工程经济学论文文献翻译

Construction Engineering and Management

Author：Becker

Abstract

Indirect construction costs (IDCC) comprise from as little as 10 to 40% or more of the total cost of construction projects, in part depending on the type and nature of the project. Yet, any location in this range represents a significant component of total project costs, which justifies the need to better understand and develop effective practices to estimate, control, and manage IDCC. When IDCC practices are not afforded intentional management and appropriate resources, key project performance outcomes are affected. As its unique contribution to the body of knowledge, this paper operationally defines IDCC, outlines certain innovative IDCC practices, and identifies statistically significant relationships between key IDCC practices and project outcome metrics. Empirical recommendations are premised upon data collected through testimonials, structured interviews, and brainstorming sessions of an extensive set of construction industry professionals. Statistical findings are based upon data collected through 56 one-on-one data-collection interviews with subject matter experts and 47 project-level surveys. Qualitative data were filtered, organized, and aggregated and are technically presented as instructional guidelines. Quantitative data were statistically analyzed and results from this analysis show several significant relationships between IDCC practices and key project outcomes, including a positive correlation between the frequency of IDCC review meetings that included project managers and field supervisors and quality and cost performance.

Introduction

Meeting financial objectives is a primary evaluation criterion in assessing the success of a construction project . Relentless market pressures challenge construction companies to reduce construction costs and to increase value created by the capital improvement process. Numerous cost components account for the total cost of a particular project, including but not limited to design fees, permit expenses, financing charges, land acquisition, and construction costs. These project costs are commonly categorized as either direct or indirect for contracting, accounting, taxation, and other purposes. Literature reports that the percentage of total cost that is indirect ranges from less than 10% to as much as 40% or more: “ranges 20% to 40%” , “generally 10%” , and “roughly 21%” . Therefore, the construction industry should and can do an improved job of estimating, controlling, and managing indirect construction costs (IDCC).

This paper reports the findings of a recently completed project funded by the Construction Industry Institute that explores best or innovative practices currently used for handling IDCC in order to offer mutual and shared benefit to owners and contractors engaged in capital improvement projects. The objectives of this paper are to

(1) define IDCC to show how costs can be categorized and their prioritization;

(2) identify leading and innovative industry practices for estimating, controlling, and managing IDCC; and

(3) establish a correlation among the level of effort given to estimating, controlling, and managing IDCC (that is, IDCC practices) and key metrics of project outcome. These objectives were achieved by

(1) performing an extensive literature review of IDCC;

(2) conducting interviews and surveys of industry professionals and projects;

(3) statistically analyzing the survey and interview results.

The balance of the paper reports the aforementioned methodology and concludes with a recap of major findings, study limitations, and recommendations for future research.