Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, Oct 13, 2022
Purpose Construction projects require a range of documents (e.g. drawings and specifications) pre... more Purpose Construction projects require a range of documents (e.g. drawings and specifications) prepared by built environment professionals. In recent years, there has been a perception amongst professionals that quality of documentation has declined. “Low” professional fees were cited as one of the reasons for poor quality documentation. However, most studies on the topic contained inappropriate methodologies. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to develop a conceptual methodology to comprehensively examine the relationship between fees and professional service output quality. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to evaluate the limitations of previous methodologies and identify variables in the relationship between fees and quality of professional service outputs. Findings from the SLR were used to develop a conceptual methodology to investigate the relationship between fees and quality of professional service outputs. Findings Based on a frequency analysis of factors in the construction literature, the three main variables influencing professional service output quality were fees, coordination and amount of time available for project tasks. The SLR and shortcomings in previous studies informed the development of a conceptual methodology to examine the relationship between fees and professional service output quality. Practical implications The conceptual methodology will assist in comprehensively investigating the effect of fees on the quality of professional service outputs. This is particularly relevant in countries where clients procure built environment professional services based on the lowest fee tendered but are concerned about quality. The methodology can establish how and to what extent “low” fees impact on professional service output quality. Industry professionals can also use variables identified in this paper to mitigate quality-related risks when producing professional service outputs. Originality/value This paper adds to the body of knowledge by identifying variables in the relationship between fees and professional service output quality. The identified variables can be monitored and controlled by researchers during future investigations. Additionally, a conceptual methodology was proposed to assist researchers to determine the effect of fees on professional service output quality. The flexibility of the conceptual methodology enables it to comprehensively investigate other key variables (apart from fees) impacting on professional service output quality.
Purpose Construction projects require a range of documents (e.g. drawings and specifications) pre... more Purpose Construction projects require a range of documents (e.g. drawings and specifications) prepared by built environment professionals. In recent years, there has been a perception amongst professionals that quality of documentation has declined. “Low” professional fees were cited as one of the reasons for poor quality documentation. However, most studies on the topic contained inappropriate methodologies. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to develop a conceptual methodology to comprehensively examine the relationship between fees and professional service output quality. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to evaluate the limitations of previous methodologies and identify variables in the relationship between fees and quality of professional service outputs. Findings from the SLR were used to develop a conceptual methodology to investigate the relationship between fees and quality of professional service outputs. Findings Based on...
Built Environment Project and Asset Management, 2022
PurposeSeveral researchers in the construction industry have mentioned that quality of tender doc... more PurposeSeveral researchers in the construction industry have mentioned that quality of tender documents is declining without tangibly assessing quality. Similarly, in practice, no standardised instrument exists to assess tender document quality. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to develop a framework to assess the quality of tender documents produced by built environment professionals in the construction industry. A framework was chosen to address the gaps in theory and practice as it provides a flexible but structured mechanism to assess tender document quality.Design/methodology/approachThe research methodology contained three stages, namely: multi-investigator triangulation, a workshop with infrastructure experts and framework development and validation. A consolidated list of key quality indicators was developed following the literature review and multi-investigator triangulation. The indicators were discussed with ten experts in the South African construction industry, who ...
The state of health and safety on construction sites in Ghana was investigated using first hand o... more The state of health and safety on construction sites in Ghana was investigated using first hand observation of fourteen
Purpose of this paper The use of electronic procurement in construction is increasing with the as... more Purpose of this paper The use of electronic procurement in construction is increasing with the associated barriers and prospects in the different countries. However, the extent of barriers to, and prospects of e-procurement uptake in the South African construction industry is not well articulated in the literature. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to report findings of a study conducted to investigate the barriers to eprocurement adoption in the South African construction industry. This is with a view to suggesting ways to mitigating the barriers and enhancing the prospects of e-procurement in the South African construction industry.
The advent of internet technology has resulted to increasing use of e-Commerce applications, part... more The advent of internet technology has resulted to increasing use of e-Commerce applications, particularly e-Procurement systems in supply chain management by firms across the different industrial sectors. However, there is a paucity of empirical studies on e-Procurement use in the construction sector of African countries. This study therefore investigated the use of e-Procurement in the South African construction industry. The data were derived from an online questionnaire survey involving 603 respondents and interviews with seven experts conducted in South Africa between March and July 2014. Descriptive statistical and content analyses were used to analyse the data. Findings show that the four categories of e-Procurement used were e-mail, static websites, web.2.0 technologies and portals that have capabilities of supporting the execution of functions limited to intra and inter firm communication and exchange of project information and data. Consequently, between 11 percent and 12 p...
Book Title: Real estate, construction and economic development in emerging market economies Book ... more Book Title: Real estate, construction and economic development in emerging market economies Book Authors: Edited by Raymond Talinbe Abdulai, Franklin Obeng-Odoom, Edward Ochieng, Vida Maliene (2015). Taylor & Francis, UK. ISBN: 9780415747899
The question of how best to incentivize the parties in a construction contract, particularly cont... more The question of how best to incentivize the parties in a construction contract, particularly contractors, to deliver maximum possible outputs and thus help reduce costs and risk in contracts has been of constant interest to construction researchers and practitioners. There is thus a significant body of literature around incentive contracting but this needs to be critically evaluated for perspectives and future directions. Although the evolving nature, merits and use of incentive contracts within the construction industry has been considerably discussed by practitioners and researchers over several years, there seems to be a lack of critical review of the incentive contracts literature that contextualises and critiques the various perspectives, directions and applications in the construction industry. More importantly it is important to discover what we do not know yet about incentive contracting in construction to provide a means for further scientific enquiry into those aspects. Th...
The aim of this paper was to explore how the current environment of electronic procurement in Sou... more The aim of this paper was to explore how the current environment of electronic procurement in South African construction industry can be improved to help in maximizing the diffusion and adoption of electronic procurement when it comes to the acquisition of construction works and services. Electronic procurement refers to the use of electronic communication systems and applications to buy services, goods and works or conduct tendering for construction works. While there is growing evidence of application and benefits of e-procurement in some countries, the use of e-procurement in South Africa has been limited and patchy, implying that the benefits are currently not being maximised to support economic growth and industry development. We explore some of the ways in which this problem can be addressed. The paper is organised into four parts. In the first part, we discuss general factors that enable e-procurement adoption based on evidence reported in the literature. These are the regula...
Electronic procurement is a valuable means through which organisations can promote accountability... more Electronic procurement is a valuable means through which organisations can promote accountability, efficiency, transparency and value for money in the acquisition of goods, services, utilities and works. The adoption and use of electronic procurement in the South African construction industry is still in its early stages particularly in the public sector. The research aim was to ascertain construction procurement practices; and the extent of e-procurement use in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. Qualitative data collected through interviews with seven respondents in two government departments was transcribed and then analysed using content analysis. The findings indicate that the paper-based system is prone to manipulations, delays in approval, poor records keeping and wasted resources. A limited use of electronic systems in the procurement of works was observed, with the call for tenders and payment of contractors being the two main activities executed using electronic database...
The scientific information published in peer-reviewed outlets carries special status, and confers... more The scientific information published in peer-reviewed outlets carries special status, and confers unique responsibilities on editors and authors. We must protect the integrity of the scientific process by publishing only manuscripts that have been properly peer-reviewed by scientific reviewers and confirmed by editors to be of sufficient quality. I confirm that all papers in the WABER 2017 Conference Proceedings have been through a peer review process involving initial screening of abstracts, review of full papers by at least two referees, reporting of comments to authors, revision of papers by authors, and reevaluation of re-submitted papers to ensure quality of content. It is the policy of the West Africa Built Environment Research (WABER) Conference that all papers must go through a systematic peer review process involving examination by at least two referees who are knowledgeable on the subject. A paper is only accepted for publication in the conference proceedings based on the ...
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Management, Procurement and Law, 2020
The abolishment of the tariff of professional fees in the construction industry is a growing inte... more The abolishment of the tariff of professional fees in the construction industry is a growing international trend since the late 1980s. In recent years, this has become a topical issue among built environment professionals in South Africa following a ruling by the Competition Commission in 2016 that prohibits professional councils from publishing a tariff of fees. The period following the ruling has coincided with a perceived decline in the quality of professional service outputs, which some have attributed to the lowering of fees resulting from market competition. However, this may not necessarily be true, as other factors also influence quality. This research examined the claims through the lens of professionalism theory, which asserts that professionals have a ‘standard-of-care’ obligation that is not dependent on fees. The examination of data across 15 different professional services disciplines in a new universities project demonstrates that market competition led to fee offers ...
Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, Oct 13, 2022
Purpose Construction projects require a range of documents (e.g. drawings and specifications) pre... more Purpose Construction projects require a range of documents (e.g. drawings and specifications) prepared by built environment professionals. In recent years, there has been a perception amongst professionals that quality of documentation has declined. “Low” professional fees were cited as one of the reasons for poor quality documentation. However, most studies on the topic contained inappropriate methodologies. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to develop a conceptual methodology to comprehensively examine the relationship between fees and professional service output quality. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to evaluate the limitations of previous methodologies and identify variables in the relationship between fees and quality of professional service outputs. Findings from the SLR were used to develop a conceptual methodology to investigate the relationship between fees and quality of professional service outputs. Findings Based on a frequency analysis of factors in the construction literature, the three main variables influencing professional service output quality were fees, coordination and amount of time available for project tasks. The SLR and shortcomings in previous studies informed the development of a conceptual methodology to examine the relationship between fees and professional service output quality. Practical implications The conceptual methodology will assist in comprehensively investigating the effect of fees on the quality of professional service outputs. This is particularly relevant in countries where clients procure built environment professional services based on the lowest fee tendered but are concerned about quality. The methodology can establish how and to what extent “low” fees impact on professional service output quality. Industry professionals can also use variables identified in this paper to mitigate quality-related risks when producing professional service outputs. Originality/value This paper adds to the body of knowledge by identifying variables in the relationship between fees and professional service output quality. The identified variables can be monitored and controlled by researchers during future investigations. Additionally, a conceptual methodology was proposed to assist researchers to determine the effect of fees on professional service output quality. The flexibility of the conceptual methodology enables it to comprehensively investigate other key variables (apart from fees) impacting on professional service output quality.
Purpose Construction projects require a range of documents (e.g. drawings and specifications) pre... more Purpose Construction projects require a range of documents (e.g. drawings and specifications) prepared by built environment professionals. In recent years, there has been a perception amongst professionals that quality of documentation has declined. “Low” professional fees were cited as one of the reasons for poor quality documentation. However, most studies on the topic contained inappropriate methodologies. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to develop a conceptual methodology to comprehensively examine the relationship between fees and professional service output quality. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to evaluate the limitations of previous methodologies and identify variables in the relationship between fees and quality of professional service outputs. Findings from the SLR were used to develop a conceptual methodology to investigate the relationship between fees and quality of professional service outputs. Findings Based on...
Built Environment Project and Asset Management, 2022
PurposeSeveral researchers in the construction industry have mentioned that quality of tender doc... more PurposeSeveral researchers in the construction industry have mentioned that quality of tender documents is declining without tangibly assessing quality. Similarly, in practice, no standardised instrument exists to assess tender document quality. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to develop a framework to assess the quality of tender documents produced by built environment professionals in the construction industry. A framework was chosen to address the gaps in theory and practice as it provides a flexible but structured mechanism to assess tender document quality.Design/methodology/approachThe research methodology contained three stages, namely: multi-investigator triangulation, a workshop with infrastructure experts and framework development and validation. A consolidated list of key quality indicators was developed following the literature review and multi-investigator triangulation. The indicators were discussed with ten experts in the South African construction industry, who ...
The state of health and safety on construction sites in Ghana was investigated using first hand o... more The state of health and safety on construction sites in Ghana was investigated using first hand observation of fourteen
Purpose of this paper The use of electronic procurement in construction is increasing with the as... more Purpose of this paper The use of electronic procurement in construction is increasing with the associated barriers and prospects in the different countries. However, the extent of barriers to, and prospects of e-procurement uptake in the South African construction industry is not well articulated in the literature. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to report findings of a study conducted to investigate the barriers to eprocurement adoption in the South African construction industry. This is with a view to suggesting ways to mitigating the barriers and enhancing the prospects of e-procurement in the South African construction industry.
The advent of internet technology has resulted to increasing use of e-Commerce applications, part... more The advent of internet technology has resulted to increasing use of e-Commerce applications, particularly e-Procurement systems in supply chain management by firms across the different industrial sectors. However, there is a paucity of empirical studies on e-Procurement use in the construction sector of African countries. This study therefore investigated the use of e-Procurement in the South African construction industry. The data were derived from an online questionnaire survey involving 603 respondents and interviews with seven experts conducted in South Africa between March and July 2014. Descriptive statistical and content analyses were used to analyse the data. Findings show that the four categories of e-Procurement used were e-mail, static websites, web.2.0 technologies and portals that have capabilities of supporting the execution of functions limited to intra and inter firm communication and exchange of project information and data. Consequently, between 11 percent and 12 p...
Book Title: Real estate, construction and economic development in emerging market economies Book ... more Book Title: Real estate, construction and economic development in emerging market economies Book Authors: Edited by Raymond Talinbe Abdulai, Franklin Obeng-Odoom, Edward Ochieng, Vida Maliene (2015). Taylor & Francis, UK. ISBN: 9780415747899
The question of how best to incentivize the parties in a construction contract, particularly cont... more The question of how best to incentivize the parties in a construction contract, particularly contractors, to deliver maximum possible outputs and thus help reduce costs and risk in contracts has been of constant interest to construction researchers and practitioners. There is thus a significant body of literature around incentive contracting but this needs to be critically evaluated for perspectives and future directions. Although the evolving nature, merits and use of incentive contracts within the construction industry has been considerably discussed by practitioners and researchers over several years, there seems to be a lack of critical review of the incentive contracts literature that contextualises and critiques the various perspectives, directions and applications in the construction industry. More importantly it is important to discover what we do not know yet about incentive contracting in construction to provide a means for further scientific enquiry into those aspects. Th...
The aim of this paper was to explore how the current environment of electronic procurement in Sou... more The aim of this paper was to explore how the current environment of electronic procurement in South African construction industry can be improved to help in maximizing the diffusion and adoption of electronic procurement when it comes to the acquisition of construction works and services. Electronic procurement refers to the use of electronic communication systems and applications to buy services, goods and works or conduct tendering for construction works. While there is growing evidence of application and benefits of e-procurement in some countries, the use of e-procurement in South Africa has been limited and patchy, implying that the benefits are currently not being maximised to support economic growth and industry development. We explore some of the ways in which this problem can be addressed. The paper is organised into four parts. In the first part, we discuss general factors that enable e-procurement adoption based on evidence reported in the literature. These are the regula...
Electronic procurement is a valuable means through which organisations can promote accountability... more Electronic procurement is a valuable means through which organisations can promote accountability, efficiency, transparency and value for money in the acquisition of goods, services, utilities and works. The adoption and use of electronic procurement in the South African construction industry is still in its early stages particularly in the public sector. The research aim was to ascertain construction procurement practices; and the extent of e-procurement use in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. Qualitative data collected through interviews with seven respondents in two government departments was transcribed and then analysed using content analysis. The findings indicate that the paper-based system is prone to manipulations, delays in approval, poor records keeping and wasted resources. A limited use of electronic systems in the procurement of works was observed, with the call for tenders and payment of contractors being the two main activities executed using electronic database...
The scientific information published in peer-reviewed outlets carries special status, and confers... more The scientific information published in peer-reviewed outlets carries special status, and confers unique responsibilities on editors and authors. We must protect the integrity of the scientific process by publishing only manuscripts that have been properly peer-reviewed by scientific reviewers and confirmed by editors to be of sufficient quality. I confirm that all papers in the WABER 2017 Conference Proceedings have been through a peer review process involving initial screening of abstracts, review of full papers by at least two referees, reporting of comments to authors, revision of papers by authors, and reevaluation of re-submitted papers to ensure quality of content. It is the policy of the West Africa Built Environment Research (WABER) Conference that all papers must go through a systematic peer review process involving examination by at least two referees who are knowledgeable on the subject. A paper is only accepted for publication in the conference proceedings based on the ...
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Management, Procurement and Law, 2020
The abolishment of the tariff of professional fees in the construction industry is a growing inte... more The abolishment of the tariff of professional fees in the construction industry is a growing international trend since the late 1980s. In recent years, this has become a topical issue among built environment professionals in South Africa following a ruling by the Competition Commission in 2016 that prohibits professional councils from publishing a tariff of fees. The period following the ruling has coincided with a perceived decline in the quality of professional service outputs, which some have attributed to the lowering of fees resulting from market competition. However, this may not necessarily be true, as other factors also influence quality. This research examined the claims through the lens of professionalism theory, which asserts that professionals have a ‘standard-of-care’ obligation that is not dependent on fees. The examination of data across 15 different professional services disciplines in a new universities project demonstrates that market competition led to fee offers ...
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