies was the role of the "knowledge mediator". In selected case studies, there were external consultants and expert staff in the form of knowledge mediators. The importance of their roles was frequently highlighted by the interview participants. They were not only facilitating the close liaison between the knowledge source and the receiver, but also their role was strongly associated with practices of translation and interpretation. This combined role of mediator/translator, therefore, appears to be particularly significant for inter-organisational knowledge transfer in PFI projects.

Design meetings and the coordination of expertise

The coordination of work and expertise in construction projects is often treated in terms of models or formal rules. However, much is to be gained, if we are to understand it, by examining actual coordination practices. The objective in this article is to address practices of coordination of expertise in the context of design team meetings. The focus is specifically on conversational practices between the structural engineer and the landscape architect part of the design team in a healthcare infrastructure project. The central argument is that the coordination of expertise relied on and was organised by mundane and everyday methods, and not by formal and abstract ones. This argument is drawn from ethnomethodology, a form of sociological analysis that focuses on the situated methods by which activities are produced, but shares concerns found in the literature on actual project management practices. The ethnomethodological stance, however, offers a different perspective on the significance of the empirical reality of projects and a possibility to incorporate within this literature a concern with the ordinary methodical organisation of project activities.

Urban microclimates and urban heat island in Chongqing, China

Chongqing is the largest directly-controlled municipality in China, which is now undergoing a rapid urbanization. The urbanization rate increased from 35.6% in 2000 to 48.3% in 2007, and it is estimated to reach at least 70% by 2020. The question remains open: What are the consequences of such rapid urbanization in Chongqing in terms of urban microclimate? Furthermore, Chongqing is located within the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) region and the upper Yangtze River, where the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) project started in 1993 and was completed in 2010. As one of the biggest construction projects in the world with a rising water level of 175m and water storage capacity of about 39.3 billion m3, it would be interesting to investigate how such a gigantic project impacts the surrounding micro-environment, especially in Chongqing. Different research approaches are adopted in the study. Our literature review indicates present studies on the urban climate in Chongqing are mainly confined within the historical trend analysis of several weather stations operated by the Chongqing government, little is known about the spatial distribution of urban air temperature and how the local land cover influences the air temperature, especially when there are rivers running through the Chongqing urban area. To contribute to the present knowledge, a series of field measurement campaigns and numerical simulations were carried out. Two complementary types of field measurements are included: fixed weather stations and mobile transverse measurement. Numerical simulations using a house-developed program are able to predict the urban air temperature in Chongqing.

Stakeholder interpretations of design: Semiotic insights into the briefing process

Briefing phase interactions between clients and designers are recognized as social engagements, characterized by communicative sign use, where conceptual ideas are gradually transformed into potential design solutions. A semiotic analysis of briefing communications between client stakeholders and designers provides evidence of the significance and importance of stakeholder interpretation and understanding of design, empirical data being drawn from a qualitative study of NHS hospital construction projects in the UK. It is contended that stakeholders engage with a project through communicative signs and artefacts of design, referencing personal cognitive knowledge in acts of interpretation that may be different from those of designers and externally appointed client advisers. Such interpretations occur in addition to NHS client and design team efforts to ‘engage’ with and ‘understand’ stakeholders using a variety of methods. Social semiotic theorizations indicate how narrative strategies motivate the formulation of signs and artefacts in briefing work, the role of sign authors and sign readers being elucidated as a result. Findings are contextualized against current understandings of briefing communications and stakeholder management practices, a more socially attuned understanding of briefing countering some of the process-led improvement models that have characterized much of the post-Egan report literature. A stakeholder interpretation model is presented as one potential method to safeguard against unforeseen interpretations occurring, the model aligning with the proposal for a more measured recognition of how designs can trigger interpretations among client stakeholders.

Predicting how many animals will be where: how to build, calibrate and evaluate individual-based models

Individual-based models (IBMs) can simulate the actions of individual animals as they interact with one another and the landscape in which they live. When used in spatially-explicit landscapes IBMs can show how populations change over time in response to management actions. For instance, IBMs are being used to design strategies of conservation and of the exploitation of fisheries, and for assessing the effects on populations of major construction projects and of novel agricultural chemicals. In such real world contexts, it becomes especially important to build IBMs in a principled fashion, and to approach calibration and evaluation systematically. We argue that insights from physiological and behavioural ecology offer a recipe for building realistic models, and that Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) is a promising technique for the calibration and evaluation of IBMs. IBMs are constructed primarily from knowledge about individuals. In ecological applications the relevant knowledge is found in physiological and behavioural ecology, and we approach these from an evolutionary perspective by taking into account how physiological and behavioural processes contribute to life histories, and how those life histories evolve. Evolutionary life history theory shows that, other things being equal, organisms should grow to sexual maturity as fast as possible, and then reproduce as fast as possible, while minimising per capita death rate. Physiological and behavioural ecology are largely built on these principles together with the laws of conservation of matter and energy. To complete construction of an IBM information is also needed on the effects of competitors, conspecifics and food scarcity; the maximum rates of ingestion, growth and reproduction, and life-history parameters. Using this knowledge about physiological and behavioural processes provides a principled way to build IBMs, but model parameters vary between species and are often difficult to measure. A common solution is to manually compare model outputs with observations from real landscapes and so to obtain parameters which produce acceptable fits of model to data. However, this procedure can be convoluted and lead to over-calibrated and thus inflexible models. Many formal statistical techniques are unsuitable for use with IBMs, but we argue that ABC offers a potential way forward. It can be used to calibrate and compare complex stochastic models and to assess the uncertainty in their predictions. We describe methods used to implement ABC in an accessible way and illustrate them with examples and discussion of recent studies. Although much progress has been made, theoretical issues remain, and some of these are outlined and discussed.

Impacto urbano ocasionado por empreendimentos da construção civil no entorno da zona de proteção ambiental (zpa-6), Vila de Ponta Negra, Natal/RN

The process of urbanization in recent decades has generated considerable seriousness of problems relating to the use and occupation physical environment of cities. The concentration of population, economic activities and technological standards have reinforced an existing urban environment highly degraded as a consequence of the development style that leads to the predatory use of natural resources. In this context, cities as centers of production and consumption, have the most serious problems of environmental degradation. This study investigated the impacts of the municipal building projects to large-scale vertical in the town of Vila de Ponta Negra, Natal-RN, given the proximity to the Environmental Protection Area (ZPA-6) and considering its environmental importance , scenic, landscape and tourism for the city of Natal-RN. The fragility of the licensing process and the failure of the assumptions in the analysis, objective and subjective, for the granting of environmental permits for the building construction projects, specifically those set out in the surroundings of the Environmental Protection Area (ZPA-6) and fundamental importance of landscape and tourism for the city of Natal, has aroused the concern of local people in and of itself the Government, faced with the probable impacts that will affect greatly the Vila de Ponta Negra. The methodology used to achieve the intended objectives will be the literature review, questionnaire to the surrounding population and the Government, as well as findings on the spot, through the photographic record. The beneficiaries of the license, if the entrepreneurs, have been affected because of the granting of licensing act of investing large amount of capital in the works. Additionally, with distrust of the population, since they are to discredit the public system of environmental management have guessed by the probability of imbalance to the environment and structural damage to the Vila de Ponta Negra, where such failure to support energy, lack of regular supply of water , lack of sanitation and access roads sufficient for the flow of motor vehicles in these areas, among other factors. Thus, this work will contribute to the diagnosis and solutions to the problem in question, so that the Government will effectively fulfill its social management of ecologically balanced environment of continuing urban development in Natal, Brazil

Desenvolvimento de um sistema de indicadores de desempenho para empreendimentos em construção civil, utilizando a abordagem macroergonômica

This paper presents the validation of the Performance Indicator System for Projects under Construction - SIDECC. The goal was to develop a system of performance indicators from the macroergonômica approach, considering criteria of usefulness, practicality and applicability and the concept of continuous improvement in the construction industry. The validation process SIDECC consisted of three distinct models. Modeling I corresponded to the theoretical development and validation of a system of indicators. Modeling II concerns the development and validation of multi- indicator system. For this modeling, we used the Mother of Use and Importance and Multivariate Analysis. Modeling III corresponded to the validation situated, which consisted of a case study of a work of construction of buildings, which were applied and analyzed the results of modeling II. This work resulted in the development of an applied and tested for the construction of an integrated system of performance indicators methodology, involving aspects of production, quality, environmental, health and safety. It is inferred that the SIDECC can be applied, in full or in part, the construction companies as a whole, as well as in other economic sectors

Lazer na terceira idade: desenvolvimento humano e qualidade de vida

The article aimed to understand the concept of leisure and understanding that older people have about their benefits to the quality of life as part of the idleness of the population. We used a sample of subjects living in the city of Bauru, SP, aged less than fifty years, of both sexes and economically disadvantaged class. It was used in literature, documentary and field. We developed an intervention project that aimed to education for leisure. It was the conclusion that public policies are necessary and qualified professionals for construction projects and equipment to expand the Recreation, spreading it and reaching the people of old age since previous stages of life. Materials with simple and low cost, the project of intervention, it reached the recreation-education and education for leisure satisfactorily.

Aplicação da Geoestatística Não-paramétrica para a compartimentação geomecânica de uma extensão típica do túnel do metrô - Linha 4, da cidade de São Paulo

In view of the limited number of drill holes, interpolation of the data becomes a relatively complex task. In this study, we sought to make estimates associated with lithological types, since a quantification based on lithology can be extracted from the empty spaces in the sampling. For example, QBarton is always below the median of the biotitic litotype, information which can be used in the elaboration of geostatistical models in situations where samples are lacking. To overcome bias in the data, required by geostatistical conceptualization, we worked with the residuals obtained from the adjustment of a surface and the observed values, for the variographic analysis. The final results made possible a more optimized evaluation of the final costs required for the construction project.

Viabilidade de sementes de Piptadenia moniliformis Benth. Pelo teste de tetrazólio

Piptadenia moniliformis Benth. is a tree species which is important for beekeeping, as well as being recommended for soil restoration, reforestation, wood production for small civil construction projects, and cattle and sheep forage. Information on how to evaluate seed physiological quality is still scarce and in this was the study aimed to adapt the procedures of the tetrazolium test to assess the viability of P. moniliformis seeds. Four seed lots were scarified in sulphuric acid for 30 min, and soaked between paper towels at 25 °C for 24 hours. The seed coat was then removed and the naked seeds immersed in tetrazolium solutions with concentrations of 0.05, 0.075 and 0.1% for 2, 3, and 4 hours at 35 oC in the dark. Each treatment consisted of four replications of 25 seeds. The embryos were classified according to viability based on the staining patterns. The previous soaking of the seeds for 24 hours at 25 oC between paper towels, followed by the removal of the seed coat and staining of the naked seeds for 4 hours in a 0.075% tetrazolium solution at 35 oC was the most efficient method for evaluating the viability of P. moniliformis Benth seeds.

Modelagem do tempo de execução de obras civis: estudo de caso na Universidade Federal do Pará

Este artigo propõe a adoção de um modelo numérico prognóstico para estimar a variável "tempo de execução" para empreendimentos públicos de forma objetiva. O trabalho de campo consistiu na aplicação de métodos estatísticos para analisar dados de obras licitadas e executadas durante o período de 2006 a 2009 na Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA). A análise de dados envolveu cálculos de regressões lineares e transformadas das funções. Após estratificação e tratamento inicial dos dados, os elementos adotados para construção do modelo final se restringiram a 102 obras de um total de 225 originariamente pesquisadas, resultando nos seguintes parâmetros estatísticos: coeficiente de correlação (R) de 0,899; coeficiente de determinação (R²) de 0,808; coeficiente de determinação ajustado (R² ajustado) de 0,796 e erro padrão (Se) de 0,41. Estes parâmetros indicam forte correlação linear entre as variáveis, indicando que 79,60% da variação do tempo para executar uma obra pública podem ser causadas pela variação, em conjunto, das variáveis área construída, custo orçado, capacidade técnica operacional do contratante, capacidade operacional da empresa, tipologia de serviço e estação do ano.

Utilização do método AHP para análise de alterações de projetos, em instalações hospitalares

Customer focus , high competitiveness and striving for excellence in quality of service are some of the main features of the current market . Planned and make decisions with greater certainty is no longer an option a few years . The current managers are seeking ways to eliminate waste and increase financial and productive profitability of your company in order to achieve higher performance at a lower cost . The AHP is one of the main concepts of this goal by providing an analysis on multiple criteria , enhancing decision-making and enhancing the gains , with a technique that is designed to take into account all the key criteria for choosing an alternative , according to the perspective of the designer as both suppliers and customers . Emerging as a new way to minimize errors , and make an informed and consistent decision. The use of this method in construction projects is a recent phenomenon , which has much to be explored , an intense analysis of the processes is required to enable it to consider the concepts and present a consistent and grounded proposal

Análise de oportunidades de poligeração em edificações e cidades

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

POST-PROJECT ASSESSMENT OF PIT LATRINES IN RURAL PANAMA

In Panama, one of the Environmental Health (EH) Sector’s primary goals is to improve the health of rural Panamanians by helping them to adopt behaviors and practices that improve access to and use of sanitation systems. In complying with this goal, the EH sector has used participatory development models to improve hygiene and increase access to latrines through volunteer managed latrine construction projects. Unfortunately, there is little understanding of the long term sustainability of these interventions after the volunteers have completed their service. With the Peace Corps adapting their Monitoring, Reporting, and Evaluation procedures, it is appropriate to evaluate the sustainability of sanitation interventions offering recommendations for the adaptions of the EH training program, project management, and evaluation procedures. Recognizing the need for evaluation of past latrine projects, the author performed a post project assessment of 19 pit latrine projects using participatory analysis methodologies. First, the author reviewed volunteers’ perspectives of pit latrine projects in a survey. Then, for comparison, the author performed a survey of latrine projects using a benchmarking scoring system to rate solid waste management, drainage, latrine siting, latrine condition, and hygiene. It was observed that the Sanitation WASH matrix created by the author was an effective tool for evaluating the efficacy of sanitation interventions. Overall more than 75%, of latrines constructed were in use. However, there were some areas where improvements could be made for both latrine construction and health and hygiene. The latrines scored poorly on the indicators related to the privacy structure and seat covers. Interestingly those are the two items least likely to be included in project subsidies. Furthermore, scores for hygiene-related indicators were low; particularly those related to hand washing and cleanliness of the kitchen, indicating potential for improvement in hygiene education. Based on these outcomes, the EH sector should consider including subsidies and standardized designs for privacy structures and seat covers for latrines. In addition, the universal adoption of contracts and/or deposits for project beneficiaries is expected to improve the completion of latrines. In order to address the low scores in the health and hygiene indicators, the EH sector should adapt volunteer training, in addition to standardizing health and hygiene intervention procedures. In doing so, the sector should mimic the Community Health Club model that has shown success in improving health and hygiene indicators, as well as use a training session plan format similar to those in the Water Committee Seminar manual. Finally, the sector should have an experienced volunteer dedicated to program oversight and post-project monitoring and evaluation.