The objective of this paper is to investigate the level of applying theproject time management tools and techniques by public ownersand construction contractors in the Gaza Strip. This study hasbeen conducted by means of a survey questionnaire. Seventythreequestionnaires were distributed to target constructioncontractors and twenty-five questionnaires to public owners. Sixtycompleted questionnaires from contractors and twenty-threequestionnaires from public owners were received and analysed.The survey results indicated that contemporary project timemanagement tools and techniques are not widely used amonglocal contractors and owners. Lack of subcontractor's knowledgeand awareness of the importance of project time managementtools and techniques are still major obstacles toward the efficientutilisation of such tools. This study recommended that there is anurgent need to establish a professional industry body such as anInstitute of Building to review and evaluate existing local projectmanagement practices. This professional body may be establishedby the government through the Ministry of Housing and PublicWorks or by the local university in cooperation with a similarinternational professional industry body. Current training effortshould be tailored to encourage owners and contractors to usework breakdown structures, resource optimisation, and networkscheduling.
Resourcing post-disaster housing reconstruction (PDHR) entails many drawbacks creating bottlenecks to reconstruction projects. Understanding these vulnerable issues is of utmost to identify the appropriate interventions to mitigate their effects. The devastating aggression in 2014 in Gaza Strip served as a typical example of resources hampers. Based on the quantitative approach, the research employed a self-administrated questionnaire survey to identify the most significant challenges hindering the resourcing for post-2014 aggression housing reconstruction. The questionnaire targeted 55 of the key people in the implementing agencies of post-2014 aggression housing reconstruction. The data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics, through frequency distribution and effect index (EI); and using inferential statistics through one sample Wilcoxon signed rank test. Findings indicated that the challenges related to political issues have the most significant effect on resourcing the PDHR. The main key challenges are: (1) Difficulties to obtain permits from the Israeli side to flow the reconstruction materials into the Gaza Strip, (2) Insufficient funds for reconstruction efforts and (3) Refusal of the international community to contact the local de facto government. This research fills the knowledge gap relating to Gaza and provides the basis for more research on resourcing problems. This research has also extended, updated and confirmed the current knowledge regarding challenges hindering the resourcing for PDHR. The results draw attention of the implementing agencies in Gaza to the factors that creating bottlenecks to resource the reconstruction projects in order to overcome them and to mitigate their negative effects.
The objectives of this study are to identify and examine the community participation strategies concerning consultation and information disclosure and to identify and evaluate major barriers to community participation development. A questionnaire survey was developed to elicit the perceptions of the municipality's officials (top management and/or mayors of the selected sample) of Gaza Strip municipalities regarding community participation practice. The results indicated that there is a weak transparency (information disclosure) and community consultation in the municipalities of Gaza Strip. The findings revealed that, the major barriers of information disclosure approach are due to legal challenges, public awareness, lack of community members' skills and knowledge and social factors. In addition, the major barriers of community consultation are mainly due to lack of community members' skills and knowledge, lack of social capital and trust of local people in their leaders, political, economic challenges, community culture and municipality council awareness. It is recommended to expand the scope of public participation and developing strategies that maximize citizen input in community development activities in local governments of Gaza Strip. The findings can assist in identifying new directions for enhancing public participation in Gaza Strip local governments
Repair, Maintenance, Alteration and Addition (RMAA) works are playing an increasingly important role in developing countries. The accidents and fatalities records of RMAA sector in Gaza Strip have been alarmingly high; however, research in the RMAA sector remains limited. Safety of RMAA works has long been neglected because the project sizes of RMAA are small and only last for a short period of time, which make the working environment of RMAA works more difficult to control than new building works. The aim of this paper is to identify, valuate and rank the most important factors that affect safety performance and the most important causes of fatal accidents in RMAA projects. A questionnaire survey was used in this study. The results revealed that poor safety awareness of managers in maintenance firms and lack of training of RMAA workers for handling multi-tasks were the most important factors that affecting safety performance of RMAA works. The results showed that ineffectiveness of lack of training and certification of competence; immature corporate systems of firms which does not care with safety and health through RMAA works, and lack of leadership from government as a key client are the most significant causes of construction fatal accidents of RMAA projects. The results also indicated that the macro level factor is the most important category that causes fatal accidents in RMAA works. It is recommended to enhance the awareness of construction firms, project managers and workers regarding the importance of safety performance in repair and maintenance works and strengthen site monitoring and supervision system in construction firms. Safety training courses should be organized for workers and project managers in order to improve their safety culture and competence regarding safety performance through repair and maintenance works. Furthermore the RMAA subcontractors should be selected according to their good records of safety performance.
The maximum project performance would be achieved if the work invariably flows smoothly within time limits and anticipated budget. Variation orders result in time delay, cost overrun, quality defects, and other negative impacts. This is common in construction projects in Gaza Strip. The main objective of this study was to analyze the causes of variation orders in construction projects in Gaza Strip. The causes of variation orders in construction process in Gaza Strip were investigated through questionnaire survey of 36 classified construction companies, 25 consultants and 15 owners. 64 causes of variation orders were identified from literature review. The study results identified the top ten most important factors that include lack of materials and equipment spare parts due to closure, change in design by consultant, lack of consultant's knowledge of available materials, errors and omission in design, conflicts between contract documents, owner's financial problems, lack of coordination among project parties, using inadequate specification for local markets by international consultant, internal politics, and change is specification by owners. In general, the study shows an agreement among owners, consultants and contractors regarding the ranking of the 64 factors causing variation orders. The results al‐so reveal that factors related to consultant are the most important causes of variation orders followed by the factors related to owner. An understanding of the causes of variation orders would be helpful for building professionals in assessing variation orders. Furthermore, the study would also assist professionals in taking proactive measures for reducing variation orders in construction projects. The findings from this study would also be valuable for all construction professionals in general. Santrauka Projektas bus efektyviausias, jei darbai vyks nuolatos ir sklandžiai, neviršijant terminu ir numatyto biudžeto. Del pake‐itimu nurodymu projektas užtrunka, viršijamos sanaudos, atsiranda kokybes trūkumu ir patiriamas kitoks neigiamas poveikis. Tai būdinga Gazos ruože vykstantiems statybu projektams. Pagrindinis šio tyrimo tikslas – išanalizuoti, kokios priežastys Gazos ruožo statybu projektuose lemia pakeitimu nurodymus. Priežastys, lemiančios pakeitimu nurodymus Gazos ruožo statybu procese, buvo tiriamos atlikus 36 tam tikros kategorijos statybos imoniu, 25 konsultantu ir 15 savininku apklausa. Apžvelgus literatūra nustatytos 64 pakeitimu nurodymus lemiančios priežastys. Atlikus tyrima, buvo nustatyti dešimt svarbiausiu veiksniu, iskaitant medžiagu ir atsarginiu irangos daliu trūkuma del uždarymo, projekto konsultanto pakeitimus, nepakankamas konsultanto žinias apie galimas medžiagas, projekto klaidas ir trūkumus, vienas kitam prieštaraujančius sutarties dokumentus, finansines savininko problemas, veiksmu koordinavimo trūkuma tarp projekto dalyviu, tarptautinio konsultanto naudojamas vietiniu rinku neatitinkančias specifikacijas, vidaus politika ir savininku pakeitimus specifikacijoje. Apskritai tyrimas rodo, kad savininkai, konsultantai ir rangovai sutaria del to, kaip pagal svarba išsidesto 64 veiksniai, lemiantys pakeitimu nurodymus. Be to, rezultatai rodo, kad su konsultantu susije veiksniai yra svarbiausios pakeitimu nurodymu priežastys, o antroje vietoje – su savininku susije veiksniai. Statybu specialistams suprantant, kokios priežastys lemia pakeitimu nurodymus, tokius nurodymus jiems vertinti būtu lengviau. Be to, tyrimas padetu specialistams imtis aktyviu priemoniu, kad statybu projektuose pakeitimu nurodymu būtu mažiau. Šio tyrimo išvados taip pat būtu naudingos visiems statybu specialistams apskritai. First Published Online: 10 Feb 2011 Reikšminiai žodžiai:pakeitimu nurodymai,statybos,rangovai,konsultantas,savininkas
Community participation in municipalities' decisions and long planning processes ensures their full engagement in determining their own developmental needs. Therefore, identifying the challenges for community participation is considered as a crucial aspect for successful governance and service delivery in the local municipalities of governments. The aim of this paper is to identify and assess the challenges to community participation in Gaza Strip municipalities in Palestine. Ten groups of challenges, which comprise 44 factors for community participation in Gaza Strip municipalities were identified from the literature review and modified according to the pilot study. A structured questionnaire survey was employed in this study. Relative Importance Index (RII) was used to determine the ranks of the main groups of challenges and its corresponding factors, followed by a parametric test that is analysis of variance (One-Way ANOVA) to test five developed hypotheses. The findings of this paper revealed that shortage of skills was the most significant challenge group to community participation. The second most significant challenge group was the financial challenges. The third significant group of challenges to community participation was lack of interest and support due to limited support from city council and lack of transparency. The findings revealed agreement among all participants in the most significant challenges for community participation, with one exceptional, where there was disagreement on the rating the main groups of the challenges in terms of the population categories.
In the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the Gaza Strip has suffered regular cycles of reconstruction due to systematic destruction during Israeli military operations, as in 2006, 2008–2009, 2012, and 2014. In this context of ongoing conflict this article aims to identify, rank, and discuss the most important factors influencing post-disaster reconstruction project management (PDRPM) for housing in the Gaza Strip. A set of key factors that influence PDRPM were assembled as a result of a global literature review. A questionnaire survey was conducted, and the obtained data were analyzed using a relative importance index for each PDRPM factor. Findings are presented in six groups: housing approaches, organizational behavior, project funding, supply chain and logistics, communication and coordination, and PDRPM context. Findings indicate that the most significant factors that influence PDRPM for housing provision in the Gaza Strip are related to issues associated with financial resources. It is critical that sufficient funding should be available in order to allow organizations to undertake housing projects in an effective and efficient way. Joint efforts are required from international donors and local organizations in order to effectively manage financial resources with the ultimate goal of improving PDRPM for housing provision.
