Determination of designer productivity losses in building projects in China | |
| Author | Zhang, Xunzhi |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.ST-99-51 |
| Subject(s) | Construction industry--China--Management Construction industry--China--Management |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering. |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Designer productivity losses are current issue encountered by independent design firms in project design. This study attempted to find out the modes affecting designer productivity losses in building project and quantified the losses through analyzing 12 building projects based in Shanghai. In this paper, designer productivity was defined as the output in terms of drawings and accompanying specifications per unit time. Designer productivity losses were measured by the percentage of extra man-weeks over planned design man-weeks. The factors influencing designer productivity losses can be classified five categories: owner initiated changes; designers' errors or omissions; contractors' fault or omissions; environment or site condition changes as well as local authority new policy. When problems happen, redesign works or design revises are requested in either design phase or construction phase. As a consequence additional workforce and time will be needed. Usually the number of extra task increase over time, quality of design can be low, and schedule is often lagging. It will also directly affect whole project performance. Productivity in the design office has been a neglected field compared with the outpouring research and theory on productivity in construction activities, however, it is particular important to a design firm because the number of Man-hours worked on a project are a major factor in the profit made. Today project management was applied to major construction processes. Management of works for a fee by management contractor became acceptable. Designer began not only to lose their traditional position as leader of the construction team, but also find that they were faced with competition from outside as well as from within their ranks. Therefore, how to manage an independent design firm to suit such a challenge environment became more and more pressing. |
| Year | 1999 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Engineering and Technology |
| Department | Department of Civil and Infrastucture Engineering (DCIE) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Structural Engineering (STE) /Former Name = Structural Engineering and Construction (ST) |
| Chairperson(s) | Manavazhi, Mohan Raj;Manavazhi, Mohan Raj; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Chotchai Charoenngam;Guey, Lin Der; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | AIT Partial Scholarship.; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1999 |