Building Information Modeling (BIM), also called n-D Modeling or Virtual Prototyping Technology, is a revolutionary development that is quickly reshaping the Architecture-Engineering-Construction (AEC) industry. BIM is both a technology and a process. The technology component of BIM helps project stakeholders to visualize what is to be built in a simulated environment to identify any potential design, construction or operational issues. The process component enables close collaboration and encourages integration of the roles of all stakeholders on a project. The paper presents an overview of BIM with focus on its core concepts, applications in the project life cycle and benefits for project stakeholders with the help of case studies. The paper also elaborates risks and barriers to BIM implementation and future trends.

While the increasing rate of urbanisation is a critical concern for socio-environmental reasons, this also leads to more extraction of natural raw materials and the generation of significant quantities of construction and demolition (C&D) waste. Although the use of recycled C&D waste products is technically feasible and regulated, and positive application examples are evident, it is still unclear how to engage key stakeholders to leverage this opportunity in construction projects. Previous research has shown that there is some level of resistance to the reuse of recycled C&D waste products in construction projects. This highlights a critical need to identify the roles of key stakeholders and the barriers they face when using recycled C&D materials. This paper therefore investigates the type of stakeholders influencing the use of recycled C&D waste products and the main factors affecting stakeholders’ decisions to use recycled C&D waste products through a systematic literature review. The authors present an emergent enablers and barriers for recycled C&D waste products model and provide commentary on how stakeholders’ perceptions, decision and behaviour influence the use of recycled C&D waste products. The authors also contribute to the body of knowledge with insights into the factors that various stakeholders believe influence the market for recycled C&D waste products and provides a reference point for authorities to consider these behavioural insights for policy reform.

The populations of major cities in Australia are increasing rapidly and facing an acute housing shortage. Traditional apartment procurement techniques involve lengthy lead times, and therefore, factory-based, or off site–constructed (OSC), multistory apartment buildings may offer the opportunity to help fulfill the need by significantly reducing build times and potentially offer good economic value. Other advantages of OSC may include superior quality, low weight ratios, economies of scale achieved through repetition of prefabricated units, use on infill sites, sustainable design standards, and better occupational health and safety. There are also positive labor and training implications, which may help to alleviate an industrywide shortage of skills through use of semiskilled labor. Previous uncertainties about the adoption of OSC because of the high capital costs and perception issues were generally based on precast concrete structures, which are a quite different building type in terms of flexi...

With the COVID-19 outbreak across the world, policymakers and authorities have realised that they cannot solve the emerging issues using conventional policies and practices. COVID-19 has severely affected many industries, including construction and demolition (C&D) waste management and C&D waste resource recovery sector. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and schemes alike are policy instruments that prevent waste generation and promote a circular economy in the construction industry. These schemes are long adopted in various countries for different waste streams. EPR policy development and implementation, particularly for C&D waste, is still at an early stage in Australia. This study aims to review the Australian regulatory environment and practice to identify barriers and enablers towards successful policy development and implementation of C&D waste-related EPR. This study is based on secondary data that are publicly available. The document analysis was conducted to identify the level of regulatory and other stakeholders support in Australia. Following three rounds of examination of sources and applying multiple selection criteria, 59 different sources were reviewed in total. The results showed that there is widespread support among different stakeholders to develop EPR and expand the existing regulation to other materials. The barriers were cost and time implications for EPR policy establishment and enforcement, diversity of stakeholders involved, construction product lifecycle, responsibility of manufacturers, complexity in implantation of EPR regulations, modification inbuilt facilities and health and safety issues. Recommendations are made to alleviate these challenges. The outcome of this study could serve as a guideline for designing effective EPR policies.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a synergy between the approaches of knowledge management in a learning organisation and supply chain management so that learning chains can be created in order to unleash innovation and creativity by managing knowledge in supply chains.Design/methodology/approach: Through extensive literature review, commonalities between knowledge management and supply chain management were elicited. Knowledge Advantage framework, which was developed as a part of CRC for Construction Innovation Australia, research project “Delivering improved knowledge management and ICT diffusion in Australian construction industry”, has been proposed to extend across the supply chain in order to develop learning chains.Findings: The paper provides a conceptual grounding for future research in the area of knowledge management and supply chain management and suggests that, as unit of competition changes from organisation vs organisation to chain vs chain under supply chain management, learning organisation itself will not be an answer to the complex and dynamic business environment. The learning chains are to be created instead, through managing knowledge in supply chains that will facilitate innovation and creativity essentially required to thrive in the unpredictable business environment of today.Originality/value: The paper explores the role of knowledge management to serve as such a vehicle in the emerging paradigm of supply chain management through which innovation and creativity can be unleashed by a collaborative effort of all the members of the supply chain. This paper explains how the benefit derived from a KM initiative termed as “knowledge advantage framework (K‐adv)”, originally developed for a certain single organisation, can be extended across the supply chain partners, which helps creating a culture of knowledge sharing through which a knowledge advantage for the whole supply chain can be developed. It can then be used to unleash creativity and innovation in the construction projects.