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Offsite construction (OC) is an efficient method to reduce waste in the construction industry from a circular economy perspective. Yet, its uptake is subdued by the ambiguities around its supply chain. Hence, the purpose of this study is twofold: to identify the OC project delivery models, the limitations in their procurement approach to facilitate the resilience of the supply chain and interventions to promote supply chain resilience (SCR) and to identify the gaps in the existing procurement process and propose further research areas that implement strategies to improve SCR.

The study was conducted as a systematic literature review. In total, 41 peer-reviewed research papers published between 2013 and 2023 were shortlisted through the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis guidelines. A descriptive analysis was conducted, followed by a thematic analysis.

The descriptive analysis reveals that the emphasis on digitising OC has shifted to transforming the business model, procurement and supply chain with a human-centric view. In thematic analysis, the predictability of the SC partners and the probabilities of evaluating the prospects are revealed as arbitrary characteristics in the current procurement strategies. Rewarding collaborative relationships among SC partners and incorporating provisions to postpone the module delivery are some interventions to promote flexibility. Drafting comprehensive and effective contracts that address transparency issues and facilitating the need for continuous development of capabilities through procurement are among the further research avenues proposed.

This study is a precursor demonstrating the potential of the procurement process to implement the decrees of SCR for better goal congruence of the OC supply chain.

This paper aims to synthesise the latest literature on supply chain operations of offsite manufacturing in the construction industry to identify and evaluate the uncertainties at each stage of the offsite construction supply chain (OSC-SC) to compile contributions to knowledge and thereby determine the future research directions to improve supply chain resilience (SCR).

The study was conducted as a systematic literature review. In total, 99 peer-reviewed journal papers published between 2015 and mid-2022 were shortlisted and analysed through the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

The bibliometric analysis revealed that the research focusing on supply chain issues and developing best practices in offsite construction adopt case study approaches to investigate the research problems comprehensively. The content analysis revealed the lack of up-to-date knowledge in the construction workforce regarding OSC; low preparedness for the changes brought by the SC uncertainties; the lack of a proper procurement model for OSC; lack of end-to-end visibility of the supply chain to identify uncertainties and lack of national or government standards on OSC-SC, as some of the key problems instigating the identified the uncertainties.

This study clarifies the current knowledge by systematically presenting uncertainties at each stage of the OSC-SC. Moreover, it provides a framework and proposes that future research should focus specifically on individual/team, organisational, supply chain/network and sector/national/supranational levels to improve SCR.

Irrigation System Management (ISM) poses many issues in terms of social and technical aspects. These can be further elaborated as the issues toward the efficiency of infrastructure, equity of water sharing, environmental integrity and economic acceptability. Water losses and the structural changes of the system caused many issues putting the irrigation system into distress. Hence, this urges the need for sustainable ISM to improve social and technical attributes in ISM. This paper aims to apply the Socio-Technical Systems (STSs) theory for sustainable ISM.

The qualitative expert opinion survey method was selected as the research strategy to approach the research aim. Sixteen industry professionals in the ISM sector were selected through the purposive sampling method to conduct semi-structured interviews to collect data in the Sri Lankan context. Code-based content analysis through a directed approach was used to analyse the data.

Four main categories of strategies were emerged from the research findings as “engineering strategies”, “operational strategies”, “management strategies” and “regulatory strategies” through STS approach for sustainable ISM. The STS framework was developed by combining engineering and operational strategies into the technical subsystem and the management and regulatory strategies into the social subsystem to approach the aim of achieving contemporary system management in irrigation in a sustainable manner.

The research revealed the links between the strategies emerged from various disciplines to minimise the issues in ISM from the perspectives of technical and social subsystems. The study contributes to knowledge by providing a framework for sustainable ISM by applying the socio-technical systems theory by integrating the concepts of sustainability.

There is a growing concern that contractors can be motivated for environmental protection through effective fund allocation and proper payment mechanisms. However, an in-depth analysis of environmental hazard-controlling methods and related payments to the contractor in road construction in Sri Lanka is not much popular among the extant literature. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to explore different payment mechanisms that are being used with environmental hazard-controlling methods, to achieve better control in such hazards in Sri Lankan road construction projects.

This research was approached through a mixed research method. Initially, hazard-controlling methods and relative payment mechanisms for the contractor were identified through three exploratory case studies using interviews, observations and document survey. Next, the relative effectiveness of payment mechanisms for contractors for better environmental hazard controlling was identified through a questionnaire survey with a sample of 45 professionals involved in 15 road construction projects.

Based on the findings, a comprehensive list of environmental hazard-controlling methods was derived. Furthermore, four types of payment mechanisms were identified: (A)-payments, where a unit price was assigned; (B)-payments, where a provisional sum was established in the contract; (C)-payments, where fixed amounts (lump sums) were assigned in the contract and (D)-payments made along with some main work item in the contract. Relative effectiveness of these four mechanisms for better control of environmental hazards was varied for each hazard-controlling method being practiced in a road construction project.

These findings would be more beneficial for consultants, project managers, bidders and estimators in the pre-contract stage. This is by identifying cost items for environmental hazard controlling and selecting relatively more effective payment mechanisms to motivate contractors for better control of environmental hazards during project execution.

Sustaining the irrigated agriculture, while conserving the natural eco-system, are the two main objectives of sustainable water management (SWM) in irrigation. Achieving both the objectives simultaneously is a complex task in most developing countries. This requires a holistic approach of understanding the issues in irrigation water management (IWM) from social, economic and environmental perspectives. Therefore, this paper aims to analyse the issues towards the SWM of irrigation systems in Sri Lanka to help maintain a stable relationship between the aforementioned two objectives.

Qualitative interview survey was selected as the research strategy to achieve the research aim. 16 semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts in IWM sector to collect data in the Sri Lankan context. Data were analysed using code-based content analysis, based on directed approach.

Findings revealed the issues in SWM in terms of efficiency of irrigation infrastructure; equity of water distribution; environmental integrity and economic acceptability. Most of the issues were related to the inefficiency towards SWM of irrigation systems. Conflicts among water users, especially the people in downstreams aggravated the problem of equity of water sharing. Depletion of groundwater and waterlogging were the major issues towards environmental integrity. Loss of water happened due to the issues in different irrigation infrastructure components hindering economic acceptability.

Theoretical contribution includes an analysis of issues in IWM from a sustainability perspective. Practical implications include an overview of deficiencies in the SWM to generate appropriate strategies to achieve sustainability for decision-makers such as policymakers in the irrigation sector in developing countries similar to Sri Lanka.

Cultural differences cause conflicts amongst construction project participants, deterring the success of projects. Understanding such different cultural manifestations could help the removal of the misunderstandings amongst sub-cultural groups and removal of formal irrationalities deterring the progress of construction projects. The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of project cultures in the public sector construction projects.

An exploratory case study was selected as the research strategy to achieve the research aim. Three public sector building construction projects were used as case studies. Nine semi-structured interviews and observation of two progress review meetings per case were used for data collection.

As per the research findings, contractors believed that construction project culture emerged and transferred through continuous interactions and socialisations with time. Consultants believed that culture was emerged focusing on clearly defined project objectives. In addition, all members assumed that project members at high authority levels were contributing more for the emergence and transfer of cultural aspects. Levels of culture and power existed within the public sector project culture as clients with the highest power, consultants the next and contractors with the least power. Public sector project culture was not leader centred. Shared behavioural norms were not much popular in project culture. Highly differentiated behavioural norms, demonstrating clear professional sub-cultures for the client, contractor and consultant, were available.

The research findings are helpful to construction project managers to enhance the level of motivation, productivity, commitment, continuous interactions and socialisations of project participants and to avoid any negative outcomes in behaviours.

Based on the systematic literature review, this paper aims to propose a framework of Construction 4.0 (C4.0) scenarios, identifying Industry 4.0 (I4.0) enabling technologies and their applications in the construction industry. The paper reviews C4.0 trends and potential areas for development.

In this research, a systematic literature review (SLR) methodology has been applied, including bibliographic coupling analysis (BCA), co-citation network analysis of keywords, the content analysis with the visualisation of similarities (VOSviewer) software and aggregative thematic analysis (ATA). In total, 170 articles from the top 22 top construction journals in the Scopus database between 2013 and 2021 were analysed.

Six C4.0 scenarios of applications were identified. Out of nine I4.0 technology domains, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Cloud Computing, Big Data and Analytics had the most references in C4.0 research, while applications of augmented/virtual reality, vertical and horizontal integration and autonomous robotics yet provide ample avenues for the future applied research. The C4.0 application scenarios include efficient energy usage, prefabricated construction, sustainability, safety and environmental management, indoor occupant comfort and efficient asset utilisation.

This research contributes to the body of knowledge by offering a framework of C4.0 scenarios revealing the status quo of research published in the top construction journals into I4.0 technology applications in the sector. The framework evaluates current C4.0 research trends and gaps in relation to nine I4.0 technology domains as compared with more advanced industry sectors and informs academic community, practitioners and strategic policymakers with interest in C4.0 trends.

Building information modelling (BIM) has had a considerable impact on the socio-technical aspects of construction organisations. Culture has been considered an essential element in BIM practice. Hence, this paper aims to explore existing research relates to culture in the BIM context.

A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted based on the PRISMA guidelines using 104 articles published between 2011 and 2020 and directed with a descriptive and content analysis.

The SLR results give evidence that culture in the BIM context is still an under-researched topic. Culture has been considered as both a dependent and independent factor in the BIM domain. Organisational BIM culture is a collection of fundamental beliefs established in a BIM using organisation and passed to new employees with the use of BIM. BIM using organisations are have either weak or strong BIM cultures. Proper analysis and understanding of the BIM culture of different organisations are necessary to realise the strategies of transformation from a weak BIM culture to a strong BIM culture.

To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first SLR in BIM research that investigates the role of culture in the BIM setting. This study contributed to the existing body of knowledge by proposing a conceptual framework to understand and change a weak BIM culture of an organisation to a strong, matured BIM culture. This SLR serves as a future research basis in BIM-triggered culture.

The construction industry mostly adopts teams consisting of a collection of diverse professionals in each of its product delivery projects, where normally the construction project manager (CPM) becomes the leader of such a project team. The purpose of this paper is to identify the leadership roles of the CPM across the team development process.

This was approached through a multiple case study research method carried out using three construction projects in Sri Lanka; two projects on traditional procurement method and another on design and build procurement method. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the respective project managers and with other three distinct team members of each project.

Based on the findings, leadership roles of the CPM across the team development process were revealed with the situational factors that affect these leadership roles in each stage of the team development process.

Even though project leadership is discussed by pervious researchers, concrete evidence has not been provided to show how it should change at different stages of a project. This research addresses this gap and would guide CPMs to change their leadership role appropriately to suit the needs of each team development stage.