Wahedi, H (2016) Site practice: The role of design drawings within social communities. In: Chan, P W and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 32nd Annual ARCOM Conference, 5-7 September 2016, Manchester, UK.
Abstract
Delays and interruptions of construction projects are phenomena that have long been discussed and many have attempted to identify the causes and their solutions. Factors like insufficient and inadequate project drawings entail delay and temporary interruption of the construction process. Deficiencies in the project documents have long been brought into focus but no study has been conducted which focused on how the contractors interpret the project drawings. The purpose of this study is (1) to elucidate how contractors interpret project drawings that they receive from consultants, and (2) to shed light on the impact of contractors' interpretation of the project drawings on their workflow. The research is based on an ethnographic study of a case in Odense, Denmark. The empirical data are collected through direct observations and semi-structured interviews with site managers, foremen and craftsmen. The results indicate that the contractors expect the project drawings to be final, and commence the work in accordance with these drawings. In order to carry out the work and avoid interruptions, the contractors draw on the experience that may be embedded in their work practice, when they find the drawings incomplete and insufficient. Furthermore the study reveals that insufficient project drawings entail that consultants continually forward new revisions of the drawings to the contractors. Thus the contractors are compelled to rectify in accordance with the new drawings, leading to delays and interruptions. This leads to the conclusion that the contractors' interpretations of the drawings might have adverse effects on their workflow and productivity
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | drawings; boundary objects; craftsmen; construction phase; social communities; site practice. |
| Index terms: | design drawing, craft worker, site manager, work practice, construction phase, documents, drawing, boundary object, productivity, direct observation, construction process, interview, workflow, construction project, Denmark |
| Subjects: | building construction, project delivery, data collection methods, collaborative management, practitioner, management, professional development, technical documentation, production management, Geography |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, Site Management, Project Management, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Design Practice, Geographical Context, Information Management, Business Strategy |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
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