Construction production failure in a structural perspective: A study of reactive and proactive problem-solving practices

This thesis is the result of an Industrial PhD project conducted in cooperation between the university and NCC Construction Denmark – one of the largest contractors in Denmark. The specific purpose is to examine how failures and defects are produced and handled in the social practices of construction projects in order to make changes and thereby reducing the extent of failure in the building processes. As a result of the research design and the rooting of the study in the company the thesis contributes with an in-depth understanding of the relationship between the structural premises and the actions and decision-making of the project managers and craftsmen on construction projects. The premise is that failure and defects cannot be seen as isolated incidents, but must be regarded as a correlation between the successful as well as the faulty processes. The key contributions of the thesis are the expansion of the understanding of: Failures and defects; how routines and experiences in addition to helping to reduce the extent of failures and defects, also can be seen as instrumental in producing and maintaining a certain level of failure. Practices of problem solving; the study highlights reactive and proactive problem-solving practices as being important for the completion of the construction project. Problem-solving practices are often forced into reactive problem solving. Unintended consequences of routinized practices; elaborated through a) lack of knowledge sharing beyond the project boundaries, b) the reproduction of project participants as powerful problem-solvers and c) the reproduction of an "acceptable" level of failures and defects.