Robson, A; Boyd, D and Thurairajah, N (2016) Studying 'cost as information' to account for construction improvements. Construction Management and Economics, 34(6), pp. 418-431. ISSN 01446193
Abstract
Contractors throughout the construction supply chain develop and use cost information. By treating 'cost as information', insights are generated into how cost information is created and flows from work carried out to a client cost. A case study of a main contractor’s supply chain involved semi-structured interviews, workshops and document reviews. We considered whether contractors' current costing practices used for the purpose of pricing and cost control could support decision-making about improvements through the supply chain. The results show that firms recognize that current costing practices do not provide a good representation of work carried out. Cost information that is useful in a narrative that seeks to improve site operations is either not created or hidden in layers of assumptions and lost as it does not cross the boundaries between organizations. This implies that the implementation of current practices of costing in building information modelling will not increase the effectiveness of modelling construction costs for the purpose of improvements. However, cost information that is useful in decision-making about improvements could be created. This could be achieved but requires a systemic change, where new representations of cost are tied to work processes used within more stable procurement relationships.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | building information modelling; contractor; cost information |
| Index terms: | interview, boundaries, decision-making, cost control, narrative, construction cost, main contractor, building information modelling, cost information, case study, pricing, workshop, implementation, modelling, costing, site operation, effectiveness, construction supply chain |
| Subjects: | information systems, decision analysis, qualitative and interpretive research, accounting and finance, performance management, property law, contractual arrangements, financial and cost management, analytical methods, economic analysis, operations management, construction logistics, practitioner, data collection methods, construction type |
| Topics: | Construction Technology, Procurement, Risk Management, Roles and Professions, Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Cost Management, Site Management, Supply Chain Management, Quality Management, Digital Applications, Legal Issues |
| 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