Hashemi, A (2009) Construction technology transfer: an assessment of the relevance of modern methods of construction to housing shortages in Iran. PhD thesis, Cardiff University, UK.
Abstract
The inability of the Iranian construction industry to satisfy the country's massive housing demand has transformed housing demand and supply into one of the major challenges facing the government. 1.15 million residential units need to be built each year for the next ten years. The Iranian construction industry is suffering from various deficiencies such as low productivity, small and unprofessional developers, huge waste, skilled labour shortages, defective management, unstable economy, severe fluctuations in demand and supply etc. Considering the potential advantages of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), the general belief is that the application of MMC will resolve may of the above issues. Meanwhile, Iran needs to learn from the experience of other countries such as the UK to avoid repeating their mistakes. MMC is a more complex subject in which various issues including standardisation, coordination, management, design, costs, sustainability, risks, etc, should be considered. Some of the above have become more important than others for Iranian stakeholders but prioritisation and partial consideration of these issues will not be effective. This study intends to investigate the viability and applicability of the UK's advanced construction systems in Iran. For this reason, several criteria including the building regulations and standards, practicality, economy, costs, culture, sustainability, and design have been addressed, and both countries compared with regards to these issues. The results show that, although MMC can theoretically enhance the current situation of the construction industry, issues such as education and research, industry, economy etc., need to be addressed in order to have successful application of MMC in Iran
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Iran; modern methods of construction; offsite; productivity; questionnaire survey |
| Index terms: | construction system, housing, shortages, questionnaire, survey, skilled labour, construction industry, coordination, construction technology, standardization, productivity, building regulation, modern methods of construction |
| Subjects: | building construction, regulatory law, industry analysis, management, performance measurement, economic analysis, digital engineering, data collection methods, construction type |
| Topics: | Quality Management, Legal Issues, Engineering Principles, Organizational Design, Human Resources, Digital Applications, Construction Technology, Research Practice, Business Strategy |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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