A best practice for high-rise insitu concrete construction based on French, German and UK contractor performance measures

This thesis addresses construction contractor performance for high-rise insitu concrete building forms. The principal aim of the research was to evaluate and compare the performance of contractors in three European countries; and from such evaluation develop best practice model(s) to engender improved construction contractor production performance. Initial investigations confirmed that in the evaluation of contractor performance, the common approach is to measure the extent to which the three 'superlative' client objectives (time, cost and quality) are satisfied. Due to the lack of a clear uniform evaluation standard in defining construction quality, this research focused on two of these performance aspects, namely, time and cost. A tri-country survey of contractors' planning engineers (implementing a novel methodology for generating comparable contractor performance data), revealed a consistent performance ranking. In the context of construction time and (labour) cost performance, French contractors were most effective, followed by German and then UK firms. An appraisal of performance-impacting construction methods and practices revealed disparity between the solutions preferred by contractors of the three countries. Analysis of variance and correlation tests identified significant contractor performance factors, from which two principal best practice models were developed, namely, a cost minimisation model and a construction time optimisation model. 'European', UK, French and German versions of these models were produced from corresponding contractor performance data. Ultimately, the generic concepts developed and best practice recommendations of the two principal models were validated two-dimensionally incorporating internal and external validation methodologies. The opinion of experts in France, Germany and the UK concurred, thus confirming the reliability and robustness of the two models proffered. Contractors seeking to improve their production performance may wish to consider the generic concepts and construction 'best practices' identified in the two models. Clients may observe the performance implications when selecting contractors.