工程经济学论文文献翻译.docx

工程经济学论文文献翻译.docx

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工程经济学论文文献翻译

ConstructionEngineeringandManagement

Author：

Becker

Abstract

Indirectconstructioncosts（IDCC）comprisefromaslittleas10to40%ormoreofthetotalcostofconstructionprojects,inpartdependingonthetypeandnatureoftheproject.Yet,anylocationinthisrangerepresentsasignificantcomponentoftotalprojectcosts,whichjustifiestheneedtobetterunderstandanddevelopeffectivepracticestoestimate,control,andmanageIDCC.WhenIDCCpracticesarenotaffordedintentionalmanagementandappropriateresources,keyprojectperformanceoutcomesareaffected.Asitsuniquecontributiontothebodyofknowledge,thispaperoperationallydefinesIDCC,outlinescertaininnovativeIDCCpractices,andidentifiesstatisticallysignificantrelationshipsbetweenkeyIDCCpracticesandprojectoutcomemetrics.Empiricalrecommendationsarepremisedupondatacollectedthroughtestimonials,structuredinterviews,andbrainstormingsessionsofanextensivesetofconstructionindustryprofessionals.Statisticalfindingsarebasedupondatacollectedthrough56one-on-onedata-collectioninterviewswithsubjectmatterexpertsand47project-levelsurveys.Qualitativedatawerefiltered,organized,andaggregatedandaretechnicallypresentedasinstructionalguidelines.QuantitativedatawerestatisticallyanalyzedandresultsfromthisanalysisshowseveralsignificantrelationshipsbetweenIDCCpracticesandkeyprojectoutcomes,includingapositivecorrelationbetweenthefrequencyofIDCCreviewmeetingsthatincludedprojectmanagersandfieldsupervisorsandqualityandcostperformance.

Introduction

Meetingfinancialobjectivesisaprimaryevaluationcriterioninassessingthesuccessofaconstructionproject.Relentlessmarketpressureschallengeconstructioncompaniestoreduceconstructioncostsandtoincreasevaluecreatedbythecapitalimprovementprocess.Numerouscostcomponentsaccountforthetotalcostofaparticularproject,includingbutnotlimitedtodesignfees,permitexpenses,financingcharges,landacquisition,andconstructioncosts.Theseprojectcostsarecommonlycategorizedaseitherdirectorindirectforcontracting,accounting,taxation,andotherpurposes.Literaturereportsthatthepercentageoftotalcostthatisindirectrangesfromlessthan10%toasmuchas40%ormore:

“ranges20%to40%”,“generally10%”,and“roughly21%”.Therefore,theconstructionindustryshouldandcandoanimprovedjobofestimating,controlling,andmanagingindirectconstructioncosts（IDCC）.

ThispaperreportsthefindingsofarecentlycompletedprojectfundedbytheConstructionIndustryInstitutethatexploresbestorinnovativepracticescurrentlyusedforhandlingIDCCinordertooffermutualandsharedbenefittoownersandcontractorsengagedincapitalimprovementprojects.Theobjectivesofthispaperareto

（1） defineIDCCtoshowhowcostscanbecategorizedandtheirprioritization;

（2） identifyleadingandinnovativeindustrypracticesforestimating,controlling,andmanagingIDCC;and（3） establishacorrelationamongthelevelofeffortgiventoestimating,controlling,andmanagingIDCC（thatis,IDCCpractices）andkeymetricsofprojectoutcome.Theseobjectiveswereachievedby

（1） performinganextensiveliteraturereviewofIDCC;

（2） conductinginterviewsandsurveysofindustryprofessionalsandprojects;

（3） statisticallyanalyzingthesurveyandinterviewresults.

Thebalanceofthepaperreportstheaforementionedmethodologyandconcludeswitharecapofmajorfindings,studylimitations,andrecommendationsforfutureresearch.

LiteratureReview

TheliteraturereviewonthetopicofIDCCresultedinnumerousdefinitionsforindirectcosts,yetonlyasingledefinitionwasidentifiedspecificallyforindirect construction costs.An“indirectconstructioncostcanbedefinedasacostthatcanbeidentifiedwithaconstructionprojectbutnotaspecificunitofproduction.Reviewofliteraturealsorevealedthattermssuchasgeneralconditions,generalrequirements,andprojectoverheadareoftenusedinterchangeablywithIDCC.Yet,theliteraturesuggeststhatthereisnotauniversallyacceptedcategorizationframeworkfortheconstructionindustrytopartitionconstructioncostsintodirectandindirectcategories.similarlyconcludedthatmanyinterpretationsareusedbycompaniesfordefiningindirectcosts.CollaborativeownersandcontractorswouldbenefitfromusingacommondefinitiontoproactivelydiscussIDCC.Further,asharedframeworkofIDCCenablesrobustorganizationofinternalprojectdataandforexternalbenchmarkingwithindustrypeers.

OperationalDefinitionforIDCC

Numerousfactorsaffectdefiningandpartitioningcostsintodirectandindirectgroupings.Assuch,itisunlikelythatanindustry-wideacceptanceofasingledefinitionorapproachwillbeadopted.However,anoperationaldefinitionforIDCCwouldprovideatoolforindustrypractitionerstofurtherunderstandIDCCcomponentsandtherebyincreasetrustamongcontractingparties.

Thescopeofthisresearchislimitedtotheinvestigationofindustrypracticesforestimating,controlling,andmanagingindirect construction costs,ratherthanallindirectcostsassociatedwithcapitalprojects.

Fig. 1 illustratesamatrixmodelforthecategorizationofprojectcosts—theshadedboxlabeled IndirectConstructionCosts isthefocusofthispaper.

TheoperationaldefinitionforIDCCiscomprisedofthreeparts:

alexicaldefinition,acategorizationframework,andanaggregatechartofaccounts.ThefollowinglexicaldefinitionisgivenforIDCC.

Indirectconstructioncosts（IDCC）areprojectexpensesincurredbytheprimaryconstructioncompanyinprovidingsupportivefunctionsandsharedgeneralresourceswhichare

（1） typicalforproperexecutionoffieldconstructionoperations,

（2） notaccuratelyorfeasiblyidentifiablewithasingledirectcostobject,e.g., adiscreteconstructionactivity,and（3） notincorporatedintoacomponentofthefinalphysicalimprovementsdeliveredtotheowner.Withfewexceptions,IDCCareonlyincurredduringthecourseofconstructionandonlyattheprojectlocation.Inmostcases,projectcostsareclearlyattributedtoandexpensedtoasingleconstructionprojectandtypicallynotacommonexpensesharedacrossnumerousseparateconstructionprojects.

IDCCPrioritization

Throughthedeliberationofsubjectmatterexperts,itwasdeemedprudenttofocusontheidentificationandrankingofafewkeyIDCCcategoriesbelievedtomostsignificantlyaffectprojectoutcomes.Therefore,56subjectmatterexpertswereaskedtoselectthefour“mostimportant,”theone“mostchallenging,”andtheone“mostwasteful”IDCCcategories,basedontheirownexperience.Theseindustryprofessionalscollectivelyhave987 yearsofexperiencewithanaverageexperienceof18 years.Ofthe56experts,62.5%representindustrialconstruction,12.5%primarilyworkinmanufacturingconstruction,and25%arefromthegeneralbuildingsector.

AParetochart（Fig. 2）depictsthatfieldsupervision,majorconstructionequipment,projectmanagement,andscaffoldingwereselectedasthefourmostimportantIDCCcategories.

Fig.2. ParetoplotofrelativeimportanceofIDCCcategories

Fig. 3 showsthatscaffolding,fieldsupervision,andprojectmanagementweretheIDCCcategoriesselectedasthemostchallenging.ThissuggeststhatimprovementintheseareasmayfillaperformancegapincurrentIDCCpracticesandreducefrustrationformanyindustrypractitioners.

Basedontheresultsfromtheseprioritizationrankingsanddeliberationbytheindustryexperts,thisstudyfocusesonthefollowingfourkeyIDCCcategories:

majorconstructionequipment,construction,managementandsupervisorypersonnel,scaffolding,andtemporaryprovisions.Thetemporaryprovisionscategoryincludestemporaryfieldfacilities,temporaryroadsandparking,temporaryofficesandservices,andtemporaryenclosures.Thesesubcategoriesweregroupedtogetherbecausethepracticesforestimating,controlling,andmanagingthesecostsarecommon,accordingtothereportingsubjectmatterexperts.

Checklists,ProcessFlowcharts,andTools

data-collectioninterviewswiththe56subjectmatterexpertswasconductedtoobtainexplicitdescriptionsofeffectivepracticesusedinindustrytoestimate,control,andmanageIDCC.Informationcollectedthroughthedata-collectioninterviewsprovidedthenecessarydatatorigorouslydocumentthoseleadingindustrypracticesforestimating,controlling,andmanagingIDCCsuchthatrisks,schedules,andcostsareproperlyoptimizedforbothcontractorsandowners.Thiscollectionofempiricalfindingswasaggregatedintoanindustry-targetedguidebook, Playbookofleadingindustrypracticesforestimating,controlling,andmanagingindirectconstructioncosts .Intotal,thisresearchassembled,created,andpublished12empiricalchecklists,ninedetailedprocessflowcharts,and20practicaltoolsforestimating,controlling,andmanagingIDCC.

Thisresearchisbeneficialforowners,contractors,andconstructionmanagerswhowanttoimprovetheirpracticesforestimating,controlling,andmanagingIDCC.Itisnotintendedtoofferspecificsolutionsforanyparticularprojecttype,contractualarrangement,orprojectlocation.Instead,itoffersexamplesofprovenindustrypracticesandrecommendsrepresentativetoolsthatcanimprovecapitalprojectperformance.TheresearchfindingsincludepracticesforfourkeyIDCCcategoriesandareconsistentlyorganizedintothefollowingfourcomponents:

1.

ExplanationoftheIDCCcategory,whichincludesabriefoverviewofthecategory,includingdefinitionandrelevantissues.

2.

Considerationschecklists,whichenabledet