Dr. Saad Sarhan

To (CLeMM) has been developed. This report explains how to use CLeMM - a bespoke Customer Led Monetising Method that has been developed in response to the problem of assessing the monetary value of the human impacts of Highways England’s operational services.

This study has developed a Customer Led Monetising Method (CLeMM) to assess the monetary value of the human impacts of Highways England's operational services. CLeMM is simple in concept, easy to use and adaptable to a wide variety of situations enabling Highways England to use it in surveys, focus groups and other customer consultations for the widest range of stakeholders. The method for using CLeMM is described in the CLeMM Guide as a separate report.

There is a broad consensus among social and economic researchers that 'institutions' matter. Institutions influence beliefs, norms and actions; thus they shape performance and outcomes. Interestingly, the concept of institutions is not well established in construction economics or management research, specifically in waste-related literature. This paper presents discussions on the impact of imperfect regulations, norms and cultural/cognitive assumptions that exist within the construction procurement context, and how this has translated into the institutionalisation of wasteful behaviours and practices in construction projects. Based on a critical review of extant literature, the ultimate objectives of this study are to: (1) contribute to the overall understanding of waste in construction by suggesting a novel perspective to the generation and persistence of waste in construction projects; (2) demonstrate how the neo-institutional theory, a branch of organizational sociology,...

The aim of this study is to explore how offsite fabrication (OSF) can be tightly coupled with production and assembly on-site. Prefabrication is a production method that has potential to yield significant productivity and sustainability improvements in the construction industry. Failure to synchronize production in the factory with on-site production can lead to financial losses for the client/owner, main contractor and subcontractors as well as to delays in the construction schedule. The study draws on two case-studies and the authors' experiences in the context of a critical review of literature on the concepts of flow and Just-in-time (JIT) construction delivery. The findings show the value of a buffer between suppliers, fabricators and the site as a way to help the whole supply team create production flow and more environmentally friendly results. A buffer can help while the team is learning to use collaborative short-term planning to create predictable production. The paper recommends ways to synchronise OSF with on-site production. The paper provides practitioners with ideas to reduce both work waiting for workers (or robots) and workers (or robots) waiting for work-and it contributes to theory by raising more questions for further research.

Only rapid and drastic reductions in greenhouse gases can prevent ever more widespread
devastation and extreme weather events. Every increment in global heating is likely to
compound the accelerating effects, according to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s leading authority on climate science (IPCC, 2021). The aim of this special issue is to boost sustainable performance improvements in the construction sector, through raising discussions on advances and future directions of lean and sustainable construction theories and practices.

Questions: Are there connections and trade-offs between Lean Construction (LC) and Sustainable Construction (SC)? If so, what is needed to support their integration in theory and practice? What are the gaps in knowledge and the opportunities for bringing closer linkage between research and practice? Purpose: A growing body of knowledge has been emerging from the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC) community, in relation to synergies between LC and Sustainability. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to critically review the progress made towards integrating LC and SC in theory and practice, in order to provide a conceptual consolidation of this knowledge. Research Method: A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of 'LC and Sustainability' studies published in proceedings of the IGLC annual conferences over the past 25 years, using a qualitative approach to research synthesis. Findings: This study presents the main synergies and inconsistencies between LC and SC, reveals the main limitations in approaches to LC and SC, exposes potential enablers for integrating LC and SC, and divulges opportunities for further research Limitations: This SLR study only includes peer-reviewed papers published by the IGLC and excludes the wider construction literature. Implications: The findings of this study advance the research agenda providing the potential to develop sustainable improvements in practice.

The UK Government challenged construction to achieve 50% faster delivery and a 33% reduction of clients' capital costs by 2025 – prevailing business models won't meet these targets. Eliminating waste from construction design and delivery as advocated by lean ideals is therefore a necessary step towards these goals. However, waste understood simply as the improvement of current processes rather than fundamental system redesign will not be enough. Obtaining a better understanding and conceptualisation of waste in construction is therefore becoming more crucial. One aspect of this is to challenge the apparent coherence of prevailing procurement practices generated by the institutional, organisational, and commercial environments that surround the design and delivery of construction projects. This paper contributes to this by examining Tier 1 contractors and presents examples of practices that open debate on how to challenge prevailing procurement models for construction. Through literature review and interviews, the study discusses the factors influencing the 'Principal-Agent' relationship demonstrating how procurement arrangements often mirror institutional forces. These forces do not necessarily guarantee better value services, they are more likely to serve the interests of large industry players with the bargaining power to create new rules (North, 1994). A radically different delivery model, where the client intends to eliminate the management fees and confrontational behaviours of their Tier 1 contractors is described.

The construction industry has, over a long period, been criticised for its short term “hit-and-run” relationships which are focused on win-lose situations and poor performance. Despite the wide recognition of these problems the industry persistently resists the radical demanded of it. This paper attempts to investigate why this might be the case by reviewing prevailing safeguarding practices within the current commercial systems and structures through literature review and industry observation. Findings reveal that clients and decision makers often tend to safeguard their project-specific assets, against opportunism and exploitation, through the deployment of formal contractual arrangements and governance structures. These arrangements and structures typically dominate the management of the project delivery often to the detriment of the project itself; but because there is a belief that interests are safeguarded, clients and decision makers feel they have taken the best course of action. This goes a long way to explaining the coherence of the current construction model and provides the basic information for preparing a route to the radical change required to move to lean methodologies.

Lean construction efforts could prove to be highly rewarding for the construction industry. Although various countries gained large benefits by adopting the lean concepts, there seems to be a scarce implementation of lean in the UK construction industry over the last two decades even after the publication of the Egan report. Building upon the methodologies and conceptual frameworks used in earlier work in the UK (Common et al., 2000), the Netherlands (Johansen et al., 2002), and Germany (Johansen & Walter, 2007), this study carried out a similar survey to evaluate lean construction as practiced in the UK, and identify the barriers to its successful implementation.

A theoretical framework was adopted and modified by the author to keep up with the vast developments made among the lean construction community since previous studies were carried out; and it formed the basis for a questionnaire survey. The data obtained was then subject to secondary analysis on top of quantitative and qualitative systematic evaluation. Six different classifications were established and analysed during secondary stage. This allowed trends and contrasting views to be determined, and thus more comprehensive findings to be concluded. After completing the results they were informed further by undertaking interviews with a number of professionals from the UK construction industry.

It was found that the majority of the construction organisations do not yet have a holistic view of the full potentials of lean; and that there is still a significant lack of understanding of how to successfully apply lean principles to construction processes and activities. The study concluded the significant barriers to the successful implementation of lean construction in the UK; and proposed a strategy for overcoming the barriers identified.