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The management philosophy, namely, Customer relationship management (CRM) has been widely accepted and successfully applied across a range of sectors. However, there has been very little research efforts in the field of CRM in the construction industry. This paper provides a review of the CRM philosophy and technology, and considers the implications benefits and challenges to construction organizations at a strategic business and operational level. Given the generally unstable economic and highly competitive marketplace, implementation of CRM throughout the lifecycle of assets may provide for more effective management of existing and prospective clients. The CRM approach would seem to be compatible with general trends in the construction industry towards more collaborative working and the paper provides that both the philosophy and technologies can be integrated with current initiatives such as building information modeling (BIM). Construction clients in the public and private sector are diverse in nature, complex in their buying processes and at varying levels of knowledge of the Industry. In addition to seeking value for money from their projects and assets, they have become more concerned about sustainability and environmental impact. It has been recognized that management of a broader range of business and project level stakeholders is necessary.

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The paper presents the characterisation of an Algerian natural pozzolan (NP) intended to for use in cement-based materials. The experimental programme was based on different tests on paste and mortar. The pozzolanic activity was assessed by the means of lime consumption over time of mixtures of lime-pozzolan (75% NP and 25% Ca(OH)₂, water-binder ratio of 0.45). The degree of reactivity was assessed by observing the crystallographic changes (XRD) and lime consumption (TG) up to 1 year of hydration. The effect of NP on cement-based mixtures was based on the measurement of the water demand and setting time of pastes, and on the compressive strength of mortars, up to one year. The replacement rates of cement by pozzolan were 5, 10 and 15%. A superplasticizer was used (0, 1, 2 and 3% of the binder mass). A calculation of the carbon footprint was investigated in order to assess if the natural pozzolan could be considered as eco-efficient when used in replacement of the clinker. The results showed that NP had a medium pozzolanic reactivity and with a medium-low silica content. The use of NP usually led to a small increase in the water/binder ratio (up to 10%) to maintain constant workability. The setting time was also increased by around 20%. Nevertheless, strength tests showed that the pozzolan had sufficient activity to counteract the water demand, since long-term compressive strength of the binary system (cement + pozzolan) were higher than those of cement alone. The use of NP in replacement of clinker involves a reduction in CO₂ emissions for transport up to 1800 km, which is compatible with sustainable development. The results are most promising from both a performance-based and an environmental point of view

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Construction industry projects impose unsought constraints on employers to manage and define new projects including investment risk, performance variation and diversity of the project. Annually, a significant part of the governmental budget is being spent to execute water and wastewater projects in Iran. However, further projects are on demand to develop the country. The aim of this study is to develop courses of action to attract private partnership into the projects defined and executed in the water sector of the Iranian Ministry of Energy. To determine the criteria and implementing the proposed strategies, SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat) method was used as a powerful tool for understanding the context of the organization. To understand the importance of criteria, we weighted them then the extracted strategies from SWOT matrix (ANP method) was prioritized and divided into short- and long-term range in terms of performance and capabilities. According to the results, SO strategies have more weight than other strategies. Therefore, regarding the nature of strategies, the opportunities should be completely used through reinforcing the strengths and short- and long- term periods planning.

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Risk allocation is the definition and division of responsibility associated with a possible future loss or gain arising from an identified risk. Quantitative approaches to risk allocation have been developed to overcome the limitations of qualitative approaches, especially the issue of the amount of risk to be borne by each party. This paper presents a cooperative-bargaining game model for quantitative risk allocation that extends the previous existing system dynamics SD-based model. The behavior of contracting parties in the quantitative risk allocation process is modeled as the players’ behavior in a game. The proposed model accounts for both the client costs and the contractor costs to perform the quantitative risk allocation process. To evaluate the performance of the proposed model, it has been employed in a pipeline project. Quantitative risk allocation is performed for the inflation as one of the most important identified risks. It is shown that using the proposed cooperative-bargaining game model, both the client and contractor costs are decreased in comparison to the previous SD-based risk allocation approach.

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Various methods have been applied to construction crew productivity problem. This paper additionally introduces the use of two novel artificial intelligent methods which are Self Organizing Maps and Artificial Bee Colony. It first presents the results of the prediction performances of these two methods and then focuses on the visualisation ability of SOM through the presentation of two dimensional maps produced for the current problem. The prediction performances are compared by comparing MAPE, MAE and MSE values obtained during seven fold cross validation. Two dimensional maps produced by SOM based model are additionally presented in order to analyse the relationship between labour related factors of crew size, age and payment method with productivity rates of ceramic tiling crews.

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Resource allocation project scheduling problem (RCPSP) has been one of the challenging subjects amongst researchers in the last decades. Most of the researches in this scope have used deterministic variables, however in a real project activities are exposed to risks and uncertainties that cause to delay in project’s duration. There are some researchers that have considered the risks for scheduling, however, new metahuristics are available to solve this problem for finding better solution with less computational time. In this paper, two new metahuristic algorithms are applied for solving fuzzy resource allocation project scheduling problem (FRCPSP) known as charged system search (CSS) and colliding body optimization (CBO). The results show that both of these algorithms find reasonable solutions, however CBO finds the results in a less computational time having a better quality. A case study is conducted to evaluate the performance and applicability of the proposed algorithms.

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This study proposes an efficient method for allocating the blood centers to hospitals based on the concept of graph partitioning (p-median methodology) and meta- heuristic optimization algorithms. For this purpose a weighted graph is first constructed for the network denoted by G0. A coarsening process is then performed to match the edges in n stages. Following the coarsening phase, the enhanced colliding bodies (ECBO) algorithm is applied to decompose the graph into a number of sub domains by use of p-median methodology. In our problem p is the number of blood centers which hospitals are intended to allocate. The results indicate that the proposed algorithm performs quite satisfactory from computational time and optimum points of view.

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The construction temporary facilities layout planning (CTFLP) requires an identification of necessary construction temporary facilities (CTFs), an identification of candidate locations and a layout of CTFs at candidate locations. The CTFLP is particularly difficult and complex in large-scale construction projects as it affects the overall operation safety and effectiveness. This study proposes a decision making system to decide on an appropriate CTFLP in large-scale construction projects (e.g. dams and power plants) in a comprehensive way. The system is composed of the input, CTF identification, candidate location identification, layout optimization, evaluation and selection, as well as output stages. The fuzzy logic is employed to address the uncertain factors in real-world situations. In the input stage, the knowledge bases for identifying CTFs and candidate locations are determined. Then, CTFs and candidate locations are identified in the following two stages. In the mathematical optimization stage, a multiobjective mathematical optimization model with fuzzy parameters is established and fuzzy simulation-based Genetic Algorithm is proposed to obtain alternative CTFLPs. The intuitionistic fuzzy TOPSIS method is used to evaluate and select the most satisfactory CTFLP, which is output in the last stage. To demonstrate the effectiveness and efficacy of the proposed method, the CTFLP for the construction of a large-scale hydropower dam project is used as a practical application. The results show that the proposed system can assist the contractor to obtain an appropriate CTFLP in a more efficient and effective manner.

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A formwork is a structure used to contain poured concrete and to mold it to the required dimensions. Different formwork systems provide a wide range of concrete construction solutions that can be chosen to suit the needs of a particular structure. The selection of panels and the design of the formwork layout for concrete structures, especially if the panels are to be reused many times to form different work zones, is one of the most complex tasks in formwork construction. It influences the quality of work, construction time, site safety and cost. The formwork costs account for a significant part of the total costs for concrete works. The problem of the selection and layout of reusable panel forms is solved mainly based on the intuitive judgment of experienced engineers in collaboration with the form system supplier. This study proposes a mixed integer linear programming modeling approach to support the formwork planning process. The problem consists in determining the number and sizes of the panels according to the geometry of the concrete elements in order to minimize the rental cost of wall shuttering in a building divided into work zones that are to be completed in sequence, reusing the chosen panels. The model can be solved using typical software dedicated to mixed integer linear programs. A simple example is used to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed approach, where the formwork rental costs is 7.31% lower than the rental costs of panels and corners optimized without consideration of the reuse in consecutive zones.

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The study presents a model for the evaluation of construction projects from the point of view of the investor. The problem lies in choosing the best solution from the point of view of many criteria. The proposed model is based on a multi-criteria comparative analysis using fuzzy logic. The first part of the paper presents a selection of criteria describing the construction project along with their description. The set of attributes describing the analyzed object was determined on the basis of the synthesis of specific proposals for the parameters of construction projects. The set of criteria has been divided into two groups: technical, technological and organizational criteria and separately the economic criteria. Then, the number of variables describing the observations was checked using principal component analysis (PCA). Course of action was presented in the event of multiple criteria analysis using the fuzzy set theory. Both the weights and the evaluations of individual criteria were modelled using membership functions due to the fact that when describing a construction project, or the validity of the criteria of describing variables, they are approximate. An analysis of the correlation of selected project criteria was presented. The proposed decision support model of assessing a construction project makes possible to compare various variants based on 11 factors identified. The use of fuzzy logic has enabled more accurate description of the phenomenon analysed when the exact parameters of the project in the planning and preparation stage of the project are not known.

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There are challenges and opportunities of deploying policies for transport infrastructure improvement in developing countries. Transport infrastructural development remains a major tool for achieving the aspirations of the newly introduced economic principles of the Federal Government of Nigeria. This study investigates the impact of innovative strategic approaches for improved transport policy and how the strategies are well incorporated to solve the problems faced in the infrastructure sector in order to enhance improved economic growth. The research involves a questionnaire survey conducted to key stakeholders in Nigerian six states. The study was focused on the stakeholders selected from the public entities, private clients, consultants, and contractors operating within the Nigerian construction sector. Based on the empirical data, the specific ways in which innovative strategies for transport policies affect infrastructure development contributing to sustainable economic growth have been shown. The findings contribute to the fields of innovative strategies for transport policies in infrastructure development by linking various aspects of innovative strategies for transport policies and infrastructure development and their interrelationships to sustainable economic development from stakeholders’ perspective. The results show that variables of innovative strategies in transportation and transportation infrastructure improvement have different roles and significant positive impact on sustainable economic development.

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Construction industries are the most dangerous worksites with high risk of occupational accident and bodily injuries, which ranges from mild to very severe cases. The aim of this study was to explore the causal factors of accident severity rate (ASR), in 13 of the biggest Iranian construction industries. In this analytical cross-sectional study, the data of registered accidents from 2009 until 2013 were obtained from an official database. Data of HSE risk management systems and HSE training were also gathered from comprehensive accident investigation reports. Data analysis and regression modeling were done using SPSS statistical software (version 22). The mean and SD of ASR of studied construction worksites was 257.52±1098.95. The results show that the system associated with HSE and HSE risk management established only 41.8 and 18.4%, respectively. The results of multiple linear regression indicated that some individual and organizational factors (IOFs), HSE training factors (HTFs), and Risk Management System factors (RMSFs) were significantly associated with ASR (p<0.05). The study revealed the causal factors of ASR. Hence, these findings can be applied in the design and implementation of a comprehensive HSE risk management system to reduce ASR.

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The study has been developed a qualitative System Dynamics model to measure sustainability performance of construction project, considering contractors’ tendency to productivity. Construction contractors do not have a clear understanding of sustainability especially in developing countries. However, they welcome higher productivity as a determinant parameter in scheduling and financial success of construction project. Therefore, construction productivity improvement can be employed as an incentive to persuade contractors for implementing sustainability mechanisms in construction project. Sustainability performance has been examined in three aspects of economic, social and environmental by introducing different subsystems and feedback loops. These loops are based on the causal links among the factors affecting construction sustainability and productivity. The findings provide a proper basis for both practitioners and researchers through illustrating the cohesion between productivity and sustainability.