Dr Temitope Omotayo

This book is of interest to a wide audience of postgraduate students, academics, researchers and industry professionals in the built environment, finance, project management, engineering, and policy makers.

The global construction industry is on the brink of a transformative era, marked by the infusion of 5G technology and Generative AI, facilitating enhanced connectivity and optimal decision-making processes in project planning and budgeting. This transformation is also reflected in the evolving workforce, focusing on continuous learning and adaptation to navigate the emerging technological landscapes, and aligning with the introductions of innovative built environment curriculums. The industry’s trajectory is steered towards sustainability, strongly emphasising creating net-zero buildings and integrating advanced, eco-friendly building materials, contributing to ecological conservation. The exploration and integration of advanced 3D and 4D printing technologies are reshaping conventional construction methodologies, promising efficiency, and reducing construction time. Furthermore, the convergence of Smart Cities and Industry 5.0 is paving the way for integrated, sustainable, and human-centric urban development. This amalgamation of innovations and sustainable approaches is pivotal in delineating the construction industry’s future, underlining the symbiosis of technological advancements, ecological conservation, and evolved educational frameworks crucial for building a resilient and sustainable environment.

The global construction industry is experiencing significant innovations, disruptions, and future trends reshaping how projects are planned, executed, and managed. Innovations such as geospatial technology, Building Information Modelling (BIM), robotics, and advanced materials are revolutionising construction processes, increasing efficiency, and reducing costs. Disruptions, such as adopting renewable energy, sustainable construction practices, and modular construction methods, challenge traditional approaches and promote environmentally friendly solutions. Future trends include integrating geospatial technology, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and artificial intelligence (AI) for project management and risk assessment and using drones for surveying and monitoring. This study aimed to provide an overview of existing studies and identify key themes and gaps in the field, especially in the Caribbean region. The finding revealed that geospatial applications in construction industries had no relevance or were not recognised in the Caribbean’s construction sectors, unlike other regions of the world. Adoption of this technology in the Caribbean construction sector is essential. Construction professionals in this region may improve project planning, boost infrastructure resilience, and reduce risks related to natural hazards by utilising geospatial technology in the construction sector and risk management in the Caribbean.

The construction industry is experiencing significant transformations due to the introducing and integration of innovative and disruptive technologies, altering its traditional landscape. The influence of the Internet of Things (IoT) is pivotal, marking substantial developments especially beneficial to small- to medium-sized enterprises in the sector. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is also gaining prominence, unveiling new opportunities and inherent challenges in its assimilation into construction processes, providing a nuanced view of its multifaceted advancements. Furthermore, exploring Big Data’s role provides valuable insights into its transformative effects and innovative applications within the industry. Several technological disruptors, including 3D Printing, Augmented and Virtual Reality, drones, and robotics, are revolutionising areas ranging from design visualisation to automation of construction tasks, impacting material production and enhancing site safety and construction quality. The advent and dominance of Generative AI post-2022 reveal its extensive potential and impacts on diverse domains, including firm values and corporate strategies. The conjunction of these innovations is heralding a paradigmatic shift in the construction sector, necessitating a meticulous exploration of technological synergies and ethical considerations to ensure sustainable and ethically sound development in the evolving landscape.

This research was commissioned through a joint proposal issued by CHOBE and the RICS to provide an overview report on surveying education across the Globe. CHOBE note that since their initial ‘State of the Nation’ analysis of Built Environment in 2008, and subsequent iterations in 2010 and 2015, the national and international landscapes around higher education and built environment provision have changed significantly. In particular, the global reach of the RICS has expanded and developments around in-country provision and trans-national education (TNE) have gained scale and maturity. It was considered timely to produce a globally relevant review of the state of surveying education, extending to wider built environment domains that reflect the current position. Working in collaboration with international partners from institutions in Sri Lanka, Canada, Australia and Nigeria, the purpose of this project is to build on previous research regarding education and pedagogy within the field of surveying. As the global education market diversifies, with an apparent move towards embracing work-based and postgraduate options as a central stream for entrants to the industry, the aim of the research is to explore, analyse and represent the current state and likely future directions for surveying education in selected global regions. The project aims to provide a current snapshot of global surveying education which can then direct future work towards focussed areas of study, engagement and application. The work builds on significant previous research regarding education and pedagogy within surveying with the purpose of defining the overarching themes which have emerged, both globally and regionally, with regard to the scope and context of teaching surveying within higher education institutions. With diversification of the global education market, this report seeks to explore, analyse and represent the current state and likely future directions for surveying education in selected global regions.

Loss of productivity through on-site delays and disruptions is a significant problem in the construction industry. This can be caused by workforce, materials, and equipment clashes. A major need for the industry is to improve construction logistic efficiencies for materials and equipment from manufacture to the point of use by the workforce. The authors investigate the effectiveness and efficiency of integrated construction supply chain logistics (ICSCL) using 4D Building Information Models (BIM), via three information streams: literature, a case study of the Elephant and Castle project (E&C), and a survey from UK construction professionals. The results illustrate, although BIM of various levels is currently in use throughout the UK, 4D BIM for ICSCL is not extensively utilized due to an absence of strategy, perceived costs of IT, and training requirements. That use could potentially add value with a trusted supply chain and disciplined planning using a multiple stream logistic model.

Purpose The development of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the construction sector is slow, thereby leaving many opportunities for further development. To enable operators in the construction sector to effectively capitalise on the opportunities to promote the development of CSR in the sector, this study employs the practice viewpoint to take the stock of CSR activities in the sector. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the state of CSR practice in the construction sector. The study also draws from the development of CSR in the manufacturing, mining and banking sectors to inform the state of CSR practice in the construction sector. Design/methodology/approach This study carries out a systematic literature review of 56 journal publications that were published between the year 2000 and 2016. The deductive coding of the publications was done to identify four themes of CSR research that constitute the practice view of the state of CSR in the construction sector. Findings The implementation of CSR is the major emphasis in the state of CSR practice in the construction sector. The implementation of CSR is wrapped in the perception of operators about CSR potentials, dimensions of CSR implemented, strategies for implementation and the effects of the implemented CSR practices on performance. The sector characteristics and organisational structure are attributes for comparing the CSR practices between the construction sector and the manufacturing, mining and banking sectors. Originality/value This study provides a researchers’ view of the state of CSR in the construction sector. Additionally, the study draws from the development of CSR in the manufacturing, mining and banking sectors to inform the state of CSR practice in the construction sector.

Purpose Continual cost reduction of overhead costs of building projects can realign the concept of post-contract cost control towards value-driven construction projects and stakeholders’ satisfaction. This study synthesised and analysed the viable continuous improvement measures critical for waste reduction during the execution phase of a building project. Design/methodology/approach A review of existing literature facilitated a list of continuous improvement measures. This literature review findings enabled a Likert-scale questionnaire which was administered to two-hundred and fifty (250) small- and medium-scale construction companies (SMSCC) in Nigeria. Multiple linear regression statistical tests deduced the significant cost reduction measure from which a causal loop diagram was designed to indicate continuous improvement measures during the execution phase of a building project. Findings Cogent construction activities associated with overhead costs were deduced from the statistical tests as being payment of suppliers and sub-contractors and purchase orders. An all-inclusive casual loop model for cost reduction through waste minimisation in construction projects as a viable oriented mechanism for meeting clients' requirements was developed. Practical implications The causal loop continuous improvement model recognised external and internal factors which are crucial for SMSCC to focus on for their organisational growth and performance enhancement. Originality/value A focus on non-physical waste in construction organisations potentially addresses behavioural challenges for continuous improvement.

"Continuous Cost Improvement in Construction: Theory and Practice aims to provide students and practitioners with an all-inclusive understanding of strategies for adopting continuous improvement in construction cost management"--

The actualization of affordable housing remains a challenge. This challenge is exacerbated by the increasing societal demand for the incorporation of sustainability principles into such housing types to improve levels of occupant health and well-being whilst avouching the desired levels of affordability. Innovative technologies and practices have been described as beneficial to the effectuation of sustainable affordable housing. However, knowledge concerning the deployment of innovative technologies and practices in sustainable affordable housing (sustainable, innovative, affordable housing—SIAH) delivery remains nascent. Consequently, there is a lack of a common ontology among stakeholders concerning how to realize SIAH. This study aims to contribute toward the development of this body of knowledge through the establishment of the critical success factors (CSFs) for effective SIAH implementation. To achieve this objective, a systematic review and bibliometric analysis focusing on a juxtaposition of sustainable, innovative and affordable housing concepts was carried out based on the relevant literature. This led to the identification and clustering of CSFs for these housing concepts at individual levels and as a collective (SIAH). The findings of the study consisted of the establishment of four distinct yet interrelated facets through which SIAH can be achieved holistically, namely, housing design, house element, housing production method and housing technology. A total of 127 CSFs were found to be aligned to these facets, subsequently clustered, and conclusively used for the development of a SIAH CSF framework. The most frequently occurring CSFs with predominant interconnections were the utilization of energy-efficient systems/fittings, tenure security, a comfortable and healthy indoor environment, affordable housing price in relation to income and using water-efficient systems/fittings CSFs, and establishing the emergent SIAH CSF framework. The framework in this study is useful in the documentation of SIAH features for construction projects and further studies into SIAH CSFs.

This study espouses a multi-strategy method comprising of a qualitative study and system dynamics (SD) to deliver the long-term dynamic behaviour of human resource development (HRD) in Ghana’s oil and gas sector. The adoption of the SD differed from previous studies addressing the local content implementation challenge of human resources, thereby allowing HRD to be considered a ‘system’ which, in turn, aided in comprehensively identifying and analysing the interrelationships among the dominant variables. Focal articles were reviewed to develop a causal loop diagram (CLD) for human resource and subsequently validated qualitatively. The CLD was used for analysing interconnections among the variables in the HRD and as a basis for developing the stock and flow diagram for projections. The study found that local content investment is projected to increase from $799 million to $3.0807 billion in 50 years, with a corresponding revenue increase from $29 billion to $44 billion in 50 years. Subsequent sensitivity analysis compared the local content model results under varying situations, which indicated the possibility of a demand for 20,000 local staff. The study further uncovered two critical issues affecting HRD, namely policy coordination and harmonisation and sustainable funding. These issues are exacerbated by the pervasive political interference in the administrative and operational functions of state oil and gas institutions.

An identification of strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) factors remains imperative for enabling a successful Smart Campus transition. The absence of a structured approach for analyzing the relationships between these SWOT factors and the influence thereof on Smart Campus transitions negate effective implementation. This study leverages a systems thinking approach to bridge this gap. Data were collected through a stakeholder workshop within a University of Technology case study and analyzed using qualitative content analysis (QCA). This resulted in the establishment of SWOT factors affecting Smart Campus transitions. Systems thinking was utilized to analyze the relationships between these SWOT factors resulting in a causal loop diagram (CLD) highlighting extant interrelationships. A panel of experts drawn from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and South Africa validated the relationships between the SWOT factors as elucidated in the CLD. Subsequently, a Smart Campus transition framework predicated on the CLD archetypes was developed. The framework provided a holistic approach to understanding the interrelationships between various SWOT factors influencing Smart Campus transitions. This framework remains a valuable tool for facilitating optimal strategic planning and management approaches by policy makers, academics, and implementers within the global Higher Education Institution (HEI) landscape for managing successful Smart Campus transition at the South African University of Technology (SAUoT) and beyond.

There are an increasing number of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting tools that are evolving. As a result, it has become chaotic and complicated for practitioners to select the most appropriate one for CSR reporting. To address the problem, previous studies have classified the CSR reporting tools into frameworks, standards and, ratings and indices classes for easy comprehension and application in practice. However, no study has focused on revealing the use of CSR reporting tools based on this classification. This study employed researchers’ perspectives through a systematic review of journal papers published between 2001-2016 to reveal the use of CSR reporting tools based on their classifications. The findings revealed that the GRI tool in the framework class is widely implemented, but also associated with many problems that impact CSR reporting in practice. Also, there are new aspects where the tool could be used are for CSR learning in organisations and CSR regulation. Furthermore, the CSR reporting tools in the standards, ratings and indices classes are not commonly implemented for CSR reporting thereby attracting less researcher interest. The study concluded by linking the research and practice of the use of CSR reporting tools in different classes. The study has implications for CSR reporters who use CSR reporting tools in the frameworks, standards, and ratings and indices classes.

The sub-optimal performance of state-owned refineries in Nigeria has led to a significant gap in the supply of refined petroleum products (RPPs) in the country. More so, the growing demand for these products has further widened the gap to the range of 500,000 – 600,000 barrels per day (bpd). Consequently, most of the imports for RPPs in Nigeria are being filled from the United States and North-Western Europe at the expense of the Nigerian economy. However, given the abundance of petroleum resources in Nigeria and its long history in the production of oil, it is unfortunate that the local refineries are hardly maintained to meet the needs of the local population. In addition, the inability of the Nigerian state to build additional refining capacity to cushion its domestic supply gap for RPPs has become a major concern. With more than 40 licenses issued to private companies since 2002, only two companies (Niger Delta Petroleum Resources Refinery and Dangote Oil Refinery) have made noticeable progress in new refinery construction. This paper is focused on investigating the current challenges of refinery construction in Nigeria. This is done with a view of comparing the drivers and enablers of productivity in construction in this sector during the period of 1965 – 1989 and how they differ from the current period of 2000 - 2019 in Nigeria. A systematic literature review within the academic journals, source documents from the industry, relevant interviews from published news media and consulting organisations were used to identify and categorise these challenges. The findings of this study were validated by interviews from experts across key industries in this sector. The study reveals that change of ownership structures from the government sector to the private sector between the two eras, present additional challenges. These challenges cut across availability of capital, inconsistent government priorities and access to land for construction. Others include cronyism and corruption, weak political will, unstructured refinery licensing scheme, security challenges and economic factors regarding the regulated downstream market in Nigeria. Key recommendations proffered to help solve these problems include a private sector-led partnership with the government in the form of public private partnerships (PPPs), a review of existing methods for licensing refineries for private organisations, the development of local manpower with relevant technical skills to help lower the cost of expatriate labour and the establishment of more designated clusters as free trade zones within the oil-producing Niger Delta. These recommendations will help lower the entry barriers for private organisations in this sector.

Governments provide incentives to promote green building practices in the construction sector. Compared with rigid-regulatory incentives, the reward and compensation are voluntary incentives because construction stakeholders can choose whether to uptake them or otherwise. The problem is that an explicit list of the forms of reward and compensation that construction stakeholders may decide to uptake to design and construct green buildings is not available to them. This paper employs a narrative review of academic and practitioner publications obtained in a quasi-systematic manner to reveal the forms of reward and compensation for enhancing green building construction. The findings reveal nine forms of reward and compensation designed by the government as voluntary incentives for construction stakeholders. The new insight from this paper concerns scaling incentives by the government. The scaling in the forms of reward and compensation is low because of the voluntariness in the designing. However, in contrast to the rigid-regulatory incentives, this does not affect their uptake among construction stakeholders. Finally, since the scaling of government initiatives for sustainable development is the norm, this paper proposes that scaling the forms of reward and compensation can be done on the bases of the phases of green building construction.

While risk factors are sine qua non for construction projects’ non-performance, the research efforts are directed toward the likelihood of risks at the detriment of their level of influence on higher education building projects. This study assessed the perceptions of construction key stakeholders about the influence of risk factors on higher education building projects using machine learning-based random forest classification. A questionnaire survey was administered to four hundred and sixty-five (465) respondents comprising clients’ representatives, consultants, and contractors across five (5) higher education institutions in Nigeria. Of 465 questionnaires, 295 retrieved were suitable for the analysis implying a 63.44% response rate. The Random Forest (RF) classification used 295 samples, out of which 189 (64%) formed the training dataset, while the validation and testing data sets are 47 (16%) and 59 (20%), respectively. The RF model accuracy conducted shows the optimized model with the test accuracy and out-of-bag accuracy (OOB). The study clustered 58 risk factors into four comprising (i) security, access, health, and safety risks, (ii) construction dispute resolution risks, (iii) construction planning and contract documentation risks, and (iv) construction cost and management risks. Further, the proposed recommendations could help enhance the performance of higher education building projects.

The availability of various technological innovations in the construction industry is able to enhance the sustainability of affordable housing and promote the development of sustainable, innovative, affordable houses (SIAH). However, the existing studies do not provide practical knowledge on the impact of key internal and external influencers on the level of adoption of these technological innovations in affordable housing in the global south. Therefore, the current study scrutinises the impact of the key internal and external influencers on the level of adaptation of technological innovation in South African affordable housing projects. The initial findings were utilised to develop SIAH causal model. The SIAH casual model and the nexus between the constructs/sub-constructs were validated through a structured questionnaire survey returning 517 completed questionnaires by registered home developers in South Africa with structural equation modelling as the analysis method. The study found a low positive impact of internal influences and a moderate negative impact of external influences on the level of adoption of technological innovation by home developers in South African affordable housing projects. Moreover, the research proved the high negative mediating impact of external influences on the association between internal influences and technological innovation adoption level. The study deduces that external influencers are the main drivers of adopting technological innovation in affordable housing. By addressing the external influences, the level of adoption will significantly improve. This is because of both the direct and mediating adverse effects of external influencers on the level of adoption of technological innovation in affordable housing projects. The validated causal model can use as a robust framework to reduce the challenges of adaptation to technological innovations in SIAH.

Purpose Building information modelling (BIM) is an innovative, collaborative process underpinned by digital technologies introduced to improve project performance in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC). Growth in industry demands has necessitated BIM inclusion into the higher education (HE) curricula as both a pedagogic and practical objective to prepare and develop aspiring built environment (BE) professionals with the required competence for contemporary practice. However, comprehension of BIM concepts and subsequent development of the skill set required for its application remains overwhelming for students. In mitigating this challenge, adopting appropriate learner-centred strategies has been advocated. Problem-based learning (PBL) is becoming a widespread strategy to address concerns associated with authentic practices. Design/methodology/approach This paper evaluates the impact of the PBL strategy on students' accelerated learning of BIM based on a case study of 53 undergraduate students in a BIM module. The network analysis and centrality measures were employed in understudying the most applicable BIM skills. Findings From the analyses, PBL benefits students' knowledge acquisition (cognitive and affective) of BIM concept and development of transferable skills (academic and disciplinary), equipping them with capabilities to become BIM competent and workplace ready for the AEC industry. Originality/value The BIM pedagogy evolves, and new skillsets emerge. Analytical, communications and collaboration skills remain sacrosanct to delivering BIM modules. These skills mentioned above are essential in getting undergraduate students ready to apply BIM in the AEC sector.

A base isolator is a proven system that can significantly reduce any damage to a building in the event of an earthquake. Despite their efficacy, seismic isolators are not widely used in New Zealand, with only about forty systems in use during the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury Earthquakes. This study seeks to investigate why base isolation systems are not frequently used in seismic strengthening projects and buildings in New Zealand. It also focuses on determining ways in which seismic isolators could become more widely used in New Zealand due to increased seismic activity. This study used an exploratory sequential mixed method design, in which qualitative data were collected first through in-depth face-to-face interviews, analysed, and used to construct the quantitative instrument, which was an online questionnaire. Data were obtained from construction professionals such as architects, engineers, site-based construction personnel, and quantity surveyors. The findings of this study indicated the need for an increased awareness of base isolation systems and improved universal guidelines for the design of seismic isolators. The motivators identified include provision of monetary incentives, such as reduced insurance premiums and financial subsidies, to encourage the adoption of seismic isolators. The factors preventing the adoption of base isolation systems in New Zealand were classified as human-related, safety and design-related, and cost-related. The study’s implication is that providing a universal guideline for seismic isolators can enhance designers’ confidence. Likewise, incentives may be provided to property owners to lower the cost of implementing a base isolation system.

Abstract

The emergence of a plethora of innovative construction methods, materials and technologies in the construction industry has been projected to enhance the effective delivery of sustainable affordable housing. However, a lack of empirical evidence buttressing an extensive analysis of the effect of internal and external influencers on adopting these innovations within the affordable housing context in developing countries persists. This study examines the nexus between company and project characteristics as internal influencers, and challenges as external influencers, on the extent of use of sustainability‐oriented innovations (SOIs), on affordable housing projects. Variables emanating from an extensive literature review were presented in a causal model detailing sustainable, innovative, and affordable housing (SIAH). The model and the inherent causality between the constructs were validated through a survey administered on a population of registered South African home developers. The results of structural equation modelling posit a minimal positive impact of internal influencers and moderate negative effects of external challenges on the extent of use of SOIs by home developers. Also, results highlighted the negative mediating impact of challenges on the relationship between internal influences and the extent of use of SOI in affordable housing projects. The study concludes that the external challenges are the key drivers of adopting innovation in SIAH, and by addressing these challenges, the extent of use will significantly improve. The validated causal model can be used as a framework to enhance SOIs adoption in SIAH.

Fast-track construction projects are becoming increasingly prevalent in the construction industry, particularly where completion time is essential. A high adoption rate in some of the United Arab Emirate countries and the lack of a conceptual understanding of the challenges inherent in such may jeopardize the future sustainability of the construction sector. To make an informed decision about adopting a fast-track construction method, it is necessary to first identify the opportunities and challenges associated with it. Therefore, this study examines the critical challenges impeding the performance of Qatar’s fast-track construction projects. The research findings were analysed and triangulated using a real-life project as a case study and several data sources. The results of the research identified four critical categories of barriers: design and coordination-related, scope or change orders-related, material and equipment-related, and contractual-related barriers. In addition, strategies such as accurate information, constructability assessment, early involvement of operations and maintenance personnel, and the use of an effective change control system were identified for addressing the identified challenges. The findings are beneficial to professionals who are currently operating or planning to undertake construction projects in Qatar or other United Arab Emirate countries. This study recommends that project managers be more attentive to key barriers in order to improve the performance of fast-track projects and to meet clients’ objectives.

Continuous Cost Improvement in Construction: Theory and Practice aims to provide students and practitioners with an all-inclusive understanding of strategies for adopting continuous improvement in construction cost management. This book addresses continuous improvement practices from the perspective of cost management and applies case study examples to question the readers’ perspective of continuous cost improvement strategies in the project lifecycle. Continuous cost improvement practices in managing the cost of minor, major, and mega projects are all connected with decision-making tools for devising strategies for choosing the approaches for mitigating the effect of cost overruns in construction projects. Continuous cost improvement should be taught as part of modern methods and processes of construction in further and higher education institutions. This book will be key reading for all advanced undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Construction Project Management, Building and Quantity Surveying. Professionals in all aspects of the AEC industry will also gain greatly from engaging with the key concepts of continuous cost improvement throughout this book.

Abstract Purpose The challenges facing the productivity of Nigeria's refineries have generated much academic discourse. This study was carried out to develop a causal loop model showing the interrelationships of the multiple factors driving the poor performance of the refineries. Using a framework of political, economic, social and technical (PEST) factors, the developed model helped identify leverage points for policy intervention in the system. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-method approach was adopted to collect quantitative data from 118 refinery workers and qualitative data from 14 participants polled from the various Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) subsidiaries. The quantitative data were analysed through structural equation modelling (SEM) to prioritise the more significant factors, while the qualitative data were analysed by content analysis to further validate the questionnaire findings and provide clearer contexts for the operationalisation of the factors. Findings The structural equation model identified several PEST factors such as government interference, political indecision, funding issues, spare parts costs, pipeline vandalism, oil theft, maintenance issues as some of the significant factors affecting the performance of the refineries. The interviews validated these findings and provided richer contexts on how these factors operate within system. A causal loop model was developed based on these findings to identify key leverage points upon which policy intervention through best practice, management autonomy and stakeholder satisfaction was proposed to address these challenges. Research limitations/implications The study uncovers that the factors which affect the performance of the refineries have significant multiple interrelationships, the understanding of which is crucial for developing effective solutions by policymakers. Practical implications The findings of this study lay important foundations for a deeper understanding of how PEST factors interact to drive suboptimal performance across NNPC refineries. Originality/value The causal loop model developed in this study provides a new approach to viewing and analysing the associated factors affecting the performance of Nigeria's refineries from a non-linear perspective.

This paper measured the significant factors leading to performance challenges across state-owned refineries in Nigeria based on experts’ views. The study was carried out with a view of making policy recommendations to help address these issues and thereby improve performance. A quantitative approach was adopted to sample the viewpoints of the professionals who work across the NNPC refineries. Using a Likert-type questionnaire, the professionals’ expert opinions were ranked across four main categories covering political, economic, social, and technical (PEST) factors. A Cronbach alpha test was performed to certify the consistency and reliability of the sub-category factors included on the Likert scale. In addition, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was carried out to check for any statistically significant differences in the respondents’ opinions as a result of their different years of work experience. The study revealed that while all four PEST factors are crucial to the performance of the state-owned refineries in Nigeria, political, economic, and technical factors were viewed as more significant than the social factors. A comparative analysis of the sub-category factors using the relative significance index (RSI) and the respondents’ mean scores of importance (RMSI) revealed that government interference, funding issues, political indecision, theft and pipeline attacks, cost of spare parts, maintenance issues, operating capital, feedstock supply, staff training and competence issues are some of the significant factors that affect the performance of the refineries. The identified performance challenges from this study were used to inform policy recommendations to help address the problems of the refineries.

The post-contract phase of the construction process remains critical to cost management. Several techniques have been used to facilitate effective cost management in this phase. However, the deployment of these techniques has not caused a reduction in the incidence of cost overruns hence casting doubts on their utility. The seeming underwhelming performance posted by these post-contract cost control techniques (PCCTs), has been traced to improper deployment by construction project managers (CPM) and quantity surveyors (QS). Utilizing the perspectives of CPM and QS professionals, as elicited through a survey, produced 135 samples. The instrumentality of the artificial neural networks (ANN) in this study enabled the development of a structured decision-support methodology for analysing the most appropriate PCCTs to be deployed to different construction process phases. Besides showcasing the utility of the emergent ANN-based decision support methodology, the study’s theoretical findings indicate that CPM and QS professionals influence decisions pertaining to PCCTs choice in distinct phases of the construction process. Whereas QS professionals were particularly responsible for the choice of PCCTs during the initial and mid-level phases, CPM professionals assumed responsibility for PCCTs selection during the construction process close-out phase. In construction cost management practice, the crucial PCCTs identifies more with the application of historical data and all cost monitoring approaches.

This study focused on maintaining the delivery of construction projects in a crisis scenario such as the COVID-19 pandemic to drawing construction project management lessons for future projects. A qualitative interpretive approach comprising a semi-structured interview was employed to understand the responses and strategies used by six interviewees in construction companies to maintain high productivity levels in their projects during the pandemic. Data obtained were subjected to thematic analysis to establish reoccurring strategies. The results revealed a clear disparity in the level of productivity that was achieved onsite and in the office. The UK construction industry is vulnerable to crisis, and individual organisations must build more resilience. Delays in project delivery were endemic during the peak of COVID-19, and contingency measures must be in place to bolster the efforts of onsite construction workers to meet deadlines. Finally, an extension of time due to the declaration of force majeure is not enough to support productivity

Purpose The inherent risks and their interactive impacts in megaproject development have been found in numerous cases worldwide. Although risk management standards have been recommended for the best practice in engineering construction projects, there is still a lack of systematic approaches to describing the interactions. Interactions such as social, technical, economic, ecological and political (STEEP) risks have complex and dynamic implications for megaproject construction. For a better understanding and effective management of megaprojects such as the Edinburgh Tram project, the dynamic interaction of concomitant risks must be studied. Design/methodology/approach A systems dynamic methodology was adopted following the comprehensive literature review. Documentary data were gathered from the case study on Tram Network Project in Edinburgh. Findings A casual loop of typical evolution of key indicators of risks was then developed. A hypothesised model of social and ecological (SE) risks was derived using the system dynamics (SD) modelling technique. The model was set up following British Standards on risk management to provide a generic tool for risk management in megaproject development. The study reveals that cost and time overruns at the developmental stage of the case project are caused mainly by the effects of interactions of risk factors from the external macro project environment on a timely basis. Originality/value This article presented a model for simulating the socio-ecological risk confronting the management and construction of megaprojects. The use of SD provided the opportunity to explain the nature of all risks, particularly the SE risks in the past stages of project development.

Due to the growing concerns of climate change, the cost of energy, energy security and energy consumption in buildings has become a critical problem globally. As sustainability principles propose, a solution must be found to optimise and minimise building energy consumption due to growing globalconcerns. This study explored how Building Information Modelling (BIM) Technology can be integrated with energy simulation tools to identify ways to optimise building performance and reduce energy consumption. BIM technology has evolved over the years and expanded to include additionalfunctionalities such as cost estimation, scheduling, clash detection, facility management, assetmanagement and sustainability analysis. BIM has also become a comprehensive platform for managingthe entire lifecycle of a building, from design and construction to operation and maintenance. Secondarydata was extracted from existing literature and energy simulation tools. Eleven (11) energy simulation tools were identified and juxtaposed with individual capabilities and attributes. The ranking system ofSimple Additive Weighting (SAW), a multi-criteria decision-making method (MCDM) was applied. Thefindings revealed the most compatible energy simulation tool for the BIM application for detailed energymodelling and analysis. The findings are significant and would contribute to further research on new versions of energy simulation tools compatible with BIM for improved energy modelling speed and accuracy.

Construction projects are fraught with the challenges of cost overruns, schedule deviations, and not meeting expectations. Underlying these failures are factors related to complexity, stakeholder management, and external social dynamics. The literature review highlighted research gaps, leading to conceptualizing the research aim. The study explored the roles of project complexity, stakeholder engagement, and social dynamics in the UK construction project management sector. A survey research strategy combining qualitative interview questions was employed to extract data from project professionals across the UK. Convenience sampling resulted in a high response rate from seventy-three (73) participants across the UK. Four main themes emerged: project complexity and lessons learned; stakeholder engagement and social climate; project failures and conflicts; and project success. System thinking causal loop diagramming was applied in amalgamating implications drawn from the findings. The implications noted that challenges in governance, regulation, and legislation, coupled with stringent cost and schedule targets, added to project complexity, effective stakeholder engagement, clear communication, and understanding of social contexts were crucial for project success where complexities of stakeholders and social dynamics proved difficult.

With the global focus on sustainable urban development, many cities are striving to formulate effective urban transformation strategies to transition from traditional urban structures to more sustainable ones. Enhancing the energy efficiency of buildings, particularly existing structures, is recognized as a crucial element in the fight against climate change. In the Malaysian context, improvements in energy consumption are predominantly propelled by retrofitting the country's existing building stock. However, targeted strategies are needed, especially for high-rise buildings, to address the unique challenges posed by the Malaysian climate. This study addresses this gap by focusing on retrofitting strategies specifically tailored for existing high-rise buildings in Malaysia. To evaluate energy efficiency accurately, a selected case study underwent modeling and simulation using Building Information Modeling (BIM) software for energy analysis. The simulation considered crucial aspects of window materials: U-factor, solar heat gain coefficient, visible transmittance, and emissivity. The study identified triple-glazed windows as the most energy-efficient choice, significantly outperforming single-glazed windows due to their lower U-factor and improved insulation properties. Light concrete bricks for walls demonstrated superior heat resistance owing to their lower density. Steel bar joists were found to enhance heat transfer efficiency in roofs. The recommended materials showed promising results, achieving a calculated energy consumption reduction to 266 kWh/m2/year. The study emphasizes that green consultants prioritize elements addressing excessive energy consumption during building upgrades, influencing their choice of retrofit options. Implementing energy-efficient retrofits can significantly reduce buildings' energy dependence, contributing to a substantial decrease in the country's overall energy consumption.

Purpose This study delves into the challenges obstructing the integration of blockchain-enabled smart contracts (BESC) in the construction industry. Its primary objective is to identify these barriers and propose a roadmap to streamline BESC adoption, thereby promoting sustainability and resilience in building engineering. Design/methodology/approach Employing a unique approach, this study combines the Technology-Organization-Environment-Social (TOE + S) framework with the IF-Delphi-HF-DEMATEL-IFISM methodology. Data is collected through surveys and expert interviews, enabling a comprehensive analysis of BESC implementation barriers. Findings The analysis reveals significant hindrances in the construction industry’s adoption of BESC. Key obstacles include economic and market conditions, insufficient awareness and education about blockchain technology among stakeholders, and limited digital technology integration in specific cultural and societal contexts. These findings shed light on the complexities faced by the industry in embracing blockchain solutions. Originality/value The research makes a significant contribution by combining the TOE + S framework with the IF-Delphi-HF-DEMATEL-IFISM methodology, resulting in a comprehensive roadmap to address barriers in implementing BESC in Sustainable Construction Projects. Noteworthy for its practicality, this roadmap provides valuable guidance for construction stakeholders. Its impact extends beyond the industry, influencing both academic discourse and practical applications.

Seismic vulnerability is a major threat to New Zealand's winery industry. Many studies have assessed the vulnerability of New Zealand wineries, especially in high seismic regions. However, few studies have been conducted to assess the earthquake susceptibility of wineries in low seismic regions, such as Auckland. This study investigated the earthquake vulnerability of wineries in the Auckland region by (i) creating an inventory of the elements at risk in the wineries and (ii) assessing the level of vulnerability of these elements. As case studies, twenty-one wineries from various parts of the Auckland region were chosen. The research findings identified key elements at risk of seismic hazard in Auckland wineries using a field survey, including buildings, storage tanks, catwalks, and barrel racks. Furthermore, the findings revealed that at-risk elements are vulnerable to moderate to high levels, emphasising the need for resilience strategies to reduce potential earthquake losses. This study concluded that low seismic risk does not imply low vulnerability, and that Auckland winery owners should reconsider their views on seismic risk mitigation. The study's findings benefit both winery owners and industry professionals by providing insights into the Auckland winery's vulnerability level and recommending approaches to improving the winery's organisational resilience.

Sustainable, affordable house development can be facilitated by adopting appropriate technological innovations. However, limited studies provide practical knowledge on the impact of key influencers on adopting these technological innovations in African affordable housing projects. Therefore, the impact of internal and external influencers on the degree of technological innovation adaptation in South African affordable housing projects is examined in the current study. The initial findings were used to develop a sustainable, innovative, affordable housing (SIAH) causal model. The developed casual model and the relationship between the constructs/sub-constructs were validated through structured data collected from official South African home developers. The study found a low positive impact of internal influences and a moderate negative impact of external influences on home developers' adoption of technological innovation in South African affordable housing projects. Moreover, the research proved the high negative mediating impact of external influences on the association between internal influences and technological innovation adoption level. The study deduces that external influencers are the main drivers of adopting technological innovation in affordable housing, which means that by addressing the external influences, the level of adoption will significantly improve. This is due to the direct and mediating adverse effects of external influencers on adopting technological innovation in affordable housing projects. The SIAH model can be a robust framework to reduce the challenges of adaptation to technological innovations in SIAH.

Purpose-Flood preparedness and response from the perspective of community engagement mechanisms have been studied in scholarly articles. However, the differences in flood mitigation may expose social and behavioural challenges to learn from. This study aimed to demonstrate how text mining can be applied in prioritising existing contexts in community-based and government flood mitigation and management strategies. Design/methodology/approach-This investigation mined the semantics researchers ascribed to flood disasters and community responses from 2001 to 2022 peer-reviewed publications. Text mining was used to derive frequently used terms from over 15 publications in the Scopus database and Google Scholar search engine after an initial output of 268 peer-reviewed publications. The text-mining process applied the topic modelling analyses on the 15 publications using the R studio application. Findings-Topic modelling applied through text mining clustered four (4) themes. The themes that emerged from the topic modelling process were building adaptation to flooding, climate change and resilient communities, urban infrastructure and community preparedness and research output for flood risk and community response. The themes were supported with geographical flood risk and community mitigation contexts from the USA, India and Nigeria to provide a broader perspective. Originality/value-This study exposed the deficiency of "communication, teamwork, responsibility and lessons" as focal themes of flood disaster management and response research. The divergence in flood mitigation in developing nations as compared with developed nations can be bridged through improved government policies, technologies and community engagement.

Integrating continuous improvement and circular economy principles can promote sustainable construction practices (SCPs) and deliver long-term environmental, social and economic benefits. This study demonstrated how text mining could be applied to explicate the linkage between continuous improvement and circular economy principles in enhancing sustainable construction practices. The research applied unsupervised machine learning using text mining analyses through collocations to identify thematic areas where the integration of continuous improvement and circular economy principles would foster sustainable construction. Eighty-nine (89) peer-reviewed publications were extracted from the Scopus database for text mining analysis. The findings from text mining presented seven cogent themes through which continuous improvement and circular economy can be integrated. The optimal integration of the linkages advocated in this research can facilitate improved SCPs such as design for disassembly, modular construction, adaptive reuse, eco-friendly materials, innovative technologies, industrial symbiosis, life cycle assessment, cradle-to-cradle design, and lean construction practices. This investigation elucidated the utility of machine learning text mining in thematising and advancing sustainable construction research.

Purpose-Income from investment properties can fluctuate depending on the state of the economy. The idea that there is always a potential exit (sale) value whenever the property stops performing at its optimum or deflation in the economy will always appeal to investors. To determine housing prices, investors would rely on a direct comparison approach (DCA) of recent substitute sales in the open market. Appraisers use this approach to develop an opinion of value when there is a plethora of recent sales to analyse. Design/methodology/approach-The study was designed to establish the use of the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) approach as a support tool for deciding property appraisals. A case study of an industrial single-storey stand-alone building with grade-level parking in the southeast of Calgary, Canada, was investigated with the AHP approach. The result was cross-referenced with the DCA. Findings-Using a consistency index of 0.077321 and a consistency ratio of 0.085912, the matrix multiplication was determined to be 0.456706. The average valuations derived from the adjusted price per square foot using the direct comparison method and the unadjusted price per square foot using the AHP were deemed the best value estimate in the light of available comparables. The implications of the findings suggest that AHP, as a quantitative technique, can support and validate the use of similar non-recent sale comparables when appraising investment properties with the DCA. Originality/value-AHP is an alternative aid in quantitatively deciding the most significant value attribute for comparison before subjective adjustments. When intuitively applied in the DCA, these subjective adjustments almost always lead to an overvaluation of properties.

Investigations into career development revealed the significant influence of social and cultural determinants, notably familial factors, on children’s professional aspirations. Such aspirations are moulded by their milieu, individual interests, academic environments, and socio-economic contexts. South Africa’s unique socio-political history introduces complexity into career development pathways. The intricate relationships between ethnicity, gender, and socio-economic backgrounds vis-a-vis career outcomes of South African youth remain underexplored. This research aimed to understand these influences within the construction domain, emphasising cognitive facets such as self-efficacy and societal endorsements. The Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) served as the foundational framework, with structural equation modelling employed for causal analysis. A focus was given to early university students, predominantly from Construction Management. The study showcased pathways for informed career decisions in construction and underscored the relevance of the SCCT, especially for women in traditionally male-dominated sectors. The study culminated in unveiling pathways for informed career decisions in construction, reinforcing the pertinence of the SCCT framework, especially concerning women in traditionally male-dominated spheres like construction. Acknowledging the scarcity of empirical studies using SCCT within the construction sphere is pertinent.

Investigating the implications of integrating building information modeling (BIM) with claims management and the consequent effect on quantity surveying practices is essential for advancing digitalization and for avoidance of disputes in construction. Based on primary semistructured interviews with eight construction professionals in the UK and 48 peer-reviewed articles (secondary data), BIM’s potential to enhance collaboration, improve cost estimation, and streamline claims management processes using text mining was studied. Text mining collocation analysis was applied using RStudio to elicit BIM and claims management concepts. The findings suggested that although BIM integration offers considerable benefits, challenges—such as resistance to change, lack of standardization, and the need for continuous upskilling—may hinder its full implementation. These findings contribute to the emerging need for as-built intelligent BIM with claims management operations in the construction industry from a theoretical perspective. BIM’s potential to redefine the role of construction professionals such as quantity surveyors may engender a collaborative construction sector because of the efficiency it brings to the construction industry.

Risk perceptions have a crucial role in influencing people's decisions to adapt toenvironmental threats. Various outcomes have been achieved by diverse studies thathave examined the implication of flood risk on property investment. This present studyquantifies three themes (usability, desirability, and marketability) that revolve aroundnon-monetary value attributes of property investment and assesses how theirperceptions by property investors could sharpen investment behaviour in areas at riskof flooding. The study areas selected for the investigation were Ikorodu and Ibeju Lekki,an area that is mostly sought-after in Lagos, Nigeria. Data was collected through thedistribution of questionnaires administered to the respondents within the studylocation. Findings from the survey indicate a general agreement on the impact of eachthematic factor on property investments vulnerable to floods. Among the statements putforward, the appeal of owning or renting houses in flood-prone areas significantlyinfluences investors' choices. Surprisingly, the study also discovered that these investorsexhibited a very low degree of trust and confidence in insurance operations within thestudy location (PDF) Quantifying non-monetary value attributes of property investment: Implications on investors' decision-making in flood risk areas.

The Australian construction industry is a significant contributor to environmental degradation, particularly with landfill waste and resource use. Principles of the circular economy (CE) provide a blueprint for tackling these challenges through the enhancement of resource efficiency, minimisation of waste, and promotion of materials reuse and recycling. International standards, specifically the ISO 59000 series (ISO 59004, ISO 59010, ISO 59020, ISO 59040, and ISO/TR 59032), offer a systematic and standardised approach for integrating circularity into company processes. However, the implementation of these standards in the Australian construction sector is constrained. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify key implementation barriers and evaluate potential enablers of integrating the ISO 59000 series into construction operations in Australia. To do this, a comprehensive review of extant literature, industry reports, government publications, and technical papers was conducted. Findings highlighted several barriers, such as limited awareness, insufficient training, inadequate policy support, fragmented industry practices, and a lack of standardised performance metrics. Likewise, targeted policy interventions, financial incentives, stakeholder capacity building, and the development of collaborative platforms for knowledge exchange and accumulation were identified as potential strategies to mitigate implementation barriers. These measures are critical for decarbonising the construction industry, advancing CE practices, and achieving national sustainability targets. In conclusion, this study offers valuable insights into the successful localisation of international standards, highlighting their potential to drive systemic change within Australia's built environment.

The pursuit of improved circularity performance in the construction supply chain for the purposes of supporting sustainable construction and built environment has been attracting more attention. Also, the integration of advanced digital technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics, with human intelligence, offers great opportunities for innovation through Human–AI–Robotics teaming (HARt) arrangements. Extant literature alludes to the potential of HARt to revolutionize the circularity performance of the built environment via material traces, better use of resources, and adaptive coordination across every level of the construction supply chain. However, research detailing the factors influencing the potential adoption of HARt in developing countries remains underdeveloped, particularly in relation to context-specific challenges. This study addressed this void by eliciting the perceptions of relevant stakeholders regarding the environmental factors, facilitators, and risks that influence HARt adoption in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) circular construction supply chains. Adopting an exploratory qualitative study approach, the research reports on preliminary findings from seven semi-structured interview sessions conducted with a purposively selected sample of construction industry practitioners, academics, and a policy expert. Utilizing thematic analysis, the research extracts emergent trends that emphasize opportunities and constraints of HARt implementation in SSA. The findings provide initial evidence on the socio-technological dynamics of HAR teaming, disclosing significant considerations for stakeholders. These findings are part of the growing literature on sustainable construction and are a foundation for subsequent research into driving optimal circularity performance in construction in developing nations through an SSA exemplar.

This book gathers papers from the 1st Global Forum for Sustainable Built Environment Research Conference – SURE-Built 1. This year’s event has theme "Facilitating Inclusivity in Multi-, Inter-, and Transdisciplinary Sustainable Built Environment Research in Emerging Economies" and was held virtually on the 4th-5th of September, 2025. The rationale behind the conference is rooted in inclusivity and aligned with a broader mission to promote sustainable development in line with global goals. This interdisciplinary focus encourages collaboration among architects, engineers, urban planners, environmental scientists, and policymakers, thus creating a comprehensive approach to tackling shared global challenges.

This chapter focuses on how the 5Rs concepts can be adopted to resuscitate abandoned infrastructure in Nigeria while curbing the challenges faced in the Nigerian environment. Sustainable development is intended to meet present needs without compromising the needs of the generations to come. However, the innumerable number of incomplete and abandoned infrastructure projects in Nigeria brings into question the government’s aspirations toward sustainable development in Nigeria. Abandoned infrastructure harms the economy, society, and the environment. These infrastructures cluttered the entire environment of Nigeria, and many authors tagged the country as the world’s junkyard for abandoned infrastructure, full of hide-outs for nefarious activities. The menace constituted by this abandonment also includes a threat to public health, creating an abode for pests, and a waste of useful, scarce, economic, and material resources. The initial concept of the R system of sustainability was 3Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle, which are alternatives for waste management that progressively gained attention in the 1970s. Nevertheless, a new concept of dealing with waste includes multiple 5Rs systems consisting of a rethink, reduce, reuse, refurbish, and regulation. These new concept attempts to promote waste management required to be done effectively. This chapter illustrates how the Rs concept could sustainably address the waste generated by abandoned infrastructure in Nigeria through semi-structured interviews. Eight (8) construction professionals, including architects, project managers, engineers, quantity surveyors, and contractors, participated in the interview. The interviews were transcribed and analysed through qualitative content analysis. The findings revealed the need for the government to rethink how best these structures can be put to use, reduce the development of excess infrastructure, and salvage projects by refurbishing and reusing them. The possible implication of the findings initiated a paradigm shift in sustainable development that is not just for Nigeria only, but globally.

The construction industry stands as the biggest worldwide consumer of raw materials while producing the most waste among all industries, since the UK construction sector generates 62% of national waste. Organisations can address these challenges through Circular Procurement (CP), which implements Circular Economy (CE) principles by incorporating reuse and recycling and material efficiency into procurement processes. However, CP remains underexplored in construction scholarship and practice. The research uses sentiment analysis and topic modelling to study the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in CP discourse. The research included 23 peer-reviewed articles, which were retrieved from Scopus and Google Scholar databases. The sentiment analysis showed a positive attitude toward AI procurement, but most of the content was neutral because it focused on description rather than emotional expression. The LDA model produced five themes, which included machine learning and circularity and uncertainty in market dynamics and AI in construction procurement and cost modelling techniques and advancing public procurement. The corpus shows that circular procurement appears in only 3% of the text, which indicates its early stage of development in this field. The results show that AI methods already simplify procurement and could be extended to embed CE principles more effectively in construction. The originality of this research lies in combining sentiment analysis with topic modelling to provide a dual perspective on both the tone and latent themes of the academic discourse. The research value comes from its demonstration of limited academic studies on AI-driven CP and its presentation of how existing AI procurement tools can be modified to support circularity. The research addresses current knowledge deficiencies while creating fundamental elements for sustainable procurement methods in construction projects.

Integrating circular procurement (CP) practices in the construction industry is vital to advancing sustainability and minimising the environmental impact of construction and demolition waste (CDW). Despite the substantial benefits, the implementation of circularity in procurement processes remains limited, particularly in terms of adopting artificial intelligence (AI) in the construction sector. The primary aim of this study is to explore the role of AI in supporting the implementation of circular procurement in the construction sector, with a specific focus on applications in the United Kingdom (UK) and Türkiye. The key objectives are to identify how AI technologies are currently applied to enhance circular procurement practices and to evaluate the opportunities and constraints associated with AI adoption by examining existing policy frameworks, data infrastructures, and technical capacities. Through a systematic literature review, the study identifies six key themes: circular economy policy and strategy, circular material design, circular construction, supply chain management, CDW management, and resource recovery. Based on the established themes, a comparative analysis is conducted between the UK and Türkiye, examining their positions regarding AI integration, highlighting overlapping patterns and unique challenges. AI presents considerable potential for advancing circular procurement, particularly through the development of data-driven decision-making, effective management protocols, resource optimisation, and improved supply chain management. The challenges encompass a lack of data for CDW monitoring, insufficient legislative frameworks, high upfront costs, a shortage of technical expertise, and ethical concerns about accountability. The findings emphasise the need for AI platforms that facilitate the adoption of circular construction practices, supporting the development of dynamic, responsive, and smart procurement strategies.

Urban waste minimisation remains constrained by fragmented governance, misaligned procurement, and uneven digital capacity, despite the circular economy’s prominence in policy agendas. A critical synthesis was undertaken to clarify how systems thinking and digital capabilities can be operationalised to overcome these barriers. A systematic review in Scopus (2014–2024) used four keyword blocks of systems thinking, digital technologies, circular economy/urban context, and waste management, producing 31 publications. Directed content analysis, guided by an a priori codebook with inductive refinement, identified mechanisms across design, operations, behaviour, markets, and policy. Causal loop diagrams (CLDs) were constructed to represent hypothesised feedback structures. Findings indicate three high-leverage domains: (i) upstream design and procurement, where BIM-enabled information quality and circular procurement generate a reinforcing loop (R1): better design information → less rework → lower schedule pressure → improved source separation → higher secondary material value → stronger procurement signals; (ii) digital operations, where data governance and interoperable standards catalyse R2: higher data quality → more reliable analytics → optimised routing/operations → reduced contamination → improved material value → reinvestment in data; and (iii) governance, where lowest-cost tendering and compliance burdens create a balancing loop (B1): cost pressure → late changes → rework → increased waste → short-term fixes that suppress prevention. Healthcare logistics exhibited a further balancing loop (B2) linked to risk and liability constraints. Implications include coupling city-scale circular assessments with sector-specific bundles (design-stage prevention, reverse logistics, automated control), underpinned by interoperable data standards, circular procurement, and digital assurance.

Purpose While circular economy (CE) is fast becoming a political and economic agenda for global urban development, there are still substantial knowledge gaps in possible strategies to speed up such transition, especially in the construction industry. This study analyses literature surrounding CE to unpack current trends possible future research directions to foster CE implementation in the construction industry. Design/methodology/approach The study undertakes a systematic review of CE literature published between 1990 and 2019. It adopts a five-stage procedure as a methodological approach for the review: formulation of the research question(s), locating and identifying relevant studies, selection and evaluation of studies, analysis or synthesis and results reporting. Findings The findings on CE research in the construction industry show extensive focus on resource use and waste management. There are limited investigations in other areas of construction such as supply chain integration, building designs, policy, energy efficiency, land use, offsite manufacturing, whole life costing, and risk, cost reduction, cost management, health and safety management. The study findings provide evidence that current CE practice fails to incorporate other areas that would facilitate the network of true circular construction industry. Originality/value This research provides a comprehensive overview of research efforts on CE in the construction context, identifying areas of extensive and limited coverage over three decades. Besides, it identifies possible pathways for future research directions on CE implementation, towards the accelerated transition to a true circular construction industry for the benefit of funding bodies and researchers.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a capability maturity model (CMM) developed to implement continuous improvement in small and medium scale construction companies (SMSCC) in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach A multi-strategy approach involving qualitative studies of SMSCC in Nigeria was conducted. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with purposively selected construction experts in Nigeria to identify variables essential for continuous improvement in SMSCC. Data collected were thematically analysed using NVIVO. Subsequently, a system thinking approach is employed to design and develop the CMM for implementing continuous improvement SMSCC, by exploring possible relationships between the variables established. Findings CMM provided a five-level approach for the inclusion of investigated variables such as team performance; culture; structure; post-project reviews, financial risk management, waste management policy and cost control. These variables are factors leading to continuous improvement in SMSCC, implementable within a six to seven and a half years’ timeline. Practical implications The system thinking model revealed cogent archetypes in the form of reinforcing loops that can be applied in developing the performance of SMSCC. Continuous improvement is feasible. However, it takes time to implement. Further longitudinal studies on the cost of implementing continuous improvement through CMM a knowledge transfer project can be initiated. Originality/value A methodical strategy for enhancing the effectiveness and operations of SMSCC in developing countries can be extracted from the causal loop diagram and the CMM.

The incessant reportage of cost overruns and abandoned projects in contemporary literature have accentuated the need for a re-examination of the nature of the cost management strategies deployed to these projects. This study explores the potential of kaizen costing strategy to engender effective cost management within construction project delivery systems in developing countries. Data collected during this study were analysed using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and systems thinking approaches to determine the criticality of the factors influencing the effective implementation of kaizen costing. Seven (7) archetypes leading to final causal loop diagram identified the incorporation of the plan–do–check–act approach to project and cost planning, the budgeting system of the construction companies, overhead cost reduction during construction and the overall procurement process. Executing these archetypes will potentially reduce high overhead costs, project cost and time overruns, as well as enhance construction industry sector growth policies and construction organisation corporate governance.

Establishing a more sustainable built environment is an increasing global concern for the construction industry. Despite the intrinsic and extrinsic obstacles the stakeholders face, huge efforts are required to transition to a smooth, sustainable construction (SC) practice. This study identifies and discusses cogent obstacles to SC in developing nations. The Preferred Reporting Item for systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) approach was employed to establish research work in SC for developing countries. The databases used were Scopus and Web of Science. Meta-analysis of keywords was analysed thematically. The initial broad search returned 8,420 publications which were filtered and reviewed in-depth to fit the aim of the study, produced only 21 relevant publications from the years 2000–2021. The four identified themes of obstacles to SC in developing countries are as follows: construction professional training and education, clients' attitudes and awareness, construction industries' culture and capacity and governments' regulation, policies and economy. The key barriers identified from the meta-analysis include inadequate training and education amongst construction professionals, poor execution of sustainability ethics, poor populace attitude towards sustainability, poor awareness and understanding, dearth of precise data and integrated study and inappropriate priorities about sustainability. The originality in this study are themes drawn from millennium development goals (MDGs) and sustainable development goals (SDGs) publications related to SC. Consequently, the final framework presented a holistic approach to surmounting the established limitations and aided recommendations for future studies. Thus, setting a background for developing strategies to overcome the limitations and further attain sustainable development (SD).

Purpose The construction industry represents most of every country’s finances and vital to continued economic growth and activities, especially in developing countries. The impact of the severe acute respiratory syndrome-2 disease (COVID19) on the government’s income resulted in the expectation of many public projects being cancelled or delayed providing little opportunity for the emergence of new public projects. This study collated a global qualitative perspective (survey interviews) on the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic and the positive and negative impacts for future-proofing the construction sector. Design/methodology/approach In total, 76 respondents from five continents excluding South America responded to the online open-ended structured questionnaire. Data collected were analysed through artificial inteligence analytics tool – Zoho analytics. Findings The themes indicating the positive impact obtained from the interview were overhead cost reduction, remote working environment, focus on health and safety, improved productivity and sustainability goals while the themes signifying the negative impact were low business turnover, delays in construction payment and output, difficulties working from home and job losses. Supply chain management, construction project management improvement, concentration on health and safety and effective virtual working environment were collated as themes on lessons learned. Social implications The major findings of this study emphasise on the need to improve the occupational health and safety and onsite safety measures for future proofing of the construction industry. Originality/value The findings from the analyses made clear the imperativeness of the built environment research, with a focus on novel framework and strategies for future proofing the construction industry.

Transitioning from demolition to deconstruction practices for end-of-life performances is gaining increasing attention following the need for the construction industry to minimise construction and demolition waste. Building information modelling (BIM) presents an opportunity for sustainable deconstruction. However, the notion of BIM for deconstruction (BIMfD) is still in its infancy in the United Kingdom. Although a few studies on BIMfD are evident, a focus on identifying the underlying factors necessary for successful implementation of BIMfD is lacking. The purpose of this study was to identify and analyse the underlying factors necessary for BIMfD implementation in the UK construction industry. It employed a four-stage research design. The reviewed literature explored extant views on BIM implementation factors to identify an initial list of possible factors influencing BIMfD implementation. Subsequently, a mix of questionnaire, focus group discussions and structured interviews were employed at various stages to refine and contextualise 15 factors necessary for BIMfD implementation in the UK construction industry. The contextual interrelationships among the factors were evaluated using interpretive structured modelling (ISM). This evaluation culminated in a BIMfD implementation factor model. The findings identified BIMfD experts, responsiveness of business models to innovative practices and industry’s acceptance to embrace change as the principal factors influencing BIMfD implementation in the UK. The implications of the findings attest that BIMfD experts and advisors must champion the adoption and implementation of BIMfD in the UK and business models need to become more responsive to accommodate BIMfD innovative practices. A BIMfD framework was conceptualised. Even though the BIMfD framework was designed from the UK perspective, the global construction industry can leverage the outcomes of this study. This paper, therefore, brings to the fore, a hierarchical BIMfD implementation factor model to support improved deconstruction practices in the construction industry.

Packaging waste production, especially single-use containers, is exerting detrimental effects on terrestrialand aquatic ecosystems, including human health. To internalise the externalities associated withsingle-use containers, different instruments, including a deposit refund scheme (DRS), have beenoperationalised in many countries. Therefore, DRS is introduced in Scotland to reduce plastic litters byincreasing recycling rates and incentivising pro-environmental behavioural change. This study addressesthe complexity of single-use plastic containers by analysing consumers’ perceptions regarding theintroduction of DRS in Scotland. Using 940 comments from the BBC ‘‘Have Your Say” messageboard, thisstudy adopts sentiment analysis to understand consumers’ opinions about the introduction andimplementation of DRS in Scotland. Findings suggest that a UK-wide scheme that is similar in terms ofoperations and structure is required for DRS to be successful. While consumers’ knowledge and opinionsabout DRS are mixed, the efficacy of DRS including its relevance is questioned and raises doubts about itscontribution to sustainability. The findings imply the need for UK countries to negotiate and collaborateon appropriate and attractive interventions in addressing post-consumer single-use plastic containers.The implications of the findings for policy and practice, especially in improving the operations of DRSare further discussed.

The concept of sustainability reporting is now an essential tool through which organisations demonstrate accountability to their stakeholders. The increasing market pressure coupled with the awareness of the consequences of organisations’ activities suggests the need for organisations to report their sustainability credentials. Sustainability performance reports should provide adequate information on organisations’ social, economic, and environmental performance. However, the current process through which organisations communicate their sustainability performance to stakeholders is questionable and remains a significant concern. This study assessed the current state and direction of research on sustainability performance reporting by conducting a bibliometric literature review of peer-reviewed studies on sustainability performance reporting published between 1987 and 2022. The findings highlight the misconceptions between sustainability and CSR when reporting organisations’ sustainability performance. Furthermore, businesses and scholars prioritise reporting instead of communication with stakeholders. The observed lack of engagement with stakeholders indicates that the reported performance may not reflect the impact of business activities on the three dimensions of sustainability. Rather than adopting a one-way information dissemination approach, this study concludes that the desired performance can only be achieved through two-way communication with stakeholders.

Purpose This study aimed to address a gap in subcontractor management by focusing on previously unexplored complexities surrounding subcontractor management in developing countries. While past studies concentrated on selection and relationships, this study delved into how effective subcontractor management impacts project success. Design/methodology/approach This study used the Bayesian Network analysis approach, through a meticulously developed questionnaire survey refined through a piloting stage involving experienced industry professionals. The survey was ultimately distributed among participants based in Accra, Ghana, resulting in a response rate of approximately 63%. Findings The research identified diverse components contributing to subcontractor disruptions, highlighted the necessity of a clear regulatory framework, emphasized the impact of financial and leadership assessments on performance, and underscored the crucial role of main contractors in Integrated Project and Labour Cost Management with Subcontractor Oversight and Coordination. Originality/value Previous studies have not considered the challenges subcontractors face in projects. This investigation bridges this gap from multiple perspectives, using Bayesian network analysis to enhance subcontractor management, thereby contributing to the successful completion of construction projects.

The contribution of smart campuses to smart cities’ development and vice versa has been elucidated in extant literature. The micro-transfer of smart technologies and probable procurement and contracting models remain critical for such contributions to take place. This study used a systems thinking approach to establish the interrelationships existing between smart campus technologies which can be scaled towards the development of smart cities and assess the critical failure factors negating the micro-transfer of these technologies to smart city development initiatives in developing countries. To achieve its objective, the study adopted a phenomenological research design wherein qualitative data was elicited from a purposively selected sample of seven interviewees in South African Universities. The next phase of the analysis involved a thematic approach for the production of a causal loop diagram (CLD) reflecting the interrelationships between the abovementioned facets and the associated impact on the transference of knowledge and technologies from smart campuses to smart cities. This CLD was subsequently validated by a cohort of five experts. Findings from the validation phase were incorporated in an improved CLD which provided different archetypes for engendering successful transference. This study holds salient implications for universities, cities and other stakeholders seeking to engage in a quadruple helix innovative arrangement for smart campus/city development. This study concluded that smart campuses could act as living labs for future smartness of cities globally. Government funding and willingness to produce smart cities from campuses is a fundamental feature of creating smart infrastructure in cities.

Sustainable development can be attained at a microlevel and having smart campuses around the world presents an opportunity to achieve city-wide smartness. In the process of attaining smartness on campuses, the elements requiring attention must be investigated. There are many publications on smart campuses, and this investigation used the bibliometric analysis method to identify such publications produced over the last decade. A matrix of 578 nodes and 3217 edges was developed from 285 publications on smart campus construction and procurement. Fifteen cluster themes were produced from the bibliometric analysis. The findings revealed that China contributed 48.4% of all published articles on the smart campus. The findings presented a framework from the cluster themes under the four broad infrastructure areas of building construction or repurposing, technology and IT network, continuous improvement, and smart learning and teaching management. The implications of the findings identified that IT project management, traditional procurement strategy, and standard forms of contracts such as the New Engineering Contract (NEC) and the Joint Contract Tribunal (JCT) are applicable in the procurement of smart cities.

Purpose Construction project delivery is hinged on the performance of the contractor and subcontractors. In many private construction projects in the UK, there are trust issues between the subcontractor and contractor, especially when there are no collateral warranties to protect the rights of the subcontractors. The purpose of this study is to investigate and identify the causations of distrust between subcontractors and contractors and proffered panaceas. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative open-ended questions were used. Twenty respondents, mainly supervisors, tradesmen, subcontractors and main contractors in the UK, were interviewed. The thematic analysis approach was used to identify the dominant themes. Findings The interview findings were presented descriptively, and the frequency approach identified more occurring themes from the interviewees’ responses. The six themes contributing to distrust between subcontractor and contractor are financial pressures, partnering approach, payment and trust, nature of trust, internal influence and unfair payment. Practical implications The findings of this study revealed that many subcontractors have limited knowledge of the clauses in contracts they are entering into. Thus, in addition to obtaining collateral warranties, subcontractors must carefully understand their contractual obligations and payment arrangements before agreeing to be part of a construction project. Originality/value Although this study aimed to shed light on the distrust between subcontractors and contractors in private UK construction projects, improvements in contract administration, subcontractors continued professional development and improved valuation processes can reduce distrust between subcontractors and contractors.

Flooding, exacerbated by climate change and urbanisation, poses a major global environmental challenge. In Lagos, Nigeria, one of the most flood-prone regions, understanding how flood risk awareness and communication shape real estate investment decisions is crucial. This study examines investors’ awareness of flood risks and the influence of risk communication on decision-making. A qualitative, phenomenological approach was used, employing snowball sampling to recruit 37 property investors through referrals from registered real estate practitioners. A semi-structured interviews which provided in-depth insights into their perceptions and responses to flood risks was used to elicit response from the participants. Thematic analysis revealed varying levels of awareness, with many investors lacking reliable flood risk information before making investment decisions. Key issues in risk communication included inconsistencies in information sources, clarity, and delivery, leading to disparities in preparedness and risk perception. The study found that inconsistent communication often results in risk underestimation, significantly influencing investment decisions in high-risk areas. It highlights the need for a targeted, multi-stakeholder communication strategy to enhance information accessibility and reliability. A collaborative approach involving property investors, regulatory bodies, and local authorities is recommended to improve the effectiveness of flood risk communication and support informed investment decisions.

The accurate analysis of hybrid medical datasets consisting of textual reports and diagnostic images plays an important role in the early detection and better outcomes of breast cancer patients. A novel deep learning framework is proposed in this paper that combines Bidirec-tional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT), Generative Pre-trained Transformer-2 (GPT-2), and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) to overcome the challenges of multimodal data in breast cancer. This framework combines the strengths of BERT and GPT-2 for extracting rich contextual features from text with CNNs for capturing complex patterns in diagnostic images. By integrating textual and visual features into unified latent representations, this fusion enables accurate classification of breast cancer, distinguishing malignant from benign cases using both text and imaging data. The proposed framework lessens the bottleneck in multimodal to achieve outstanding results with an accuracy of 1.00, hence remarkably improving the precision of breast cancer diagnostic .

This study examined the effectiveness of standard forms of contracts in managing the consequences of unexpected events in construction projects from the UK perspective. In this study, unexpected events are restricted to those that affect the whole UK construction industry, such as COVID-19 or the war in Ukraine, which have affected supply chains. No obvious clauses and provisions exist in the standard forms of construction contracts such as JCT and to date, there has been no construction-related decision from the courts. Current contractual provisions were examined to assess if they are straightforward to implement when relief from the impact of unexpected events is required. This investigation concluded that the NEC 4 provisions appear straightforward to implement and likely to apply to various unexpected events. However, the JCT 2016 force majeure provisions have led to widespread confusion. Although the current opinion is that COVID-19 is likely to fall under force majeure due to the widespread impact this event had, for other events such as war in Ukraine or supply chain difficulties, the situation remains unclear.

The construction industry has long been perceived as reluctant to embrace change, and digital transformation is not an exception. The slow adoption rate has been linked to the perceptions of the effectiveness of construction innovations. An implied link exists between digitalisation and productivity improvements. However, such a link is yet associated with ambiguities, suggesting that the influence is not linear. Despite the very low productivity rates achieved in the construction industry, studies on the association between technology adoption and productivity-related benefits and advantages are rare, and this may be a contributing factor to the indecision of construction firms to embrace digitalisation. A systematic literature review enables scholars to disseminate past research efforts in one scholarly resource, in pursuit of new knowledge. Through systematically reviewing the literature, this study identifies, classifies, and critically analyses research efforts, aiming to shed light on the mediators of the relationship between digitalisation and productivity. Overall, sixty articles have been identified, screened, and included in this study. Productivity, in this context, is positively related to digitalization, by promoting more safety and well-being, planning enhancements, collaboration, waste reduction, employee upskilling, design enhancements, communication and knowledge transfer, and accuracy in information management. The findings also reflect the popular use of qualitative methods when studying digitalisation in the construction context, a stance that may be a reflection of a less diverse use of methodological approaches, and presents a call for more quantitative studies, to explore the relationship between digitalisation and productivity. Future research is encouraged to use this extensive review as a foundation for comparable empirical investigations, considering areas of similar interest, to accelerate the adoption of digitalisation.

Purpose Supply chain disruptions have a significant impact on overall project delivery. This study aims to identify the supply chain disruptive factors and develop a framework to mitigate the disruptive effects on the supply chain. Covid-19 and Brexit disruption and their longevity effects in the short, medium and long term on the supply chain are relied upon to develop the framework. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a mixed-method approach with a sequential explanatory design. The main disruptive factors were identified through a literature review, and key factors were selected through a focus group exercise. A questionnaire survey was carried out to sample opinions from the practitioners; 41 questionnaires were received and analysed using the relative importance index (RII) method for ranking the factors and percentage frequency distribution to determine the longevity effects. Five follow-up semi-structured interviews were conducted over the telephone and later transcribed. Findings The results of Covid-19 disruption indicate that material cost increase ranked first (RII: 0.863), logistics cost increase and supply chain interaction ranked second and third, respectively. They have long-term, medium-term and short-term longevity effects, respectively. The lowest-rated factors were communication (RII: 0.561), staff shortages (RII: 0.629) and impact on relationships (RII: 0.639). The three most ranked Brexit disruptive factors are supply chain interaction (RII: 0.775), material cost increase (RII: 0.766) and logistic and haulage delay (RII: 0.717). The first two factors have long-term effects, and the logistics and haulage delays have a medium-term impact. The mitigating solutions suggested in the framework are collaborative working, stronger resilience to external forces and better transparency and communication that will lead to good relationships among the supply chain members. Research limitations/implications The scope of the study was limited to the UK construction industry; however, the pandemic effect on supply chain can serve as critical learning curve in other developed and developing countries. Practical implications The study will help the government and construction firms to understand the focal areas of importance in solving the supply chain disruption problems based on the effects of Brexit and Covid-19. The research would be useful in ensuring the proactive involvement of the government and contracting firms in their preparedness for similar events in the future. The results could be interpreted for critical learning in other developed/developing countries. Originality/value Identifying and ranking the supply chain disruptive factors affecting the small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK construction industry has been the focal point of this study. The study also proposes a simple but effective framework comprising the highly ranked factors, their longevity effects and mitigating measures. This will help the SMEs manage future/similar external events affecting the supply chain.

Cost overrun is a global issue plaguing transportation infrastructure projects, and the rail industry in the United Kingdom is not exempted. This industry plays a significant role in stimulating the country’s economic development and growth in the United Kingdom (UK). Understanding the factors contributing to cost overruns in rail projects is viable to sustain its contribution, especially in the COVID-19 epidemic era. This study analyzed and predicted the impact of cost overruns on rail projects in the UK in a COVID-19 pandemic era through a sparse network and system dynamics approach. It leverages a review of existing literature and perceptions of 80 construction professionals purposively to establish the factors affecting cost overruns affecting the UK rail construction sector. Findings reveal a web of causations that highlights labor productivity, delay in the supply of construction materials and equipment, and access to the site as fundamental predictors of cost overruns during a COVID-19 pandemic era. The resulting findings are beneficial to assist project managers with the needed awareness to strategically plan and mitigate the potential rise in cost overruns of rail projects in the UK during the pandemic.

Purpose Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the construction sector are highly vulnerable to disruptions caused by political and economic decisions or even pandemics. This study evaluated the current operations of selected SMEs providing engineering design and consultancy services against Toyota Production System (TPS) lean tool. The purpose is to juxtapose SME operations and processes with TPS to ascertain the level of their operations conformity to the established TPS lean thinking tool. Design/methodology/approach This study used a qualitative data collection and analysis approach to evaluate the current processes of participating SMEs against Liker's 14 management principles of TPS. The data collected were analysed using thematic analysis to identify patterns and themes that emerged from the qualitative data. Findings The analysis revealed that focus on short-term goals, immediate profit and duplication of effort resulting from insufficient collaboration is currently creating waste in participating SMEs' operations. Hence, the implementation of TPS was recommended as a lean tool and a framework based on TPS lean tool was developed for improving the operations of SMEs. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to SMEs operating only as consultants providing project planning design within the construction industry. Data collection is limited to qualitative even though observations would improve the outcome of the study. Originality/value The study advances contemporary issues in promoting lean implementation in construction sector and developed an improved framework based on the TPS to enhance the performance of SME construction businesses.

Public building abandonment has a detrimental impact on the advancement of a nation such as Nigeria. Rebuilding such infrastructure sustainably poses several challenges, as identified in the literature. A flexible and dynamic approach is required by decision makers that draws on a range of attributes, alternatives and criteria. This study aims to assess a sustainable, accessible and flexible tool that decision makers can use in place of engaging with complex mathematical calculations and formulas. To test the validity of the tool, two sets of participants (first Demonstration/pilot study – 7 participants and second Demonstration/Expert Validation − 11 participants) were identified for the testing and the validation of the tool. A quantitative data collection approach, making use of a survey and a case study, was considered the most appropriate approach for this study following the demonstration of the model to the participants. From the four alternatives: Refurbishment, Conversion, Demolition and Outright selling, supported with embedded mathematical formulas and calculations, the validated tool presented refurbishment as the most flexible and optimal solution. This study argues that the integration of this tool into the redevelopment process enhances the recognition of a range of solutions for abandoned public buildings in Nigeria. In addition, it concludes that incorporating suitable model configurations into an appropriate tool can foster appropriate decision-making procedures.

Persistent gender disparities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) remain a global concern, but their occurrences vary markedly across socio-cultural and geographic contexts. This paper presents a systematic review of literature on gendered participation in STEM higher education in the United Kingdom and Ghana, with a focus on barriers, facilitators, and opportunities for reform. Using structured searches across peer-reviewed and grey literature (2015-2025), 33 studies were identified and synthesised through reflexive thematic analysis. Findings reveal persistent challenges: early subject segregation, entrenched stereotypes, micro-level bias, opaque leadership pathways, and uneven access to digital skills, employability support, and mobility opportunities. Geography shapes how these barriers are experienced-UK research emphasises implicit bias, prestige economies, and work-life constraints, while Ghanaian evidence highlights patriarchal norms, rural-urban inequalities, and resource limitations. Despite contextual variation, a shared set of facilitators emerges, including gender-responsive curricula, mentorship, gender-mainstreamed quality assurance, equitable AI/digital skilling, and targeted mobility schemes. The review also identifies critical research gaps, underscoring the importance of context-sensitive yet transferable strategies to advance gender-transformative policy, pedagogy, and institutional reform. We argue for a transversal learning approach-adapting effective practices bi-directionally-to inform gender-transformative policy and programme design that is locally responsive with transnational ties.

A growing body of evidence suggests that continuous increases in global population and urbanisation wield pressure across biodiversity. Nigeria and a few other Asian nations will account for 35% of the urban increase in the future, and there is a scientific projection that further megacities will emerge. Besides, sustainable cities and societies are those that strive to leave a net-zero carbon footprint through smart urban planning and city management. So, in developing public transport scheme, it is essential to manage and implement sustainability assessment performance. In Nigeria, there is a sustainability literacy gap, due to a lack of measurable sustainability techniques, and this has resulted in social, economic and environmental dissatisfaction towards completed highways and roads in the cities. The roads and highways are considered an essential part of modern daily life and will play a key role in the development of sustainable cities. To bridge the knowledge gap, this study argues to develop a sustainability assessment rating system in evaluating highway and road designs in Nigeria. Thirty-six (36) sustainability indicators relevant in assessing highway design are identified along with the sustainability application framework. The findings contribute to gaining insight into climate change impact, and the benefits it makes in adopting an assessment rating system in highway development to decrease climate change catastrophe.

Purpose The changing role of quantity surveyors in the new paradigm of sustainable construction requires studies into new competencies and skills for the profession. The impact of sustainable construction on quantity surveying services, engagement and how they manage challenges provided an indication of the success indicators of the quantity surveying profession in meeting the sustainable construction needs. Design/methodology/approach A five-point Likert scale was developed from the list of quantity surveying firms in Singapore. An 85% response rate from 60 quantity surveying firms contacted in this study provided 51 responses. Descriptive statistics and factor analysis were employed to evaluate the findings. Findings The factor analysis categorised the drivers derived from the literature into awareness of sustainable construction, adversarial role on green costing; carbon cost planning; valuing a sustainable property; common knowledge of sustainable construction; and lack of experience in sustainable construction. Social implications The research findings supported the idea of increased sustainable construction skills in quantity surveying education, research and training. Originality/value The dearth of quantity surveyors with sustainable construction experience must focus on quantity surveying professional bodies and higher education. The quantity surveying profession needs reskilling in green costing and carbon cost planning to meet the needs of sustainable construction.

Purpose Notwithstanding the Geographical Information System (GIS) being a fast-emerging green area of a digital revolution, the available studies focus on different subject areas of application in the construction industry, with no study that clarifies its knowledge strands. Hence, this systematic review analyses GIS core area of application, its system integration patterns, challenges, and future directions in the construction industry. Design/methodology/approach A systematic review approach was employed, using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist. A total of 60 articles published between 2011 and 2022 were identified, thoroughly reviewed, and analysed using thematic analysis. Findings The analysis revealed spatial planning and design, construction-task tracking, defect detection, and safety monitoring as its four main application-based areas. The findings showed that the adoption of GIS technology is rapidly expanding and being utilised more in building projects to visual-track construction activities. The review discovered an integrated pattern involving data flow from a device and window-form application to GIS, the pathways to data exchange between platforms-to-platforms, where ArcGIS is the most used software. Furthermore, the study highlighted the lack of interoperability between heterogeneous systems as the crux impediment to adopting GIS in the built environment. Originality/value The research provides a deep insight into possible areas where GIS is adopted in the construction industry, identifying areas of extensive and limited application coverage over one decade. Besides, it demystifies possible pathways for future integration opportunities of GIS with other emerging technologies within the construction industry.

The promotion of uptake of building information modelling (BIM) and circular economy (CE) in the UK and Turkiye construction sectors can be enhanced with the addition of AI. Thus, AI-enabled BIM and CE must be addressed from the viewpoint of current practices and capabilities. This study conducted a comparative study of capability maturity modelling (CMM) backed by a state-of-the-art (SOTA) review of 24 peer-reviewed publications via a validatory approach using a focus group webinar of eight experts in the UK and Turkiye. The findings, as extracted through a validated CMM framework of seven dimensions, were used to identify the position of the UK and Turkiye in terms of AI in BIM and CE. It was discovered that the UK is in a position regarding adoption, government policies and incentives at a defined level. AI growth is required in terms of technological advancement, education and training, industry readiness, cultural attitudes and resistance because they are in a managed phase. It was confirmed that Turkiye is at the initial stage of AI adoption, education, training, incentives, policies, technology and cultural attitudes. The originality of this study lies in the recommendations for a 10-year CMM adoption timeframe towards an optimised level. The conclusions of this manuscript will influence government, education, research and technological policies in the UK and Turkiye.

The UK construction sector has increasingly encountered cost management inefficiencies in overruns, errors, rework and variations. This study demonstrated how Generative AI (GAI), an emerging trend in digital construction, can foster large language models (LLMs) from the industry's historical data to predict costs. The process of developing the GAI system architecture applied the V-model and agile methodological approach and BIM templates. As used in the UK construction sector, the BIM templates considered data from building cost information service (BCIS) and task information delivery plan (TIDP) to develop the architecture. The system architecture designed in this study aligned with the RICS New Rules of Measurement 1 (NRM1) for early cost advice and text-to-task models. The implication of the GAI system architecture for digital cost management presented in this study elicited the integration of GAI with the BIM processes, offering substantial benefits to the construction industry. This includes streamlined workflows, reduced errors, and improved decision-making. The implications of the system architecture offer opportunities for increased BIM uptake in the UK and the sector globally.