Diab, A A (2009) Risk management of building services modularisation: Knowledge management perspective. PhD thesis, University of Manchester, UK.
Abstract
Modularisation (off-site fabrication) gives the mechanical and electrical building services industry an opportunity to create the step change needed to meet the Egan productivity and efficiency targets. Modularisation provides many opportunities to the industry such as: programme acceleration; enhancement of quality; improvement of health and safety performance. Nevertheless, there are threats that impede the implementation and success of modularisation, such as: design changes; late involvement of contractors and specialist supplier in the project; and rigid designs and specifications. Opportunities and threats are classified as risks. These risks emanate from incomplete knowledge and uncertainty. Following this logic, building services modularisation risks were investigated from a knowledge management perspective. Review of literature, questionnaire surveys and case studies were adopted to identify and rank particular risks pertaining to mechanical and electrical building service modularisation; select risk management techniques; and map them to knowledge theories. This study successfully identified and ranked key risks (opportunities and treats) pertaining to mechanical and electrical building services modularisation. The top ranked opportunities (benefits) were: acceleration of programme; improvement of quality; and improvement of health and safety. While the top ranked threats (barriers) were: design changes; late involvement of contractors; and rigid design and specifications. Correlation between the risks and project modularisation outcome were also investigated. There was significant correlation between design changes and cost performance. This study has also introduced a model of managing risks from a knowledge management perspective. This model gave recommendations for successful management of risks at different stages of the process: identification; analysis; control and monitoring. These recommendations were based on findings of this study, which included: implementation of design and build project procurement; early appointment of contractors and specialist modularisation suppliers; implementation of a wide range of risk identification techniques; harmonisation of programmes; the use of IT based knowledge management systems for design knowledge transfer; the use of prototyping to confirm requirements; and regular risk reassessment. In conclusion, this study has explored the risk management of building services modularisation, which is a poorly covered topic in the current construction project management literature. It has also provided a new analysis perspective of risk management process by mapping it to knowledge theories.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | efficiency; uncertainty; construction project; specifications; fabrication; health and safety; knowledge management; monitoring; productivity; risk identification; risk management; safety; supplier; case studies; questionnaire survey |
| Index terms: | specialist supplier, knowledge management system, efficiency, building service, case study, productivity, modularization, monitoring, construction project management, risk management, implementation, fabrication, acceleration, step-change, specification, health and safety, design change, programme, survey, risk identification, construction project, prototyping, mapping, questionnaire, knowledge transfer, project procurement, knowledge management, design and build, cost performance |
| Subjects: | professional development, financial risk, project management theory and practice, production management, health safety and environment, contractual condition, spatial and geospatial analysis, performance management, economics, manufacturing engineering, management, information systems, building construction, project controls, innovation studies, practitioner, control systems, engineering systems, research dissemination and communication, data collection methods, risk assessment, innovation and technology management, contractual arrangements |
| Topics: | Engineering Principles, Project Management, Health and Safety, Procurement, Risk Management, Quality Management, Information Management, Research Practice, Cost Management, Business Strategy, Construction Technology, Roles and Professions, Digital Applications, Time Control, Contract Administration, Site Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
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