Department of Construction & Wood Technology Education
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- ItemConstruction in 5D: Deconstruction, Digitalization, Disruption, Disaster, Development(Research Gate, 2023)Governments worldwide are continually battling to address the housing backlog. In South Africa the backlog stems from previous discriminatory regimes and increasing urbanization. The housing backlog in South Africa has increased signif icantly and most especially in Cape Town. Housing is seen as a measure to trans form and unify the segregated population. Project Leaders (PLs) are saddled with the responsibility of housing delivery and managing diverse stakeholders. Although project management is the driving force behind housing delivery, the project process is not free from dynamics. These housing projects constantly attract social and polit ical attention, resulting in the PL repetitively contending with the inherited social and political dynamics of the Human Settlement Environment (HSE). The numerous chal lenges facing the PL created by the dynamism and ensuing complexity is unknown. Therefore, this research examines the challenges faced by PLs in the HSE and whether PLs exercise a capacity to transform, maintain, and lead the project organization creatively. A qualitative research approach with inductive-philosophical reasoning that employs interviews for data collection was chosen for the study. A sample of 19 PLs working in the public sector of human settlements in Cape Town was purpose fully selected to participate in the study. The collected data were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify appropriate themes. The results identified six chal lenges: Social, Political, Organizational, Legislative challenges, Multi-stakeholder, and Skills faced by PLs. Following these themes, two key issues showed that social and political influence were the dominant factors affecting the implementation of housing projects. The research found that PLs do not have the authority in housing delivery. This limits the PL’s ability to transform, maintain and lead the project organization creatively.
- ItemSuccess Factors For The Effective Implementation Of Total Quality Management (Tqm) In The Maintenance Of University Building(Research Gate, 2018)The paper examined success factors enhancing the effective implementation of TQM in the maintenance of university buildings in South Africa. The study further investigated the existence of a statistical difference in workers’ affiliated campuses, workers’ positions and their perception of the factors that ensure successful implementation of TQM in the maintenance of university building facilities. The study adopted a case study approach and purposive sampling method was used to select 71 participants and respondents for the study. Questionnaires with closed-ended questions were distributed to workers in the maintenance department in a university across five campuses. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data.It was revealed that TQM success factors were extensively practiced with respect to training and education of maintenance workers, use of statistical methods, and commitment to satisfaction to school stakeholders, as well as commitment from top management. A statistically significant difference existed in the perception of workers’ affiliated campuses on the level of practice of TQM success factors. The study provides immediate interventions which include prioritisation of success factors and long-run interventions which include benchmarking through development of best practices and standards to be followed in all campuses in situations were significant differences were discovered. Data for the study was built upon an available sample of maintenance workers in only one university. This therefore may limit the representation of other school categories in the country in the study. The study recommends an effective communication network such as memo and newsletters to disseminate information within the maintenance department to keep employees informed and get them involved.
- ItemImportance-Performance Analysis For Modelling Maintenance Prioritisation In Higher Institutions(Journal of Construction Project Management and Innovation, 2014)University maintenance departments are usually constrained by limited funds. To set priorities therefore becomes important as it ensures the suitable utilisation of resources. The research on which this article reports applied an importance-performance analysis (IPA) to aid the process of prioritising the lecture theatres performance parameters (maintenance needs) according to students’ expectation and satisfaction. Three lecture theatres were selected by means of a purposive sampling method as cases for the study; a questionnaire, with both closed and open ended questions was then used to collect data from the students. The IPA model together with both descriptive and inferential statistics was used to analyse the data. The study revealed that students perceived the satisfaction of all the performance parameters of lecture theatres as below the level of importance. However aesthetics, structural safety and lighting appear to be performing satisfactory even though they were below student’s satisfaction; whereas, thermal comfort, ventilation, fire safety & exit, acoustic control, and cleanliness are clearly underperforming and require immediate attention. The recommendations based on the findings can help the maintenance department of the institution to prioritise the maintenance needs of the lecture theatres to enhance performance (utility). With this article the author also demonstrates the practicality of the use of IPA model to aid the process of prioritising the maintenance needs of the buildings in an institution.
- ItemOverview of the uniqueness and value of facility management(CIB World Building Congress, 2019)The article aims to contribute to the discussions on the parameters that defines Facility Management (FM) and how the adoption of the FM approach can affect the bottom-line of organisations. The paper is based on previous published literature on FM. Articles, conference proceedings, books and unpublished thesis on FM as well as websites of FM associations were used as main references. The approach used to analyse the literature was content analysis. The analysis reveals that the uniqueness of FM lies in its integrative approach, the role it plays, its focus and the purpose it serves in an organisation. It also became apparent that the greatest value of applying the FM approach is well informed decision making on the facilities and facility services of an organisation; this reflects on the place (e.g. workplace) which further influences the facility users (e.g. employees) and their performance and ultimately the profit, bottom-line, of an organisation. The information provided in this article will broaden FM professionals understanding on how the application of the principles of FM could create value in an organisation. Moreover, this article elaborates on how the value of FM could translate to profit. Although, several articles on FM exist, articles that focuses on the parameters that set FM apart and the value chain of FM is lacking. This article contributes to the body of knowledge in this area.
- ItemA Scientometric Review of Student Housing Research Trends(Earth and Environmental Science, 2015)This paper presents a scientometric review of student housing studies; exploring the key authors and the collaborations among authors and countries, as well as the research trends with the aim of identifying gaps in this area of research where more studies is required. The VOSviewer software (version 1.6.13) was used for a Scientometrics review of 65 student housing publications from 2000 to 2020. The analysis focused on bibliographic coupling of countries, co-authorship of authors, citation of documents, and co-occurrence of keywords, which were further presented as network visualization maps. Scopus database was selected as the only data source. Therefore, the representation of publications presented in this study are limited to only one data source. The findings revealed that there is a satisfactory level of international collaboration in this research area. United Kingdom had the strongest link whilst Saudi Arabia had the weakest link. Both the keywords and documents citation analysis revealed three main trend of student housing research, i.e. residential satisfaction, post occupancy evaluation, and studentification. Gaps identified where more research is required include sustainable student housing, student housing safety and prioritisation of student’s requirement. This study provides invaluable information on the research trends in student housing studies. Thus, helping to identify gaps where more research is required.