Comparison of School Building Construction Costs Estimation Methods Using Regression Analysis, Neural Network, and Support Vector Machine

Accurate cost estimation at the early stage of a construction project is key factor in a project’s success. But it is difficult to quickly and accurately estimate construction costs at the planning stage, when drawings, documentation and the like are still incomplete. As such, various techniques have been applied to accurately estimate construction costs at an early stage, when project information is limited. While the various techniques have their pros and cons, there has been little effort made to determine the best technique in terms of cost estimating performance. The objective of this research is to compare the accuracy of three estimating techniques (regression analysis (RA), neural network (NN), and support vector machine techniques (SVM)) by performing estimations of construction costs. By comparing the accuracy of these techniques using historical cost data, it was found that NN model showed more accurate estimation results than the RA and SVM models. Consequently, it is determined that NN model is most suitable for estimating the cost of school building projects.

Finding Cultural Differences and Motivation Factors of Foreign Construction Workers

The rapid inflow of foreign construction workers caused the reduction of labor productivity in the construction industry due to communication problems and cultural differences. This may lead to shortage of productivity and quality reduction. The cultural differences and motivation factors of foreign construction workers must be considered for effective and systematic manpower management. It is necessary to study foreign construction workers’ productivity factors that reflect cultural differences and motivation as the productivity and quality of the construction industry are subject to the work efficiency and high dependence of manpower. This study aimed to suggest effective productivity management plan considering cultural differences and motivation factors of foreign construction workers. For this purpose, the desire and motivation factors affecting on Korean workers and foreign construction workers were analyzed and the comparative analysis on the requirements by nationality was carried out. Accordingly, it is expected that this could contribute to the improvement of productivity, construction period, quality, safety and manpower management.

Case Study of Reactor Containment Building Construction in Nuclear Power Plant

It is very important to reduce the construction duration of the Reactor Containment Building (RCB) when considering the more than 50 months on average from concrete placement to completion. Through a case study, this study performs a pre-study for the reduction of construction duration in nuclear power plant project based on construction process of the RCB. The actual data of the case study have been collected and analyze the process and the external wall drawings of the RCB with construction practitioners. As a result of that, it is necessary to modularize the external wall form for equipment hatch and to extend the height of one layer of the external wall form to reduce the construction duration of RCB. The results of this study will be utilized to reduce construction duration of the nuclear power plant.