Lu, Na (2007) Investigation of designers' and general contractors' perceptions of offsite construction techniques in the United States construction industry. PhD thesis, Clemson University, USA.
Abstract
ABSTRACT This study aimed to examine the current utilization of offsite construction techniques in the building sector of the U.S. construction industry, and to investigate the architects'/engineers' (A/Es') and general contractors' (GCs') perceptions of benefits and barriers of using these techniques, and also to identify the motivations and barriers of using these techniques by A/Es' and GCs' responses. A self-administrated survey questionnaire was developed as primary research methodology. 1200 A/Es and GCs were randomly selected as research subjects, and T-tests and regression tests were utilized in the study to achieve the research objectives. The study found that both A/Es and GCs identified that using offsite construction techniques would increase product quality, overall labor productivity, and onsite safety performance. It also reduces the overall project schedule, onsite disruption of other adjunct operations and negative environmental impact of construction operations. The transportation restraints, the inability of making changes onsite, and limited design options appeared to be most significant challenges of using offsite construction techniques based on the finding. In addition, this study found that the residential, commercial and industrial respondents perceived the use of these techniques differently regarding to the impact of product quality, design options, jobsite management efficiency, overall project cost, owner's negative perceptions, and local building regulations. The finding also indicated that the people who had used these techniques before had more positive attitude than those never utilized these techniques. The findings also indicated majority respondents believed the use of these techniques would increase in the next 5-10 years. Several practical recommendations were proposed in this study regarding to overcome transportation restraints, increase the design options and eliminate the impact of inability to make onsite changes by using these techniques.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Paige, William |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction industry; offsite construction; perceptions; panelized; modular; education |
| Index terms: | building regulation, efficiency, onsite, owner, engineer, product quality, designer, construction operation, investigation, research methodology, architect, labour productivity, construction industry, option, United States, general contractor, motivation, survey, project cost, questionnaire, environmental impact, safety performance |
| Subjects: | Geography, building construction, quality assurance, environmental impact, practitioner, psychology, construction operations, management, economics, performance management, occupational health and safety management, sociology, decision analysis, regulatory law, industry analysis, data collection methods, profession, research design and methodology |
| Topics: | Site Management, Human Resources, Construction Technology, Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Cost Management, Quality Management, Legal Issues, Sustainability, Risk Management, Geographical Context, Health and Safety |
| 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