Application of Concurrent Engineering Ce

First Edition 2008
© MOHAMAD IBRAHIM MOHAMAD
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopy,
recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission
in writing from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, 81310 Johor Darul
Tak'zim, Malaysia.
Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Issues in construction industry / editor Mohamad Ibrahim Mohamad.

ISBN 978-983-52-0568-2
1. Construction industry--Malaysia. 2. Mohamad Ibrahim Mohamad. II. Universiti
Teknologi Malaysia. Fakulti Kejuruteraan Sivil. III. Title.
624
Pereka Kulit: MOHD. NAZIR MD. BASRI
Diatur huruf oleh / Typeset by

MOHAMAD IBRAHIM MOHAMAD & RAKAN-RAKAN
Fakulti Kejuruteraan Awam
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
81310 Skudai
Johor Darul Ta'zim, MALAYSIA
Diterbitkan di Malaysia oleh / Published in Malaysia by

PENERBIT
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA
34 – 38, Jalan Kebudayaan 1, Taman Universiti,
81300 Skudai,
Johor Darul Ta'zim, MALAYSIA.
(PENERBIT UTM anggota PERSATUAN PENERBIT BUKU MALAYSIA/
MALAYSIAN BOOK PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION dengan no. keahlian 9101)
Dicetak di Malaysia oleh / Printed in Malaysia by

UNIVISION PRESS
Lot 47 & 48, Jalan SR 1/9, Seksyen 9
Jln. Serdang Raya, Tmn Serdang Raya
43300 Seri Kembangan, Selangor Darul Ehsan
MALAYSIA
v Contents
CONTENTS
Preface vii
Chapter 1 Applying CE to Construction 1

Mohamad Ibrahim Mohamad and
Khairulzan Yahya
Chapter 2 Construcability in Construction 17

Rosli Mohamad Zin
Chapter 3 Eco-Costs of Sustainable Construction 35

Waste Management
Khairulzan Yahya and A.Halim
Boussabaine
Chapter 4 Construction Site Noise Modelling Using 51

Stochastic Techniques
Zaiton Haron, Khairulzan Yahya and
David Oldham
Chapter 5 Sustainable Neighbourhood in Malaysia 68

Rozana Zakaria, Mohd Ismid Mohd Said,
Zaiton Haron, Khairulzan Yahya and M.
Vikneswaran
vi Contents
Chapter 6 Integrating ABC into Project Overhead 88

Management
Al-Ojaili Ammar, Aminah Md Yusof
Chapter 7 An Overview of Construction Accidents 110

in Malaysia
Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid, Muhd Zaimi
Abd Majid, Bachan Singh
Chapter 8 The Role of Consulting Engineers in 124

Project Development
Wan Zulkifli Wan Yusof, Bachan Singh,
Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid and Ngang
Shue Ming
Chapter 9 Systemization of Project Evaluation and 134

Monitoring in Construction
M. Mustaffar, Z.A. Memon & M.Z. Abd
Majid
Index 152
vii Preface
PREFACE
This book presented important issues that are surrounding

construction industry either today. The topics range from the
consideration of adapting new management or design philosophy
like Concurrent Engineering, Buildability and Sustainability in
construction project. Apart from that issues on safety and financial
aspect of construction projects are also presented.
Recently there are many views in from the researches and
scholar in construction community urging this industry to review
its traditional practice in work process toward embracing more
collaborative nature of working environment. There is an urgent
need for the industry to review its current performance through
every step of its life-cycle so that it become more efficient and able
to minimize the traditional problems face by the construction
industry for decades such as adversarial nature, high degree of
fragmentation, poor quality and lack of focus toward end-user and
customer requirements for the project.
Many themes in this book address the above issues.
Concurrent Engineering is a philosophy originated from
manufacturing and has great potential application to reengineer
current work process in construction. Constructability presented a
methodology to support the collaborative teamwork environment
and provide platform for design team to consider other team
members and clients’ requirement in the project.
Sustainability had become an important issue in construction
recently. Consideration to integrate and becoming more friendly to
viii Preface
toward surrounding environment is not an option anymore. Two

chapters in this book addressed issue on constructability.
Construction must be able to reap the benefits of current
technology development to improve its efficiency. The used of 3D
model had widely used to obtained accurate measurement in other
industry for planning purposes. The application of this technique
had been considered for monitoring of construction progress is
discussed in this book.
It is hope that this book will be able to provide some
information on the recent development in construction industry.
Even though the topic is quite limited but the issues presented are
considered important.
Mohamad Ibrahim Mohamad

Construction Technology and Management Centre (CTMC)
Faculty of Civil Engineering
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
2008
Applying of CE for ConstructionIndustry 1
1
APPLICATION OF CONCURRENT
ENGINEERING (CE) FOR
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
Mohamad Ibrahim Mohamad
Andrew Noel Baldwin
Khairulzan Yahya
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Concurrent Engineering (CE) is a management philosophy
originated from manufacturing industry. There are many
definitions of CE that can be found in the literature but most of
them are similar. The term “Concurrent Engineering” was
originally devised by Institute for Defense Analysis (IDA), a
working group set up by US Defence Advanced Research Project
Agency (DARPA) in their Report R-138 (Winner et al., 1988). The
IDA definition of CE is the most widely accepted by the
manufacturing community as follows:
“Concurrent engineering is a systematic approach to
the integrated, concurrent design of products and their
related processes, including manufacture and support.
This approach is intended to cause the developers, from
the outset, to consider all elements of the product life
cycle from concept through disposal, including quality,
cost, schedule, and user requirements”.
The rationale for the application of CE to construction derives
from the similarity of the basic construction/manufacturing process
as well as the nature of the problem faced by both industries, as a
result of the traditional approach practised in its work process.
Many aspects of CE are not actually new to construction. Some of
2 Issues in Construction Industry
the current practices within construction that is parallel to CE

principles are suitable to be used as a basis to introduce CE in this
industry.
1.2 BACKGROUND
CE is a widely accepted design management philosophy in several
industries especially in manufacturing. However, despite the claim
made by Love and Gunasekaran (1997), there is no research
evidence to support that it has been fully applied in construction to
the same extent as in other industries. The topic of the application
of CE and its fundamental elements to construction has generated
some interest in research literature such as De La Garza et al.
(1994), Baxendale et al. (1996), Evbuomwan and Anumba (1996),
Houvilla et al. (1997), Love et al., (1998) and Kamara (1999). The
main focus of the discussion can be categorised in two key areas,
the application specific CE tools and modelling technique to
support data integration in a CE environment and the managerial
perspective of CE implementation as a complete process. However
the literature relating to construction application is far more
limited compared to those in manufacturing.
Even though CE is relatively a new philosophy to construction it

must be recognised that some aspects parallel to its elements are
actually already being practised in construction especially within
the Design and Build (D&B) procurement and partnering
approach. CE is seen to be a feasible option that can be adapted by
construction industry. This is based on its acceptance in other
industries especially in manufacturing and also due to the
similarity of process systems in other industries to construction
(Houvilla et al. 1997, Kamara et al. 1997).
De La Garza et al. (1994) also considered CE as suitable for

application to construction. They argue that CE can be used as a
strategy to capitalise the existence of the highly fragmented and
specialised nature of the industry to generate diversity of
knowledge in the design development. Evbuomwan and Anumba

(1996) state that CE can be used to integrate all functional
disciplines within construction and proposed construction to use
Dedign and Build (D&B) as a model to implement CE.
1.3 APPLYING THE IMPORTANT THEMES OF CE TO

CONSTRUCTION
The following discussion focus on the importance of each element
that represent CE philosophy but within the context of construction
industry.
1.3.1 Consideration of project life cycle requirements in the

design process
In the simplest form the construction process can be divided into
two major phases; pre-contract and post contract. Pre-contract
activities include: briefing; feasibility; sketch design; design;
tendering; and post contract include construction and maintenance
of facilities (Ashworth 1996). Applying CE principle to
construction means that all the project life-cycle requirements such
as: planning; construction; end user requirements; maintenance
requirements; constraints by major suppliers, sub-contractors, and
specialists contractor need to be simultaneously (concurrently)
considered during the design development phase. Input from the
functional expertise from all the various organisations in the
project has to be considered in the design from outset. The
rationale used by manufacturing industry in recognising the
importance of the design phase in influencing the project cost,
quality and efficiency is equally applicable to construction.
Peurifoy and Ledbetter (1985) state that the degree of the influence
on cost over the duration of construction process is not constant
throughout the life cycle. The influence is higher at early stage of
the project and diminishes as the development progress.
However the traditional construction process is developed based
upon the separation of the design and construction functions.
Therefore, consideration of the downstream requirement cannot be
fully realised during the design phase because of the lack of

participation from the constructors and other parties. Due to this
constraint it is common for the construction project to experience
the design related problems in the later stage of the project. The
implementation of CE cannot be realised if the traditional work
process persists.
1.3.2 Teamwork
The use of teamwork is a common feature approach in today's
management practice. It is also a common practice to organise a
project team prior to the execution of the construction project.
However the basic feature of the teamwork is different from one
application to another. The concept of teamwork used in CE
principles is based on collaborative teamwork system or more
appropriately known in CE practices as Cross Functional Team
(CFT).
1.3.2.1 Applying CE teamwork concept to construction

Teamwork is the backbone of CE (Jo. et al 1993). The formation of
the team concept is an important feature that characterises the
relationship between various participants within construction
project. However the degree of the relationship among the
members of the team in the traditional construction project is
different from the teamwork concept of cross functional team
(CFT) as proposed in CE philosophy. In general the project team
concept in the traditional construction process involves owner
and/or his representatives, designers and contractors engaged in a
temporary organisation for the purpose of executing the project
task and guided by the requirements of the contract. Cherns and
Bryant (1988) refer to a construction project team as a temporary
multi organisation (TMO) due to the temporary nature of the team
existence. The term 'project team' may also be used by the
individual organisation participating in the project to represent
their group. The general concept of teamwork in construction can
be referred as: "individuals or groups representing various

organisations in the construction project drawn temporarily
together for the purpose of co-ordinating the project task".
The main objectives of the formation of the team for a construction

project are to facilitate the communication and the co-ordination of
works among the members. Communication is normally achieved
in a very formal way. Each of the members has their own specific
responsibility toward the project and the client. Contribution to
other functional requirements outside their defined role is minimal.
This is manifested by the rigid hierarchical organisational structure
commonly used. However, a flatter organisation structure that
supports more open communication between functional teams is
required to support the project team used in the design build
procurement or partnering concept. The major difference between
the teamwork concept in CE compared to the traditional teamwork
concept for a construction project lies within the following factors:
• the removal of functional boundaries;

• the formation of the team from is made from the inception
stage of the project;
• the main objective of the formation of the team is to enable the
members to contribute in the design stage;
• team members may comprise of a wider range of members to
include the client, major sub-contractors and major suppliers;
• the team is normally given adequate authority to make
important design decisions; and
• the team support process changes from the traditionally design
then build approach to more flexible concurrent (overlapping)
development of project task.
The following example indicates some of the project team aspects

based on CE implemented in manufacturing:
The characteristics of teamwork concept used by Chrysler and

Boeing (Backhouse and Brookes, 1996) include:
• Bringing together people from all of the functions (various

engineering functions together with marketing, sales and
purchasing) involved in product development into what it
termed `platform teams'.
• Teams co-operating in every stage of the product's development
from conception through to delivery.
• Personnel within the teams working concurrently by ensuring
that their particular knowledge was taken into account by other
members of the team at the first opportunity.
• Manufacturing (production) engineers were involved from the
earliest stages of the design
Based on the observations made in the literature it can be seen that

the teamwork concept based on CE principles has not been fully
implemented in construction. The behaviour of the team
participants is determined by the type of the procurement approach
adopted (Chen and Mead 1997). Therefore for the construction
industry to practice teamwork concept based on CE principles, an
appropriate amendment toward the existing procurement system
has to be made. Gordon (1994) argues that the traditional
procurement appears to induce "adversarial relationship and lack
of teamwork". The use of the teamwork concept with the design-
build system may look to bear some resemblance to CE teamwork
concept in the sense that it includes the design and construction
team from the inception of the project. However the design build
team may (or not) represent the interest of a particular organisation
only. In contrast participation in CE by the team normally
represents the interest of a wider range of project participants
including the customer and suppliers. The partnering teamwork
concept is another approach that had been taken up by the
construction industry and bears many characteristic of CE team.
Moore et al. (1992) state that the primary advantage of partnering
is that it recognises the objectives of all parties and therefore
creates synergy for project success. However the author argues that
the ability of the partnering approach to develop a teamwork
concept parallel to CE principles depends on several factors.
Among the factors are: who are in the partnering parties; the real
objectives of partnering (because it is intended to pursue a business
goal); the involvement of the clients in the partnership; and the
type of procurement approach used to deliver the project.
The importance of the teamwork in CE implementation in

manufacturing industry is very significant. The writer argues that
construction should take the same position by considering the use
of CFT concept as a strategic approach to implement CE. There is
very limited discussion in the literature to review the character of
the teamwork needed to implement CE in construction.
The most important factor in the formation of the team to support

CE in construction is that it must be able to support process
change. The writer argues that the existing traditional teamwork
concept adopted in construction industry is only suitable to support
the traditional framework of sequential process system. In a CE
environment the formation of the team must involve all the major
stakeholders. In construction this includes; the owner; the
designer; constructor (contractor); sub-contractor; customers; and
suppliers. All these parties must work as a team. The initial stage
of the formation of the team must be at the outset of the project,
although it is recognised that the team will be extended and change
as the project progresses.
The role of the each participant must be recognised and also their
contribution toward the project design development. The
contractor, or their subcontractors, material and equipment
suppliers who have knowledge on the constructability aspect of the
project and material usage must be recognised for their role to
influence or review the design. In CE, they will be given the role
to contribute during the conceptual and detail design phase of the
project. This will be achieved within the multifunctional
concurrent team. Design will be a team effort. This is a major

departure from present practice whereby the designer (architect
and engineers) “own” the design. This is also contrary to the
traditional practice of the designer “throwing over the wall” the
completed package of design work to the contractor for
construction. No barrier between the designers and constructors
should be allowed to exist in CE practice.
1.3.2.2 Lead time

The reduction of lead time in manufacturing is important to enable
the product to reach market as soon as possible. In construction,
reducing development time is equally important. Most projects
have the urgency to be completed in the planned time so that the
return from investment can be reaped as soon as possible.
Therefore the objective of CE to reduce product development time
is very appropriate in construction industry scenario as well. In
CE, reduction of development time is achieved by simultaneously
considering all life cycle requirements in design development. This
strategy leads to reduction of the unnecessary time needed to
rectify design error and rework. It is also enables parallel
accomplishment of project task because of early involvement of
team members and the ability to share more project information
across the functional boundaries.
1.3.2.3 Focus on the customer requirements

The common approach normally used in CE to capture customer
requirements is by their inclusion in the project team and use of
techniques such as Quality Function Deployment (QFD). In a
manufacturing environment understanding customer requirements
is the most important aspect to ensure the acceptability of the
product. The importance of addressing customer requirements was
the critical factor in the achievement of Rover in their four wheel
drive model the 'Discovery'. "The success of the four wheel model
of discovery was not simply based on its novelty but on high
quality product design derived from clear view of customer

requirement " (Backhouse and Brookes, 1996). The tradition of
addressing clients' requirements is quite different in construction
industry. Clients' priority in their requirement towards the
construction project varies from the need to have a good quality
end product, at the most competitive price and fastest time of
project delivery by sacrificing some aspect of the design and
quality (Ashworth, 1996). The initial client requirements in the
construction project are addressed at the briefing stage. Clients will
be involved in the project team throughout the project life cycle.
But due to the complexities of the construction project and the
limitation client's experience, their need is not always properly
addressed. It is a normal practice in construction for a client to
appoint another party such as a manager to look after their interest
in the project. It is also normal in the traditional construction
practice for the design consultant to represent the client's interest
in the project. However, the writer argues that since the
construction team is isolated from the design process, the client
will be deprived from getting an optimal design solution and cost
due to their lack of input.
Kamara et al. (1997) state that if the client's requirement is

properly processed, it can facilitate concurrent working. Client's
requirement must be thoroughly understood and analysed to ensure
they are made clear and unambiguous. In his research, Kamara
(1999) determined that:
• there must be a formal framework to process clients

requirements;
• such framework should provide effective procedures and
techniques for precise establishment of client requirements;
• the requirements must be traceability and easily correlated
during the development process;
• the requirements must be analysed and prioritise to avoid
conflict; and
• the requirements processing should facilitates design creativity

and integration into product development process.
He argues that the current mechanisms for processing client's

requirements in construction industry i.e. the briefing process do
not satisfy CE approach.
1.4 THE BENEFITS OF APPLYING CE TO

CONSTRUCTION
There are many potential benefits that can be reaped by
construction industry if it implements CE. Currently construction
has already gain the benefit from implementing some of the
element that are parallel to CE through design and build
procurement approach, fast track system and partnering approach.
But the benefit gained through these partial or 'unintentional'
approaches toward CE is limited. This can be greatly amplified if it
is applied as a whole process as in manufacturing. Furthermore
their development is not intended to achieve the same objective as
delineated in CE philosophy.
The most important benefit from the application of CE to

construction lies within the capability of the CE philosophy to
support process change. Construction has suffered from the
setback of traditional practices, which has resulted in many
problems. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the industry to
realign the traditional way of delivering the project with respect to
the work process and the teamwork structure. Like the experience
in manufacturing, implementing CE requires an organisation to
abandon the traditional practice of work process and adversarial
way of working. Fragmentation and specialisation is a natural
phenomenon in construction. But applying CE principles will help
to tear down the invisible wall that separate these fragmented
functional organisation (groups) and pull them together into a solid
collaborative team sharing the same project goals and objectives.
All the different expertise from various functional groups will

enjoy the opportunity to contribute their input and queries toward
design development. Another important benefit of applying CE to
construction is the ability to reduce lead-time in product
development. Project delay is a very common in construction
therefore the industry should consider adopting CE as strategy to
minimise the problem.
De La Garza et al. (1994) reported the result of a study on CE

implementation in Europe and the outcome shows the following
achievement: 30%-42% reduction in manufacturing cost; 75%
reduction in scrap and rework; 35%-60% reduction in time to
develop an artifact; 30%-87% reduction in defects; and 30%-60%
increase in saving. This study although not carried out on
construction presents the idea of the array of benefits that
construction can expect from CE implementation. Evbuomwan and
Anumba (1998) suggest that by applying CE will have the
following benefits to construction. Implementing CE will enable
the establishment of formal framework to identify client's
requirement at outset. CE will help to reduce error, rework, and
duplication of work that normally incurred in the conventional
(traditional) procedure. This will result in: shortening lead times;
reducing cost and project delays; drastically reduce claims and
dispute; and saving project cost. CE also enhances teamworking
and group dynamics with better co-ordination of the efforts of
team members. Apart from that the application of CE also ensures
concurrent design and construction in an integrated project model
and will improve the technical capability of the project team
through the enhanced knowledge base, and better informed design
decisions. CE also supports early conflict resolution and ensuring
the incorporation of buildability, safety and risk analyses at an
early stage. The implementation of CE in construction also
provides a suitable framework to utilise IT tools to improve the
industry efficiency in the cross functional communication and
information sharing.
1.5 A METHODOLOGY FOR APPLYING CE TO

CONSTRUCTION
Applying CE to construction requires a major breakthrough in its
traditional culture. Baxendale et al. (1996) argue that CE is not
easy to implement. They proposed that it must be tried by major
clients first. Dearsley and Lettice (1997) relate the findings of their
exploratory study to identify the managerial and organisational
factors that contribute to successful implementation of CE to
construction. They propose three important factors to implement
CE:
• clear understanding by senior management of what

implementing CE entails;
• the use of change agents like CE steering committees; and
• the use of pilot studies prior to the full implementation of CE.
Kamara et al. (1997) argue that CE implementation in construction

cannot be the wholesale copy from manufacturing. This view is
supported by Dearsley and Lettice (1997) who state that the blind
adoption of current manufacturing practice within construction
could lead to problems. They identify that the main challenge that
the construction industry will have to face to implement CE is to
break down the barrier of the professional organisations and
obliterate the traditional practice of separating design and
construction. Then it is also important to consider how to
effectively integrate while maintaining the identity of each
member in a multi-functional organisation. They make
recommendations as to how to implement CE by:
• building on current practice and trends like fast tracking

and the use of project teams;
• the formation of alliances and partnerships;
• effective processing of clients requirement; and
• action based research with industry participation.
Houvila et al. (1997) look at the application of CE to construction

by conceptualising the lean production concept with specific focus
on the objective to eliminate the non- productive tasks in the
process. They further proposed that CE objectives can be achieved
in construction by: reducing the share of activities that not directly
contribute to conversion; conceptualising CE with Lean
Construction and aggressively reducing uncertainty in the early
phase of engineering project.
According to Carter (1992), CE can be applied to any organisation

by balancing the following three important concepts:
1. The organisation structure must be able to support the

development team which should operate as a single entity.
2. An efficient communication structure is required to support
free and speedy information exchange between team
members.
3. An analysis of the product development life cycle should be
carried out during the conception and design stages.
Love and Gunasekaran (1997) offer a generic view as to how CE

can be implemented to construction by the identification of the
associated downstream aspects of design and construction
processes; the reduction or elimination of non-value adding
activities; and the used of multi-disciplinary team.
The views of these experts may be summarised as follows:
Existing literature does not specifically identify a clear approach to

how CE can be implemented in construction, but rather offers a
general perception based on the experience from other industries.
It is accepted that the use of teamwork is the most important
strategy to implement CE but it is not clear how a teamwork
structure base on CE principles could be adopted within existing
procurement practice. Some proposals have been made in the

literature to support the use of the existing procurement systems
like design and build or by using partnering approach to implement
CE. Evbuomwan and Anumba (1996) suggest if construction can
overcome the deficiency of the current practice in D&B it can be
used as a model to implement CE.
REFERENCES
Ashworth, A. (1996) Contractual Procedures in the Construction

Industry (3rd ed.) Longman, Malaysia.
Backhouse C.J. and Brookes N.J. (1996) Learning Lesson in
Concurrent Engineering What's working Where (Editors),
Vt:Gover, Hampshire, Brookfield.
Baxendale, T., Dulaimi, M. and Tully, G. (1996) Simultaneous
Engineering and Its Applications for Procurement in
Taylor R. (Editor), CIB W92 Proceedings North meets
South Developing Ideas, Procurement Systems
Symposium, University of Natal, Durban. pp 21-29.
Brookes, N and Backhouse, C. (1996) Concurrent Enginering:
Where It Has Come From and Where It Is Now (editors)
in Concurrent Engineering: Whats Working Where.,
Vt:Gover, Hampshire, Brookfield.
Carter, D.E., and Baker, B.S. (1992) CE Concurrent Engineering
The Product Development Environment Addison-Wesley
Publishing, Reading, Mass.
CBPP (1998) Best Practice Programme, DETR and CIB
(http://www.bestp/cbppl.htm)
Chen, S.E. and Mead, J.D. (1997) Project Participant's

Perceptions of Obstacles to Team Development in
Mohamed, S (Editor) Proceeding of Construction Process
Reengineering 14-15 July, Gold Coast Australia. pp339-

348.
De La Garza, J.M., Alcantra Jr., P., Kapoor, M. and Ramesh,
P.S. (1994) Value of Concurrent Engineering for A/E/C
Industry Journal of Management in Engineering,
Vol.10(3), pp46-55.
Dearsley P. and Lettice, F (1997) Concurrent Approach to

Construction: Learning From Cases in Manufacturing
Industry in Anumba C.J. and Evbuomwan N. F. O.
(Editors), Proceeding of 1st International Conference
Concurrent Engineering in Construction, ISE, London,
July 3 and 4. pp 296-305.
Donelly, Jr J.H., Gibson, J.L. and Ivancevich, J.M. (1992)
Fundamentals of Management (8th ed.), Irwin, IL.
Evbuomwan, N.F.O. and Anumba, C.J. (1996) Toward a
Concurrent Engineering Model for Design-and-Build
Projects The Structural Engineer Vol.74(5), pp73-78.
Gordon, C. (1994) Choosing the Appropriate Construction
Contracting Method. Journal of Construction Engineering
and Management, Vol.120(1), pp 196-210.
Houvila, P, Koskela, L. and Lautanala, M. (1997) Fast or
Concurrent: The Art of Getting Construction Improved in
L. Alarcon (editor) Lean Construction, A.A.Balkema
Rotterdam. pp 143-159.
Jo, H.H. Parsaei H.R. and Sullivan W.G. (1993) Principles of
Concurrent Engineering in Parsaei H.R. and Sullivan W.G
(Editors), Concurrent Engineering-Contemporary Issues
and Modern Design Tools., Chapman Hall. pp 3-23.
Kamara, J. M.,. Anumba, C. J. and Evbuomwan N. F. O. (1997)
Considerations for the Effective Implementation Of
Concurrent Engineering, in Anumba C.J. and Evbuomwan
N. F. O. (Editors) Proceeding of 1st International
Conference Concurrent Engineering in Construction, , ISE,
London, July 3 and 4. pp 33-44.
Kamara, J.M. (1999) Client Requirement Processing for

Concurrent Engineering Design and Construction. PhD
Thesis, University of Teeside, UK.
Katzenbach, J.R. and Smith, D.K. (1993) The Wisdom of Teams.
Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
Larson, C.E. and LaFasto, F.M. (1989) Teamwork What Must
Go Right / What Can Go Wrong SAGE Publications,
California.
Love P.E.D. and Gunasekaran, A.. (1997) Concurrent
Engineering in Construction Industry. Concurrent
Engineering Research and Applications, Vol.5(2), pp 155-
162.
Love P.E.D., Gunasekaran, A. and Li H. (1998) Concurrent
Engineering : A Strategy For Procuring Construction
Projects. International Journal of Project Management, Vol
16(6), pp 375-383.
Moore, C., Mosley, D., and Slagle., M. (1992) Partnering:
Guidelines for Win-Win Project Management. Project
Management Journal. Vol 23(1), pp18-21.
Peurifoy, R.L and Ledbetter, W.B. (1985) Construction Planning and
Equipment & Methods, 4ed. McGrawHill, Singapore.
Constructability in Construction 17
2
CONSTRUCTABILITY IN
CONSTRUCTION
Rosli Mohamad Zin
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Constructability is the extent to which the design of a building

facilitates ease of construction subject, to the overall requirements
for the completed building CIRIA (1983). The studies by the
Construction Industry Institute (CII) in the US and others have
demonstrated that improved constructability has lead to better
project performance (Gray, 1983; O’Connor, 1984; CII, 1986;
Russel, 1993; O’Connor, 1993). Constructability problems are
more prevalent in the traditional contracting system where the
design is separated from the construction. Preliminary interviews
with a few project owners in the Malaysian construction industry
revealed that more than half of projects that had been tendered out
in the last five years used this type of contracting system Rosli
Mohamad Zin et al. (2002). Due to the nature of traditional
contracting system the separation of design and construction has
created divisions. A lot of problems arise during construction
where buildings or facilities could not be built as planned or
designed, or could not be constructed efficiently. It is common that
construction projects exceeded budget and schedule.
2.2 DESIGN-RELATED PROBLEMS IN

CONSTRUCTION
Design-related problem has been identified as one of the common

issue in construction projects (Jergeas, 1989; Nima, 2001). Design-
related problems are the results of lack of construction input during
the design process. In the context of this study the design-related
problems are problems that are occurring during construction but
origin of which can be traced back to the design process (Rosli
Mohamad Zin et al., 2002). In an article ‘The Constructability
Review Process: A Constructor’s Perspective’ (Mandelsohn,
1997), the author highlighted that 75% problems in the field are
generated during the design phase. Kirby (1987) on the other hand
reported that design deficiencies are the major cause of contract
modifications. This is in line with the findings of Jergeas (1989),
Adams (1989), Alshawi (1994), and Griffith (1995) that some
building designs are inherently inefficient. Table 2.1 provides
information on the types of design-related problems that are
common in construction projects
2.3 QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY ON THE DESIGN-

RELATED PROBLEMS IN CONSTRUCTION
In order to determine the degree of occurrence of design-related

problems in construction a questionnaire survey was conducted.
The respondents were engineers and architects working with
owners, consultants and contractors. The questionnaire form has
been designed into two parts. The first part consisted of requests
for relevant personal data about the respondent such as name of
company that the respondent works for, type of works perform,
years of experience etc. The second part consisted of 14 Likert-
type five-scale questions each represent one design-related
problems in construction (refer to section 2.0) and each requiring
one choice response of Frequent, Often, Sometimes, Seldom, and
Not Occurring. This part was formulated to collect information

regarding the level of occurrence of the design-related problems in
construction.
2.3.1 Data Analysis

For the purposes of analysis of data collected through the closed
questionnaire, the researcher used the Statistical Package for Social
Science (SPSS), version 7.5. The following statistical methods
have been used for data analysis.
• Frequency Analysis and Average Index
• Kruskall-Wallis Analysis of Variance Test
In analysing the data, the following assumed values have been
considered for responses on the degree of occurrence of design-
related problems:
• Frequent =1
• Often =2
• Sometimes =3
• Seldom =4
• Not Occurring =5
:
Table 2.1 Types of design-related problems in building construction
Lack of consideration to the impact of

*
weather
Lack of consideration to storage
*
needs
Lack of consideration to problem of
*
traffic control
Lack of consideration to existing
Design-related problems
*
Issues in Construction Industry
utilities, right of way and drainage

Unavailability of designed materials,
*
equipment or manpower
Poor techniques/sequence of
construction forced upon by the
*
design
Lack of consideration to accessibility
*
*
needs
*
*
Improper construction tolerance
*
*
Unpractical design details
*
Lack of standardisationn
*
Poor design information
*
Incomplete design details
*
Unsafe design
*
Complex design
Rowing and
Navon et al.
Alshawi and
Fisher and
Ghanah et
O’Connor et
Tatum et al.
Griffith and
King (1987)
Underwood
References
al. (1987)
al. (2000)
Ferguson
Sidwell
Jargeas
Adams
Kasper
CIRIA
(1983)
(1985)
(1986)
(1989)
(1989)
(1989)
(1994)
(1991)
(1995)
(1996)
(2000)
Rajan
Anon
20
2.3.2 Average Index

The data collected on the degree of occurrence of design-related
problems were tabulated based on the number of response for each
category of degree of importance. Based on the frequency analyses
the average index was then calculated to determine the ranking of
each constructability principles being considered.
The average index is calculated as follow (Al-Hammad

1996; Abd. Majid 1997):
Average Index = ∑ ai xi
∑ xi
Where, ai = constant expressing the weight given to i
x = variable expressing the frequency of response for i =

1,2,3,4,5
Based on the assumed values stated earlier, x1 = frequency

of the “frequent” and corresponding to a1 = 1, x2 = frequency of
the “often” and corresponding to a2 = 2, x3 = frequency of the
“sometimes” and corresponding to a3 = 3, x4 = frequency of the
“seldom” and corresponding to a4 = 4, and x5 = frequency of the
“not occurring” and corresponding to a5 = 5.
In order to determine the degree of occurrence of design-
related problems considered in this study the classification of the
rating scales proposed by Abd. Majid (1997) have been used. The
classifications of the rating scales are as follows:
Frequent 0.00 < Average Index < 1.50

Often 1.50 ≤ Average Index < 2.50
Sometimes 2.50 ≤ Average Index < 3.50
Seldom 3.50 ≤ Average Index < 4.50
Not Occurring 4.50 ≤ Average Index < 5.00
2.3.3 Analysis of Variance (Kruskall-Wallis One-way Analysis of

Variance)
To test the significance of the differences of the ratings of the
degree of occurrence of design-related problems among the
samples the Kruskall-Wallis technique for analysis of variance,
which is a non-parametric test has been used. The Kruskall-Wallis
analysis of variance tests the null hypothesis that K (three or more)
groups of independent samples do not differ in term of rating of the
degree of occurrence of design-related problems. The significance
of H can be tested by measuring the probability of occurrence of
any value as large as observed value of H using the Chi-square
statistics. According to Chi-square statistics, the region of rejection
of null hypothesis consist all values of H, which are so large that
the probability associated with their occurrence under null
hypothesis is equal to or less than the set level of significance
(0.05). In other words it can be said that if the obtained value of
significance is greater than the 0.05 set level of significance, then
the null hypothesis is accepted. The interpretation is that there is no
significant difference of ratings among the K independent groups.
2.4 RESULTS
All together, 75 engineers and architects from various companies

and organizations were contacted. 32 responded fully to
questionnaire, giving a 42.7 percent of response rate. The
characteristics of the respondents in term of type of companies,
type of projects, specialisations, design experience and
construction experience are given in Table 2,2 to 2.6
Table 2.2: Statistical results for the respondents’ type of companies
Frequency
Percentage
Percentage
Valid
Percentage
Cumulative
Owner 9 28.1 28.1 28.1
Consultant 4 12.5 12.5 40.6
Contractor 19 59.4 59.4 100.0
Total 32 100.0 100.0
Table 2.3: Statistical results for the respondents’ type of projects

Frequency
Percentage
Percentage
Valid
Percentage
Cumulative
Buildings 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Highways 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0
Others 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0
Total 32 100.0 100.0
Table 2.4: Statistical results for the respondents’ type of specialisation
Frequency
Percentage
Percentage
Valid
Percentage
Cumulative
Architects 12 37.5 37.5 37.5
Engineers 20 62.5 62.5 100.0
Total 32 100.0 100.0
Table 2.5 Statistical results for the respondents’ design experience

Frequency
Percentage
Percentage
Valid
Percentage
Cumulative
0-5 years 19 59.4 59.4 59.4
6-10 years 12 37.5 37.5 96.9
> 10 years 1 3.1 3.1 100.0
Total 32 100.0 100.0
Table 2.6: Statistical results for the respondents’ construction experience
Frequency
Percentage
Percentage
Valid
Percentage
Cumulative
0-5 years 16 50.0 50.0 50.0
6-10 years 14 43.8 43.8 93.8
> 10 years 2 6.3 6.3 100.0
Total 32 100.0 100.0
Fieldwork data, which were obtained from the survey exercise

were analysed according to the respondents’ type of companies,
type of projects, specialisations, design experience and
construction experience. However, only the statistical analysis
based on the type of companies is presented here. The results of
the survey are shown in Table 2.7, which include the average
indices of the ratings of the three major parties, viz. the owner,
contractor and consultant along with the variance between their
ratings (Kruskall-Wallis ANOVA). The average indices of all
design-related problems are less than 3.50, which show that all
design-related problems exist during construction. The variability
of the average index values shows that these problems are
occurring at varying degree of occurrence. To check that there is
no significant difference between the ratings of the three different
construction parties, the Kruskall-Wallis ANOVA test was
conducted. The results (sifnificance) of this test show that three
design-related problems have ‘significance’ value of less than 0.05.
It therefore can be concluded that other than these three problems
there are no significant differences of ratings on the degree of
occurrence of design-related problems among the three major
construction parties.
Table 2.7: The Response of overall respondents for each design-related

problems
Average Indices (Owner)
Average Indices (Contractor)
Average Indices (Consultant)
(H)
Kruskall‐Wallis Significance
No. DESIGN-RELATED
PROBLEMS
1 Complex design 2.78 2.89 1.75 0.02

2 Unsafe design 3.22 3.42 2.75 0.188
3 Incomplete design 1.78 2.58 2.25 0.096
4 Poor quality of design 1.67 2.05 1.75 0.541
information
5 Unpractical design details 1.78 2.52 3.00 0.003
Lack of consideration to:
6 Standardisation/repetition 2.22 2.68 2.75 0.182
7 Construction tolerance 2.56 2.26 3.00 0.095
8 Accessibility needs 2.22 2.57 2.00 0.242
9 Material, labour or equipment 2.11 2.42 2.75 0.190
availability
10 Sequence of construction 2.33 2.52 2.75 0.468
11 Existing utilities or right of way 2.00 2.36 2.50 0.417
12 Traffic control requirement 1.89 2.78 2.00 0.006
13 Storage requirement 2.78 2.78 2.25 0.533
14 Impact of weather 2.22 2.52 1.75 0.382
Note: degree of occurrence 1=frequent; 2=often; 3=sometimes; 4=seldom; 5=not

occurring
2.5 DISCUSSION
In the questionnaire survey the design-related problems gathered
through literature were used to test the degree of occurrence of
those problems among architects/engineers in the Malaysian
construction industry. The results obtained indicate that there is not
much difference in term of ratings of the degree of occurrence of
design-related problems regardless of the respondents’
characteristics i.e. type of companies, specialisations, design
experience and construction experience. Survey results confirmed
that the design-related problems exist during construction but at
varying degree of occurrence. In section 2.0 it was highlighted that
these problems are encountered during construction but the origin
of which can be traced back to the design process. These problems
arise due to poor constructability consideration during the design
works. In order to improve design constructability, certain
requirements must be achieved. Researchers used various terms
for those requirements such as constructability concepts,
constructability principles, constructability commandments, or
constructability improvement types. Nevertheless, “constructability
principles” has been used quite widely among researchers. The
constructability principles should be considered or applied by the
designers during the design works. The followings are eighteen
principles of constructability that are applicable at the design stage
(CIRIA 1983; Tatum et al. 1985; CII 1986; O’Connors et al. 1987,
Adams 1989; Griffith and Sidwell 1995):
1. Design for Minimum Time Below Ground

Constructability is improved when the design minimise work
below ground. According to Adams (1989), the application of this
principle is important especially when the ground is hazardous,
poor or wet. In those conditions the speed and flow of the project
can be increased when less work are carried out below ground.
2. Design for Simple Assembly

Constructability is improved when designs are simplified and
configured to enable efficient construction. Adams (1989)
mentioned that designer should produce the simplest possible
details compatible with the overall requirements for the building,
particular element, or group of elements. This opens the way to
efficient, defect-free work that will satisfactorily perform its end
function.
3. Encourage Standardisation/Repetition
Constructability is improved when standardisation and repetition
of design elements are maximised. The design of building elements
should encourage appropriate repetition and standardisation, so as
to reduce learning time and speed of construction. Many
construction project elements have potential for standardisation.
Building systems, material types, construction details, dimensions,
and elevations are examples of project elements that may be
standardised for increased field efficiency.
4. Design for Preassembly or Modularisation

Consructability is improved when preassembly work is scoped and
module/preassembly designs are prepared to facilitate fabrication,
transport, and installation. The scoping of preassembly/module
work should also occur early, preferably during the engineering
phase. The scoping of preassembly/module work is the
identification of project components that may be beneficially
constructed or fabricated away from the final workface.
5. Analyse Accessibility of the Jobsite

Consructability is improved when the accessibility needs of
manpower, material and equipment are reflected in the detailed
designs. The effect of accessibility can sometimes be quite serious
such as delay in progress, slowed productivity and increased
damaged to completed works.
6. Employ Any Visualisation Tools to Avoid Physical Interference

Consructability is improved when visualisation tools are employed
to visualise any possibility of physical interference during
construction. Visualisation could improve collaboration between
site and design teams in solving constructability problems that may
arise during construction. Ghanah et al. (2000) highlighted that
computer visualisation allows investigations to iron out difficulties
that may occur before construction commences on site.
7. Investigate Any Unsuspected Unrealistic or Incompatible

Tolerances
Consructability is improved when the design for building assembly
observe the tolerances which are normally achievable in site
conditions, making allowances for the differences between fine
factory tolerances and those of normal site construction. Particular
attention should be given to the problems of fit, which occur at the
interfaces between different products, methods of construction,
materials and method of manufacture.
8. Investigate the Practical Sequence of Construction

Consructability is improved when adequate consideration of
practical sequence of construction is given during design. The
method of construction of project should encourage the most
effective sequence of building operations. Simple sequences enable
each operation to be completed independently and without
interruption. The sequence should assist the coordination of trades
and minimised delay.
9. Plan to Avoid Damage to Work by Subsequent Operations

Consructability is improved when the damage to work by
subsequent operations is considered. The design should enable
work to be carried out in a workmanlike manner without risk of
damage to adjacent finished elements and with minimum
requirement for special protection.
10. Consider Storage Requirement at the Jobsite

Consructability is improved when storage requirement is adequately considered.
Consideration should be given during the design stage to the location of material
storage and unloading facilities, the space occupied by shoring, scaffolding,
formwork, and plant. Their efficient location and distribution is necessary for
good constructability.
11. Investigate the Impacts of Design on Safety During

Construction
Consructability is improved when the impact of design on safety
during construction is adequately considered. The design produced
by the designers should enable the contractor to carry out their
works in a safe like manner. The design should be arranged so as
to facilitate safe working in works such as foundation and earth
works, when materials and components are being handled, and
wherever traversing for access is necessary.
13. Design to Avoid Return Visit by Trade

Consructability is improved when the design enable a trade or
spcialism to complete all its work at a work place with as few
return visit as possible.
14. Design for the Skills and Resources Available

Consructability is improved when the technology of the design
solution matched with the skills and resources available. With
regard to this constructability concept Adams (1989) highlighted
that any design is only good as skills available to execute it, either
off-site or on-site. Labour and skills requirements vary between
one project to another, between one locality to another. Design

must include a realistic assessment of the level of skill likely to be
available from appropriately chosen contractors and specialists.
15. Consider Suitability of Designed Materials

Consructability is improved when suitable and robust materials are
used. According to Adams (1989), products and materials should
be selected with care, particularly, any which have not long been
established and accepted within the industry. They should be
proven to be suitable for the use for which they are selected.
16. Provide Detail and Clear Design Information

Consructability is improved when thorough and clear presentation
of design information before the start of construction. Sufficient
time and resources must be allowed for this in design budget.
Complete project information should be planned and coordinated
to suit the construction process and to facilitate the best possible
communication and understanding on site.
17. Design for Early Enclosure

Consructability is improved when the design enables early
enclosure of the constructed building. CIRIA (1983) suggests that
the construction and detailing of a building shell, including the
roof (whether framed or load bearing construction), should
facilitate the enclosure of the building at the earliest possible stage.
Following operations can then commence early in the programme,
and they can be carried out without hindrance from weather.
18. Consider Adverse Weather Effect in Selecting Materials or

Construction Methods
Consructability is improved when the effect of adverse weather is
considered. Project constructed in localities where weather
conditions are adverse presents a great challenge to both the
designer and the contractor. Designers should investigate ways in
which the exposure to temperatures extreme and the effects of rain
may be minimised.
2.5 CONCLUSIONS
Design-related problems are common issue in the construction
industry especially among contractors. The impact of design-
related problems can sometimes be quite significant to project
performance. Quite often projects are delayed or costs are
increased as a result of poor design solutions produced by the
designers. This study identified fourteen types of design-related
problems that are common in the local construction projects. It is
recommended that constructability should be properly
implemented at the design stage in order to minimise the design-
related problems.
REFERENCES
Abd. Majid, Muhd Zaimi. 1997. Non-excusable Delays in

Constructions. Ph.D. Thesis. Loughbrough University of
Technology, UK.
Adams, S. Practical Buildability. CIRIA Building Design Report.
London: Butterworths.
Al-Hammad, A-mohsen and Assaf, S. 1996. Assessment of Work
Performance of Maintenance Contractors In Saudi Arabia.
Journal of Management in Engineering. ASCE, 16(1).
Alshawi, M. and Underwood, J. 1994. A Process and Object
Oriented Analysis to Integrate Design and Construction.
Proceedings of CIB W78 Workshop on Computer Integrated
Construction. Helsinki, Finland, 22-24 August.
Anon. 1996. Can Your Design Be Built?. Civil Engineering.
ASCE, 49-53.
CII. 1986. Constructability – A Primer. Publication 3-1,
Construction Industry Institute. Austin, Texas.
CIRIA. 1983. Buildability: An Assessment. CIRIA Special
Publication 26.
Ferguson, I. 1989. Buildability in Practice. 1st. Edition.
London:Mitchell’s Professional Library.
Fisher, D.J. and Rajan, N. 1996. Automated Constructability

Analysis of Work-zone Traffic-control Planning. Journal of
Construction Engineering and Management. ASCE, 122(1).
Ghanah, A., Anumba, C. and Bouchlaghem, N. 2000. The Use of
Visualisation to Communicate Information to Construction
Sites, Proceedings of ARCOM 16th. Annual Conference, 6-8
Sept.
Griffith, A and Sidewell, T. 1995. Constructability in Building and
Engineering Projects. London:Mac Millan Press Ltd.
Gray, C. 1983. Buildability – the Construction Contribution.
Occasional Paper 29. The Chartered Institute of Building
(CIOB). Ascot.
Jergeas, G.F. 1989. Detailed Design and Constructability. Ph.D.
Thesis. Dept. of Civil Eng. Loughbrough University, UK.
King, R. 1987. Design Plans for Constructability. Journal of
Construction Engineering and Management. ASCE, 113(1)
Kirby, G..J., Douglas, A.F. and Donald, K.H. 1987. Improvements
in Design Review Management. Journal of Construction
Engineering and Management. ASCE, 114(1).
Mandelsohn, R. 1997. The Constructability Review Process: A
Constructor’s Perspective. Journal of Management in
Engineering. ASCE, 13(3).
Navon, R., Shapira, A. and Shechori, Y. 2000. Automated Rebar
Constructability Diagnosis. Journal of Construction
Engineering and Management. ASCE, 126(5).
Nima, A.N. 2001. Constructability Factors in the Malaysian
Construction Industry. Ph.D. Thesis. Faculty of Engineering,
UPM.
O’Connor, J.T. 1984. Impacts of Constructability Improvement.
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management. ASCE,
111(4).
O’Connor J.T., Rusch, S.E. and Schulz, M.J. 1987.
Constructability Concepts for Engineering and Procurement.
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management. ASCE,
113(2).
O’Connor, J.T. and Miller, S.J. 1993. Constructability: Program
Assessment and Barriers to Implementatio. A Report to

Construction Industry Institute. Austin, Texas.
Rosli Mohamad Zin, Che Wan Fadhil Che Wan Putra and Muhd.
Zaimi Abd. Majid. 2001. Constructability Improvement of
Project Designs. Proceedings of National Seminar on Civil
Engineering (AWAM 2001). Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau
Pinang. 5-7 February.
Rowings, J.E.J. and Kasper, S.L. 1991. Constructability of Cable-
Stayed Bridges. Journal of Construction Engineering and
Management. ASCE, 117(2).
Russell, J.S., Gugel, J.G. and Radke M.W. 1993. Benefits and
Costs of Constructability: Four Case Studies. Report 109.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison. Wisconsin.
Siegel. S. 1988. Nonparametric Statistics for Behavioral Science.
London:McGraw Hill.
Tatum, C.B., Vanegas, J.A., and Williams, J.M. 1985.
Constructability Improvement Using Prefabricated.,
Preassembly, and Modularisation. Technical Report No. 297.
Dept. of Civil Engineering. University of Stanford, CA.
Eco-Costs of Sustainable Construction Waste Management 35
3
ECO-COSTS OF SUSTAINABLE
CONSTRUCTION WASTE
MANAGEMENT IN MALAYSIA
Khairulzan Yahya
A. Halim Boussabaine
Zaiton Haron
Rozana Zakaria
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Sustainable development is a development that taken the issue of
environment as a priority besides on making whatever planning
into reality. One of the key themes of 'sustainable development' is
managing a waste (Williams, 1998). Sustainable waste
management encourages the generation of less waste, the re-use,
recycling and recovery of waste that is produced. Farmoso et al.
(1999) defines waste as any losses produced by activities that
generate direct or indirect costs but do not add any value to the
product from the point of view of the client. While Symond (1999)
define wastes as any substance or object, which the holder discards
or intends, or is required, to discard. Construction activity requires
and consumes a large amount of natural resources. Beside of
negative impact to the environment due to depletion of natural
resources, it may increases the amount of waste and pollution if no
measurement to tackle the problem is taken. In Malaysia, the
construction waste has cause a significant impact on the
environmental and also increasing the concern of the society
(Beguma, Siwar et al. 2006). Hence, this paper, review
construction waste minimisation strategies, addresses the issues
that are attributed to construction waste management and presents
an integrated approach to whole life cycle management of

construction waste. Finally, an attempt is made to model the eco-
costs associated with construction waste.
3.2 WASTE MINIMISATION STRATEGY
European Environment Agency, EEA (2002) defined waste

minimisation as broader term which includes; prevention,
reduction of source, reuse of product, quality improvement and
recycling. The idea of 'sustainable development' has been
incorporated into the themes of the Waste Strategy 2000 for
England & Wales. This requires countries within the EU to give
careful consideration to the environmental impacts of waste
disposal. Many countries, especially in the EU have implemented
the 'waste management hierarchy' which includes the processes of
waste management such as reduction, re-use, recycling and
recovery, in that order of priority as shown in Figure 3.1.
REDUCTION
REUSE
RECOVERY
DISPOSAL
Figure 3.1: Triangle of ‘waste management hierarchy’
The top priority is to reduce the quantity of waste produced,

followed by the delaying the material from entering the waste
stream. The next step is recovery, includes composting, recycling
and energy recovery. The least desirable option for waste
management is disposal to landfill or incineration. The challenge
now is to move the management of waste further up the waste
hierarchy in their areas.
The Minister of Housing and Local Government of Malaysia

stated that The National Strategic Plan for Solid Waste
Management has set a broad direction on the integrated waste
management of the country. It has pointed out the need for a
master plan on waste minimisation to provide a framework and
action plan for the Ministry and stakeholders to implement waste
minimisation and 3R activities (reduce, reuse and recycle). Under
the National Strategic Plan for Solid Waste Management, the
Government intends to achieve a recycling rate of 22% by the year
of 2020 (KPKT, 2006)
3.3 WASTE AND THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
As a developing country, construction is one of the most active

industries in Malaysia. Although this industry brings a lot of
advantages to the country such as creating more job opportunities
and brings a healthy economic growth, but there are some issues
that need attention from the public as well. Due to these activities,
a large amount of construction waste is being produced by this
industry. This waste produced from the construction and
demolition (C&D) has been a serious issue related to
environmental in many large cities in the world (Beguma, Siwar et
al. 2006). Lau, Whyte et al. (2008) and Beguma, Siwar et al.
(2006) have summarised that the construction material waste in
Malaysia mainly consist of concrete materials, aggregates, soil and
sand, wooden materials, bricks and blocks, metal products, roofing
materials, plastics, and others.
In general all construction activities that produce cost whether

direct or indirect, but do not add value or progress to product can
be called waste (Serpell and Alarcon,1998). In construction
industry, waste may arise from any activity or process from one or
more of the following (Wyatt, 1974); manufacturer, designer,
construction process and client (the use of building). Gavi1an and
Berno1d (1994) and Craven et.a1 (1994) described the main causes
of the waste generation which among other including error in
contract document, changes to design, ordering error, accident,
lack of site control and lack of waste management, damage during
transportation and off cuts from cutting materials to length.
However, Chen et al. (2002) emphasised that construction waste is
still beyond controlled because of these three factors, construction
firms reluctant to adopt low-waste technique as it is expensive to
use; design coordination has a major impact of waste generation;
on-site construction waste. In the handling and distribution of
components from the manufacturer or supplier to site, potential of
loss or damage the materials may not be able to avoid.
Figure 3.2 shows the life cycle of construction and demolition

(C&D) waste. As can be from Fig. 3.2 that the life cycle of waste
management process starts at a very early stage of construction
material manufacturing, followed by design specification that
minimise waste, at this stage all necessary actions should be taken
to design out waste from the construction process. The following
stages are concerned with waste strategies at construction and
operation phases. The following sub sections will describe waste
life cycle components in detail.
3.3.1 Manufacturing Waste

Manufacturing waste is classified as an unavoidable nature of
waste, arising from a range of sizes and shape of material and
component. The sizes and shape is according to requirement of the
designer and construction practice on site. Ideally, unavoidable
waste arises from the factor outside the control of the parties
involved in construction. Waste from manufacturing sector occurs
mostly at offsite construction. Wyatt (1974) classified waste
generated from this sector at two levels: in manufacturing process
from the winning or extracting of raw material through to the

processing of material for use; in the production processes of the
manufacture of a component in the factory environment. The
amount of wastes at manufacturing stage is significant. For
example, timber-manufacturing facilities generate large amounts of
wood residues as a by-product of processing round logs into square
and rectangular shaped timber products. Material like steel and
copper are originating from ores, requires extraction process
during manufacturing stages. Manufacturing may have undesirable
side effects such as emission of pollutants into the atmosphere and
waterways. In addition, embodied energy is used in the
manufacture of materials and other environmental impacts, such as
natural habitat destruction. (Treloar et al. 2003).
Winning of raw
recycling
Recyling to Manufacturing
other dispose
Recycling to
manufacturing Designer
industry recycling
Recyling to Construction
other dispos
Recycling to
Client (use of
construction
b ildi / ti
Recyling to Demolition
other dispose
Figure 3.2: Life cycle of construction and demolition

(C&D) waste [Adopted from Treloar et al. (2003)]
3.3.2 Design Waste
Design and specification stage would contribute to the rising of
waste onsite. Skoyle and Skoyle (1987) had classified waste at this
stage as a direct waste. Direct wastes will generate direct costs.
Direct costs are defined cost that gives direct impact on the
construction process (McGrath and Anderson, 2000). In adequate
consideration at design stage may lead to various level of waste;
excessive cutting, rejection of poor quality materials, excessive
excavation and many more. This was also identified as one of the
factors influencing generating of waste onsite.
3.3.3 Construction Process

Material waste in construction process comes from many different
sources and can be classified into several categories. Poor
management on handling material may lead to loss by spoiling the
material. Lack of material control could also cause of waste due to
theft and vandalism. Some researchers have also identified faulty
conversion of unit as a cause of waste onsite. For example,
measuring unit use during design stage has to be converted to the
unit use onsite; i.e. m3 to tonnes. Failure to protect items when
installed and un-necessary cutting instead of looking for suitable
available was also identified as a main source of waste. When
working with the material usually in the form of bulk materials,
working to incorrect dimension has been identified as waste.
Excessive excavation may lead to materials to be removed and
possibly backfill. The total amount of waste that builds up on a site
is significant in real phenomena and it cost a lot of money to
dispose.
Construction wastes are also relates to all types of generated

wastes from the construction, remodelling and repairing of
individual residences, commercial buildings, and other civil
engineering structures. Though it seems that construction waste
makes a smaller contribution to the generation of C&D waste it an
important to quantify and analyse despite the lower volumes in
comparison with demolition waste. Some construction sites take
the simplest way of disposal of material e.g. timber, plywood and
such like, by burning on site. Even in practice, some authorities

has given permission to allow burning activities, provided that
dark smoke does not arise, but it still may harm the environment
surrounding the area as burning releases some toxic gases into the
atmosphere. This could also cause depletion to the natural
resources.
3.3.4 Demolition Waste

Any wastes from razed buildings are normally defined as
demolition wastes (Spivey, 1974; Oglesby et al., 1989; Spencer,
1989, 1990; Apotheker, 1990; Kalin, 1991; Wood, 1992; Gavilan
and Bernold, 1994; Huang et al., 2002). C&D activity is one of the
major wastes contributors to the landfill site. It has been classified
as one of the major types of waste in the European Waste
Catalogue (EWC). European Environment Agency (EEA) has
stated that total waste generation by European Union countries is
about 1300 million tonnes per year where, C&D and
manufacturing industries generate half of total waste (EEA, 2001).
Research figures shows by Boussink and Browers (1996) indicate
that the weight of the generated demolition waste is more than
twice the weight of the generated construction waste.
3.4 A FRAMEWORK FOR SUSTAINABLE

CONSTRUCTION WASTE MANAGEMENT
The construction activities are closely related to the amount of
waste generated (Poon, 2003). Environmental cost relating
environmental impacts of waste from construction is one of the
important issues in whole life cycle costing. The philosophy of
construction waste management consists of five important
elements that are closely related amongst each other. All these
elements fall into the whole life cycle risk management category,
where risk management is a part of the techniques used nowadays
to assist decision maker in evaluating whole life alternatives in
order to maximise the investment success in building asset.

Hence, the study will propose a framework on the construction
waste management that will be implemented into the construction
project at the construction stage as shown in Figure 3.3 The
framework consists of the following components:
3.4.1 Identification of Construction Waste Management

Processes
The process begins with identification of the operations or
activities that involved in the typical construction processes.
Ideally, the best example of construction process is building
construction. Building construction involves many activities that
could also involve many parties like main contractor, sub-
contractor and statutory undertakers. Activities may broadly group
as: site preparation, road and sewer; substructure work;
superstructure; internal carcassing and service installation;
finishing; energising phase prior to handling; landscaping and
completion of external works.
Risk
Cost Process
Construction
Waste
Management Policy
Impact
Technology
Risk
Figure 3.3: A framework for construction waste management

3.4.2 Investigation of Waste Management Policies

At this stage, investigation will be made to identify current policy
on handling the waste especially with respect of construction
activities. In-deep review of policy taken by the respective parties
in some countries will be made including in the aspect of
conserving landfill space from construction and demolition (C&D)
waste, encourage to adopt waste sorting before disposal, economic
incentive on which a landfill charging system, introduction of
preparation a waste plan during the bidding process, it could
evaluate how each bidder would approach the management of
waste, before any waste is generated or any waste removal occurs.
Investigation on the strategy taken by some governments will be
made in order to compare and broaden the idea on how tackle
waste. For example, the Waste Strategy 2000 for England & Wales
describes the policies concerning the recovery and disposal of
waste. These policies are a requirement of all countries in the
European Union (EU).
3.4.3 Construction Waste Management Technologies

The choice of the most suitable technologies of dealing with waste
is among a major planning problem. Generally, many technologies
that are either currently available or have been proposed for the
reclamation, treatment, or disposal of solid wastes are here
rationalized under a number of headings, namely: recycle and
reuse, landfill, transfer or treatment prior to landfill, incineration.
3.4.4 Determination of Environmental Impact of

Construction Waste
Major potential sources of pollution from construction process are;
waste materials, emissions from vehicles, noise and releases of
contaminants to atmosphere, ground and water. Though it seems
that construction waste makes a smaller contribution to the

generation of C&D waste than demolition waste, this research
focuses on construction waste. Construction waste is an important
topic to quantify and analyse despite the lower volumes in
comparison with demolition waste, because; construction waste is
more difficult to recycle due to high levels of contamination and a
large degree of heterogeneity, prevention of construction waste is
preferable to recycling of demolition waste "at the end of the
pipeline", construction waste contains a relative big amount of
chemical waste, a cost reduction caused by preventing the
generation of construction waste is of direct benefit for most of the
participants that work on a construction project (Brooks et al.
1994).
3.4.5 Ecological Costing Of Construction Waste

Management
The combination of rising waste, environmental cost, emission and
reduction of resource etc. has created an interest in eco-costs of
asset ownership. The ecological cost includes the direct and
indirect environmental cost of construction process, which
includes pollutant and impact output from construction process.
Eco-costs of construction process will include the following
stages: building production cost of energy, packaging, transport,
waste and emissions; eco-costs at construction stage, due to the
resources expanded in the building process, transport and waste;
eco-costs at reuse, recycling and disposal stage.
3.4.6 Conceptual Eco-Costs in Construction Process

Construction is a unique process. Different types of construction
involve different type of activities. Each activity requires many
types of resources; from materials, labour, time, cost capital etc. In
construction stage, whether in the form of indirect or direct,
negatives impact on environment will occur. One important
element that should be considered in order to assist decision
makers in the building industry is the environmental cost or the
eco-costs of construction wastes. Each of these elements has it own
cost break down that contributes toward the main heading of cost
structure of the eco-costs. The identification of these elements of
each category will help to clarify the specific cost related to the
environment during the construction stage.
The cost structure of the eco-costs of construction waste at the
construction stage includes [Adopted from Senthil Kumaran, D et
al. (2000)]:
Cwc = Σ Cost of waste control
Cwt = Σ Cost of waste treatment
Crr = Σ Cost of recycling and reuse
Cwd = Σ Cost of waste disposal
Cr = Σ Cost of rehabilitation
Ci = Σ Cost of impact
Cep = Σ Cost of eco policy; taxes and levy
Ce = Σ Cost of energy
The eco-costs breakdowns of each variable are as follows:
Σ Cost of waste control, Cwc = Cwc1 + Cwc2 + Cwc3 (1)
Where,
Cwc1 = cost of waste control system implementation
Cwc2 = cost of waste control system operation
Cwc3 = cost of waste control system maintenance
Σ Cost of waste treatment, Cwt = Cwt1 + Cwt2 + Cwt3 (2)

Where,
Cwt1 = cost of waste treatment system implementation
Cwt2 = cost of waste treatment system operation

Cwt3 = cost of waste treatment system maintenance
Σ Cost saving of recycling and reuse, Crr = Crr1– (Crr2+ Crr3) (3)
Where,
Crr1 = cost of implementation/operation
Crr2 = cost of saving of recycling strategies
Crr3 = cost of saving of reuse strategies
Σ Cost of waste disposal, Cwd = Cwd1 + Cwd2 + Cwd3 (4)

Where,
Cwt1 = cost of waste collection
Cwt2 = cost of waste transportation
Cwt3 = cost of waste landfill or incineration
Σ Cost of impact, Cr = Cr1 + Cr2 (5)

Where,
Cr1 = cost of all damage like accident, health disorder
Cr2 = cost of production losses caused by the damage
Σ Cost of eco policy, Cep, = any cost involving to taxes, levy,

penalties etc. (6)
Σ Cost of energy, Ce = Σ Cei, , i = 1 to n (energy consumption and

production) (7)
The cost breakdowns of eco-costs for construction waste during

construction stage are base on the following simple eco-costs
algorithm:
Total of Eco-costs =
Cwc + Cwt + Cwd + Cep + Ce + Crr + Ct + Ci + Cr (8)
The above modeling attempt will be further developed and

refined to include all the elements related to eco- impacts that are
related to construction waste. It is anticipated that a format will be
developed for quantifying all the construction eco-costs attributes.

This format will be submitted to all construction waste
stakeholders for comments and data gathering.
3.5 CONCLUSION
The research is part of contribution in construction industry
towards sustainable development in Malaysia. The research aims is
to develop a sustainable waste quantification eco-costs model
based on empirical study approach in construction stage. The
implementation of the above eco-costs algorithm will be made in
each of the activities during the construction processes. Based on
literature review and it is shown that data availability on material
waste in building industry in Malaysia was relatively scarce and
most of the current research focused fairly limited number of
material in a few construction sites. Past research shows that,
construction waste management area has a broad and unique
problem to be solved in order to make our development sustainable
in the future.
REFERENCES:
Alfredo Serpell and Luis Fernando Alarcon (1998), Construction
Process Improvement Methodology for Construction Projects,
International Journal of Project Management, Vol 16 No.4, pp
215-221, Pergamon.
Beguma, R. A., C. Siwar, et al. (2006). "A Benefit-Cost Analysis
On The Economic Feasibility of Construction Waste
Minimisation: The Case Of Malaysia." Resources,
Conservation and Recycling 48: 86-98.
Bossink, B.A.G., and Brouwers, H.J.H. (1996), “Construction
Waste: Quantification and Source Evaluation”, J. Constr. Eng.
Management, 122(1), pp 55-60
Carlos Torres Farmoso, Eduardo Luis Isatto and Ercillia Hitomi
Hirota (1999), Method for Waste Control in the Building

Industry, Proceeding IGLC-7, University of California, USA
Chi S. Poon, Ann T.W. Yu and L.H. Ng (2003), Comparison of
Low-waste Building Technologies Adopted in Public and
Private Housing Projects in Hong Kong, Journal of
Engineering Construction and Architectural Management, Vol.
10 No.2 pp.88-98, Emerald.
Clodagh McGrath and Malcom Anderson, Waste Minimisation on
a Construction Site, BRE Digest, Digest 447, BRE Centre for
Waste and Recycling.
Craven, D. J.Okraglik. H. M., and Eilenberg, M. (1994).
"Construction waste and a new design methodology.’
Sustainable construction ( Proc 1st Conf. of CIB 16). C. J.
Kibert, 00, 89-98.
David Paul Wyatt (1974), An Investigation Into Material Waste in
House Construction, MPhil Thesis, University of Salford.
DETR (2000a),Waste Strategy 2000 England and Wales (Part 1),
Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions,
London.
DETR (2000b), Building a Better Quality of Life – A Strategy for
more Sustainable Construction, Department of Environment,
Transport and the Regions, London.
European Environment Agency, (2001)
http://themes.eea.eu.int/Environmental_issues/indicators/gener
ation/w1_total_waste.pdf, visited on 8/4/2003
Gavi1an, R.M. and Berno1d, L.E. (1994), “Source of Evaluation of
Solid Waste in Building Construction”, J. Constr. Eng.
Management, 120(3), pp536-552
Graham J. Treloar, Hani Gupta, Peter E.D. Love and Binh Nguyen
(2003), An Analysis of Factor Influencing Waste Minimisation
and Use of recycle Materials for the Construction of
Residential Buildings, Management of Environment Quality:
An International Journal, Vol.14 No.1, pp134-145, Emerald.
J.R Illingworth (1994), Construction Methods and Planning,
Chapman Hall
KPKT (2006), Ministry of Housing and Local Government,
http://aplikasi.kpkt.gov.my/ucapan.nsf/8521d968204e8b45482
5697400224ca6/f0039c303ee60fe7482571ab000de3c6?OpenD
ocument, visited on 30/12/2008
Lau, H. H., A. Whyte, et al. (2008). "Composition and
Characteristics of Construction Waste Generated by
Residential Housing Project." International Journal of
Environmental Research 2(3): 8
Senthil Kumaran. D, S. K. Ong and A. Y. C. Nee (2000), Tool to
Incorporate Environment Costs Into Life Cycle Assessment,
Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing Conference,
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. November 6-8, 2000.
Skoyles E.R. and Skoyles J.R. (1987), Waste Prevention on Site,
Mitchell, London.
Symonds Group Ltd, ARGUS, COWI and PRC Bouwcentrum
(1999), Construction and Demolition Waste Management
Practices, and their Economic Impact, Report to DGXI,
European Commission.
Wen-Ling Huang, Dung-Hung Lin, Ni-Bin Chang and Kuen-Song
Lin (2002), “ Recycling of construction and demolition waste
via a mechanical sorting process”, Journal of Resource,
Conservation and Recycling, Elsevier Science, 37, pp 23-37
Zhen Chen, Heng Li and Conrad T.C. Wong (2002), Journal of
Automation in Construction, Elsevier Science
240 Advances in Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering (2008)
4
CONSTRUCTION SITE NOISE
MODELLING USING STOCHASTIC
TECHNIQUES
Zaiton Haron
Khairulzan Yahya
David Oldham
4.1 INTRODUCTION
The prediction of noise arising from an construction activities
represents a problem when a number of different processes are
carried out at different times in the course of the working day.
These typically involve the use of powerful machines that have
correspondingly high sound power levels[1]. The nature of the
sources, coupled with the limited opportunities for the screening of
neighbouring sensitive locations from the noise generated, means
that complaints often arise from such activities. Problems can be
avoided if noise levels arising from these activities can be
controlled to comply with the noise limits specified by the local
authority at the planning stage. This requires the application of a
suitable noise prediction technique, however, the noise
experienced at a receiver is affected by factors such as movement
of machinery around the site, the operational characteristics of the
machinery, distance from the site, ground cover, screening and
meteorological conditions. At the planning stage the data regarding
these factor are very granular[2].
Current prediction procedures give the typical equivalent

noise level (Leq) corresponding to the working day. However, this
quantity yields no information regarding the temporal or statistical
variation in noise levels arising from site operations. Although

Leq, because of its relative ease of use for prediction purposes, has
become a preferred unit for environmental noise measurements and
standards, the importance of temporal variations on subjective
response was recognized in the early days of environmental noise
research and a number of complex noise units were proposed
which involved temporal parameters.
The temporal variation of environmental noise has also

been recognized in contemporary work on soundscape where
measurements of short Leq are often made and sometimes
presented in the form of statistical data[3]. This chapter dealt with
the basis of a prediction using stochastic techniques namely Monte
Carlo and probability technique.
4.2 MONTE CARLO VS PROBABILITY APPROACH
4.2.1 Monte Carlo Approach

The Monte Carlo method deals with the probability distribution of
stochastic input variables and random numbers. The distribution of
the stochastic input variables is assumed to have a specific
distribution such as uniform, normal or exponential. A random
number is generated by a computer each time it is required to
sample the stochastic variable from the probability distribution.
A common generator of the random number is the linear

congruent. This random number is actually a pseudo random
number uniformly distributed over the specified interval 0 to 1
produced using recurrence relation by:
N i = AN i −1 + B(mod m) (1)
where A, B and m are parameters called the multiplier, increment

and modulus respectively, N i −1 is the previous random number and
Construction Site Noise Modeling Using Stochastic Techniques 53
N i is the current random number. This number is independent of

previous numbers so that is there is no apparent pattern in the
sequence of numbers generated in this way.
4.2.2 Probability Approach

The probabilistic approach can be used to solve problems which
are probabilistic by nature. For example, If A is a random variable
from the first dice and B is a random variable from the second dice
then both have the same probability distribution. The probability
that the two events coincide is given by:
P( AB) = P( A).P( B) (2)

This property can be used to calculate the distribution
corresponding to the operation of two independent noise sources
using a method proposed by Nelson [7]. Each distribution is
divided into identical bands of noise level and the corresponding
probability of the noise level corresponding to the centre of the
band is determined. The combination of each level is calculated
according the ‘log law’ for each possible pair of band values by:
Lnm = 10 log10 [ 10( Ln ) /10 + 10( Lm ) / 10 ] (3)
where ,
Lm is band noise level for distribution 1
Ln is band noise level for distribution 2
m=1,2,3…..i and n=1,2,3…..,j
The probabilities that the levels of the separate combinations could

occur can be calculated using Equation 2, to yield;
Pnm = Pn .Pm (4)
4.3 THE MONTE CARLO APPROACH TO SITE

PREDICTION
The stochastic approach to the prediction of site noise by means of
the Monte Carlo method has been used by Waddington and Lewis
[4] and Gilchrist, Allouche and Cowan [5]. In the Monte Carlo
approach a site operation is assumed to be located over a well
defined area and a noise source is assumed to be able to be located
at any point in that area with equal probability. The random
position (xi, yj) of an item of equipment relative to the origin at the
centre of a site as illustrated in Figure 4.1 with width w and depth
d is determined by two random numbers, Ni and Nj, as follows:
xi = w(Ni – 0.5) (5)
yj = d(Nj – 0.5) (6)

Source Location
Centre of
Receiver
Figure 4.1: Location of stochastic source on site for Monte Carlo

method
These two values, together with the source height, zs, define its
location.
The distance, rij, from this source position to a receiver with

co-ordinates (xr, yr, zr) is given by:
rij = ( (xi – xr)2 + (yj – yr)2 + (zs – zr)2 )0.5 (7)
The acoustic power of the equipment, Wij, for each random

position (xi,yj), that is whether the source is off, on idle or full
power, is determined by another random number, Nk. Suppose the
equipment duty profile can be described by a simple probability

distribution; A% off: B% idle and C% on then the condition for the
source being off is A/100 < Nk, the condition for the source being
on idle is A/100<Nk<B/100 and the condition for the source being
fully on is Nk > (A + B)/100.
The sound intensity at the receiver arising from the operation
of the source located at this random position is calculated assuming
hemispherical radiation over a hard plane.
Wij (8)
I ij =
2πrij
2
Assuming that, for far field radiation from a finite source, the
sound pressure level is equal to the intensity level yields the
following expression for the sound pressure level.
Lij = 10. log10 ( I ij / 10( −12 ) ) (9)
The noise levels arising from multiple activities is simulated by

repeating the procedure described above with different source
characteristics (source height, working profile and associated
sound power levels. The results obtained consist of a number of
“sampled” noise levels. These can be statistically analyzed to
obtain the probability distribution and the cumulative distribution.
In addition, it is possible to determine the value of the equivalent
noise level, Leq.
4.4 THE PROBABILISTIC METHOD FOR SITE NOISE

PREDICTION
The alternative prediction technique have been developed based
upon simple probability theory [6]. The basis of this probabilistic
method is the separation of the source characteristics (in particular
the duty cycles and associated sound power levels) from the
propagation characteristics (determined by the area over which an
activity takes place and its position relative to the receiver).
Considering first the propagation characteristics, as for the

Monte Carlo method, it is assumed that the probability that the
noise source is at a particular point within the operational area is
the same for all points in that area. It is then possible to build up
the noise level distribution characteristics from division of the
operational area into small elements and considering the source to
be situated successively in each element in turn.
The operational area is divided into a number of equal patches,

as shown in Figure 4.2, and the centroid of the patch is termed a
node. Each patch is identified by a subscript which relates to its
position along the x and y directions relative to the origin. In a
similar way to that employed in the Monte Carlo model the
following expression can be obtained for the intensity at a receiver
corresponding to the source being located at the centre of an
element denoted by the subscripts ij:
W (10)
I (i , j ) =
2πr( i , j )
2
It should be noted that the acoustic power, W, has not been

specified and an arbitrary value of 1 watt (Lw= 120dB) can be
employed at this stage. The sound pressure level at the receiver can
be calculated as shown in Equation 5.
The sound pressure levels obtained in this way are equivalent

to those that would be obtained from sampling the noise level as
the source moved around the site and can thus be used to calculate
the noise level distribution characteristics. An example of a noise
level distribution curve obtained in this way assuming a single
source on for 100% of the time and with a sound power level of
120dB and data obtained from a Monte Carlo simulation of the
same situation is shown in Figure 4.3. It can be seen that both
methods give very similar results. The systematic deviation is

probably due to the large element size assumed in this simulation.
Area
Element
Source
Receiver
Figure 4.2 Division of site into small area elements for the
probabilistic method
0.25
Noise level distribution

Probability method
0.2
Monte Carlo method
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
65 70 75 80 85
Level ((dB)
Figure 4.3 Comparison of noise level distribution curves obtained

using Monte Carlo and Probabilistic methods.
The distribution corresponding to a source with a different

sound power level can be easily obtained by shifting the levels in
the distribution curve by the difference between the sound power
level originally assumed of 120dB and that of the actual noise
source.
The noise level distribution and cumulative distribution for

equipment working with a known duty cycle can be determined
easily. The noise distribution is first obtained assuming a source
sound power level of 120dB as described above. Distributions are
then derived from this corresponding to the sound power level of
the source in full operation and in idling mode respectively. The
distribution for equipment working with a duty cycle of Y% on
idle and Z% on full power is calculated by first calculating the
distributions for each part of the duty cycle as follows:
B
PDFB %idle = .( PDF100%idle ) (11)
100
C
PDF C % on = .( PDF100 % on )
100 (12)
where
• P100% idle is the probability distribution for the machine
idling for 100% of the time.
• P100%on is the probability distribution for the machine on
full power for 100% of the time
• PB% idle is the contribution to the probability distribution for
the machine idling for Z% of the time.
• PC%on is the contribution to the probability distribution for
the machine on full power for Y% of the time
The combined probability distribution is given by:
A
PDF = + PDF B % idle + PDF C % on (13)
100
Application of this procedure and results corresponding to Monte

Carlo simulation of the same situation are shown in Figure 4.4.
Again it can be seen that the two approaches produce very similar
results. Although the results are similar, the Monte Carlo method
requires the use of large number of random samples and involves
considerable computation time.
The distributions of noise level arising from multiple activities

can be achieved by combining the distributions obtained from
considering single activities using a technique first proposed by
Nelson or Equations 3 and 4. This technique is not limited to the
combination of levels from two sources but can be applied to any
number of sources.
0.25
Noise level distribution

0.2
Monte Carlo method
0.15
0.1
Probability method
0.05
055 60 65 70 75 80
Level, dB
Figure 4.4 Comparison of noise level distribution curve obtained

using Monte Carlo and Probabilistic Methods for a
source having a variable duty cycle
4.5 DEVELOPMENT OF A PREDICTIVE TECHNIQUE
The probabilistic technique provides a simple way of investigating

the effect of different site parameters on noise levels experienced
in the neighbourhood of a construction site.
Figure 4.5 shows noise level distributions as a function of

distance from the centre of a site. It can be seen that there is a
systematic reduction in both the mean noise level and the standard
deviation with distance. The former is to be expected from
consideration of the effect of the inverse square law. The latter
observation arises from the smaller angle subtended by the site at
larger distances which means that the differences in distance

between individual points on the site area become relatively small.
.
0.25
(d=225m,std=0.9)
Frequency distribution
0.2
(d=125m,std=1.1)
0.15
(d=75m,std=1.9)
0.1
(d=50m,std=2.6)
0.05
0
35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70
Level, dB
Figure 4.5: Noise level distributions as a function of distance from

the centre of a site
The authors have employed the technique in a systematic

investigation of the effect of site geometry on propagation
characteristics [5]. Simple design charts have been developed
based upon the results of this systematic variation of parameters.
The curves could form the basis of a prediction technique for
receivers situated along a line perpendicular to a site boundary
joining the receiver position and the centre of the site.
4.6 APPLICATION OF THE PREDICTIVE TECHNIQUE
Application of the proposed prediction technique was investigated

by comparing predictions made using this method with a Monte
Carlo simulation for the construction site shown in Figure 4.6 on
which three items of equipment are employed. Each item of
equipment is assumed to be operating over a particular area of the
construction site and each has a different duty cycle and associated
sound power levels
The probability distributions for each item of equipment are

shown in Figure 4.7 and a comparison of the cumulative frequency
distribution corresponding to operation of all items of equipment
obtained using the probabilistic method and the Monte Carlo
method is shown in Figure 4.8. It can be seen that the predictions
of the probabilistic method are in good agreement with the results
obtained from application of the Monte Carlo method
50 80
Excavator (A), 117 dB

75 x 50
75
dB
05
), 10
B 2
k( x
ruc 100
T
Excavator (C), 117 dB

45
60 x 50
50
45°
70 60
45
64
°
20
Receiver
Figure 4.6 Site configuration

0.2
0.18
0.16 E xcavator (C)
0.14
Excavator(A)
0.12
Frequency
0.1
Truck (B)
0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
0
35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80
Level, dB
Figure 4.7 Probability distributions for each item of equipment.
1
Cumulative Distribution
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2 M onte C arlo

Probabilistic th d
th d
0
45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80
Level, dB
Figure 4.8 Cumulative frequency distribution corresponding to

operation of all items of equipment.
4.7 CONCLUSIONS
This chapter has described the basis of stochastic modelling using
a e Monte Carlo and probability approach to obtain the
distribution of noise levels arising from open site operations. The
results obtained have shown that this method is capable of
predicting the probability distribution of the noise level due to
either individual noise sources or a combination of noise sources
to a similar degree of accuracy to the Monte Carlo method.
However, the probabilistic approach is considerably more

efficient and thus more suitable for an investigation of the effect
of site parameters on noise levels at receiver locations in the
vicinity of the site. It could thus be used as the basis of a
prediction technique if employed in a systematic examination of
the variation in noise levels with distance for a range of site aspect
ratios. Expressions could be obtained to predict the mean sound
level and standard deviation as a function of parameters such as
distance, site aspect ratio, screening etc and to derive simple
design charts for planning purposes.
The noise level data associated with the probability distribution

obtained using the probabilistic method can also be used to
facilitate the decision making processes where noise is a potential
problem. The method could be used as the basis of an operational
management tool. The construction project manager could rapidly
establish the probability of a specified limiting noise level being
exceeded. However, more importantly, the manager could identify
the source of the potential problem and investigate the effect of
possible alternative strategies such as the avoidance of the con-
current operation of the most noisiest equipment and perhaps
alternative construction processes.
REFERENCES
D. C. Waddington, J. Lewis, D. J., Oldham and B.M. Gibbs,

Acoustic emissions from construction equipment , Journal of
Building Acoustics, 7, 201, 2000.
F. Carpenter, Construction noise prediction at the planning stage

of new developments' Journal of Building Acoustics, 3(4), 239.
1996.
W. Yang and J Kang, Acoustic comfort evaluation in urban open

spaces, Journal of Applied Acoustics accepted for publication,
2005.
D. C. Waddington and J. Lewis, The preliminary estimation of

noise from construction sites,Proceedings of the Institute of
Acoustics, Acoustics 2000, Liverpool ,22, 109, 2000.
Z. Haron, Probability techniques in environmental acoustics, PhD

thesis, University of Liverpool, 2007
P. M. Nelson, The combination of noise from separate time

varying sources, Journal of Applied Acoustic, 6, 1(1973).
P. M. Nelson, The combination of noise from separate time

varying sources, Journal of Applied Acoustic, 6, 1, 1973.
5
SUSTAINABLE NEIGHBOURHOOD
IN MALAYSIA
Rozana Zakaria
Mohd Ismid Mohd Said
Zaiton Haron
Khairulzan Yahya
M.Vikneswaran
5.1 INTRODUCTION
Malaysia experienced several crucial environmental

problems and sustainability issues in the past decade which
resulted from rapid economic and social development. At
the same time the development of the construction field in
Malaysia has increased vastly. To enable the environment
being protected, a preventive measure must be
implemented as fast as possible. This can further enhanced
by adaptation of the sustainable neighbourhood to be part
of their living style. The sustainable development concept
which is the long-term strategies to tackle the key
environmental issues including climate change, improving
air quality, regenerating towns and cities, and protecting the
countryside and natural resources can be achieved through
the proper implementation of sustainable neighbourhood.
Now Malaysia is one of the few countries which are on

track to meet their targets for reducing greenhouse gas
emissions under the Kyoto Protocol. Concepts like green
building, sustainable living indicators, environmental tax
and environmental regulation have a central role to play in

this process. These initiatives can provide long term
protection and improves the environment, and deter actions
that are damaging to the environment. For both government
and community like, environmental instruments such as
sustainable living guidelines can enable environmental
goals need to be achieved in the most efficient way.
5.2 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Sustainable development is defined as development which

meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs [1].
There are three views about sustainable development which
are elaborated in the Figure 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 below [2].
ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT
SOCIETY
Figure 5.1: A traditional view of community

Sustainable Neighbourhood in Malaysia 70
ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT
SOCIETY
Figure 5.2: The current view of sustainable community
ENVIRONMENT
SOCIETY
ECONOMIC
Figure 5.3: An alternative view of sustainable community
The last diagram explains that the economic exists

entirely within society as all parts of the human economy
require interaction among people. But the economy and
society solely depend on the environment because if
something is non-environmental then the society will be
affected. When the society effected then it will be
uneconomical for the nation to create sustainable
development.
Sustainable features are important as it conserve the

resources and provide a healthy living environment. The
initiative in Malaysian construction industry is lesser in
term of the assimilation of the construction industry with
energy-efficient and environmental friendly designs [3].
The structures and infrastructures both are important
elements in developing according to the needs of
sustainable development. When the negative impact to the
building is reduced and the natural environment is taken
care, then the building is sustainable [4].
5.3 SUSTAINABLE NEIGHBOURHOOD
A sustainable neighbourhood is a mixed used area with a

feeling of community; it is a place where people want to
live and work, now and in the future. Sustainable
neighbourhoods meet the diverse needs of existing and
future residents, are sensitive to their environment, and
contribute to a high quality of life. They are safe and
inclusive, well planned, built and run, and offer equality of
opportunity and good services to all [5]. The definition of
sustainable communities is places where people want to
live and work, now and in the future. This is stated in
Bristol Accord (2005) which indicates that the sustainable
communities meet the diverse needs of existing and future
residents, are sensitive to their environment, and contribute
to a high quality of life. The sustainable communities also
have seven components such as governance, transport and
connectivity, services, environment, economy, housing and
the built environment, and sociology and culture [6]. They
are safe and inclusive, well planned, built and run, and
offer equality of opportunity and good services for all. This
explains that sustainable communities can be achieved
through the improvement of sustainable neighbourhood

qualities.
Based on Hugh Barton’s (1996) approach as the

‘Ecological Perspective’ emphasises that “One way of
approaching the problem of sustainable design is to see
each development as an organism or a mini ecosystem in
its own right” [7]. When viewing neighbourhood in the
ecological perspective, it should provide the humans with
essential local habitat which can create its own
microclimatic condition, provide the natural environmental
system to get the high comfort level as shown in Figure 5.4.
Figure 5.4: Neighbourhood as an ecosystem

(Source: Barton et al, 1996)
Sustainable neighbourhood design elements in Kuala

Lumpur 2020 City Plan, emphasised that paths, edges,
districts, nodes, and landmarks are the elements that give
form to a neighbourhood by evoking an image which is
recognized by the community. The key to improving the
urban environment lies in protecting its natural
environment and enhancing the environmental quality of
Kuala Lumpur [8]. Principles of green infrastructure shall
be adopted to improve level of urban services for drainage,
sewerage, public transportation and solid waste

management. In addition, green spaces shall be considered
as part of urban infrastructure.
In other examples, Iskandar Malaysia recommended
that sustainable neighbourhood designs should enhance
paths (roads, lanes, walkways), which are the main
corridors through which most of the community activities
go through. They provide the linkage within the area as
well as between areas; Ensure footpaths are connected and
remain unobstructed throughout the neighbourhood; make
edges demarcating neighbourhoods via landscaping
features where edges are another feature that mark distinct
neighbourhoods, as they provide visual clarity that evokes
an identity; create nodes at the centre or core of an area
which also provide neighbourhood identity; provide for
street design with interconnected circulation that creates
focal points for reference and community identity; planting
of shady trees that will reinforce pedestrian scale along
neighbourhood streets; create shared common open spaces
amongst residents of different types of housing that will
help in giving a focal point within the neighbourhood
where the consideration are given on the primary
organising elements of communities; and allowing for
meeting points at street corners is another way of creating a
sense of place especially within the typical layout plans
where the roads are a major component and dictates the
design [9]. The Malaysian planners did not give much
emphasis on the ecological aspect as stated in Kuala
Lumpur 2020 City Plan and Iskandar Malaysia.
Sustainable development can only be achieved through

the equilibrium between economic and social development
as well as environmental conservation. All the stakeholders
must involve in the development of sustainability strategies
so that in can achieved as planned by the government. As
mentioned by Datin Paduka Dr Halimaton Saadiah Hasim,

the planning of sustainable city of Berjuntai Bestari focuses
on the management of Environmental Sensitive Area in the
area. It combined with the neighbourhood planning concept
as recommended in New Urbanism [10].
The incorporation of sustainability principles in

neighbourhood design is important because many of the
problems encountered at the macro-city scale are in fact
cumulative consequences of poor planning at the micro-
neighbourhood level. This is an important fact that the
neighbourhood-scale analysis can help in developing more
efficient and sustainable local urban infrastructure,
including building, transportation, urban vegetation, and
water (water supply, wastewater and storm water) systems
[11]. When this could be achieved, the sustainable
development principles can be achieved too.
One of the most important infrastructures in the

neighbourhood design is open space. Al-Hagla, K. (2008)
highlighted that open spaces take up more than one third of
total neighbourhood areas which have dual role in the
structure of neighbourhoods. The first is ‘social’: that come
out of understanding the neighbourhood as a ‘community’.
Meanwhile, the second is ‘ecological’: that see the
‘ecological perspective’ is much more appropriate to be
applied to a neighbourhood regarding its unique site
qualities.
5.4 SUSTAINABLE LIVING QUALITY
“The critical challenge for Asia in the face of climate

change is to expand access to affordable energy, while at
the same time decarbonising growth,” says UNDP
Administrator Kemal Dervis, “international cooperation is

vital to unlock win-win scenarios that enhance both the
climate security that are vital for growth and poverty
reduction” [12].
Nowadays most people living in urban areas spend the
greatest part of their time indoors, where concentrations of
many air pollutants are higher than outdoors [13]. Pollutant
levels inside our homes, offices, shopping malls, and
schools may equal or exceed those outside. Concentrations
of indoor air pollutants are often 2-5 times those found
outdoors, and can occasionally reach 100 times the outdoor
levels. In fact, indoor environments have changed
enormously with the introduction of soft furnishings, fitted
carpets and mechanical air ventilation systems. The rate at
which indoor air is exchanged for fresh air is now 10 times
lower than it was 30 years ago, with a considerable increase
both in humidity and in concentrations of indoor pollutants
and airborne allergens. So, therefore the need of the
sustainable living area need to be introduced in the urban
neighbourhood area to filter the all sort of pollution that
impact the living environment. The sustainable elements
are important in neighbourhood design as it preserve the
natural elements in the living area.
“The carbon budget of the 21st Century—the amount of

carbon that can be absorbed creating an even probability
that temperatures will not rise above two degrees—is being
overspent and threatens to run out entirely by 2032,” says
Kevin Watkins, lead author of the Human Development
Report, “and the poor—those with the lightest carbon
footprint and the least means to protect themselves—are
the first victims of developed countries’ energy-rich
lifestyle” [12]. The report suggests that it is not too late to
reduce the effects of greenhouse gas effect to sustainable
level. If all developed nation can produce a proper
sustainable economic model, then the climate security are

not the conflicting objective. Emissions of carbon dioxide
(CO2) in Malaysia reach to 3 million ton CO2 per capita in
1990 and in 2004 it increase to 7.5 million ton CO2 per
capita. The growth rate shows 221 % between 1990 and
2004 and shares 0.6 % of total world emissions in 2004.
Kuala Lumpur city, experienced a movement of people

to the suburbs and outlying towns such as Klang, Rawang,
Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, Bandar Baru Bangi, Kajang
and even Seremban, as the shortage of affordable house is
decreasing. This situation has made the suburbs to grow
rapidly in term of housing and commercial development
[14]. Again this has created the congestion even in the
suburb area. So the planners may have to revisit the
concept that encourages sprawl, suburban living and
continued suburbanization. This might not be the only
reason that brings up the issue of urban sprawl where there
can be other reasons like healthy living, pollution free area,
peaceful environment, lack of natural elements and etc. So
the planners need to create a sustainable neighbourhood
area for them to live a healthy lifestyle.
The living quality of urban neighbourhood area is

an important task to be focused at as it gives much impact
to the living environment. Most of the development of
neighbourhood area in Malaysia is limited to incomplete
sustainability guidelines.
5.5 MALAYSIAN NATIONAL POLICY ON

ENVIRONMENT
Malaysian National Policy on Environment has three basic

principles. They are sustainable development, enhancement
of quality of life and the environment and economic, social

and cultural progress. The objectives of the policy are first,
to achieve a clean, healthy and productive environment for
present and future generation; second, to achieve the
conservation of the countries unique and diverse cultural
and natural heritage with effective participation by all
sectors of society; and third to achieve sustainable lifestyle
and patterns of consumption and production [15]. In the
Malaysia’s Green Strategies integrated development
planning and implementation is one of the key area that
implementers need to look into.
In the Dutch experience, it is mentioned that with solid

sustainable building policy framework in developing
countries there are possibilities to integrate financial and
environmental objectives within a framework of rapid
urban development without changing fundamentally the
dynamics and technologies that are already in place. So the
government plays an important role in agendizing
environmental problems and orienting environmental
change practices through policies. The combination of
legal, economic and voluntary instruments should be
elaborated according to local environmental sector in
developing countries [16].
Even though there are various acts, policies and

guidelines in Malaysia there should be integration between
all the stakeholders and policy makers whom involve in the
development of sustainable living. This is important as it
gives much impact to all the stakeholders involve in the
implementation stage especially to the end user.
5.6 STRUCTURE PLAN REVIEW
In this structure plan review this paper highlights four

municipal councils as the study area. They are municipal
councils from State of Selangor namely the Shah Alam
City Council, Petaling Jaya City Council, Ampang Jaya
Municipal Council and Subang Jaya Municipal Council.
The structure plans were collected from each municipals
and review was done to collect important information to be
used for the studies. The local plans were helpful to gather
information on the current practice of sustainable living in
the planning stage of each municipal council. The Structure
Plan was reviewed thoroughly on its sustainability
adaptation. The guidelines produced by JPBD national and
state level in connection with the local plan were also
reviewed.
5.7 RESULT AND DISCUSSION
The Selangor State Government has identified seven major

planning issues that the local authorities and the state
government facing. They are:
i. High annual population growth (7.9%) as compared

to Selangor state (6.9%) in 1991-2020 with 30 % in
the areas;
ii. Imbalance development in the areas;
iii. Inability of road infrastructure to accommodate the
volume of traffic;
iv. Insufficient public transportation service network in
the area;
v. Encroachment of development into Environmental
Sensitive Area;
vi. River pollution caused by urban activities; and
vii. Poor coordination among local authorities.
To overcome the issues pertaining planning the state

government formulates a spatial form of development
concept and strategies were developed. It become as a
guide and control of the use of land, and coordinates
infrastructure provision and urban expansion until year
2020. Apart from the current scenarios in the area, it is also
guided by Selangor Structure Plan and also the visions of
the local authorities.
There are eight guiding parameters in the development

concept and strategy. They are:
i. Population;
ii. Economic Base;
iii. Transportation and Communication system;
iv. Distribution of urban centres;
v. Distribution of stable and built-up areas;
vi. Environmental sensitive area and Green lungs and
Forest Reserve;
vii. Malay Reserve Areas; and
viii. Social and demographic consideration.
The considerations taken into account in the

development of these strategies are:
• The population of the district is expected to register
a rise to 1,902,900 people by the year 2020 at the
growth rate 2.6 % per annum;
• Strict control on the intensity and development
pattern by local authorities via statuary regulation
and planning instruments;
• Continuity of environmental protection and
conservation for existing resources;
• Encouraging sustainable development growth in

selected areas and strengthening of the districts
existing economic base;
• Improving the traffic problem via efficient and
strategic transport linkage; and
• Enhancing the quality of life via addressing the
needs for social services and facilities.
The current population distribution of MBSH, MBPJ

and MPSJ is about 1,286,210 persons. By year 2020 the
population of the district is expected to achieve the
projected population of 1,002,900 persons. This is also in
line with the projected population by Selangor State
Structure Plan. The MPAJ’s population is about 290,724
people and expected to increase to 530,000 persons by the
year 2020 with the rate of 2% per annum.
Based on the proposal for land use distribution, the

open area and recreation for the year 2003 in MBSA is
1,656.13 hectare and to be improved by extended up to
2,289.57 hectare. The open area and recreation is 5.70 %
from the total land use in the year 2003 and expected to
become 7.80% in the year 2020 of the total land use area of
29,030.00 hectare.
The open area and recreation for MBPJ is 742.90

hectare which is 9.83 % from the total land use
development. The amount is also expected to increase to
12.30 % which is 929.84 hectare from the total land use,
7,559.98 hectare by the year 2020.
The land use component within MPSJ area for open

area and recreation is 1,077.74 hectare in 2003 and
expected to be increased to 1,488.53 hectare in the 2020.
The percentage is 6.66% in the year 2003 and increased to
9.20% by the year 2020. The total land use of this area is
16,180.00 hectare.
The land use pattern for MPAJ as indicated MPAJ
Structure Plan stated that landscaping of the neighbourhood
will be stressed. It is also suggested that enough buffer
zone will be provided between other facilities in
neighbourhood area.
The open area will be managed well by MPAJ as the

open area in neighbourhood facing a poor maintenance.
The structure plan did not emphasize the important of open
space except for the reserve forest in MPAJ area. The
reserve forest will be maintained well by the MPAJ. The
river corridor also will be reserved to maintain the high
water quality in the river.
The municipals and city councils have proposed

recommendation for the environmental quality
improvement and protection. They are as listed below:-
Table 5.1: The Environmental Quality Improvement and

Protection Initiatives by Local Municipals
Majlis Majlis Majlis Bandaraya Majlis
Bandaraya Bandaraya Subang Jaya Perbandaran
Shah Alam Petaling Jaya (MBSJ) Ampang Jaya
(MBSA) (MBPJ) (MBAJ)
• Enforcement • Close • Preservation and • Develop the
of regulation monitoring and conservation of industrial area
and acts on control of all Ayer Hitam Forest according to
polluted development Reserve for research proper
industries. around and recreational environmental
• Efficient Damansara purpose. management
management Perdana and • Restriction of any and follow the
of waste Bukit Lanjan development within siting and
affluent area in view of and around Ayer zoning of
disposal. the sensitivity of Hitam Forest industry
• Enforcement the site. Reserve. guidelines.
of recycle • Environmental • Environmental • Relocated the
programme consideration to consideration to be industries that
and be taken into taken into account create

encouraging account in in planning for new environmental
public planning for industrial areas so problems to
awareness new industrial as to ensure no more suitable
programme on area so as to conflict of land area.
the ensure no uses, manageable of • A proper and
importance of conflict of land effluent and toxic enough buffer
sustainable uses, discharge and zone to be
environment. manageable of conformity to all provided to all
• Treatment of effluent and related by-laws. industrial
toxic waste toxic discharge • Enforcement of development.
discharge by and conformity Environmental • Industrial
industrial area to all related by- Quality Act 1974. pollution to be
such as laws. • Improving water handled in a
Kampung • Provision of quality of Klang more careful
Baru Sungai sufficient buffer River and Kuyoh manner.
Buluh, between river and its • The open area at
Subang Light industrial and tributaries through neighbourhood
Industrial residential areas management and to be increased.
area, and to minimize monitoring of • The quality of
Mahsing pollution and discharged affluent environment to
Industrial hazards. from nearby be increased at
Park. • Efficient residential and new
• Waste affluent management of industrial areas. neighbourhood
from waste affluent • Efficient area.
industrial area disposal. management of • Efficient
surrounding • Monitoring of waste effluent management of
the residential noise and air disposal. open areas.
areas in pollution • Provision of • Efficient
Sungai Buluh discharge by sufficient buffer management of
to be treated motor vehicles between industrial forest reserves.
to ensure the to the allowable and residential areas • Increase the
water quality index of 80-88 to minimize quality of
of Sungai dB (A). pollution and natural
Buluh are • Improving water hazards. landscape.
maintained. quality of • Relocation of illegal • Conduct all type
Sungai Kayu industries to of pollution
Ara through planned industrial prevention.
management park to minimize
and monitoring pollution.
of discharged • Monitoring of noise
affluent from and air pollution
nearby discharge by motor
residential and vehicles to the
industrial areas. alloweable index of
80-88 dB(A).
The review of development plans identifies failings in

their methodology and contents. A survey of principal
structure plans in each district in Selangor reveals that
generally no systematic process to plan preparation was
followed and that plan preparation was largely dependent
upon past proposals, local problems, intuition and the
outcome of statuary consultation.
There was however a clear recognition amongst those

surveyed that the existing methods were far from perfect
and that there was a major lack of practical advice on how
to accommodate sustainability and quality of design issues
within the planning process at a local level.
5.8 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
The review shows that there need to be given much

emphasis to the development of the local structure plan
especially in adapting the sustainable living elements into
the planning stage. The elements such as open space,
neighbourhood landscape, river, natural ponds, canopy
trees, green area, water retaining lands, siting, zoning and
other elements need to be incorporated into the current
practice to create sustainability in the living area. The
development pattern in Malaysia must be coordinate with
the Malaysian National Policy on Environment where it
recommend clean, healthy and productive environment for
present and future generation to be created. To achieve this,
the planning stage must be included with all the necessary
sustainable living elements into the neighbourhood design.
Even though, we can see the implementation of certain
elements was in par with the neighbourhood design but the

maintenance is still need to be improved.
As reviewed in structure plan, the natural landscape

which is vital in the neighbourhood design, is not properly
maintained and there need an increment of natural
landscape in the planning stage.
The sustainable living area need to be introduced in the

urban neighbourhood area to filter the all sort of pollution
that impacts the living environment. The sustainable
elements are important in neighbourhood design as it
preserve the natural elements in the living area.
Sustainable neighbourhood is also important concept

that needs the fullest attention from the all the stakeholders
involve in developing the neighbourhood area. The
stakeholders and planners involvement in the
implementation of sustainable neighbourhood is highly
accepted as it gives an adverse impact to the living
environment. With the good planning guidelines and proper
indicators, the sustainability of a living area can be
achieved.
Current discussion about sustainable living represents a

push to foster land development practices that incorporate
sustainable living elements in neighbourhood open spaces
and undeveloped land. These practices encourage more
resource-efficient land use practices and neighbourhood
environments while ensuring that development keeps pace
with economic, social and environmental aspects.
Malaysia is a developing country which has vision to

become a developed country in the year 2020. It must start
to incorporate the sustainable living concepts into the new
development planning as one of the important criteria in the

planning stage. The sustainable neighbourhood design is
essential to be included in the planning stage as it gives
much impact to the micro level development.
The urban neighbourhood planners and designers

must incorporate the environmental, social and economical
aspects into the design aspects of sustainable
neighbourhood to achieve the quality of life as shown in
Figure 5.5. Overall, this can help to reduce the negative
impact to the living environment and the existing
environment can be sustained without exhausting any
natural resources.
• Environmental
Urban • Social
Neighbourhood • Economical
Quality of Sustainable
Life Neighbourhood
Figure 5.5: Urban Neighbourhood Sustainability
Economic, social and environmental aspects must be

fully integrated and reconciled in the sustainable
development policies of urban neighbourhood areas, as
reflected in the concepts of the healthy city and the
ecological city, which later will be directed to sustainable-
city and eco-city.
REFERENCES
Bartlett A. A. (2006). Reflection on Sustainability, Population

Growth, and the Environment – 2006. In Keiner M. (Ed)(2006).
The Future of Sustainability, Springer, Netherlands.
Sanisah S. (2004). Sustaining Sustainability – Palaver: Sense and

Sustainability. Malaysian Town Plan Journal. 01(03), 60-70.
Yin C.Y. (2007). Green Building- The Future of Building.

Jurutera, Institution of Engineer (IJM), Malaysia 11, 5.
Suvarna. O (2007). Green Building: The Future of Building. .

Jurutera, Institution of Engineer (IJM), Malaysia 11, 8-10.
Bristol Accord (2005). Conclusions of Ministerial Informal on

Sustainable Communities in Europe. Office of the Deputy Prime
Minister. UK Presidency.
Al-Hagla, K (2008). Towards a sustainable neighbourhood: The

role of open space. Arcnet-IJAR, 2(2), 162-177.
Barton, H., Daniels, I., Davis, G., and Guise, R. (1996).Going

Green by Design, Sustainable Urban Design, 1(57).
Kuala Lumpur 2020 City Plan. Kuala Lumpur City Hall.

http://klcityplan2020.dbkl.gov.my/index.php
Livable Communities (2008). Comprehensive Development Plan

(CDP), Iskandar Malaysia. Iskandar Regional Development
Authority (IRDA), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Retrieved from
http://www.irda.com.my/pdf/cdp/10._Chapter7_-
_Livable_Communities.pdf
Datin Paduka Dr Halimaton Saadiah Hasim (2004). Sustaining

Sustainability – Sustainable Management of Environmentally
Sensitive Area: A Strategy for Sustainable Development.
Malaysian Town Plan Journal. Vol.01, Issue 03, Pages 5-12.
[11] Engel-Yan, C., Kennedy, S., Saiz, S. and Pressnail, K.

(2005). Towards Sustainable neighbourhood: the need to
consider infrastructure interaction. Can. J. Civ. Eng. 32, 45-57.
Canada. NRC Research Press. http://cjcce.nrc.ca
[12] HDR 1994. Human Development Report 1994: New

Dimensions of Human Security. United Nations Development
Programme. Retrieved from
http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr1994/
[13] Carrer P. Report: Indoor Air Quality. Towards Healthy Air

in Dwellings in Europe: THADE Project, Department of
Occupational Health, University of Milan, Italy. Retrieved
from www.efanet.org/activities/documents/THADEReport.pdf
[14] Rahman A. A., Yusoff, N. and Afida, I. (2007). Integration

and sustainability of cities – the case of Kuala Lumpur.
Conference on Sustainable Building South East Asia. 5-7
November 2007. Malaysia.
[15] National Policy on the Environment (2002), Ministry of

Science, Technology and the Environment, Malaysia.
[16] Melchert, L. (2007). The Dutch sustainable building policy:

A model for developing countries? Building and Environment
Journal, Volume 42, Issue 2, Pages 893-901.
[17] MBSA 2020. Draf Rancangan Tempatan Majlis Bandaraya

Shah Alam – Garis Panduan, Pengurusan dan Pelaksanaan.
Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam dan JPBD Selangor.
Integrating ABC into Project Overhead Management 88
6
INTEGRATING ABC INTO PROJECT
OVERHEAD MANAGEMENT
Al-Ojaili Ammar
Aminah Md Yusof
6.1 INTRODUCTION
Construction is one of the oldest and most complex industries in

existence. Today, performance on construction projects is influe
nced by external, inter-organizational, intra-organizational, and
project specific issues. The external factors involve the prevalent
social habits and cultural norms, values, and beliefs that
significantly impact built facilities. They also include the effects
of politics on construction and the economic conditions, which
have a notable effect on the intensity of activities within
construction (Woudhuysen and Abley 2004). As for the inter-
organizational factors, they comprise excessive fragmentation of
the construction industry that weakens communication, inhibits the
proliferation of good practice in the industry, and yields
adversarial working relationships (Woudhuysen and Abley 2004).
The intra-organizational influences include competition for limited
resources among projects and departments, conflicts regarding
responsibility and authority issues relating to project personnel,
difficulties in communication among personnel within the
organization, and internal politics. Finally, the project specific
factors that affect performance involve the continuity problem
relating to staff turnover, the temporary nature of projects and their
complexity, and the difficulty of effectively integrating all project
facets.
The aforementioned factors can significantly influence the time,

quality, safety, and cost performances of a project. The start date,
project duration, and completion date can be affected. The caliber
of materials and workmanship and the safety of people can be
influenced. Finally, such factors can affect a project’s direct cost
and overhead. In particular, recent increases in overhead on most
projects mean that the mismanagement of such a large cost item
can easily erode any planned profits.To assist in controlling such
cost, a set of procedures, normally referred to as cost management,
is utilized. Cost management aims for providing information on
the cost performance of a project so that timely actions can be
taken. It is a collection of tools and guidelines for establishing and
implementing the cost control plan on a project.
Despite the significance of cost and cost management to most

construction projects, they have received diminishing research
attention in construction lately. Abudayyeh et al. (2004) show that
cost control dropped from the fourth top research topic between
1985 and 1990 to the eighth top research topic in 1997 to 2002.
This could indicate the declining significance attached to cost as a
research area in construction and could highlight a current
knowledge gap regarding cost management.
To bridge such a gap, this paper integrates the philosophy of

Activity-Based Costing (ABC) into cost management with
particular reference to overhead management. It presents an
examination of literature work on cost management, cost
accounting, and ABC in construction as part of a PhD research
study. The findings of such a literature review will provide an
insight into improving cost management and will facilitate and
guide later phases for collecting data on the issues of cost
management and ABC in construction. To investigate ABC, the
paper examines cost management, cost, and overhead, investigates
cost accounting, and discusses ABC.
6.2 COST MANAGEMENT

To investigate cost management properly, it is first defined and its
process described along with cost and overhead. Subsequently,
some cost management methods are reviewed.
Cost management is a process that aims to provide continuous

information for efficient project implementation through cost
estimating and control, and data collection, analysis, and feedback
(Hamilton 2004).
As mentioned in the above definition, cost management

consists of estimating, cost control, and data collection and
feedback. Another component is added to highlight the special
nature of handling overhead, namely allocation. Cost estimating is
predicting the manner, quantities, and costs of a project at a certain
point in time based on the information available and done in a
systematic manner (Hamilton 2004, Dagostino and Feigenbuam
2003). Allocation, on the other hand, is typically applied to
indirect costs by collecting them in separate cost pools and then
distributing them to cost centers or work items using allocation
bases or methods (McLanahan 1992). Cost control is
implementing procedures for monitoring expenditure and
performance against project progress to detect variance from
authorized budgets and to take measures to achieve minimum cost
(Hamilton 2004). Finally, data collection and feedback are the
process of collecting, analyzing, and applying information from
one project to benefit the same or other projects (Hamilton 2004).
Before exploring cost management methods in further detail, it

is necessary to define precisely cost and overhead.
6.2.1 Cost
As mentioned earlier, cost is a main criterion against which a
project is gauged. Properly investigating cost requires defining it,
establishing its significance, and reviewing its main classes.
Cost, as defined by Stenzel and Stenzel (2003), is the outflow

of a resource authorized by an organization in exchange for some
expected benefits. It can be in the form of cash, labor, material,
equipment, or any other asset.
Expending such resources is important to all companies,

construction ones included. Most construction companies are in
business to make a profit, which is the arithmetic difference
between price and cost (Stenzel and Stenzel 2003). Thus, there are
two ways to guarantee a profit; either increase the price or control
the cost. Present market conditions rule out the first option. Thus,
companies resort to focusing on controlling cost.
The significance of cost is further enhanced by the many

factors that influence it. Recent advancements in technology and
globalization enable foreign companies to compete with local
businesses on equal terms. Other cost influencers include the type
of contract, project size and risks, site location and conditions,
project type, owner’s reputation and relationship, contractor’s need
for work, labor and subcontractor market conditions, and project
complexity (Uppal 2003, Fayek et al. 1998, Bannes 1994,
Bevaequa and Elias 1992, Tavakoli and Utomo 1989).
Further to being a decisive cost factor, project complexity

affects how costs are handled. It requires costs to be divided into
different classes, such as:
• fixed: costs that are independent of the level of construction
activity, volume of work, or project duration (Stenzel and
Stenzel 2003, Ostwald 2001);
• variable: costs that vary with the level of construction
activity, volume of work, or project duration (Stenzel and
Stenzel 2003, Ostwald 2001);
• budget: costs as forecast in the budget for work (Stenzel and
Stenzel 2003);
• actual: costs as incurred after the work has been performed

(Stenzel and Stenzel 2003);
• controllable: costs that vary with efficiency, volume, and
management decisions (Stenzel and Stenzel 2003);
• non-controllable: costs that cannot be altered at the local
level of authority (Stenzel and Stenzel 2003);
• direct: costs that are clearly assignable to a product, project,
or work item (Stenzel and Stenzel 2003, Hegazy 2002); and
• indirect: costs that cannot be easily linked and assigned to a
product, project, or work item (Stenzel and Stenzel 2003,
Hegazy 2002). In construction, they include overhead.
6.2.2 Overhead
The focus of this paper is improving cost management of project
overhead. To establish a proper context for the discussion this
section defines overhead, substantiates its significance, reviews its
main categories, and justifies focusing on project overhead.
Overhead represents the cost items that cannot be clearly

assigned to particular activities, projects, or systems (Ostwald
2001). From an operational perspective, it comprises the costs of
running the construction business and managing and
administrating the construction project (Cilensek 1991).
The above paragraph alluded to the dual nature of overhead in

that it relates to the overall business and the specific project.
Corporate-related overhead is called general overhead while
project-specific overhead is termed project overhead. More
precisely, general overhead is the costs that are not related to a
specific contract, but rather to operating the home office or the
business (Dagostino and Feigenbaum 2003, Cilensek 1991).
Project overhead, however, comprises the field-related costs for
accomplishing contract completion that are not directly applicable
to specific work items (Hegazy 2002, Holland and Hobson 1999).
Together, general and project overhead can form one of the

largest and most significant cost items in any project. General
overhead can represent up to 15 percent of total project cost while
project overhead can add 15 to 40 percent to that (Dagostino and
Feigenbaum 2003, Hegazy 2002). Clearly, the mismanagement of
such a large cost item can easily erode any planned profits.
Despite the substantial size of overhead costs, they have

received little research attention in construction recently. As
indicated by the finding of Abudayyeh et al. (2004), construction
research focus on cost is diminishing. Moreover, none of the
research areas they discuss relate explicitly to overhead costs,
which could indicate a lack of focus on such a large cost item.
6.2.2.1 Main Overhead Categories

To assist in controlling such a large cost element, several
categories are established for dividing general and project
overhead. These categories stratify general and project overhead
into more manageable units. General overhead categories include
non-project insurance, license, and taxes; non-project professional
services; non-project travel; contractor’s capital expenses; home
office financing; home office personnel; selling and bidding costs;
home office operations and maintenance; and contractor’s fixed
assets (Zack 2001, Jentzen et al. 1996, Adrian 1982). Project
overhead categories include project management; contractor’s
fees; temporary construction and consumables; field supervision;
construction equipment and tools; taxes; bonds; insurance; field
office; repair works; travel, relocation, and subsistence; temporary
support systems and utilities; health, safety, and environment;
financing and contractual costs; field administration; labor payroll
burden; and miscellaneous costs (Uppal 2003, Clark et al. 1997,
Al-Shahri 1997, Barrie and Paulson 1992).
It can be observed from above that project overhead has more
categories than general overhead, which indicates its complexity
and magnitude. Besides, this paper focuses on project overhead

because what sets construction apart from other industries is the
uniqueness of each project. Controlling general overhead is
similar to other industries as managing a construction company is
principally akin to managing other companies. Project overhead,
however, is distinct because of the uniqueness of projects Cost
management, however, introduces shortcomings into project
overhead management. To investigate such shortfalls, the methods
of cost estimating, allocation, and control are examined.
6.2.3 Cost Estimating Methods
Given how complex projects are, several estimating methods –

some of which are examined below – exist to suit different needs.
One of the crudest techniques of estimating is the ‘opinion’
method, which relies on the experience and talent of the estimator
to predict cost. It can be performed by an individual or a group.
When done in a group, it is called the ‘conference’ method
(Ostwald 2001). However, such a technique is very subjective and
lacks rigorous analysis and verifiability.
To reduce the subjectivity of estimating, the ‘comparison’

method estimates the cost of a new design by comparing it to
known costs of two other designs that are judged to have a higher
and lower cost, respectively (Ostwald 2001). Such an approach,
nonetheless, remains relatively inaccurate and isolated from the
project’s characteristics. In addition, it does not consider the
construction method and requirements of the new project.
To overcome such issues, the ‘cost indexes’ method tries to

provide a more accurate estimate of project cost by relating it to
specific project parameters to reflect changes in technology,
methods, productivity, inflation, and cost over time (Barrie and
Paulson 1992). The indexes, however, might not reflect the
contractor’s experience or project uniqueness and do not require a
rigorous analysis of project execution needs.
To circumvent some of the above shortcoming, the ‘cost

capacity factor’ approach relates the cost of the proposed project to
the costs of similar past projects to reflect changes in size, scope,
or capacity (Barrie and Paulson 1992). A modification of such a
method is the ‘functional unit’ technique that relates a project’s
cost to the function for which the facility is built, such as square
meters of floor area (Schuette and Liska 1994). Both methods,
however, do not consider the peculiarities of the new facility,
technological advances, or methods of construction.
All of the above approaches do not explicitly consider indirect

cost. The ‘factor’ method, however, does so by relating the costs
of civil works, ancillaries, and overhead to the cost of major
equipments on the plant or industrial facility (Ostwald 2001). Yet,
this method is difficult to implement in non-industrial construction
and does not require a detailed analysis of project execution.
The only method that requires a vigorous analysis of project

execution is the ‘detailed estimating’ or ‘unit quantity’ approach.
It analyzes all project elements in detail to estimate the total
project cost, including costs required for project support (Ostwald
2001).
‘Detailed estimating’ and all the other methods, however,

suffer from certain deficiencies. There are no generally accepted
estimating practices. In addition, estimating is still subjective due
to the personal opinion element. Moreover, it is a complex, time-
consuming, and costly process that lacks the input of non-
estimators. Finally, the cost estimating data are usually inaccurate
and outdated as they are based on past projects of different natures.
6.2.4 Cost Allocation Methods

Only two of the above estimating methods explicitly address
overhead costs. In construction, such costs are typically allocated
instead of estimated. Allocation is based on calculating an

allocation rate, which is the division of the general or project
overhead charges by the allocation basis (Ostwald 2001). Thus,
the allocation basis essentially defines the allocation method.
Some common overhead allocation bases include volume of

work (Holland and Hobson 1999), direct cost, project duration,
number of projects the company seeks or secures, project bid
value, material cost, and material and labor cost (Assaf et al.
2001).
However, all of the aforementioned allocation bases suffer

from common shortcomings. They do not reflect the level of effort
needed in supporting different projects or work items (Assaf et al.
2001). They also neglect the heterogeneity of overhead costs and
their components (Tatikonda and Tatikonda 1991). Finally, they
neither reflect the different support activities required by projects
or work items nor highlight the uneven consumption of overhead
resources by such projects and work items (McLanahan 1991).
6.2.5 Cost Control Methods

After estimating and allocating costs, they need to be controlled.
Numerous methods exist for such control. The cost control
methods reviewed here are the S-curve, the double S-curve, the
stochastic S-curve, and the Earned Value.
In the S-curve method, cumulative cost is plotted against time.

The total of actual direct and indirect costs is plotted on the same
graph to compare it to the planned S-curve, which represents the
planned outflow of costs (Hegazy 2002). The method, however,
gives no indication of project progress. It also relies on
deterministic cost values and neglects their probabilistic nature.
In the double S-curve method, one S-curve is used for
comparing actual versus planned costs and another is reserved for
contrasting actual versus planned hours or progress (Hegazy
2002). The result, however, can be a misleading graph that lacks a

simple visual presentation of the progress and cost aspects of a
project. In addition, the method does not accommodate the
probabilistic nature of estimates and budgets by using
deterministic values.
Accommodating such probabilistic natures is done in the

stochastic S-curve method. This method plots the envelope of the
planned S-curve based on and showing its probability. Separate
curves are plotted for each of time and cost against progress. Such
curves present information relative to the range of likely outcomes
for the project at any percent of completion (Barraza et al. 2000).
However, the method lacks visual simplicity and software that
effectively integrate probability into cost control. It is also not
widely utilized due to the lack of understanding and apprehension
to using probability in construction.
A cost control approach that is widely used in construction is

the Earned Value method. It gauges deviations from plans by
measuring three variables: the Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled
(BCWS), the Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP), and the
Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP). BCWS is what was
planned in terms of the budget cost of work that should have been
completed, whereas ACWP reflects what was paid for the work
performed (Hegazy 2002). BCWP is the planned cost of
completed work (Warhoe 2004). This method, however, lacks the
means for accurately tracking project progress in terms of time
periods and neglects the probabilistic nature of project estimates,
plans, and budgets. Quality can also suffer for the sake of
producing more, or maximizing BCWP. Finally, the project team
could get too involved into detailed analyses and fail to observe
the interdependencies of project activities (Kim 2002).
6.3. COST ACCOUNTING

The above methods of cost control, allocation, and estimating need
to work in unison. For that, they need to be based on similar
guidelines and assumption. Such guidelines and assumptions are

provided through proper cost accounting systems.
Cost accounting is the discipline of accounting that assists

companies in managing cost. It is the set of guidelines and
procedures for tracking, classifying, and reporting internal costs in
a company. Its main aim is to accurately measure the internal
costs of an organization so that it can recover such costs.
Cost accounting is of great significance to cost management. It

provides the assumptions and general guidelines for governing cost
management, such as classifying costs into different types. It also
provides the construction company with systematic procedures for
the different aspects of cost management. In doing so, it provides
consistency of process and output to cost management.
Being fundamental to any business and its cost management,

cost accounting systems evolved to adapt to changing business
environments. With this in mind, this section investigates classical
cost accounting, which is referred to as Traditional Cost
Accounting (TCA), and its shortcomings. It then explores some
contemporary cost accounting methods and their problems.
6.3.1 Traditional Cost Accounting (TCA)

TCA represents the cost accounting systems that rely on
establishing a cost drive rate first and then using that rate to assign
resource costs to objects (Cooper and Kaplan 1999). It assumes
that cost objects (products, services, or any outputs of an
organization) directly consume resources. It also assumes that a
selected uniform allocation basis is adequate for assigning
overhead to cost objects (Kim 2002). Such assumptions were
generally valid in the early 20th century when TCA emerged.
However, they introduce a myriad of shortcomings into TCA at
present relating to its rigidness, distorting of costs, and restricting
of continuous improvement.
Excessive standardization causes TCA’s rigidness. It makes it

difficult to consider non-financial measures in TCA (Stenzel and
Stenzel 2003). In addition, its reliance on performance standards
and evaluation focuses TCA on historical data and records, making
its information outdated (Cooper and Kaplan 1999). Besides its
rigidness, TCA normally distorts the costs of products, projects, or
work items (Stenzel and Stenzel 2003). This is because TCA
neglects the interdependencies between cost objects and distorts
the allocation of overhead resulting in overtaxing cost objects that
consume little overhead and vice versa (Kim 2002, McLanahan
1992).
Finally, TCA restricts continuous improvement by being

results-focused. It neglects the processes that yield the results,
which hinders the identification and analysis of improvement
opportunities. Moreover, most reporting in TCA is reactive,
resulting in a lag between planning, execution, and feedback.
Finally, TCA presents summary accounts of an organization’s
operations that lack necessary details (Cooper and Kaplan 1999).
To overcome TCA’s problems, contemporary cost accounting

methodologies such as the Theory of Constraints (TOC), Resource
Consumption Accounting (RCA), and Activity-Based Costing
(ABC) emerged. The first two are discussed below while the latter
is investigated in the next section.
6.3.2 Contemporary Cost Accounting Methods
In response to new management methodologies, TOC emerged as a

new philosophy for analyzing a business by examining the
constraints on business processes. It has five core activities:
1. identifying the system’s constraints,

2. deciding how to exploit the system’s constraints,
3. subordinating everything to the decision taken in the second
activity,
4. elevating the system’s constraints, and
5. repeating the cycle if a constraint was broken in any of the
previous activities without allowing for inertia to set in
(Stenzel and Stenzel 2003).
TOC, however, is still in its infancy and needs much

investigation. It is also more of a philosophy than an applicable
cost accounting method and thus needs a supporting cost
accounting system.
Unlike TOC, RCA is an applied cost accounting method that

examines costs from a resource perspective. It seeks a precise
understanding of resource elements. It identifies and models the
resources used by activities and processes. RCA also pools
interrelated resources together and thus builds more homogeneous
cost pools with more accurate output measures. However, it
requires a substantial time investment and lacks proper activity
management and cost object analysis (Stenzel and Stenzel 2003).
The above discussion highlights the weaknesses of TCA, TOC,

and RCA. Using ABC can overcome such weaknesses. ABC
complements TOC by providing the cost information needed for
analyzing constraints and processes. It also complements RCA by
lending it the ability to focus on processes and activities. More
importantly, it avoids the distortion of costs present in TCA and
many of its shortcomings. Therefore, ABC is investigated in this
paper as a tool for improving project overhead management.
6.4. ABC
This paper has explored the issues of cost management, cost,
overhead, and cost accounting. It investigated some of the
problems that affect overhead. To improve project overhead

management through applying ABC, this section defines ABC,
establishes its value to construction companies, examines its
mechanisms, and reviews its status in construction.
Compared to the alternative of improving overhead allocation

bases, implementing ABC is expected to yield results that are more
accurate. Overhead costs, given how significant they have
become, should not be allocated. They should be traced to the
business activities, processes, products, customers, or markets
based on the demands each places on the organization.
ABC is an effective tool for achieving such tracing. It is a

systematic approach to accurately tracking and modeling cost
behavior. According to Ballakur (1991), ABC emphasizes that
products (or cost objects) consume activities, which in turn
consume resources. Thus, if the activities needed for a certain
product are properly traced and their costs known then its cost can
be accurately predicted using ABC.
From the above definition, one can observe the main differences
between ABC and TCA. ABC relies on analyzing the activities
needed by a cost object to establish a causal link for assigning
costs to it, particularly overhead charges. TCA, on the other hand,
relies on establishing rates for applying overhead costs using
simplistic allocation bases (Hoshower 1996). Not only such a
difference in philosophy allows ABC to accurately handle
overhead, it gives it great value and potential for all companies,
including construction ones.
6.4.1 ABC’s Value

ABC’s value to construction companies stems from it being a
proven tool, the factors that necessitate its application, its benefits,
and its applicability in construction.
ABC has received much attention and development and has

been tested in many industries. It has shown substantial value and

potential as a cost management tool. It can complement TQM,
JIT, and Lean Manufacturing by emphasizing the cost side of
business and process improvement (Kim 2002). It is a proven cost
accounting system that can greatly benefit construction firms.
Implementing ABC is also driven by some market conditions.
Increased global competition forces organizations to be more agile
in how they operate (Compton 1994). In addition, customers are
becoming more demanding for improved products and better value
(Morrow 1992). Moreover, technological advances brought about
significant changes in the ways products and services are provided,
costs are incurred, and businesses are managed (Cokins 2002).
Finally, rough economic times pressure organizations to
stringently control cost (Villegas et al. 1996). All of the
aforementioned factors necessitate changing the way cost is
tracked and managed.
Besides the factors driving its implementation, ABC offers

great benefits to a construction company. Such benefits relate to
ABC’s applicability, focus on activities, quality of information,
improvement of resource and capacity management, and
improvement of profitability. ABC is a simple concept that is
easily applicable without the need for extensive resources (Hicks
1999). It can be applied in any company once the activities are
analyzed and understood in a disciplined manner (Stenzel and
Stenzel 2003).
Such focus on activities gives visibility to the business

processes and allows for identifying and eliminating wasteful
activities (Alsaeed 2005, Cokins 2002, Back et al. 2000). It also
allows for accommodating the heterogeneity of overhead resources
and for accurately tracking cost (Tatikonda and Tatikonda 1991).
That enables ABC to provide timely, relevant, and reliable cost
information (Compton 1994).
Operating a business can be significantly improved using such

information. The company can improve its management of

resources and capacity (Cooper and Kaplan 1999). It can also
improve its profitability analysis (Hicks 1999). With improved
analysis and decisions, the company can ultimately improve its
profitability (Alsaeed 2005).
Beside the aforementioned generic benefits, ABC can provide
advantages specific to construction companies. It allows for
accurately relating cost and time at the activity level and thus
improves the understanding of the dynamics and interrelationships
of activities so that the impact of change can be more predictable
(Back et al. 2000). It enables the construction company to be
creative and proactive in reducing cost (Back et al. 2000). Finally,
it allows for accurately measuring overhead on every project,
improving the project profitability analysis, and improving project
profitability (Villegas et al. 1996).
Finally, ABC is as applicable in construction as it is in any

other industry. Maxwell et al. (1998) strongly advocate adopting
ABC in construction as a method for improving the cost
management of construction projects. Moreover, Back et al.
(2000) refute the claims that the variability of construction projects
prevents applying ABC by arguing that it has been used
successfully in manufacturing where processes are also subject to
significant variations. They also argue that both designers and
constructors manufacture products and thus ABC should be
applicable to them. Finally, the sophistication and flexibility of
ABC suit the increasingly complex and fragmented construction
projects that are experiencing constant growth in overhead costs
(Kim and Ballard 2002). Given its value and benefits, one must
understand how such benefits can be realized by examining ABC’s
mechanisms.
6.4.2 ABC’s Mechanisms

In investigating ABC, this section examines its cost flow, cost
pools, cost drivers, cost model, and cost layers. ABC’s cost flow
sets it apart from other cost accounting systems. In ABC, costs

from the company’s accounts are first assigned to resources and
then grouped into common cost pools. Cost pools are the result of
classifying a number of resources or activities into resource or
activity cost pools using some common bases (Stenzel and Stenzel
2003). They significantly reduce the complexity of an ABC
system and thus simplify it application while maintaining
accuracy. The costs in such pools are then assigned to individual
activities (Stenzel and Stenzel 2003). As shown in Figure 6.1,
direct costs are assigned directly to cost objects while indirect
costs are assigned to activities using resource cost drivers (Villegas
et al. 1996). Resource cost drivers are the parameters that relate
the consumption of resources to activities (Villegas et al. 1996).
They measure the frequency and intensity of resource consumption
by activities (Stenzel and Stenzel 2003). The costs assigned to
activities are then grouped into activity cost pools that comprise
the costs of related activities. Finally, the costs in the activity cost
pools are assigned to cost objects using activity cost drivers
(Stenzel and Stenzel 2003, Villegas et al. 1996). They are the
quantitative measures of an activity’s output that are used to gauge
the frequency and intensity by which each cost object uses
activities and to assign the cost of activities to cost objects (Cooper
and Kaplan 1999, Compton 1994).
Resource Costs
Direct Cost Indirect Cost
Resource Cost
Drivers
Direct
Assignment
Activity 1 Activity 2 Activity 3
Activity Cost
Drivers
Cost Object 1 Cost Object 2 Cost Object 3
Figure 6.1: ABC Cost Flow
Cost flow, cost pools, and cost drivers are all tools for
predicting cost behavior through a cost model. Hicks (1999)
describes the working of an ABC cost model by stating that it
begins with the volume and mix of products or services an
organization provides; accumulates the cost of activities involved
in furnishing that volume and mix of products or services; and then
converts that cost into a set of rates that can be used to cost
individual processes as well as the products or services. The
volume and mix of products or services is translated into the
volume and mix of measurable activities that are required, which
are then used to generate the cost required for providing the
volume and mix of products or services. Once the total costs are
accumulated, they are first distributed to the activities that made
them necessary. The cost of the various activities are then
converted into rates that can be attributed to the products and
services that were used to drive the cost model in the first place.
To reflect the costs involved in supporting different levels in an

organization’s hierarchy of activities, an ABC cost model uses cost
layers. They are divided into production and delivery cost layers.
Production cost layers include site-sustaining, process-sustaining,
product-sustaining, batch volume costs, and product volume costs.
Delivery cost layers comprise market segment-sustaining,
customer-sustaining, produce volume-driven, sales order-driven,
and delivery pattern-driven costs (Morrow 1992).
The above jargons might be more fitting to manufacturing, but

that does not mean ABC is not applicable in construction. How
common ABC is in construction and the level of attention it
receives are discussed next.
6.4.3 ABC’s Status in Construction

Despite the apparent advantages of ABC, there is little evidence of
its application in construction. Many construction professionals
argue against its use fearing that the complexity and variability of
construction projects and ABC’s need for data collection will
cause it to fail. Nonetheless, there are accounting companies that
provide construction firms with ABC services (Kim 2002). They,
however, do not provide any management of project overhead.
Besides the lack of application of ABC in construction, it has
received little research attention within the industry. Maxwell et
al. (1998) analyzed ABC as a process simulation tool. Their study,
however, assumes that cost is a linear function of time and does
not give any consideration to overhead. Back et al. (2000) suggest
ABC as a process improvement instrument. Yet, their study
focuses on corporate management rather than project management
and does not provide any analysis of project overhead costs. Of
the previous studies on ABC in construction, only Kim (2002)
attempts to reconcile ABC with project overhead management.
His methodology, however, considers only project staff salaries,
does not use cost drivers, has only three cost centers, and assumes
fixed-cost contracts and outsourcing of all work to subcontractors.
6.5. CONCLUSIONS
Cost is usually one of the most important project considerations.
In construction, cost management is the process used to assist
efficient project execution through controlling all aspects relating
to cost. It applies to all cost types, including overhead. However,
this paper has shown that the methods of cost management are
deficient. It also demonstrated that the use of traditional cost
accounting negatively affects the management of cost and both
general and project overhead. Further, the paper highlighted some
shortfalls in some new cost accounting methodologies. Through
examining literature relating to the above issues and ABC, this
paper established the potential of ABC in rectifying many of the
current cost management problems, particularly those relating to
project overhead. It also examined the basic working of ABC.
Despite such great promise, ABC is rarely applied in construction.
This paper provided some insight into the value and methodology
of ABC. However, deeper investigation of ABC in construction
that is supported with proper data is needed to facilitate its use in
improving the management of cost and project overhead.
REFERENCES
Abudayyeh, O., Dibert-DeYoung, A., and Jaselskis, E. (2004).

Analysis of Trends in Construction Research: 1985-2002. Journal
of Construction Engineering and Management. 130(3): 433-439.
Adrian, J. J. (1982). Construction Estimating: An Accounting

and Productivity Approach. Reston, VA: Reston Publishing
Company, Inc.
Alsaeed, K. (2005). Activity-Based Costing in Saudi Arabia's

Largest 100 Firms in 2003. The Journal of American Academy of
Business, Cambridge. 6(2): 285-292.
Al-Shahri, M. H. (1997). Overhead Costs in Building

Construction in Saudi Arabia. King Fahad University of
Petroleum and Minerals: M.Sc. Thesis.
Assaf, S. A., Bubshait, A. A., Atiyah, S., and Al-Shahri, M.

(2001). The Management of Construction Company Overhead
Costs. International Journal of Project Management. 19(5): 295-
303.
Back, W. E., Maxwell, D. A., and Isidore, L. J. (2000).

Activity-Based Costing as a Tool for Process Improvement
Evaluations. Journal of Management in Engineering. 16(2): 48-
58.
Ballakur, A. (1991). Managerial Accounting Strategy: Activity

Based Costing. Technology Management: The New International
Language, 1991. October 27-31. Portland, OR: IEEE, 383-388.
Bannes, L. T. (1994). Fee Analysis - A Contractor's Approach.

Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting of AACE International.
June 19-22. San Francisco, CA: AACE, CE.1.1-CE.1.8.
Barraza, G. A., Back, W. E., and Mata, F. (2000). Probabilistic

Monitoring of Project Performance Using SS-Curves. Journal of
Construction Engineering and Management. 126(2): 142-148.
Barrie, D. S. and Paulson, B. C. Jr. (1992). Professional

Construction Management. 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Bevacqua, A. J. and Elias, M. G. (1992). Profit. Proceedings of

the 36th Annual Transactions of the American Association of Cost
Engineers. June 28 - July 1. Orlando, FL: AACE, L.3.1-L.3.8.
Cilensek, R. (1991). Understanding Contractor Overhead. Cost

Engineering. 33(12): 21-23
An Overview of Construction Accidents in Malaysia 110
7
AN OVERVIEW OF CONSTRUCTION
ACCIDENTS IN MALAYSIA
Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid
Muhd Zaimi Abd Majid
Bachan Singh
7.1 INTRODUCTION
The construction industry is one of the main engines of growth of

our domestic economy. Its cyclical growth is a barometric
reflection of the economic climate, experiencing accelerated
expansion when the economy is booming and sharp decline when
the economy is on the downslide. Our construction industry has
been facing many challenges from the issues of low productivity,
low quality, fragmentation, poor image, economically volatile,
bureaucratic delays, lack of ethics, shortage of skill manpower, and
lack of data and information.
Generally, the production of construction products is a risky,

complex and lengthy process. The total development of a
construction project normally consists of several phases requiring a
diverse range of specialized services. Cost, time, quality and safety
are important characteristic of every project. For the construction
industry in Malaysia, there has been greater emphasis on the first
three aspects at the expense of safety. Many employers have not
established comprehensive accident prevention policies but instead
concentrate on maximizing profit. They do not emphasize on
safety because they do not know how high the actual cost of an
accident is until it occurs. Lack of adherence to safety
requirements has led to increased exposure of workmen and the

general public to risky situation at construction sites resulting in a
high chance of occurrence of accidents.
Issues particularly related to the construction safety and health

with regard to our construction industry are often associated to
high rate of accidents, low wages for high risk jobs, unconducive
work environment, competitive tendering, multi-layered
subcontracting system, unskilled workers, high labor turnover,
variable hazards, low priority for safety, harsh operating
conditions, poor project and site management, low technology
used, no centralize system to compile the scattered data and lack of
relevant accidents data.
7.2 INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS
The number of industrial accidents reported to the Social Security

Organisation (SOCSO) has declined by 48 percent from 1993 to
2004 as shown in Table 7.1. SOCSO had received 133,293 reports
on industrial accidents in 1993 and in 2004, the number had
reduced to 69,132 cases (SOCSO, 2001). In other words the
industrial accidents for every 1,000 workers have declined from
21.2 in 1993 to 6.8 in 2004. However, if we compare this rate with
that of the developed nation such as Sweden, Japan, Korea and
European countries, there is still big task ahead to get the right
figure. Our government aims to bring down the ratio of
occupational mishaps to three (3) for every 1,000 workers before
the country becomes fully developed (DOSH, 2000).
On the other hand, the number of fatalities arising from

industrial accidents for the same period has increased by 30 per
cent from 653 in 1993 to 846 in 2004 (SOCSO, 2001). The Fatality
rate per 100,000 workers even though has marginally declined
from 10.4 in 1993 to 8.3 in 2004 but the statistic show it has
increased from the year 1995 until 2002. We need to bring down
this rate to remain competitive or be at par with the developed
nations which have low fatality rate such as Sweden (1.2), United
Kingdom (1.3), Netherlands (1.9), Denmark (2.0), Finland (2.0),
Australia(2.0), Japan (2.6) and Singapore (4.9) (Jaafar. 2005).
Table 7.1 Industrial Accident Rate

YEAR REG. REG. NO. INDUS. ACC. RATE NO. INDUS. FAT. RATE
EMPLOYERS WORKERS ACCIDENTS PER 1,000 FATALITY PER 100,000
2004 542,629 10,238,554 69,132 6.8 846 8.3
2003 507,853 9,996,848 73,858 7.4 822 8.2
2002 462,517 7,912,385 81,810 10.3 858 10.8
2001 443,904 8,769,321 85,292 9.7 958 10.9
2000 415,523 8,877,304 95,006 10.7 1004 11.3
1999 385,916 8,598,005 92,074 10.7 909 10.6
1998 358,543 8,428,589 85,338 10.1 1046 12.4
1997 338,794 8,252,680 86,589 10.5 1307 15.8
1996 305,500 7,613,635 106,508 14.0 1207 15.9
1995 274,017 7,412,191 114,134 15.4 952 12.8
1994 241,243 6,947,979 122,688 17.7 644 9.3
1993 212,932 6,285,194 133,293 21.2 653 10.4
7.3 CONSTRUCTION ACCIDENTS
The number of construction accidents as shown in Figure 7.1 for

the same period on the other hand has increased by 5.7 per cent
from 4,207 cases in 1993 to 4,445 cases in 2004. The fatality rate
as shown in Figure 7.2 has increased by 51 per cent from 51 cases
in 1993 to 77 cases in 2004. Meanwhile, the cases for permanent
disablement have increased by 46.1 per cent from 305 cases in
1993 to 566 cases in 2004.
NO. CONST. ACCIDENTS

6,000 5,302
5,015 4,873 4,747
5,000 4,654 4,593 4,406
4,000 3,543 3,510

CASE
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995
YEAR
Figure 7.1 Number of Construction Accidents
PERMANENT
CONSTRUCTIONACCIDENT SEVERITY
DISABLEMENT
FATALITY
700 652 642

618 610
566 571
600
459 476 468
500
CASE
400
300
200 159 146
104 116
95 88 89 81
100 60
0
2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995
YEAR
Figure 7.2 Construction Accident Severity

The fatality rate from construction accidents as shown in Table

7.2 are among the highest compared to the overall industry (NSTP,
2001). For the record, the construction accident rate per 1,000
workers are 19.0 (1999), 17.5 (2000), 14.3 (2001), 14.4 (2002) and
12.6 (2003). The fatality rate per 100,000 in construction are 58.4
(1999), 57.2 (2000), 27.6 (2001), 25.2 (2002) and 25.8 (2003). Our
government hope that the fatality rate of 25.8 per 100,000 workers
in 2003 can be further reduced by 30% by the year 2010 or less
than 20 per 100,000 workers by year 2020 (developed nation
status) to be at par with the developed countries like Japan, France
and the USA which fatality rate is below 20 per 100,000 workers
(CIDB, 2005).
Table 7.2 Construction Accidents Rate
Year Registered Total Accident Permanent Death Acc Rate per Fatality Rate
Workers Employment Reported Disablement 1,000 per 100,000
2003 368,476 791,900 4,654 566 95 12.6 25.8
2002 349,084 782,100 5,015 652 88 14.4 25.2
2001 321,918 771,700 4,593 618 89 14.3 27.6
2000 278,127 828,000 4,873 642 159 17.5 57.2
1999 250,000 803,800 4,747 610 146 19.0 58.4
From the year 1999 to 2003 the employment in construction

sector with regard to the overall industries is only at an average of
7.9% compare to agriculture (17.1%), manufacturing (25.8%) and
services (48.8%) but the percentage of fatalities in the construction
sector as shown in Figure 7.3 is always one of the highest at an
average of 2.44% compare to agriculture (0.78%) and
manufacturing (0.66%). International Labour Organisation (ILO)

also highlighted the growing risks for workers worldwide
especially in construction works where the rate of fatal accidents
could be 10 or even 20 times higher than the average (ILO, 1996).
3.5
3.3
3.1
3
% F a ta litie s 2.5
2 2 2
1.8
1.5
1 1 1
0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7
0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6
0.5
0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Year
Construction Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries Manufacturing
Figure 7.3 Fatality Rate by Sector
In 2003 the number of construction accidents reported to

SOCSO is 4,654 cases out of 368,476 registered workers with
SOCSO for Malaysian workers only. If we considered the
estimated employment in this sector as reported to be around
791,900, then the accidents that went unreported could be higher.
We have to bear in mind that 70 to 80 per cent of our construction
workers are foreigner where some of them might have worked
without or with expired work permits so it is generally believed
that many cases of accidents and fatalities involving foreign
workers are not reported to the authorities. The actual figures are
much higher if those not subscribing to SOCSO are taken into
consideration. The published statistics are the tip of the iceberg.
Similarly, research in United Kingdom (UK) by Health and Safety
Executives (HSE) has shown that the accidents reporting level in

construction industry is only at 55 per cent (HSE, 2001).
7.4. COST OF ACCIDENTS

The high accident rate in construction is nothing new but it is not
something to be taken lightly. When accidents occur, it not only
affects the injured person, but also the morale of other workers.
Besides that, it also impairs the progress of the construction and
costs money. Accidents not only give bad publicity but cause
direct and indirect costs. One of the reasons is because time, cost
and quality are always the main factors considered ahead of safety.
Safety issues are always considered secondary and take a back seat
in construction. Many employers don’t realize the cost of an
accident until it occurs.
To illustrate further let us consider the economic impact of

accidents. Whenever accidents occur, it will generate a cost which
can be categorized into a direct and indirect costs of accidents that
can be large enough to affect the financial performance of any
organization (Levitt and Samelson, 1993).
The direct costs include medical costs and other workers’

compensation insurance benefits. For most construction
companies, these direct costs of accidents are not fixed depending
upon each company’s own accident experience. Other direct costs
of accidents are claims by insured persons, which are settled either
in or out of court, together with fines imposed by courts for breach
of safety and health law. For construction companies with very
poor safety records, the increased insurance premiums can be so
expensive that they render a company sufficiently noncompetitive
to put it out of business (Levitt and Samelson, 1993).
Indirect or hidden costs are the other and larger part of

economic burden imposed by a poor accident record. There are
many indirect costs of accidents such as reduced productivity, job

schedules delays, added administrative time, damage to equipment
and facilities as well as the less tangible, but very real, costs of
human suffering, reduced morale, damage to the company image
and so forth.
In term of cost of accident, according to SOCSO the number of

recipients for compensation as shown in Table 7.3 has increased 36
percent from 182,763 people in 1995 to 247,790 people in 2003.
In 2003 alone SOCSO has paid about RM 754 million, a
staggering 161 percent increased from RM 289 million in 1995, as
compensation for the industrial accidents. For the year 2004 the
amount of compensation was RM 836 million payable to over
260,000 recipients (MOHR, 2004). Going by the Accident Iceberg
Theory, the hidden or indirect costs of an accident is eight to 33
times more than that of it’s apparent or direct costs (MOHR,
2003). Therefore, just imagine the amount of hidden costs that we
are spending yearly to finance these accidents and diseases.
Table 7.3 Yearly SOCSO Compensation
Year/ 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Amount
Cases 114,134 107,635 86,589 85,338 95,006 92,074 85,869 84,810 73,858 69,132
Compens 289 316 384 445 497 609 638 722 754 836
ation RM
- Million
Yearly % 9 22 16 12 22 5 13 5 11
change
The cost of industrial accidents was estimated to be between

14.5 and 18.1 billion pounds(in 95/96 prices) for the United
Kingdom (HSE, 1999), 150 billion Dollars for the USA (in 1994)
(Everett and Frank, 1996), between 1% to 3% of Gross National
Product for the European Nations (EUASHW, 2004) and around
4% of world’s Gross Domestic Product as mentioned by
International Labour Organisation (ILO, 2005). Whereas, in the
United States(US) the total accident costs to the construction

industry alone was estimated to be between US$ 21 billion and
US$ 40 billion (in 1995 price) (Everett and Frank, 1996). Research
in the UK had found that the costs of accident in construction
could be around 8.5% of the project cost and going by the same
analogy it could cost EU nations around 75 billion Euros or almost
€200 for every member of EU populations (EUASHW, 2004).
7.5 LEVEL OF COMPLIANCE
In another aspect of level of compliance, inspection conducted by

the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) from
year 2000 to 2003 reveal that the achievement of satisfactory level
of the assessment on the occupational safety and health at
construction sites throughout the country were only between 50%
and 80% (NSTP, 2003). These figures could indicate higher
compliance by the contractors to safety and health procedures but
that does not necessarily mean the overall safety performance at
our construction sites has reach the satisfactory level. The statistic
has proven otherwise. Some of site that were in the satisfactory
level were just at the passing marks. Inspections were not
comprehensive as they were conducted at random sites four times
a year and the focus was more on the five worst negative elements
namely unfenced edges, working at height, scaffolding, holes and
platform.
The assessment criteria was based mainly on the compliance to

certain aspects of the Building Operation and Work of
Engineering Construction 1986 (BOWEC 1986) Regulations and
the Occupational Safety and Health Acts 1994 (OSHA 1994) and
not on the overall safety performance of construction sites. In
addition to that, report from DOSH had shown that there were
increasing numbers of notification, compound and prosecution
cases for the year 1999 to 2003 as shown in Table 7.4. As a result
of December 30th 2005 highly publicized accident at Plaza Damas

involving a young corporate figure, Construction Industry
Development Board (CIDB) was reported to reveal that there are
700 cases of negligence at project sites, which include 150 high-
profile incidence since 2003 (STAR, 2006).
Table 7.4 Statistics of Non-compliance

Year 2000 2001 2002 2003
Stop work order and notice of 1023 4797 5746 5344
improvement
Compound 5 121 927 1117
Charges in court 24 58 76 121
Industrial accidents investigated 1171 1123 1231 1214
Complaints investigated 289 347 395 418
7.6 ACCIDENT PREVENTION STRATEGIES
Management can prevent or mitigate accidents by identifying and

implementing appropriate control barriers, which help to prevent
errors or failures that could result in an accident. Accidents occur
when one or more barriers in a work system, including procedures,
standards and requirements intended to control the actions of
workers, fail to perform as intended.
Suraji et al (2001) pointed out that from the analysis of 500

accidents records provided by the UK HSE, the most frequent
category of proximal cause is inappropriate construction operation
, occurring in 88% of all accidents. The causes are mainly
attributed to site management during construction (Suraji, 2001).
Abdelhamid and Everett (2001) also noted that the ability of

the designer to influence what happens at the construction site
typically ends when the construction contract is awarded. Even if
such influence does exist, a designer cannot be held accountable
for an accident caused by a worker’s deliberate unsafe action. In

case cases, the onus is on on-site management to find ways to
correct and discourage these actions and prevent their
reoccurrence.
Heinrich et al (1980) suggested various short and long term

accident prevention strategies. Short term strategies should focus
on accidents and incidents, unsafe acts and conditions, company
and safety rules, procedures and equipments. Long term strategies
on the other hand will focus on the company policy and climate,
safety program, management style, motivation, employee needs,
morale, training, etc.
The situation in the Malaysian construction industry underpins

the need to increase research activities and strengthen safety and
health activities as well as to identify strategies to reduce the
fatalities, injuries and ill health. For that reason Construction
Industry Development Board has come out with a Master Plan for
Occupational Safety and Health in Construction Industry 2005-
2010 which spell out the strategies to improve the standard of
safety and health in our construction industry. The strategies will
focus on six core area which are enforcement and legislation,
training and education, promotions, incentives and disincentives,
standards, research and development and technology (CIDB,
2005).
7.7 SUMMARY
The statistics of accidents occurred in the construction industry

indicate that the accident rate in our construction industry is still
high. If we compare those rate with that of the developed nations
there are still big task ahead to get to the right figure. The statistics
discussed is to give us a clear picture that Malaysian construction
industry is one of the critical sectors that need a huge and fast
overhaul from the current site safety practices. Accidents could

result in not only direct physical injury to persons or damage to
property, but also short and long term effects or incidents due to
other exposures on sites that affect the workers’ health and
physical well-being. A civilized society reacts to disaster before it
happens. In order to prevent an accident, effective strategies must
be formulated and implemented. For example the root causes of
construction site accidents must be investigated for an accident to
be predictable. The knowledge of accident causation can be
utilised in formulating a more conducive working conditions and
environments at construction sites and hopefully the number of
construction accidents could be minimised.
REFERENCES
Abdelhamid, T.S. and Everett, J.G. 2000. Identifying of Root

Causes of Construction Accident. Journal of Construction
Engineering and Management, ASCE. January/February
2000, pp.52 – 60.
Asiah Jaafar, 2005. OSH As A Strategy Towards Excellent
Performance in Public Sector. Proceedings of 8th NIOSH
Conference And Exhibition On Occupational Safety And
Health (COSH 2005), pp 96. PWTC, Kuala Lumpur:
National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.
Construction Industry Development Board Malaysia (CIDB).
2005. Master Plan for Occupational Safety and Health in
Construction Industry 2005-2010. CIDB: Kuala Lumpur.
DOSH. 19 Oct. 2000.Teks Ucapan YAB Dato’ Seri Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi Kempen Bulan Keselamatan dan Kesihatan
Pekerjaan 2000. available
http://www.dosh.gov.my/maklumat/ucapan/10200019tpmu
kempen.html.
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU ASHW)
(2002), Inventory of Socioeconomic Costs of Work
Accidents, Luxembourg, pp5.
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU ASHW)
(2004), European Week for Safety and Health at Work
2004: Why Construction - Financial Costs. available
http://osha.eu.int/ew2004/static/whyconstruction/index_en.
htm
Everett, J.G. and Frank, P.B. 1996. Costs of Accidents and Injuries
to the Construction Industry. Journal of Construction
Engineering and Management, ASCE, Vol 122, No. 2,
Paper No. 10616.
Heinrich, H.W., Petersen, D. and Roos, N. 1980. Industrial
Accident Prevention: A Safety Management Approach,
Fifth Edition, McGraw Hill Book Co: New York.
HSE. Press Release E207:99-25 Oct. 1999 Work Accident and Ill
Health Cost Society Billions – New HSE Report Estimates.
available http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/e99207.htm
HSE. 29 April 2001. Levels and Trends in Workplace Injury:
Reported Injuries and the Labour Force Survey 1997/1998.
available http://www.hse.gov.uk/laborsurvey.
ILO. 22 April 1996. Press Release: ILO Highlights Growing Risks
to Worker Health and Safety. Available
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/pr/96-13.htm.
International Labour Organization (ILO). 2005. Prevention: A
Global Strategy – Promoting Safety and Health at Work,
The ILO Report for World Day for Safety and Health at
Work Geneva, 2005, pp3.
Levitt, R.E. and Samelson, N.M. 1993. Construction Safety
Management. Second Edition. John Wiley & Sons,
Inc.:USA
MOHR. 14 July 2003. YB Datuk Dr Fong Chan Onn Minister Of

Human Resources, “Speech in
National Conference & Exhibition On Occupational Safety
& Health (COSH 2003)Sunway Pyramid Convention
Centre”, available http://www.mohr.gov.my
MOHR. 18 October 2004. Datuk Wira Dr Fong Chan Onn -
Minister Of Human Resources, “Speech in Majlis
Penyampaian Faedah PERKESO Tampin, Negeri Sembilan
”, available http://www.mohr.gov.my.
NSTP. 9 April 2001. No Induction Course Attendance, No
Construction Workers, Developers, Contractors Have Until
July 1 to Comply available
http://www.aboutsafety.com/article.cfm?id=683.
NSTP. Building Sector to Achieve ‘Zero Accident’ Rate by 2003.
19 April 2001. available
http://www.aboutsafety.com/article.cfm?id=726,
SOCSO. 12 May 2001. Statistik Kemalangan Industri. available
http://www.perkeso.gov.my/statistik.htm.
STAR. December 2006. What Went Wrong at 700 Sites, Asks
Fong. available
http://www.mystar.com.my/article.safety.htm
Suraji, A., Duff, A.R., and Peckitt, S.J., 2001. Development of
Causal Model of Construction Accident Causation,
Journal of Construction Engineering and
Management.ASCE Vol 127, No. 4, July/August, 2001,
pp337-344.

The Role of Consulting Engineers in Project Development 124
8
THE ROLE OF CONSULTING
ENGINEERS IN PROJECT
DEVELOPMENT
Wan Zulkifli Wan Yusof
Bachan Singh
Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid
Ngang Shue Ming
8.1 INTRODUCTION
As the construction industry undergoes a continuous change and

rapid improvement in Malaysia, the management of construction
work becomes tougher and more challenging. Projects are
becoming much more complex and difficult. Consultants are
facing unprecedented changes, exemplified by changes in
commercial practices, new technology, a shift in social attitudes,
and of foremost importance clients who are now much more
sophisticated and knowledgeable are placing the emphasis more
than ever on tight completion dates and higher quality standards.
Consultants are being plagued by shortage of staff to handle the

projects. The owners on the other hand complained that the
consultants do not visit the site frequently and hence not only
contribute to the deterioration in the quality of the project but also
to the project delays.
8.2 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
The objectives of this study are : to study the role of the consulting
engineers in the construction project, to study the factors affecting
the success of the management consulting projects, to identify the
client’s level of satisfaction regarding the services rendered by the
consulting engineers and to identify the problems faced by the
consulting engineers in managing the project.
8.3 METHODOLOGY
The brief methodology adopted in this study can be divided into

five stages, which are the preliminary study, literature review, data
collection, analysis and findings.
References such as BEM Form A (Revised 1/83): Memorandum of
Agreement Between Client and Consulting Engineer for
Professional Services , FIDIC Policy Statement, and also books
and journals were being used. Before the commencement of the
project, should the client decide to use the services of the
consultant, the consultant is required to submit the memorandum
of agreement as stipulated in BEM Form A between the client and
the engineer (consultant) duly signed.
The information regarding the project delivery approach, the role
of consulting engineers, their professional services, duties and
responsibilities and etc. were being studied. The fees payable and
due to the consultant are spelt out in detail in the BEM form A.
The primary data are collected in two stages:-
i. The questionnaires which are forwarded to the developer’s
staffs, consulting engineers and contractors.
ii. Interviewing the consulting engineers to identify their roles
and also problems faced by them.
The secondary data are collected through the literature review of
journals, books and magazines.

Based on all the gathered information, quantitative analysis was
performed by calculating the average index and the results were
discussed in Section 1.5.
8.4 IMPORTANCE OF STUDY

From the interviews carried out on the clients, numerous
complaints by the clients regarding the consultants not adhering to
the conditions as stipulated in the memorandum of agreement have
been highlighted. At times, the consultants are ‘missing’ from site
and work seems to move without proper supervision.
Hence, this study is important to address the issues regarding the
roles and responsibilities of consulting engineers.
8.5 RESULTS
In this study, a sample size of forty respondents is identified. There
were thirty-eight out of the forty employees who responded to the
survey indicating the participation rate of 95%.
Table 8.1 shows the outcome of the analysis. The table

indicate that most of the consulting engineers conduct their site
visit either weekly or monthly.
Table 8.1: The Frequency of Site Visit Conducted by Consulting Engineers
Frequency of Site No. of Respondent

Visit Consultant Contractor Client Total
Everyday 0 3 1 4
Once per week 7 3 1 11
Once per fortnight 5 2 1 8
Once per month 4 5 1 10
2-3 times per 1 0 0 1
month
When problem 1 0 1 2
arise
None 0 1 1 2
Total 18 14 6 38
From Table 8.2 below , it can be seen that the level of cooperation
between contractors and consulting engineer is on the average.
(Average index = 3.36).
Table 8.2: The View of the Contractors on the Level of Cooperation between
the Contractors and Consulting Engineers
1= Totally cooperative 5= Totally uncooperative
Level of cooperation Average
Index
Level of cooperation between contractors and consulting engineers 3.36
On the level of satisfaction as shown in Table 8.3 below, the

respondents (clients and contractors) were moderately satisfied
with the services provided by the consulting engineers with the
average index of 3.20 and 3.18 respectively.
Table 8.3: The View of Contractors and Clients on the Level of Satisfaction on
Consulting Engineers’ Services
1= Totally satisfied 5= Totally unsatisfied
Level of satisfaction on consulting engineers’ services Average Index
By Clients 3.20
By Contractors 3.18
8.5.1 Identifying The Role Of Consulting Engineers
Table 8.4 below, shows the overall ranking of the role of

consulting engineer based on the opinions from the consultants,
contractors and clients. The most important role of the consultant
is as an Expert followed by manager.
Table 8.4: Overall Ranking of the Role of Consulting Engineer

1= Strongly disagree 5= Strongly agree
Role of Consulting Engineers Average Index Rank
Expert 3.45 1
Manager 3.39 2
Researcher 2.82 5
Counselor 3.32 3
Politician 3.16 4
8.5.2 The Problems Faced By Consulting Engineers In

Carrying Out Design And Project Implementation
Table 8.5 below, shows that the top three ranked problems faced
by consulting engineers were:
1. Too many projects in hand
2. Shortage of manpower
3. Consulting engineers who are unsatisfied with their salaries
Table 8.5: Overall Ranking of the Problems Faced by Consulting Engineer

1= Strongly disagree 5= Strongly agree
Types of Problem Av. Index Rank
Too many projects in hand 3.97 1
Shortage of manpower 3.89 2
Inexperienced engineer 3.55 5
Demanding client 3.58 4
Poor payment from client 3.55 5
Lack commitment from other parties 3.55 5
Overhead for company 3.16 8
Difficult to adapt new technology 3.13 9
Unsatisfied to their salary 3.61 3
8.6 DISCUSSIONS
From Table 7.1, most of the consulting engineers conduct their site
visit weekly or monthly. This complied with the agreement in
BEM Form A (Revised 1/83) : Memorandum of Agreement
Between Client and Consulting Engineer for Professional Services;
Part A. Most of the respondents felt that the frequency of the site
visit conducted by the consulting engineers depends on the types
of project.
Regarding the view of the contractors on the level of cooperation

between the contractors and the consulting engineers, most of the
contractors felt that the consulting engineers were willing to
provide technologies and knowledge to solve problems at the
construction sites. But some of the consulting engineers were
unable to divide their time and concentrate fairly among all the
projects in hand. (See Table 8.2)
On the level of satisfaction on the consulting engineers’ services,

most of the contractors felt that although the consulting engineers
were willing to provide technical supports, their feedback were
sometimes quite slow. These had affected the smoothness on the
construction phase of the project. From the responses obtained
from the clients, it was found that the clients were a bit concerned
on the consulting engineers’ site experience. They felt that most of
the consulting engineers could not provide very good design due to
the lack of site experience. (See Table 8.3)
On the consultation fees, the clients were having mixed feelings in

measuring the worthiness of the money paid to the consulting
engineers’ efforts. Some clients acknowledged that the fees
charged by the consulting engineers were moderate and it justified
the efforts required from them. However, there were also some
clients who felt that the consultation fees were quite impractical in
comparison to the time required from the consulting engineers to
complete their designs.
According to the respondents, the consultant’s role as an expert is

critical in the consulting process. A consulting Engineer must act
as an expert and possesses necessary qualifications and
professional independence to carry out engineering assignments in
design stage and project implementation. The second important
role of consulting engineers is as a manager who requires special
skills to manage or control the assigned project. (See Table 8.4)
Regarding the problems faced by consulting engineers in carrying
out the design and project implementation, most of the respondents
felt that too many projects in hand is the biggest obstacle in
implementing and monitoring the project effectively. The
respondents felt that too many projects in hand may diverse the
concentration and affect the performance of the consulting
engineers (See Table 8.5).
Besides, the results revealed that the second critical problem was
the shortage of manpower. Most of them felt that this problem was
relevant to the first problem (ie. too many projects in hand). Due to
the shortage of manpower, a consulting engineer usually needs to
handle more than two or even three projects at the same time.
Consequently, too many projects in hand will diverse their

concentration and affect their performance as well. (See Table 8.5)
Consulting engineers, unsatisfied with their salaries, was the third

critical problem faced by consulting engineer in implementing the
projects effectively. According to the respondents, money plays an
important role in motivating people, especially when the economy
is unstable. Consequently low salary definitely demotivates the
consulting engineers’ performance. (See Table 8.5)
8.7 CONCLUSION
1. The following conclusions can be drawn from the results

presented in this study:
Basically, consulting engineers should play the five basic roles
in ensuring the successful implementation of the project i.e.
expert, manager, researcher, counsellor, and politician.
2. The factors that will affect the success of management

consulting projects are: (i) characteristics of the client’s
organisation; i.e. the top management support for consulting,
the commitment of client’s team members, and the presence of
a client/sponsor; (ii) the competence of a consultant; and (iii)
the consultation mode such as clearly defined goals,
methodological compatibility, standardization of procedures
and clients’ participation.
3. The clients’ and contractors’ levels of satisfaction on the

services provided by the consulting engineers were
‘moderately satisfied’ with average index of 3.20 and 3.18
respectively.
4. The problems faced by consulting engineers in carrying out

their design and implementing their projects effectively are
ranked as follows:
a. Too many projects in hand
b. Shortage of manpower
c. Consulting engineers who were unsatisfied with their
salaries
d. Clients who are demanding
e. Inexperienced engineers; Poor payment from client; and
Lack commitment from other parties
f. High company overhead and difficultly in adapting new
technology
REFERENCES
ACEM. 1993 The Association Of Consulting Engineer Malaysia

1993/1994 Directory The Association Of Consulting
Engineer Malaysia
BEM Form A (Revised 1/83): Memorandum of Agreement
Between Client and Consulting Engineer for Professional
Services.
Bennet, John 1985. Construction Project Management. Great
Britain: Butterworths Litho Preparation Department. PP.
162-182.
Jang, Young and Lee, Jinjoo1998. Factors Influencing the Success
of Management Consulting Projects. International Jounal
of Project Management. Vol.16, No.2,PP. 67-72
Pain, J. and Bennet, J. 1988. JCT with Contractor’s Design Form
of Contract: A Study in Use. Construction Management and
Economics. PP. 307-371.

Telford, Thomas. 1987. Civil Engineers for Management. London.
The Institution of Civil Engineers.
Walker, Anthony 1984. Project Management in Construction.
Great Britain. Granada.
Systemization of Project Evaluation and Monitoring in Construction 134
9
SYSTEMIZATION OF PROJECT
EVALUATION AND MONITORING IN
CONSTRUCTION
M. Mustaffar, Z.A. Memon & M.Z. Abd Majid
9.1 INTRODUCTION
It is widely recognised that construction is an information

intensive and complex industry. Traditional computational
techniques have faltered due to the sheer number of information
interfaces and complex relationships. The proliferation of mega
projects that transcend traditional boundaries, cultures, and
disciplines warrants the need of a rigorous system in evaluating
and managing construction projects. The present trends towards
multi-participant mega projects have heightened the need for an
effective and efficient evaluation and monitoring by the
stakeholders. Effective, systematic monitoring and control of
information flow is a critical ingredient through the life-cycle of
construction projects. For instance, the control of information to
describe the required work, support decision making and
analyzing the physical progress. This chapter focuses on the issues
of evaluation and monitoring of construction project and
developing a systematic model considering the Malaysian
construction industry's view point.
The need has long existed for tools to streamline the job of
systematic evaluation and monitoring for management of
construction activities. Although manual, paper-based information
flow on construction projects still dominates. Nonetheless,
computers are increasingly becoming a central component of

project information systems. Several areas in construction
management, such as scheduling, estimating, cost control, and
accounting, employ well-established computer applications. To
carry-out the laborious calculations and data tracking for these
tasks, they represent a small portion of the day-to-day
construction management activities. This chapter addresses a
different class of computer application for construction
management, namely for managing the monitoring and evaluating
system for construction projects and improving progress reporting
and control system by incorporating detail information from site
photos and AutoCAD drawings. As defined by Kumaraswamy
(1996), evaluation is usually taken to be the post-project
assessment of a completed project, as opposed to project
appraisal which is its pre-project feasibility assessment and
monitoring refers to reviews of ongoing projects. The concepts of
evaluation to include monitoring will also be discussed, so that it
broadly covers all project reviews against established performance
targets. Progress reporting involves the recording of the
construction achievements for detection of deviations from actual
plan and for forecasting project performance.
A number of systems exist for representing project information

and information is created in various formats throughout the life-
cycle of a construction project, from design, through construction
to facility operation and maintenance (O&M). Construction
managers/general contractors need to keep track of design and
construction changes and as-built information in order to control
and monitor construction progress. The need to control
construction project performance has been widely discussed. A
recent survey of a large-scale project management information
and control systems (monitoring over 1,500 public works projects)
showed that the need for data entry at the project level was the
major obstacle to the success of the systems as whole (Futcher
2001). In fact, McCullouch (1997) reported that, on average, 30%
-50% of the time of field supervisory personnel is spent recording
and analyzing site data. In practice little has been done to address
this problem; most of the research efforts in the field of project
control still focus on the development of cost control models.
9.2 TRADITIONAL APPROACH FOR MONITORING

AND EVALUATING THE CONSTRUCTION
ACTIVITIES
Most construction project employ scheduling methods to monitor

and control the progress of work and develop progress reports,
which involves the recording of construction achievements for
detection of deviations from actual plan and for forecasting
project performance. The primary control system used by project
managers to preclude or mitigate time-based claims in
construction industry is construction schedule (Conlin et al.,
1997). The current practice of project control is entirely dependent
on cost, schedule, and quality reports and personnel performance
reviews (Sanvido, et al., 1992). There are a variety of ways in
which a construction schedule can be presented. The more
common types of construction schedule include: Gantt chart,
activity on the arrow, precedence network and line of balance. Bar
charts or Gantt charts are a powerful communication tool and an
extremely useful, visual and graphical medium in construction
scheduling. Conlin et al., (1997) described the traditional
approach for determining the amount of progress is to compare
the contractor's planned schedule with calculated dates to an as-
built schedule that has substituted actual completion dates for all
the activities. This method, however, has many disadvantages. A
persistent problem in construction has been to develop the as-built
physical progress schedule of construction scene. The as-built
project information represents how construction is actually
performed. The preceding sections focus on the issue related to
developing the digitalized actual physical progress report during
the construction stage. As-built schedules are costly to prepare
because of the amount of research necessary to determine the
actual dates and considerable judgment is also required. Since

detailed records are not always available and even if they are,
work on the site does not necessary confirm the planned schedule.
Creating an accurate as built schedule from daily site records,
engineer's diaries and other documentation is extremely difficult.
This is particularly the case if the sequencing or relationships of
the work have changed from the as-planned schedule. Re-
establishing the actual sequence from project record is very
difficult. Another, extremely important disadvantage is that site
records, engineer's diaries, and general historical project
information may be missing or at best incomplete. This results in
considerable time being expended in attempting to reconstruct the
project's history from the above-mentioned documents. If this is
the case then a great deal of judgment must be used to extrapolate
key dates and actual progress. This state of affairs leads to the
conclusion that automating control of on-site construction
performance is essential in order to enable management to take
corrective measures in real-time (Navon, et al., 2003a).
9.3 RESEARCH RELATED TO THE SYSTEMATIZING

THE CONSTRUCTION MONITORING AND
EVALUATION
With the development of new scientific management concepts,

comprehensive management techniques have been applied from
inception to completion of construction operations. After the
project has started, monitoring systems are established that
measure actual progress of the work at periodic intervals and the
reporting system provides progress information that is measured
against the planned targets (Memon et. al. 2004). As a project
progresses, the site management team makes and keeps long
reports related to the occurrences on a daily basis and pictures are
also taken and added to these reports (Abeid, et al., 2002).
Consultant and Contractor's personnel maintain daily site reports
and prepare monthly progress reports to show the estimated
quantity of work done up to the end of each month. By developing

these reports construction manager, project manager and field
manager can know the progress of the work up-to-date and
photographs of construction activities details are attached with
these reports to show the compliance with contract schedule and
documents. A direct comparison of performance against targets
using photograph as a major source to measure the project's
physical progress is the normal practice in the Malaysian
construction industry and also in third world countries like
Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and etc. A great deal of
work has been carried out in the area of systematizing the
construction monitoring and evaluating in the project
management. This section provides a brief overview of several
studies reported in the literature relating to digitalizing the
construction monitoring for construction project. A number of
commercial software packages that relate to this topic are also
listed. The sources outlined here provide the basis of the analysis
of project monitoring and the system development presented in
the following sections. Lock (1993) mentioned that the purpose of
computer based information system for engineers is to integrate
the collection, processing and transmission of information so that
engineering professionals can gain more systematic insight into
the operations and functions they are managing. The primary
function of the computerized information system is to improve the
efficiency of the project manager in retrieving project information
from existing records. Russell (1993) described a computerized
approach for collecting the site information which builds on the
traditional superintendent's daily site report. Miyatake, et al.,
(1993) demonstrated the concept of computer integrated
construction (CIC) and introduce a system Shimizu
Manufacturing system by Advanced Robotics Technology
(SMART) is part of Shimizu's strategy for developing CIC based
on site automation systems which automates a wide range of
construction process. With advancement in computer
technologies, particularly in database management system
(DBMS), it is cost effective to develop a computerized database
for even small projects and organizations. A database can be seen

as an attempt to overcome some of the limitations imposed by
conventional filing systems, such as uncontrolled redundancy,
inconsistency, difficult data sharing, and modification
inflexibility. Mazerolle, et al., (1993)] proposed a DBMS in a
project control process to store information on each delay when it
occurs. Hiroshi et al., (1993) described a filing system of
construction pictures and its integration with a database. Bowler
(1994) pointed out the importance of Relational Database
management programs (RDBMS) in the project management.
Hamilton (1993) stated that, using a relational database improves
record management process such as tracking the progress and
location of sharp drawings, within a firm, listing present and past
projects, maintaining correspondence, calculations, telephone
records, and memoranda. Virtual Construction (VIRCON) system
was developed by Dawood, et al., (2002), to support decision
support system for construction planning. The VIRCON database
is composed of a core database of building components which are
in turn, integrated with a CAD package (AutoCAD 2000), a
Project Management Package (MS Project), and Graphical user
Interfaces. MULTROL, a multimedia project control and
documentation system, was developed by Liu et al., (1994). The
retrieval of project information is assisted by a graphical user
interface and user-definable queries to support various needs of
construction management. This system allows the storage and
retrieval of project information in the format of text, image, video
and sound. A prototype system, CAD Construction Information
Management System (CADCIMS) was developed, Stumpf et al.,
(1995), using Microsoft ACCESS™, relational database
management system in the Microsoft Windows environment. The
interfaces had been developed among the Schedule Generator, the
CADD system, and the database. Open System for Construction
CAD (OSCONCAD) was developed by Maria et al., (1998), to
integrate CAD and construction related applications to address the
problems of design fragmentation and the gap that exists between
construction and design processes. Abeid et al., (2003), described
the development and implementation of an automated realtime

monitoring and progress control techniques. Abeid (2000)
developed PHOTO-NET techniques, a system that integrates
time-lapse photography with a dynamic scheduling and progress
control tool. Streilein (1996) formulated DIPAD software, which
combines digital Photogrammetric methods with the capabilities
of a CAD system. The overruling principle of DIPAD is, that the
human operator assigns responsibility for the image understanding
part (high level grouping), and the computer for the actual
measurement and the data handling. Sacks et al., (2003)
developed an automated model for monitoring labor inputs, based
on automated data collection (ADC) offers a solution to the
problem namely as Building Project Model (BPM) for Automated
labor monitoring. The basic task of many Photogrammetric
systems is to derive object space coordinates from 2D images.
Analogue, semi analytical and analytical techniques have been
employed for a long period of time in photogrammetry to extract
ground coordinates of objects from hardcopy images. In recent
years, digital techniques are implemented in Photogrammetric
applications. Pappa, et al., (2002) implemented the close-range
photogrammetry techniques for Gossamer Spacecraft Structures
and described that the science of calculating 3D object
coordinates form images is a flexible and robust approach for
measuring the static and dynamic characteristics of future ultra-
light-weight inflatable space structures. Greco (2001) described
photogrammetry as one of the techniques for obtaining reliable
measurements from photographs and other type of images. Chant
(2000) mentioned that by using close-range photogrammetry
instead of taking traditional contact measurements, the photos
were converted into AutoCAD models using Photomodeler pro
version software. From the related research it has been cited that
many studies have been conducted to develop the integration
model for a project and the ideas for developing automated real-
time monitoring systems are rapidly growing with the
advancement in the information technology. From the literature it
has been cited that very few have given concern to develop the
actual physical progress bar chart by capturing the information

form photograph. The close range photogrammetry is used for
converting photographs to 3D Model with the help of
Photomodeler pro version software, which is requirement for
accurate photogrammetry.
9.4 COMPUTERIZED PROJECT EVALUATION AND

MONITORING
With the continued development of easy-to-use computer software

and improved graphical presentation media, many of the practical
problems associated with formal scheduling mechanics have been
overcome. Some of the function involved in project management,
especially those concerned with project monitoring and evaluation
(developing the actual physical progress bar chart) were virtually
impossible to execute with any great speed before computers were
used (Levine 1989). In common with most other business
functions, the growing use of microcomputer has resulted in an
unprecedented increase in the development and supply of bespoke
software designed to fulfil specialized requirements. Although it
takes considerably more than a computer and some project
management software to manage projects effectively, the advent
of project management program has revolutionized the practice of
project management and has assisted project managers in
expediting their duties more effectively than they have done in the
past (Conlin et al., 1997). The rapid growth in the availability and
power of micro-computers, coupled with their continuously
decreasing cost, has made it possible for construction managers to
effectively and efficiently analyze the massive amounts of data
necessary to monitor and control the progress of the many
interrelated tasks that go together to make a construction project.
9.5 PROJECT MODELING IN DIGITALIZING THE

CONSTRUCTION MONITORING
As illustrated by the preceding discussion, numerous studies have
focused on information flow throughout construction projects, and
a number of computer program have been developed to help and
support this area. However we have not found a thoroughly
comprehensive systematic monitoring and evaluation system for
controlling the site progress. The system integration diagram for
this model is shown in Figure 1. The basic theory behind
developing the model is to extend the traditional approach to
represent the dynamic and simultaneous construction operations
by incorporating inter-relationships between hierarchical
processes of evaluating. This section provides a new methodology
of hierarchical representation of physical progress report that
allows the simulation based project monitoring of a project. The
objective of developing a Digitalized Construction Monitoring
(DCM) model is to systematize the construction monitoring and
evaluation of a project. DCM is implemented using object
oriented concepts and event driven programming. The object
oriented concepts were utilized in the graphical user interface of
constructing the DCM processes.
Fig.9.1. System Integration Diagram

Graphical interfaces were created in the Photogrammetry and

photomodeler environment and then exported into Visual Basic
TM (event driven programming). Relational Data base was
implemented using Micro Soft Access TM engine to store project
related information. The simulation concept of DCM model is
currently being used to test and check the validity. The main goal
of DCM model is to propose an interface process model between
the 2D digital photo and detail design drawings and update the
physical progress chart by integrating the information.
Digitalizing the Construction Monitoring is the recent demand of

the Malaysian Construction Industry and for the third world
countries. The major task of developing this model is to develop
the link between existing methods of evaluating and monitoring
the physical progress of construction scene with modern
technology by developing an Artificial Intelligence to emulate the
human brain. The objective is to develop the DCM based project
monitoring and evaluation system that improves construction
management methods in progress reporting and project control.
Figure 2 shows the process flow diagram for the DCM, in which
digital images will be captured from site and 3D model will be
developed by using Photomodeler software and AutoCAD used to
display 3D information of the intended design. All the design
parameters are stored in the primary and secondary data base and
code are designed to calculate the percentage of actual progress.
This percentage will be integrated with the Micro Architecture of
the DCM Model, which shows a dynamic connection between the
database and graphical information. The DCM model will be
integrated with existing commercial or research prototype
systems. The graphical information is created from 3D Model by
using professional prototype system namely Photomodeler and
AutoCAD 3D drawing. The primary data base from AutoCAD
drawing has been developed at the start of the project by
developing an Expert system and will be reluctant as any change
order will be corrected in the data base. Secondary data base will
be developed as construction work constructed and the source of

information will be using photos. Visual basic will be used to
build interfaces between the database developed from AutoCAD
and Photos by using Photomodeler. By simulating both data base,
it will calculate the percentage of progress considering the
updating date and will transfer this information to Micro Soft
Project to show the actual physical progress in bar chart.
9.6 PROGRESS REPORTING MECHANISMS IN

DIGITALIZING THE CONSTRUCTION
MONITORING
Traditionally information about physical project progress is
reported based on engineer's diaries, daily site records, and other
documentation is extremely difficult. The mechanism for
developing the project's actual physical progress based on digital
system which compares the planned schedule of work with actual
achievement on site to forecast the performance. If on comparison
the actual coordinates with the planned coordinates then the actual
physical progress report will show the percentage of work
completed. Progress reporting mechanism in DCM includes
comparing the coordinate's values of the activities which is
performed on site with the coordinate values of original AutoCAD
drawings.
Fig. 9.2. Process Flow Diagram

9.7. CONCLUSIONS
The ideas described in this chapter attempt to overcome the

limitations of the previous research development in the area of
evaluating the construction phase. The main focus of the
discussion is to design a methodology for the monitoring and
evaluation of construction project and developing a systematic
model considering Malaysian construction industry's view point.
A system design methodology is discussed and a prototype
software model is developed for systematizing monitoring and
evaluation of a project. The model allows users to document and
retrieve project information in the form of photographs and close-
range photogrammetry techniques are used to create 3D Model.
An integrated simulation model, named DCM (Digitalizing the
Construction Monitoring) is developed to integrate photos of
construction scene with AutoCAD drawings and it resolves the
existing project progress reporting problems. Based on traditional
approach, actual physical progress reports is developed manually
by comparing the planned with actual performance measured on
site. The Digitalizing the Construction Monitoring (DCM) model
is developed by using the Relational Database Management
System (RDBMS). The integration of photos and drawings will
enable construction manger to develop progress reports in a more
consistent and accurate way and more accurate as-built project
schedule can be transferred to facility managers so that the
information can provide the corporate knowledge of the facility
for operation and maintenance, renovation and demolition. The
DCM model improves the decision-making, productivity and
reduces delays.
REFERENCES
Abeid, J. and Arditi, D. (2002), Time-Lapse Digital

Photogrammetry Applied to Project Management. Journal
of Construction Engineering and Management, Vol. 128,
No.6, December, 2002, pp 530-535.
Abeid, J.N. (2000), PHOTO-NET: An integrated system for
controlling the progress of construction activities. Ph.D.
dissertation, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago.
Abeid, J.N., Allouche, E, Arditi, D. and Hayman, M., (2003).
PHOTO-NET II: a computer-based monitoring system
applied to project management. Automation in
construction Volume 12, Issue 5, pp 603-616
Bowler, C.E (1994). Database use in Engineering office,
Computing in Civil Engineering, Proceedings of the First
Congress, Washington, D.C., June 20-22, American
Society of Civil Engineers, Vol. 2, pp. 1874-1879.
Conlin, J. and Retik, A., (1997), the applicability of project
management software and advanced IT techniques in
construction delays mitigation. International Journal of
Project Management Vo1.15, No.2, pp 107-120.
Dawood, N. Sriprasert, E, Mallasi, Z. and Hobbs, B., (2002).
Development of an Integrated Information Resource base
for 4DNR construction processes simulation. Automation
in Construction, 12 (2002), p.p. 123-131.
Futcher, K. (2001) User survey on a WAN portfolio MIS used for
Portfolio I Project management in Hong Kong.
Proceedings of IT in Construction in Africa CIB-Int.
Council for Research and Innovation in Building
Construction, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, W78
Workshop, South Africa, 44.1-44.14.
Hamilton, D.O. (1993). Records management in engineering
firms. Journal of Management in Engineering, 7(4): pp
346-356.
Hastak, M., Halpin, D. W., and Vanegas, J. (1996), COMPASS-
New Paradigm for project cost control strategy and
planning. Journal Construction Engineering Management

122(3), pp 254-264.
Hiroshi, N., and Nobuoh, H. (1993). Filing of construction photos
linked with database. Computing in Civil and Building
Engineering, Proceeding of the Fifth international
Conference, Anaheim, Calif., June 7-9, American Society
of Civil Engineers, Vol. 1. pp. 718-721.
Joe Greco (2001), 3D Input with Photomodeler from Eos Systems,
16, 10 Pro-Quest Computing Oct. 2001 Page.51.
Kumaraswamy, M. M. (1993), Evaluating success levels of mega
projects. Proceedings International Space University
conference, Nat. Aero. And space Admin (NASA). Of
Management, Scientific and Technology. Information Ctr.,
Washington, D. C., 76-91.
Kumaraswamy, M. M. (1996), Systematizing Construction Project
Evaluations. Journal of Management in Engineering Vol.
12, NO.1 Jan/Feb 1996, p.p. 34-39. Lee DeChant (2000).
CAD models made form photos reduced furnace down-
time. Industrial Heating, June 2000,67,6:
ABI/lnform Trade and Industry Page. 59. Levine, H. (1989), A
Project Management using Micro Computers, McGraw-
Hili, United Kingdom.
Liu, L.Y., Stumpf, AL., and Kim, S.S. (1994), Applying
Multimedia Technology to Project Control. Proceeding of
the First Congress on Computing in Civil Engineering
June 20-22, 1994, in Washington, D.C. pp. 608-613.
Lock D. 1993 Handbook of Engineering management.
Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, United Kingdom,
Chapter. 20 and 27.
Maria F. Dr., Aouad, G. Dr. and Cooper G. Dr., (1998).
OSCONCAD: A model-based CAD system Integrated
with Computer Applications. Information Technology in
Construction (ITCon), Vol. 3. pp. 25-43.
Mazerolle, M., and Alkass, s. (1993). An integrated system to
facilitate the analysis of construction claims. Computing in
Civil and Building Engineering. Proceeding of the Fifth
International Conference, Anaheim, Calif., June 7-9,

American Society of Civil Engineers, Vol. 2 pp. 1509-
1517.
McCullouch, B. (1997), Automating field data collection in
construction organizations. Proceeding 4th ASCE
construction congress, ASCE, New York pp 957-963
Memon, Z.A, Abd Majid, M.Z., and Mustaffar, M., (2004).
Utilization of Photogrammetry Techniques to Digitalize
the Construction Site Progress. Proceedings of
International Conference on Construction Information
Technology (INCITE), Langkawi, Malaysia, 18-21
February 2004.
Miyatake, Y., Yamazake, Y. and Kangari R, (1993), The SMART
system project: A Strategy for Management of Information
and Automation Technology in Computer Integrated
Construction. Construction Information Digital Library
http://itc.scix.net/paper W783-2-40 Content.
Nader N. Chehayeb and Simaan M. AbouRizk (1995),
Applications of Simulation in Progress Reporting and
Control. Proceeding of the 1995 winter simulation
conference.
Pappa, RS. and Jones, T.W., Black, J.T., Walford, A, Robson, S.
and Shortis, M.R, (2002). Photogrammetry Methodology
Development for Gossamer Spacecraft Structures:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASArrM-2002-211739, June 2002.
Russell, A D. (1993). Computerized daily site reporting. ASCE
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management,
19(2): pp. 385-402.
Sacks R, Navon R and Goldschmidt E. (2003), Building Project
model support for Automated Labor Monitoring. Journal
of Computing in Civil Engineering, vol. 17, NO.1 January
2003 pp 19-27.
Sanvido, V.E. and Paulson B. (1992), Site level Construction
Information System. ASCE Journal of Construction
Engineering and Management, 118-pp. 701-715.
Streilein, A (1996), Utilization of CAD Models for the object

oriented Measurement of Industrial and Architectural
Objects. International Archives of Photogrammetry and
Remote Sensing, Vol. XXI, Part B5, Vienna 1996. pp.548-
553.
Stumpf A L., Chin, S., Liu, L.Y. and Ganeshan, R (1995). Use of
a Relational Data-base System to Integrate Product and
Process Information during Construction: Construction
Information Digital Library http;/Iitc.scix.net/paper W78-
1995-316-326.
Syed, S. and Froese, F., (1998) Project management information
control systems. Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering;
Aug 1998; 25, 4.
Chang, C.-C. and Lim, C.-J. 2001. LIBSVM: a library for support
vector machines. Software available at
http://www.csie. ntu.edu.tw/~cjlin/libsvm.
Cohen, A.M and Hersh, W.R. 2005. A Survey of Current Work in
Biomedical Text Mining. Briefings in Bioinformatics,
6(1): 57-71.
Couto, F.M., Martins, B. and Silva, M.J. 2004. Classifying
Biological Articles using Web Resources. Proceeding of
the 2004 ACM Symposium on Applied Computing, pp.111-
115.
Dollah, R. and Aono, M. 2008. Classifying Biomedical Text
Abstracts using Binary and Multi-class Support Vector
Machine, The 22nd Annual Conference of the Japanese
Society for Artificial Intelligence, Hokkaido.
Ho, C. Y. and Lam, W. 1998. Automatic discovery of document
classification knowledge from text databases. available at
http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/310941.html.
Leonard, J.E. Colombe, J.B. and Joshua, L.L. 2002. Finding
Relevant References to Genes and Proteins in Medline
using a Bayesian Approach. Bioinformatics, 18(11): 1515-
1522.
Lewis, D.D. and Ringuette, M.A. 1994. Comparison of Two

Learning Algorithms for Text Categorization. Proceeding
of 3rd Annual Symposium on Document Analysis and
Information Retrieval, Las Vegas, pp. 81-93.
Mahinovs, A. and Tiwari, A. 2005. Text Classification Method
Review. Decision Engineering Report Series, Canfield
University, UK.
Remeikis, N. Skucas, I. and Melninkaite, V. 2004. Hybrid
Machine Learning Approach for Text Categorization.
International Journal of Computational Intelligence, 1(1):
63-67.
Soucy, P. and Mineau, G.W. 2005. Beyond TFIDF Weighting for
Text Categorization in the Vector Space Model,
International Joint Conferences on Artificial Intelligence,
Scotland, pp. 1130-1135.
Wiener, E.D., Pedersen, J.O. and Weigend, A.S. 1995. A Neural
Network Approach to Topic Spotting. Proceedings of
SDAIR-95, 4th Annual Symposium on Document Analysis
and Information Retrieval, Las Vegas, pp. 317-333.
Index
INDEX
Accident Concurrent Engineering

action, 119, 120 benefit , 11
causation, 121 definition, 1
compensation, 116, 117 important themes, 3
cost, 118 methodology of
knowledge, 121 applications, 12
prevention, 119, 120 rationale of application, 1, 3
rate, 112, 114, 116, 120
Constructability
Activity-Based Costing concept, 27, 30
applicable, 92, 100, 102-103, principles, 21, 27
106
benefits, 91, 102-104 Construction
definition, 90, 101 activities, 38, 41, 47
mechanism, 101, 104 industry, 37-38, 47
status in construction, 101, 106 firms, 38
value, 88, 96-97, 101-102, 104, operations,42
107 phases, 38
processes, 3, 40, 42, 44-45,
Approach 47
probabilistic, 52-54, 56-57, 59, products, 37, 39
60-61, 65-66 projects, 48
monte-Carlo, 52, 54-55, 57, 59, materials, 37-40, 44-45
60-61, 63, 66 sites, 41, 47
stages, 38-39, 47
stakeholders, 37, 47
waste, 35-38, 40-42, 44-45,
47-48
techniques,38, 42
Index
Construction Accidents, 110, 112- Environment

115, 121 deter action, 69
instrument, 69, 77, 79
Consulting Engineers regulation, 68, 79, 81
problems, 125, 127-132
responsibilities, 125-126 Fatality Rate, 111-112, 114-
roles, 125-126, 131 115
satisfaction, 125, 127-129, 131
Lead Time, 8,11
Cost
accounting methods, 98, 100 Level of Compliance, 118
allocation methods, 96
capacity factors, 95 Management
categories, 92-94 costs, 89-90, 92, 94, 98,
control methods, 96 101, 102-103, 107
definition, 90, 101
direct, 89, 92, 96, 104-105 Modeling Techniques
drivers, 104-105, 107 predictive, 61,63
estimating methods, 94, 96 stochastic, 51-52, 54-55,
flow, 104-105 56
indirect, 90, 92, 95-96, 104-105
layers, 104, 106 Organizational
management, 88-90, 92-94, 98, inter, 89
100-103, 106-107 intra, 89
models, 100-101, 104-106
objects, 98-101, 104-105 Overhead
overhead, 98-101, 104-105 general, 92-94
performance, 88-90, 99 project specific, 89
pools, 90, 100, 104-105
Preassembly, 28
Design
details, 20, 26 Project
information, 20, 26, 31 Computerized, 142
related problem, 18-22, 25-27, development, 124
32 evaluating, 135-135, 137,
141-143, 146
Eco-costs importance, 124, 126
algorithm, 47 information, 134-139, 141-
attribute, 36, 47 144, 146
management, 135, 138-
139, 141
methodology, 125
Index
modeling, 142
monitoring, 134-138, 140-
144,0146
objectives, 125
Reporting mechanisms
digital, 136, 138, 140, 143-144,
146
Sequence of Construction, 20, 26,

29
Site Noise, 51, 54, 56
Standardization, 20, 26, 28
Sustainable
construction, 35, 41, 48
development, 35-36, 47, 68-69,
71, 73-74, 76, 79, 85
living, 68-70, 74-78, 83-84
neighbourhood, 68, 71-73, 76,
84
waste, 35, 47
Systemization, 134
Teamwork
cross functional team, 4, 12
characteristic of collaborative
team, 6-7
objectives of team, 5, 7, 11, 13
teamwork in construction, 5
Traditional Approach, 136, 142,

146
Tolerance, 20, 26, 29
Visualization tools, 29

Application of Concurrent Engineering Ce

Transféré par

Informations du document

Titre original

Copyright

Formats disponibles

Partager ce document

Partager ou intégrer le document

Options de partage

Avez-vous trouvé ce document utile ?

Ce contenu est-il inapproprié ?

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

Application of Concurrent Engineering Ce

Transféré par

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

First Edition 2008

© MOHAMAD IBRAHIM MOHAMAD

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted

Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

Issues in construction industry / editor Mohamad Ibrahim Mohamad.

Pereka Kulit: MOHD. NAZIR MD. BASRI

Diatur huruf oleh / Typeset by

Diterbitkan di Malaysia oleh / Published in Malaysia by

Dicetak di Malaysia oleh / Printed in Malaysia by

Chapter 1 Applying CE to Construction 1

Chapter 2 Construcability in Construction 17

Chapter 3 Eco-Costs of Sustainable Construction 35

Chapter 4 Construction Site Noise Modelling Using 51

Chapter 5 Sustainable Neighbourhood in Malaysia 68

Chapter 6 Integrating ABC into Project Overhead 88

Chapter 7 An Overview of Construction Accidents 110

Chapter 8 The Role of Consulting Engineers in 124

Chapter 9 Systemization of Project Evaluation and 134

This book presented important issues that are surrounding

toward surrounding environment is not an option anymore. Two

Mohamad Ibrahim Mohamad

the current practices within construction that is parallel to CE

Even though CE is relatively a new philosophy to construction it

De La Garza et al. (1994) also considered CE as suitable for

knowledge in the design development. Evbuomwan and Anumba

1.3 APPLYING THE IMPORTANT THEMES OF CE TO

1.3.1 Consideration of project life cycle requirements in the

fully realised during the design phase because of the lack of

1.3.2.1 Applying CE teamwork concept to construction

be referred as: "individuals or groups representing various

The main objectives of the formation of the team for a construction

• the removal of functional boundaries;

The following example indicates some of the project team aspects

The characteristics of teamwork concept used by Chrysler and

Boeing (Backhouse and Brookes, 1996) include:

• Bringing together people from all of the functions (various

Based on the observations made in the literature it can be seen that

The importance of the teamwork in CE implementation in

The most important factor in the formation of the team to support

concurrent team. Design will be a team effort. This is a major

1.3.2.2 Lead time

1.3.2.3 Focus on the customer requirements

quality product design derived from clear view of customer

Kamara et al. (1997) state that if the client's requirement is

• there must be a formal framework to process clients

• the requirements processing should facilitates design creativity

He argues that the current mechanisms for processing client's

1.4 THE BENEFITS OF APPLYING CE TO

The most important benefit from the application of CE to

All the different expertise from various functional groups will

De La Garza et al. (1994) reported the result of a study on CE

1.5 A METHODOLOGY FOR APPLYING CE TO

• clear understanding by senior management of what

Kamara et al. (1997) argue that CE implementation in construction

• building on current practice and trends like fast tracking

Houvila et al. (1997) look at the application of CE to construction

According to Carter (1992), CE can be applied to any organisation

1. The organisation structure must be able to support the

Love and Gunasekaran (1997) offer a generic view as to how CE

The views of these experts may be summarised as follows:

Existing literature does not specifically identify a clear approach to

procurement practice. Some proposals have been made in the

Ashworth, A. (1996) Contractual Procedures in the Construction