Al-Rugaib, T A (1996) Project information, office automation, and quality in building production process in Saudi Arabia. PhD thesis, Cardiff University, UK.
Abstract
The incidence of building defects and construction site problems has become a subject of attention in the building construction industry. Previous research concluded that poor quality project information is one the major causes and usually centres around two issues; communication between the various parties involved in the process of producing project information, and co-ordination between project documents. Furthermore, the traditional method of producing project information does not provide good lines of communication within the modern construction industry. Information Technology (IT), which has been applied successfully in other industries, offers the potential to improve the quality of information in this process. This study aimed to investigate the impact of IT on the quality of project information produced by the architectural offices in Saudi Arabia. To satisfy this aim, two questionnaire surveys were conducted in Saudi Arabia. The first investigated the level of using IT in the process of producing project information in the architectural practices. The second questionnaire evaluated the quality of project information produced by a sample of these offices. Data obtained by the two surveys have been statistically analysed to investigate whether there is an evidence for association between the level of automation in these offices and the quality of project information produced. The first questionnaire revealed that although these offices have a high level of IT usage in some activities, such as drafting, less attention has been given to the utilisation of this technology in exchanging and co-ordinating information between project participants.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Saudi Arabia; automation; building defects; co-ordination; communication; construction site; drafting; information technology; production process |
| Index terms: | information technology, documents, evidence, questionnaire, survey, production process, building construction, construction site, building defect, construction industry, automation, drafting, architectural practice, Saudi Arabia |
| Subjects: | manufacturing engineering, Geography, automation and robotics, building construction, evaluation and assessment methods, professional practice, professional development, industry analysis, data collection methods, business, computing systems, technical documentation, work location |
| Topics: | Site Management, Digital Applications, Design Practice, Construction Technology, Information Management, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Engineering Principles, Geographical Context |
| 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