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The research presented in the thesis contains a part of the ongoing effort to improve the situation of the Dutch construction sector. For at least the last decade, a number of measures known as integrated contracting has been heralded as the solution for many problems in the Dutch construction industry. One of the main reasons for integrated contracting is to stimulate suppliers adopting innovative solutions. The innovative solutions can lead to bids with a lower price, more value or both. However, not all possibilities of the integrated contracting philosophy are utilised, due to the dominance of the lowest price award mechanism. Effective integrated contracting calls for the application of the Economically Most Advantageous Tender (EMAT) award mechanism, which increases the chance for bids with a better value price ratio. However, the application of the EMAT award mechanism is not widespread, because it is perceived as more complicated than the traditional lowest price award mechanism. The main barrier for the implementation of EMAT is the lack of information on how to formulate suitable EMAT award mechanisms, leading to the main question of this research: Which EMAT award mechanisms are suitable for the Dutch construction industry? The research takes an empirical approach in order answer this question. First, suitability requirements are formulated. Then, information is collected on EMAT award mechanisms that are applied in the procurement practice. The matching of the two leads to an overview of suitable EMAT award mechanism elements that are then combined into a decision tree. Several EMAT types were encountered during this investigation. In order to analyse these different types, the value price model is developed. The value price model is a graphical representation of a procurement situation. Two preference systems are distinguished namely a system that bases preference on the highest value price ratio and a system that bases preference on the highest difference between value and price. The introduction of several constraints in the value price model defines the procurement space. Furthermore, the strategies of ‘price minimisation’, ‘value maximisation’ and ‘value price optimisation’ can be represented in the model. Based on this model, the concept of ‘bidding freedom’ is introduced. The bidding freedom is the share of the theoretically maximum possible added value compared to the price of the theoretical most expensive competitive bid. Several requirements determine whether an EMAT award mechanism is suitable or not. Legal requirements are ‘non-discrimination’, ‘proportionality’ and ‘transparency’. Practical requirements are ‘sufficient bidding freedom’, ‘simplicity and elegance’ and the safeguarding of traditional project management requirements. The properties of twenty-four EMAT award mechanisms that were applied in practice are presented. Four main types are distinguished; the point system (six cases), the price correction system (eleven cases), the ratio system (two cases) and the value maximisation system (one case). Several developments are identified. The average “bidding freedom” is about 30% for cases from the civil sector and about 20% for the commercial sector, amounting to a combined bidding freedom of about 25%. In the civil sector, the most used award criterion is a process quality criterion, i.e. ‘quality of the project management plan’. Most used award criterion in the commercial sector is ‘functionality of the built object’, which is a product quality criterion. The ‘value minus price’ system and the ‘value price ratio’ system are both considered suitable. The design contest system should be discouraged. There is a preference for the price correction system over the point system when one chooses for a ‘value minus price’ system. Elements that should not be applied are weighed prices, discrete price-point relationships, discrete performance-money relationships, comparative score determination and price dependant value determination. Most striking observations were 1) the sudden appearance of ratio systems at the end of 2007, 2) the conclusion that procurement practice applies EMAT elements or systems that should be discouraged, and 3) the observation that the choice between procurement profit and profitability is not clear. Based on this research, procurers are recommended to use the developed EMAT award mechanism decision tree and to use the value price model to present results. Furthermore it will be rewarding for them to keep the EMAT award mechanism as simple as possible and to take eventual budgetary consequences of EMAT into account. Also, procurers are recommended to use curved performance-money relationships when appropriate and to manage knowledge. Finally, it is recommended that in the phases preceding the award phase enough design freedom is left, in order to keep awarding based on EMAT useful. Traditional construction companies operating in markets with integrated contracts are recommended to develop themselves towards integrated suppliers in order to remain competitive. Recommended topics for further investigation are the influence of the application of EMAT on the success of projects and on the reliability of bids. Furthermore it can be worthwhile to investigate whether the award criteria can also be used in other phases of the construction lifecycle. Finally the possibilities of streamlining and objectifying the award phase by the use of advanced ICT applications are interesting topics for further investigation. The policy of several Dutch governmental agencies to apply integrated contracting promises a bright future for the EMAT award mechanism.

Seismic risk in some regions of Greece has increased over the last decades. The reason lies in urban development in earthquake prone regions, combined with a lack of ability or interest to tackle known construction vulnerabilities of buildings. Despite the severity of risk, also confirmed by recent events, homeowners have proven unwilling to mitigate seismic risk, possibly because of their inability to pay and/or unwillingness to invest due to lack of information or awareness. As a result, significant part of the building stock remains unsafe, in comparison with the safety level of the current building code. A way to stimulate seismic risk mitigation is government intervention. Such intervention could consist of a safety plan (retrofit program, mandatory insurance, emergency planning etc.) implemented by government, subsidies, introduction of more stringent building codes, risk communication. Recent developments in Greece regarding seismic safety are mostly aimed at vulnerability and risk evaluation, the publishing of a technical building Code of Interventions, and mapping out a seismic safety plan for Greece. Meanwhile, experts ask for government intervention proposing organisational change and a distribution of roles / liabilities among different clusters. For every scheme of government program, risk estimation is vital to be able to set priorities and decide whether buildings, municipalities, or regions are safe enough. Besides economic risks, risks to life should also be considered. Instruments for quantifying fatality risks are however unavailable at present. A review of the cornerstones of Dutch flood risk management practices, especially in risk estimation and decision-making has shown that fatality risks are considered from a societal perspective and an individual one. The societal risk metric concerns the (exceedance) probabilities of larger numbers of fatalities; the individual risk metric concerns the probability of death of a person at a specific location. In the case of the Netherlands, due to the nature of the flood hazard and protection scheme (public flood defences), the government is strongly involved in flood risk mitigation. Despite differences between the protection schemes for large-scale floods (strengthening dikes rather than protecting buildings) and earthquakes (strengthening buildings), this project proposes the translation (=the act of converting) of aforementioned metrics to the case of seismic risk in Greece. To quantify those metrics for earthquakes requires knowledge of the probabilities of different hazard levels (peak ground accelerations), the extent of damage on buildings given the hazard, and the expected number of fatalities in case of damage given the extent of damage. In this study, societal risk (depicted by FN-curves) and individual risk levels are quantified using exceedance probability function of peak ground acceleration at the site under Seismic Risk Mitigation in Greece Translation of Dutch Flood Risk Management Practices consideration, as well as deterministic transfer functions for damage (vulnerability curves) and losses (mortality curves). Moreover, since economic losses of earthquakes can also be significant, societal economic risk (FL-curve) and individual economic risk are also proposed and quantified. Using recent research results about the vulnerability of buildings, inventory data for social economic characteristics and reasonable assumptions about missing information (like building size); risk can be estimated for existing and retrofitted building stocks of Greek municipalities. After sensitivity analysis of model parameters, two case studies are presented that show the use of the aforementioned risk metrics for different levels of government decision-making. One simulating top level (central government) decision making, setting priorities for retrofit between municipalities, and the second simulating medium level (local government) decision making, setting priorities for a retrofit program between different structural typologies of buildings. The case studies show that the risk metrics and the model to quantify them can be useful tools for deciding which municipality should absorb more resources, whether mitigation is urgent, which mitigation strategy is most efficient, and how alternative retrofit programs influence risk levels. Of course, the model is only a prototype further refinements are advised. There are important benefits from the implementation of the described methodology. Firstly, the decision maker only deals with probabilities and consequences, has a general overview thus he/she may distribute resources and time in a more (cost) effective way. Moreover, human life is distinguished from cost-benefit analysis (no monetization). Events with high numbers of fatalities, which can cause disruption to the whole of the country, as well as disproportional individual exposures, can be targeted directly. Finally, it gives the opportunity to monitor the progress of a safety plan, and is scalable for central and local administration. This study concludes by proposing the application of societal & individual risk metrics (for fatalities and economic loss) to support two levels (central and local) of government decision making concerning seismic risk mitigation in Greece. Furthermore, it provides a prototype model for the quantification of these metrics. Finally, this thesis proposes directions for further research, the most important being research about the costs of alternative retrofit programs, which is necessary for the debate about appropriate (efficient/feasible) societal & individual risk acceptance criteria.

Currently there are no clear and practical rules as to how risks should be allocated and how the process of risk allocation should be designed to come to the best result. In this research a distinction is made between effective allocation (i.e. the risk are allocated to the ‘right’ party) and efficient allocation (i.e. the time and effort of the process of risk allocation yield value for money).

Nine out of ten infrastructure projects fall victim to cost escalation (Flyvbjerg, 2004) and delays. This paper investigates the role of scope changes and the practice of scope management on project cost and planning.

The project leader of the design team controls and steers the design process in order to make a successful design with a balanced mix of aspects and has to adapt to complexity and the dynamic character of the design process. How should a design management approach based on steering by aspect systems be put into practice to improve coping with uncertainty, change and complexity in the design process of complex integral civil engineering projects?

Het Living Building Concept (LBC) stelt een verandering van de huidige, traditionele en gefragmenteerde bouwpraktijk voor. Het is een beschrijving van een conceptueel systeem om de bouw meer aanbodgedreven te laten produceren. Dit betekent dat de aannemer, voordat de opdrachtgever zijn vraag heeft gespecificeerd, al een groot deel van zijn product heeft voorontwikkeld op basis van marktonderzoek. Op deze manier streeft het LBC naar een optimalisatie van het bouwproces en het bouwproduct. Het LBC is echter een beschrijving van een conceptueel systeem en staat nog maar aan het begin van de ontwikkeling. Het zal dus nog operationeel moeten worden gemaakt voor de wegenbouw. Dit afstudeeronderzoek richt zich specifiek op de gemeentelijke wegenbouwmarkt. Het onderzoekt de veranderende positie en strategie van de aannemer en gemeenten in een aanbodgedreven wegenbouw en de invloed van de regelgever hierop in de aanbesteding.

Doordat de kwaliteitsbeheersing hierdoor bij de opdrachtnemer komt te liggen is bij Rijkswaterstaat systeemgerichte contractbeheersing (SCB) ingevoerd. De vraag is nu hoe ver Rijkswaterstaat is met het invoeren van SCB en welke factoren bepalend zijn voor het succesvol toepassen van SCB. Om de implementatie en de effectiviteit van SCB te bepalen en/of te verbeteren worden de succesfactoren en de mate van implementatie bij verschillende projecten binnen Rijkswaterstaat Zuid-Holland bepaald.

Bij DuraVermeer wordt er decentraal op de projecten ingekocht met een centrale coördinatie. De leverancierselectie en evaluatie wordt hierbij per werkmaatschappij verschillend uitgevoerd. Door het ontbreken van een digitaal beoordelingssysteem is het momenteel niet mogelijk voor DuraVermeer om de prestatie informatie van leveranciers mee te nemen in de selectie beslissing. Momenteel heeft het beoordelen van de leveranciers van DuraVermeer veel weg van een administratieve handeling om te voldoen aan de eisen van de ISO normen.

I studied the initial stage (inception stage) of integrated stadium projects. Based on this research I developed a prototype of a computer application which would support HBM with the preparation of integrated offers. The latter includes information of a stadium design, its development costs, financing and the potential operational revenues and expenditures.

Met de traditionele samenwerkingsvorm tussen opdrachtgever en opdrachtnemer in de bouw is het lastig om te gaan met de dynamiek van de zorgsector. Het recent ontwikkelde Living Building Concept (LBC) stelt als reactie daarop de constant veranderende omgeving centraal en streeft naar een optimalisatie van het bouwproces en bouwproduct door opdrachtnemers een proactieve rol te laten innemen (aanbodsturing). Het LBC is op dit moment nog een theoretisch kader en daardoor is er behoefte aan een toepassing van het LBC in de praktijk. De doelstelling van het onderzoek is daarom als volgt gekozen: “Het operationeel maken van het Living Building Concept aan de aanbodszijde van de ziekenhuisbouw door de ontwikkeling en toetsing aan de ziekenhuisbouwpraktijk van een model voor een aanbodgestuurde totstandkoming én instandhouding van ziekenhuisvastgoed”

Value Methodology (VM) is proposed by Dr. Frits Willems from Grontmij, as a possible way to help solve the problems. VM is a strong problem-analyzing and decision-making tool which matches the problem framework. Besides, based on an insight of its development and applications in other Government agencies, and comparisons with other relative methods, a conclusion is drawn that it is worthwhile researching on VM to see how it can help. VM is the starting point of this thesis research. The objective is to develop a framework of the application of Value Methodology, in order to identify maintenance improvements on infrastructural assets and guide decision-making on renewal and modification projects.

Het onderwerp Systems Engineering(SE) is onderwerp van veel discussie, wordt ervaren als een administrati eve plicht en leidt nog niet tot een vermindering van de faalkosten. In het uiteindelijke rapport hoop ik te kunnen bijdragen aan de verbetering van de toepassing van SE in de infratructurele sector. Systems Engineering kan bij een juiste toepasssing zeker van waarde zijn voor de bouwsector, maar daarvoor zal wel medewerking nodig zijn van alle betrokkenen.

Het onderzoek heeft de risico’s in de uitvoering van productiefaciliteitprojecten voor Nederlandse projectmanagement consultants in Rusland aan het licht gebracht. Dergelijke risico’s zijn niet eerder onderzocht althans gepubliceerd. Er was derhalve uitgebreid onderzoek nodig op locatie om inzicht te verkrijgen in de betreffende externe onzekerheden en de risico’s verbonden aan de uitvoering van productiefaciliteitenprojecten in Rusland.