Fujimoto, A; Matsui, K; Ozawa, K and Muratsubaki, Y (2000) New design standard for civil engineering structures based on the minimum labour concept. In: Akintoye, A (ed.) Proceedings of 16th Annual ARCOM Conference, 6-8 September 2000, Glasgow, UK.
Abstract
In Japan, design standards for civil engineering structures have been based on the minimum material concept since the 1960s, because material costs were relatively higher than labour costs at that time. Because labour costs are now much higher relative to material costs, the Ministry of Construction of Japan recently reviewed the design standard, replacing the minimum material concept with the minimum labour concept. The cost estimation system established by the Ministry of Construction was applied to various kinds of civil engineering structures to analyse the effective factors governing total cost taking into account structural safety. It was found that the simplification of structural shape, standardisation of materials, and application of pre-cast concrete result in reduction of total costs, although more materials are required than before. The new design standard for civil engineering structures was proposed in terms of total cost reduction.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | cost reduction; design standard; minimum labour Japan; price indices |
| Index terms: | cost estimating, standardization, simplification, cost reduction, Japan, labour cost, design standard |
| Subjects: | cost management, economics, Geography, management, technical documentation, performance measurement, financial and cost management |
| Topics: | Geographical Context, Quality Management, Business Strategy, Cost Management, Procurement, Design Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 2 PC |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here