The Netherlands currently suffers from a housing shortage, which cannot be solved by the traditional project-based approach of realizing new homes. Under a visible trend of a project-transcending, programmatic approach within the construction sector, various housing associations, municipalities and market parties are united in an inter-organizational collaboration to combat the shortage of social rental housing. These have led to various regional social housing construction programs, the Bouwstroom (Dutch translation for construction flow). Since program management requires an appropriate approach for each specific program, there is a need to better understand and further develop the current application of this management concept in the Bouwstroom programs for this context. Program managers should guard against a too one-sided focus on either control management, because this is too robust for a programmatic collaboration, or interaction management, because this leads to too slow progression and expensive ideas. The solution is to complement the two approaches with each other, in which an appropriate ratio of both approaches is context-dependent. To counter interaction or control related challenges, mixed strategies should be applied over time and a right structure is necessary in the organization. Furthermore, the literature speaks of six attributes of effective program management: 1) the vision, 2) priority focus, 3) planning framework, 4) governance, 5) coordination and 6) adaption. These attributes must be applied appropriately for each program for program management to function effectively. Two representative case study programs, WoonST and Bouwstroom Noord, are analyzed. A cross-case study has made it clear that the current application of program management in both cases leads to external interaction challenges in particular. Where the internal parties are aligned and motivated, there is still a hindrance from parties that are not part of the Program Management Office, but still influence the course. This results in the municipalities being limited in their role to speed up the processes. In order to create more value of the programs, the major challenges need to be mitigated. Multiple interaction-type strategies suggested from the literature are validated to mitigate them, several of which have not been applied before. However, they still need to be balanced with control strategies, of which those proposed from the literature mostly score poorly. This indicates that the need for additional complementary control measures is still present and does not seem to be satisfied by the study's findings. This study confirms the theory that program managers should maintain an appropriate interaction and control focus, despite a short-term detriment to the process. In addition, this research shows that program managers must continue to learn. By analyzing strategies from your own program, programs from other Bouwstroom programs and even programs from different contexts, and reflecting on a specific context, unique challenges can be approached more accurately. New strategies should be learned in order to approach unique challenges more accurately. ... Read more

Success of the project depends on compliance to requirements amongst other things (Wheeler, 2003). This forms Requirements Management process an important step in the Systems Engineering life cycle. However, poor definition of requirements is an obstacle in automating the verification process. The existing solutions based on various approaches focus predominantly on building codes requirement verification and is not suitable for the dynamicity of client specific requirements. existing solutions also require users to have expertise on programming and construction domain knowledge. Hence, a general approach for rewriting client requirements in a machine understandable way is needed. The research focuses on developing this general approach using object and properties data from standard libraries such as Object Type Libraries (OTL). ... Read more

Cost estimation of construction projects is still carried out using highly manual traditional tools and processes, which are deemed as inefficient and have a direct impact in the productivity levels of the industry. Building Information Modelling or BIM is changing the way projects are developed and has introduced some changes to cost estimation. One of these changes is the possibility to generate semi-automatic quantity take-offs from BIM models, greatly speeding up the project quantification process. Furthermore, the concept of 5D BIM, or BIM with the addition of a cost “dimension”, aims to connect BIM and cost estimation. However, the participation of the cost engineer in BIM-based processes is still limited, and this actor frequently only appears at the end, to deliver single cost estimates. This study aims to observe and identify the possibilities of integrating cost engineers in BIM-based project development as a step towards reaching 5D BIM. The research is carried from a managerial and organizational perspective. The potential outcomes of the integration impact the process of cost estimation and other associated processes, namely project design and modelling, and project management and development. To conduct this study, a case study was carried out at a Dutch engineering company where interviews were carried out to respondents of different specialties. Activity theory was used as a theoretical framework for the analysis, discussion and development of a solution. Its use marks an interesting approach to the current problem as it provides the ground for simultaneous analysis of multiple activity systems to reach an integrative solution. The results support other studies that conclude cost engineers are detached from BIM-based project development. Furthermore, the results show that the integration of cost engineers in BIM-based project development has mainly positive potential outcomes for cost estimation and associated processes. It is, however, also concluded that at its current state BIM instruments alone are not fit to handle all information relevant to cost estimation, namely non-graphical elements. The research concludes that to achieve positive results from integration of cost engineers, it is required, a) 5D BIM specialized software, b) appropriate integration of actors in project development, and c) adoption of standards, mainly for development and use of three key tasks. The final deliverable of the research is a collaborative framework which is intended to provide the ground for the integration of cost engineers in BIM-based project development, aimed at reaching 5D BIM. ... Read more

As climate change concerns increase, more and more clients are aiming for higher sustainability ratings for their properties. Green building assessments are of great importance to stimulate the sustainable paradigm shift within the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry. However, the current working process for green building assessments, such as for BREEAM-NL certification, still requires tedious manual work. The application of Building Information Modeling provides an opportunity for automated assessments and real-time feedback. Despite the significant amount of research on technological possibilities of BIM-based sustainability compliance verification, this is not a commonly adopted BIM application. This thesis project aims to address this research gap, by taking a closer look into practice to identify the barriers that are hindering the adoption of BIM for BREEAM-NL assessments and proposing a strategy to further the utilization of BIM for this purpose. The primary contributions of this research lie in the following areas: 1) Investigating the actual status of BIM use for BREEAM-NL assessments in practice and discussing the needs of the industry 2) Integrating the topics of process and policy along with technology in the discussion of BIM-based Green Building Assessments and lastly, 3) Providing a practical strategy to initiate the implementation of BIM-based BREEAM-NL assessments. ... Read more

The construction sector suffers from flat or sometimes even falling productivity rates while it is one of the least digitalized sectors. A root cause, among others, is poor information management. Recently, the ISO 19650 series have been released to offer the construction industry a guideline for the organization and digitization of information in construction assets when building information modelling (BIM) is used. However, a uniform application of standards in projects is not recommended as it can hamper flexibility and versatility. An essential document of ISO 19650 is the BIM Execution Plan (BEP) which appears more and more often in projects that use BIM, aiming to facilitate information management. However, organizations struggle to set up a process to customize a BEP that fits the project's needs. Therefore, this research focuses on the BIM Execution Plan (BEP) and how this can be tailored to fit the needs of a project. In addition, this thesis focuses on the preparation phase of infrastructure projects where the post-contract BIM execution plan applies. To conduct this study, first, the literature was reviewed, and a questionnaire was distributed to practitioners to evaluate the literature's findings. Next, semi-structured and structured interviews captured the practitioners' perceptions. As a result, influencing project characteristics for the BEP customization were found, mostly related to a) The experience and capability of the involved parties, b) The existence and use of ICT systems in the project, and c) The clarity of the project' and client's needs. The main research result is a) a process for customizing a BEP based on a list of project characteristics and b) a decision support tool that practically captures this process. Both the process and the tool aim to help BEP authors and recommend the extent of development of the BEP contents as per the project's needs. The validation results of the decision support tool are encouraging. More specifically, the tool's results have a small deviation from what experts recommend without the tool. ... Read more

‘The Dutch are not going to lose against the sea’, is a commonly accepted quote of the citizens of The Netherlands. Having developed a country below sea level, Dutch people are aware of the challenges of the sea, but are committed in an endless fight against it. Nowadays, with global warming increasing, the challenge for them is even bigger. Sea level rises threateningly, and the estimations about the future conditions are characterized by deep uncertainty. For that reason, the Dutch government identified 13 weak links in the coastal defence system, one of which is the area of interest for this research, the Scheveningen district and its surroundings, belonging to the Municipality of The Hague. Apart from its vulnerable coastal defence position, the area is densely populated and the most popular beach destination of the country. The aim of this research is to provide water safety solutions in the long term (until 2100), while taking into account the stakeholders demands. Secondly, compare the designs and identify specific aspects in which decision makers in the Municipality of The Hague would be forced to make compromises in order to implement a final solution for the project. Thirdly, investigate on additional measures that can complement and optimize the water safety design. For that reason, a background research was conducted through literature reviewing, interviewing experts and stakeholders, in order to collect information about possible sea level rise scenarios, existing boundaries of the system and stakeholders perspectives. The water safety issue was tackled with nature-based solutions following the principles of Integrated Coastal Zone Management by Building with Nature a framework that delivers solutions for sustainable infrastructure. Two solutions packages were obtained. The first one uses a Preserve strategy, attempting to maintain the current coastline position with soft (sandy) interventions where possible, keeping construction costs relatively low. The second package uses an Advance strategy, extending land in the seaward direction, and creating a large space for the development of natural habitats and human activities. To evaluate and compare the resulting designs, a Multi Criteria Analysis was conducted according to five criteria: Recreation and tourism, Social values, Ecology, Economy and Finance, Sustainability, Design. The goal of this part of the analysis is not the selection of a winner option but the assistance to the decision making process by providing strengths and weaknesses of each option, as well as a comparison between the two in terms of the above mentioned criteria. From this point on, this research identified a total of eight aspects where the decision maker, the Municipality of The Hague, would be forced to make some sort of compromises between different interests, in order to implement the project. The evaluation process resulted in a slight preference for the Advance strategy as the most integrated solution package. The optimization of this design was realised and four additional measures were proposed, leading to a more holistic proposal with more chances to bring acceptance among all stakeholders involved. ... Read more

Cost overruns in infrastructure projects has been a well-known phenomenon for almost a decade. As per the generally accepted definition, the industry has been measuring cost overruns as the cost exceedance with respect to the approved contractor’s budget. But researchers are realizing the fact that the decision-to-build is generally taken long before the ‘budgeting’, which thereby falsifies the existing definition of ‘cost overruns’. It has been henceforth also realized that projects under overruns also don’t offer the best capital value because their as-built costs exceed the costs estimated for them during the “decision-to-build” stage. As a result, such projects debar other deserving projects from getting approved by the funding authority/infrastructure ministry, which could potentially deliver more value for the same invested costs. A lot of projects which were in high overruns in the recent past shouldn’t have been approved/funded/preferred by the decision makers over others (For example: The Channel Tunnel in the UK, cost overruns = 100%, Denver intl. airport in the USA, cost overruns =200%). Consistent overruns also indicate that even with consecutive projects, the experts are not learning to improve on it as well. As a result, cost overruns in infrastructure projects have been a subject of discussion for more than 2 decades now. It has been realized that not only the estimates presented to the decision makers should be accurate, but also the total project costs post approval (at the decision to build point) should adhere (be controlled) to the approved estimate. Either of the two situations/or both would lead to cost escalations/overruns. Researchers have been demanding more exploration on the front-end cost escalations of the projects rather than on the cost overruns in the execution phases. It has been realized that the front-end phases allow for the maximum control over the as-built costs, but ironically, the industry experiences more cost escalations in the front-end phases. It has been emphazied that ex-post studies on the front-end phases of projects can bring revelations on how projects suffer front-end escalations. Limited research exists on the front-end phases of infrastructure projcts, with almost all of them based on the Nordic countries and only one on the Dutch governance setting by Nijkamp & Ubbels (1998). The limited research mostly includes the studies that have produced ‘characteristic escalation figures’ & the ‘factors/causes’ (technical, political & cognitive). All these factors except ‘technical & cognitive’ are quite external to the project teams and are difficult to research on through ex-post studies. Citing ‘political factors’ as the prime cause, most researches on the ‘solutions’ counterpart have been discussing over ‘political misrepresentation’ as the main factor/cause of front-end cost escalations. Very less researches have been done on the ‘technical & cognitive’ factors, which are more internal to the project teams and can be easily studied through the ex-post researches on the front-end phases of recently completed infrastructure projects. This thesis aimed to gather such ‘technical/control’ based factors & their data collection/analysis methods, in order steer them for controlling the total project costs from the very front-end phases itself. This thesis gathered 19 such ‘control’-based technical factors from Arcadis cost experts and considered it as the starting point. Structured-questionnaire surveys then helped to filter out the most important factors which lead to front-end cost escalations. Finally, 12 interviews from two recent Dutch projects (Schiphol Expansion : Landside works & Redevelopment of highway N270) gave insights on what approach should be taken for data collection [cross-learning (CL)/open-data gathering (OA)] & data analysis [top-down (TD)/bottom-up (BU)] methods in order to steer the ‘factors’ in the front-end phases of the projects. The thesis concluded that ‘project-control’ based technical factors are crucial as well, and can be steered. The research results gave some insights on which data collection/analysis approaches should be taken for steering each of such ‘factor’ from the front-end phases itself. The thesis conclusively highlighted the need of further research on gathering more such ‘factors’ and obtaining suitable data collection (CL/OA) & data analysis (TD/BU) methods for steering them. The need to focus on ‘project controls’ based factors (and not just political factors) from the very front-end phases was also conveyed. ... Read more

Today’s rising project complexity in combination with the changing economic environment has led to an increased interest in improving organizational business processes. Large multinational companies were always affected by those two factors in a greater extent than other smaller more localized competitors, rendering process reengineering an indispensable need for their continuous thrive. Determining best-practice approaches and integrating scale and knowledge into business process management may improve business performance by reducing error potential. This could be achieved through process standardization according to best-practice approaches. However, the proclaimed uniqueness of construction projects in combination with the numerous uncertainties that the industry is facing is rendering process standardization in the construction industry more complex. This research aims to explore the implications, opportunities and barriers of standardization in the construction industry and the implementation of previously gained knowledge – marked as best practices. ... Read more