Structures Impacted by Tsunami Bores Research Paper

Structures Impacted by Tsunami Bores - Research Paper Example The study seeks to offer understanding into the ways by which the coastal areas can be able to prepare themselves to withstand dangerous hydrodynamic forces associated with large tsunami waves that are progressing to the mainland.The conduct of this study is based on the recent occurrences of tsunamis that have majorly hit parts of the world such as Japan, Philippines, and Chile. As a result, many human lives have been endangered out of the tsunami waves that have extended into the mainland, hence causing severe destruction of buildings. The economic loss attributed to these tsunami attacks are also enormous with the 2011 attack costing US$319 billion worth of damages. The current study aimed at showing that the design of buildings needs to be done in consideration of the hydrodynamic forces, especially in the tsunami prone areas. By developing new guidelines and recommendations, it is aimed that the same will be applied in hydrodynamic constructions. In testing for the interaction b etween the bore and the structure, it is determined that a zero level of water momentum results in an impulsive force being exerted in the upstream. Consequently, the study established that for narrow channel conditions, the run-up power can strongly be affected by the channels. These channels can be built through SPH method as shown in the figure 2 below. Therefore, the study recommends taking special care in interpreting the hydrodynamic forces following initial impacts from the bore.

Gross Domestic Product Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Gross Domestic Product - Essay Example The results and data concerning the growth of GDP come along with major influences on decisions made by both private and public policy makers and economists. GDP is based on survey and approximations of data collected over specified a duration (Ang et al. 2006). Quarterly and annual GDP approximates are extrapolated from economic survey and census data recorded from economic sectors like manufacture shipments, housing rates, and retail sales. GDP is a measure of the flow of services and goods produced within the economy market; these are products and services traded for cash. Although some non-market products are included in the data used to compute the GDP, numerous vital bits of data undergo omission from the census data used to compute GDP. Some of the vital information data include countries expenses in bettering healthcare, expenses of combating rising crime and emergency housing due to unforeseen occurrences among others. Such omissions weaken the reliability of GDP as an indic ator of progress (Islam & Clarke 2002). Information and expectations about the growth of gross development product come along with great influence notably echoed by numerous influential and interest groups. Developing countries tend to lay too much trust in the results of GDP as a reflector of their economic and social well fare (Kubiszewski et al. 2013). Since 1960, scores of scholars have expressed negative sentiments on the use of interpretations computed from the calculation of GDP as a proxy for social wellbeing. Since the creation of GDP, respectable economists have stressed that GDP is a measure of the activity of the economy and not the economy’s wellbeing. Scholars have further cautioned against the equation of GDP with social well-being and economic growth.  

Supply Chain Management and Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Supply Chain Management and Technology - Essay Example Today with the down fall in economy and the increase in the costs the companies are planning to have a strong and an effective supply chain in their bottom line. The reason is that the implementation of a strong supply chain at the bottom will ensure that the cost is decreased along the production line and the management is effective. However these decreases in the costs and effective management will ensure that the efficiency of the firm gets increases and the profitability and the return on the investment increases. Implementation of Enterprise resource planning in an organization works best in conjunction with a supply chain management system. ERP systems involve a multitude of business activities, including customer service and production planning that are not a part of supply chains (de Burca, Fynes, & Marshall, 2005). The success of supply chain management system lies in the hands of the technology. It can be only successful with the implementation of web- based software and through proper communication. Before the internet the supply chain could not function appropriately the reason is that the collaboration with the other firms was less efficient. The process of feed backs, updates and other important business functions used to take a lot of time. The process of transferring knowledge was all done manually which took time. Collaboration with global partners used to be a challenge for the organizations. But with the introduction of internet and new communication technologies that include email, fax etc. the communication and knowledge and information transfer issue was completely resolved. One of the biggest advantages that the technology has offered to supply chain is the ease of collaboration no matter how distant the customer, the supplier or any other organization is. This helped in developing good relationships at both ends of the supply chain which includes the customers as well as the suppliers. The companies can now also remain updated with their competitors' activities. For example a supplier of consumer goods may be linked up through internet to one of the distributors. In this way whenever the inventory goes down the order will be placed automatically. in this way, the distributor never has to worry about running out of a product and disappointing customers and the supplier doesn't have to worry about maintaining a large inventory in expectation of demand. Systems have also been made to send out multiple requests at a single time. Collaborating this way makes better use of existing resources and paves the way for a larger profit margin on all sides of the eq uation (Chow, 2006). The Importance of Technology Technology today has made both outsourcing and off shoring much easier tasks than they were initially. In a very strong supply chain and a very elaborative business it is sometimes considered good to outsource certain business functions. This helps in saving upon a lot of costs at times. Technology today like internet and some systems have made the task of outsourcing much easier. For outsourcing a task

Public health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Public health - Essay Example It also aims at providing outstanding programs to its clients (Phi, 2012). The organization identifies chronic diseases as a major factor to mortality rate and major cause of disability. â€Å"Cancer, diabetes, and asthma† are its major identified chronic diseases that are also associated with ethnicity and people’s level of income. This identifies consideration social elements such as â€Å"poverty, education, access to care and local community environment† as initial measures to controlling the chronic diseases. In its role in the public health sector, the organization has initiated social interventions such as â€Å"disease surveillance, capacity building, research, evaluation, policy advocacy, and leadership development† for controlling the diseases (Phi, 2012, p. 1). One of the organization’s blogs is the call for support following the experienced hurricane sandy. The blog effectively communicates its appeal for donation of material commodities such as food, as well as social support. It also calls for blood donation towards managing the victims’ conditions (Phi, 2012). Mortality defines the rate of deaths in a subject area and is measured in units per 100000 people in a population. In a considered set of data between the year 2006 and 2008, San Francisco registered a mortality rate of about 601 deaths per 100000 people. A review of the city’s mortality rate also indicates variability by ethnicity. Death rates among African Americans were for example the highest at a value of 1302 per 100000 people. Whites, Latinos, and the other races with rates of 724, 535 and 446 deaths per 100000 populations respectively followed this (Health, 2012). The city’s trend in mortality rate by ethnic groups corresponds to the Public Institute’s report that chronic diseases prevalence is dependent on social factors. It can

Life in the Country Verse Life in the City Essay Example for Free

Life in the Country Verse Life in the City Essay Even though amenities are more accessible when you live in a big city, it is healthier to live in the country because of the differences in culture and the surroundings. It is healthier and safer to live in the country rather than in the city for a number of reasons, one being that there is less congestion out in the country. With congestion and over population of a city brings gangs and violence. With gangs come drugs, killings, and murders. People become very territorial when a space is over crowed or congested. It was reported that last year in the first week of summer in Battle Creek, Michigan, there was a total of 13 shootings all related to either gangs or drugs. When you live out in the country there are less people living right on top of each other. There isn’t a large amount of crime and acts of violence, because people have their space and they respect others space as well. They don’t feel as though they have to fight to keep what they have because there is plenty to go around. With that being said it is my personal opinion that with more space there is less drama that would build up the kinds of animosity that would make someone want to commit murder. Which is why growing up in the country I can’t remember a time when we had to make certain that our doors and windows were locked, that goes for both our home and our vehicles. Not only is there an increase in crime there is also an increase in pest, rodents, and critters. There are more cases of cockroach infestations in a larger city then there is out in the country that is all because of the congestion. Having to live with cockroaches creates a major health hazard because of the risks posed by cockroach antigens for people who suffer from asthma, also because they carry disease-causing germs. Some of the methods people traditionally use to eliminate them cause additional health hazards. Pesticides are never healthy to breathe in to even ingest. If you put down bate to kill them you risk them tracking it all over your home. If you have pets you have to worry about them consuming it before the cockroaches. Another way people commonly try to treat a cockroach infestation is to bomb their house. There is a reason you can’t be home for this kind of treatment, and why you need to open all the windows in your home at least an hour before you can return. It is very harmful to breathe in. Cockroach antigens are made up of proteins that can be found in the insect’s saliva, feces, eggs, and shredded cuticles. These antigens can cause allergic reactions and asthmatic episodes when they are inhaled because they are airborne. According to health house, â€Å"A large study supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has demonstrated conclusively that the combination of cockroach allergy and exposure to the insects is an important cause of asthma-related illness and hospitalizations among children in U. S. inner-city areas. † There is a major difference in the surroundings that can affect a person’s health from living in a larger city versus living in the country. The food that we consume in a larger city is so full of preservatives and additives. There are more fast food restaurants available for a quick meals. Some of the side effects of eating out and ordering in all of the time include high cholesterol, and clogged arteries. The majority of foods found out in the country are organic, because they are home grown. Living in the country as a child we always had a garden with fresh vegetables. Another difference is the air that we breathe when living in a larger city, because there are so many fast food chains and factories, there is higher pollution in the air. For extremely larger cities like Chongqing, Beijing, and Shanghai they have smog alerts where you have to wear a protective mask to prevent you from breathing in harmful pollutants. When you live in the country you’re not at risk of this because there aren’t as many factories creating these pollutants, so the air is crisp and fresh. The worst thing you have to worry about in the country is when farmers lay down the fertilizer for their crops that is an unpleasant smell. One good thing about living in a larger city as opposed to living out in the country would be that there are hospitals. When you live out in the country there aren’t as many hospitals available to you. Just like with everything else there is so much more open space and less people, which create less reasons and finances to have a hospital, because there are fewer reasons for health risks and that you are less likely to have to rush off to an emergency room, doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be one close by you never know what might happen. A farmer might get his hand caught in a machine while trying to perform routine maintenance. A child could ingest some sort of chemicals such as pesticides. This would have to be the only down fall I can see about life in the country versus living in a large city. However for an extreme emergency there is always an option of having an air lift. You can also still call 911 and have an ambulance out to your place maybe even sometimes faster than if you were living in the city just because there is less traffic. There are always going to be things that challenge our health, wellness, and survival; however, the risks are higher living in the city as opposed to living in the country for two main reasons. First when living in the city there is so much more congestion, overcrowding, and diversity that can bring out the worst in people; in this case, the worst of these brought out are drugs and violence. When you live out in the country you don’t have to worry about these kinds of things as much. The second thing that challenges our health and wellness is what we consume. The air that we breathe to the nourishment we give to our bodies. We are not perfect but the little things that we can change to improve our situation the closer we can come to optimal health and wellness. References americanlungassociation. com battlecreekenquire. com healthhouse. com

Process Essay Sample Will Give You a Clue How to Make Your Work an Excellent One

Process Essay Sample Will Give You a Clue How to Make Your Work an Excellent One Process Essay Sample Will Give You a Clue How to Make Your Work an Excellent One Try to Use Our Tips in Writing Your Academic Essay Process essays are academic essay type that should clarify the sequence of actions that should be done to complete definite task. Such kind of essay involves the absolute understanding in the subject to be talked about. You would never effectively explain the issues that you are not acquainted with. Essay needs a skill, especially when you want to make a procedure or process essay writing. So, when you need to advance your work, process essay sample may well be brought into play. Actually, preparing an essay can be an engaging duty. It lets you try to express your point of view and attitude to the problem. Moreover, it may let a writer demonstrate his writing talent, or express his position. Argumentative essay gives the author a chance to speak their arguments; writing is a good method to state your position. It may be curing and inspirational. And on the contrary, writing may also be an instructive dilemma that makes the students feel weighed down and helpless. In this case, the essay examples that are presented by essay websites might truly be considered useful in helping the learners to improve their writing skills. In contrast, not all of essays samples may be supposed as first rate-some have awful qualities and are not actually helpful at all. Thats why, it is essential for the learners to see the difference and to develop to be more critical as well. In the same way, knowledge of supreme essays will really expand ones skill. When you continually read exceptional written works, you will surely be acquainted with the notion of a true quality. Process essay sample can be said to be high-quality when: It gives full instruction. That is to say when the writer fails to plainly sort the basic steps to complete the task, the written work possibly will not be considered as fine. It has precautions to stay away from accidents. Most essays aim to complete some plan, sketch, research that can effect in a trouble when chaotically done. It has re-establishment or clarification ideas. There are actions that cannot possibly be prevented. In such case, it may assist offering some other solutions. A process essay that has statements may truthfully be considered as useful. It has exact dimensions, when necessary. It can really help to obtain exact results. Finally it becomes essential in tests and methods. If you will be preparing a training essay, aim to be more exact, see whether it is a centimeter or meter, foot or miles. Dont waver to call for a process essay examples here. We always guarantee different types of academic essays and essay format, working to provide you with the best grades. So order essay here and have it soon with the best quality. Planning a Research Paper In Accordance With a Correct Research Methodology Format Writing a Good Academic Essay Requires a Profound Knowledge of Writing Format, Offered Further. Preparing research paper is one of the most complex sides of writing academic essay on the whole as it requires some tough work, a careful thoroughly research work on the selected topic, attention and enthusiasm. All these features together with a right essay format model come together to shape a high-quality research work. A thesis paper usually takes in a paper cover page, a summary, foreword to research paper, a body itself and an ending. Research methodology format is a central and vital part of any work of this type. It is the part that manages the arrangement of all the techniques implemented to collect information and how the concrete study has been accomplished by the author. So it is necessary that one is aware of the research methodology format properly so as to make an ideal research paper. Research methodology format comprises parts that contain design examples, data compilation, system of information gathering and lastly the study of the data composed and the right explanation of the analyzed information Design examples is the procedure used for classifying the samples accessible and may be either prospect sampling or non prospect sampling. There are a range of ways to do it and depends on the authors preference or what the theme requires. After that there will be the gathering of information and the techniques used to get together it. Information can be collected by means of direct examination or experimentation and besides using survey. Direct examination or experimentation gives information that is available and may be applied to confirm some issues or hypotheses in the work. Review may be accomplished by presenting discussions, providing opinion polls and even by the use of examination. After gathering all the needed information within the restrictions of a given time the investigator will be required to sit down and consider all the data and information composed and properly understand them. The study of facts can be completed by a range of ways like explanatory data, ANOVA or analysis of variations. The whole process after that should be written in the accurate chain and in a reasonable manner and offered to the audience so that the person who will read it could get the whole image of what the investigator has made to obtain the desired outcome and come to definite conclusions. Consequently preparing a research paper going after the right research methodology format is not a simple mission and some external assist is often needed and better if accepted. Sure you can search in a range of essay topics and writing samples to find a suggestion how research papers are made. On the other hand, if you still are stuck and not sure how to prepare some kind of academic essays, then rather than worrying about it you can just order essay here and not to be concerned with it. Use Our Sample of Reference to Be Sure to Write an Excellent Academic Work Writing a Good Research Paper Demands a Perfect Knowledge of Such Nuances as Sample of Reference Preparing Sample of reference and correct citing is a very important part of writing an essay or any other kind of research paper writing. Actually every type of academic writing requires that the author is responsive to and is familiar with the proper essay format and the related model of referencing. Any high-quality research paper will engage thoroughly study and analysis on the selected topic. A careful research work will provide facts and some of straight quotations from any additional analogous works to sustain his own manner of argumenting and show his position on the declared notion statement. Lack of such facts will only demonstrate that the theme has not been studied in a proper way. Consequently it becomes crucial for the author to gather as much related information as possible and offer direct quotations when needed. Direct quotations make it obligatory to provide references at the last sheet of the work to stay away from accuses of copying. There are definite set and typical model s to give quotations that differ from the paper format. Therefore it is not simple to study the system and rules of the different forms of formatting all at once. One should study it in the course of time-consuming practice. Another excellent method to do it is to experience different model of references that are presented in books or on the internet. Looking through such examples can train the learners the basics of quotating and how to get on with it. Glancing through essay samples and prompts make stronger the core of writing and therefore it is kind of support for the learner to improve his scores, as while studying them the student gets more practice and grows to be well prepared in the different features of essay referencing and how to make it right. As quotations and references are rather a principal part of writing an academic essay consequently it is desirable that the author makes as many samples as he can to evade any errors. Quoting a work is one of the most significant things in preparing an essay. Having no correct sample of reference your work is not only unfinished but will surely bear facts of copying which is a rather serious offence. Consequently you should be very cautious about quotation references. Thats why it would be desirable to look though a number of samples of reference to learn and ensure how quotations are written. We always have different types of custom essay and they all are of high quality. Besides you can check them out at your own leisure. If you are still not certain enough, then you can buy essay or order a work on any of diverse research paper topics we offer. Choosing Suitable and Successful Sociology Paper Topics -Find Out How to Select Right Topic for Your Paper on Sociology Sociology is defined by some people as the learning of persons social behavior, particularly the study of the beginning, culture, society, and growth of human society or it can also be identified as an investigation of a societal part as a self-contained body. So, sociology is a gigantic and a very exciting subject and choosing right sociology paper topics is a very important moment in your academic life. When you are searching the topics, make a careful study and a deep investigation and make use of research ideas if you are looking for suitable topics. The themes that you select should be a theme of significance and people must be filled with interest when they look into the subject that they have chosen for the paper or any other type of writing. Consequently the sociology paper topics that you will select should be dissimilar and interesting to read for the audience. Sociology is a big theme which is very attractive to research upon and write about. The human being has all the time been key topic to the subject for sociology because it is about the social order and the group of different people in the diversity of social life. In addition sociologists are continually concerned with the dilemma of the ending of the biological life and the start of other social form in the shape of person personality. It is usually agreed that the current particular interest in the sociology of the human has developed owing to some major causes: Up-to-dateness and a human. The society and a human. It shows what sociology is about as a subject. There are some attractive sociology papers themes on sociology: The Theory of Culture. The Theory of Exchange. The Theory of Feminists. The Theory of a Conflict. The Basics of Marxism. The Structural Functionalism. The Interactions of the Symbols. The Theory of a System. The Methodology of Ethnology. It is some of the theories that are made use of in sociology. They are usually applied for diverse aims in the issue. Some of them can be easily done in the shape of discussion essay as these hypotheses are unfamiliar to many people. You can make a variety of appealing sociology paper themes from these points. Your paper may also include what the topic is all about, what is meant under the matter, the investigation relating to the theme etc can also be useful for your research papers. If you need some more sociology paper topics ideas, then you can research on the topic to get some additional information and more exciting themes for the sociology. And in case you are in a doubt for some reasons, you can always order any kind of custom essay here! We can always offer you interesting research ideas, diverse types of essay formats and so on. Preparing the Ground for Writing a Technology Essay Keeping in Mind Some of Our Useful Advice Youll Be Able to Prepare an Outstanding Technology Essay The technology essay repeats mostly the arrangement and the main rules of an average essay with some things of its own. Lets learn the process of preparing the technology essay in a real case. Well propose your topic is something like Impact of Technology on Todays Society . The aim of your work is to explain and talk about complex relations among technology and society. You should make clear how some exacting technology problems have an influence on people. You can illustrate freely the impact on any area of recent time that your technology has influenced mainly. As no other research paper technology essay needs accuracy, clarity and uniformity in presenting the thoughts. For your theme you must choose the technology that truly interests you. However you dont have to select something too novel or complex. Gather some related data (using as a minimum 4 resources). Keep in mind, that you always can make use of internet and libraries. At this moment in time you may perhaps wish to curtail your theme, if you have collected too much relevant information. And on the contrary if you have too little appropriate facts on the elected area of study, make your theme more universal. The major necessity to the informational sources is their trustworthiness. Take in your work only newest facts that contain true data up to this day. Dont trust in out-of-date writing. Essay involves not only making the text, but helpful and considerate reading too. As you are looking through the resources you have composed, take out the most significant information for your work. And finally there comes writing as it is. Make the first sketch of your work, taking into account the subsequent information: The foreword should comprise a well-built theory, which you will expand in the course of your work. Present some proof for each statement that you formulate. Submit an application of specific technology language properly. By no means fail to quote the resources you applied in your work. The ending repeats the main points of your work. It should enclose a influential phrase, reflecting the key thought of the whole work. Your first sketch requires review and editing. You can offer your work to someone else who is familiar in the theme of your work. Their commentary will aid you to formulate your work in more rational, balanced and grammatically right way. Bearing in mind these simple advice youll surely be competent enough to compose a nice technology essay on any given topic. Still, if you want to be sure in the excellent result of your work you can simply buy essay here choosing any types of essays on a number of interesting research ideas. The Master Essay Writing Can Be an Enjoyable Experience Read Our Tips of Preparing a Master Essay and Get Ready to Accomplish This Task Very Well Making for a Master level is a specific doings. It is non-natural in that sense that it is modified to a very particular aim, like lawful drafting or even poems. Its only other environment is in the sheets of educational journals. The majority of the grand works of writing, history, beliefs, and most authorized reports would not probably exceed in Master essay writing. The Master Essay usually takes about 5-10 pages. This work will not be topic to an oral protection or an examination, but will be read by any associate of the Department as well as by the essay controller. Its arrangement should keep to the guidelines given by your study institution. Usually towards the end of the Winter Term the learner should present a proposal for his Master Essay. This application must be no more than 2 pages in length, representing the theme or dilemma to be coped with and the approach to resolve it. An example bibliography is to be given as well. The application should have the agreement of your essay controller till it is approved to the graduate planner. Some extra reader will be determined together by the controller and graduate planner. With the intention of giving the needed time to the Master Essay learners are sturdily advised not to bring unfinished assignments from the Autumn or Winter Terms of study. The Master Essay should be an investigation work shoeing proper proficiency in the submission of hypothetical and practical approaches. The Master Essay can be developed from one of the earlier essay from one of the learners classes. It can be made on the basis of main study, or it can be an interpretive work based on less important resources. Anyway, high-quality analysis and text are wanted. The learner, controller, graduate planner, and additional person who will read your essay will enlarge a plan for the completion of such work, choosing a time for its final defense. With the aim of completing the essay within a year, as it is required, the 8th of August is the final date to do the work, once studied and accepted by the controller, in the hands of the extra person who reads. This person will state about the work within 14 days of getting it. This information will succeed, not pass, or advise slight alterations to the essay. After getting the support of your Master Essay, you will supply two copies of the accurate text to be clear, one duplicate for the Department and the other replica for the controller. Any extra copies of the master essay can be at the authors expense. Our essay writers are always eager to help you in obtaining the bet grade for your master essay. Here you can always choose between countless academic essays on different topics. Our online essays are available all the time.

Value And Risk Management With Client Expectations Construction Essay

Value And Risk Management With Client Expectations Construction Essay New processes and materials pose benefits to architects, designers, and builder and home owners as such change mean the cost of building was lower and in some cases home building projects were able to be completed faster. However as with new processes and materials emerge, new training is required to fully utilise them allowing construction projects to gain added value. With the new ability of clients being able to access information regarding to new materials and processes, the abilities for clients to specify particular materials and processes to be incorporated in the design and construction of the building increases. As opposed to an architect or designer recommending a suitable process or product to be used (Cross, 2001). The increased knowledge acquired by the client regarding to the type of construction materials and processes available enhances the clients vision about the construction project and ultimately this changes their expectations. The changes in clients expectation in construction projects must be properly managed in order for projects to be completed successfully. The aim of this report is to illustrate how value management and risk management can be applied to manage the expectation of clients in construction projects. Background During the late 1990s to the early 2000s a substantial number of houses were built in New Zealand using methods and materials that could not withstand the weather conditions of New Zealand. The calamity resulted in a combination of contributing factors involving the design of the building, the installation of materials, the change in requirement in untreated timber used in construction, the increase in insulations installed in timber framing and the trend to build Mediterranean styled building using monolithic cladding systems. The problem with such construction is that once water or moisture penetrates through certain cladding systems, if there are no cavities between the cladding and the framework, the water becomes trapped and cannot easily escape or evaporate. In addition a change in the New Zealand Standards for timber treatment in 1998 allowed the use of untreated kiln-dried timber to be used in wall framing. When this untreated timber comes in contact with water for a long period of time, the timber will begin to rot. In 2002 the Building Industry Authority appointed a Weathertightness Overview Group to investigate the cause of the leaky homes crisis in New Zealand. In their findings they pointed out the main factors that contributed to the cause of the leaky homes but no one factor was identified as the single cause of leaky buildings (Department of Building and Housing and Consumer NZ). Main factors causing leaky buildings: The trend to build Mediterranean styled buildings using monolithic cladding systems Poorly designed features such as: Recessed windows Flat roofs with narrow or no eaves Two or more stories Solid balustrades and balconies that just extend out from the walls which causes penetration through the external claddings Insufficient details in the approved documents, which are produced to help people meet the requirements of the New Zealand Building Code. Lacking of technical knowledge and skills when houses are designed, detailed and built. Modern systems require far greater level of detail, care and skill. Untreated kiln-dried timber is susceptible to rot when water penetrates the building envelop. The leaky home crisis is a systematic failure of a new building style trend, poor design features, insufficient building requirements, and the lack of technical knowledge to design, detail and construct buildings. The media in effect had an influence on the style of housing that was new to New Zealands traditional designed houses. It is also during this period when manufacturers of building materials begun to market their products directly to the consumers; the end users and owners of buildings (Cross, 2001). Companies such as the Winstone Wallboards Ltd began to market their products to the general public; their advertisings of gypsum plasterboard by-passed the construction industry and directly to the owner. Similarly the makers of Pink Batts, Tasman Insulation New Zealand Limited also began major marketing campaigns to target home owner and potential home owners to incorporate their building products in the construction of houses. The lack of implementation to ensure adequate and safe designs while builders and contractors lacked knowledge regarding to the building product and its application could have contributed to the leaky building crisis. Although this changing in construction product marketing was not a cause of the leaky home crisis, it nevertheless have increased the awareness of building products for clients and this increased their ability and persistence to specify particular building products or processes, therefore changing the expectation of the outcome of the construction project. Client Expectation Clients expectation of construction projects have changed over time in parallel with the changes in technology, especially in the advancements in information systems and marketing campaigns for construction materials. Nowadays manufacturers of building products advertise and market their products directly to the potential clients of construction projects. Good examples of these can be seen on the television media, manufacturers such as Winstone Wallboards Ltd market their gypsum plasterboard for walls and ceilings, while Tasman Insulation New Zealand Limited market their insulation products more commonly known as Pink Batts. This new marketing strategy from construction material manufacturers means that they have effectively by-passed the distribution industries and the building and construction industries in the value chain for the supply of building materials (Cross, 2001). Figure 1: Value chain for building and construction related industries (Cross, 2001) This marketing strategy allowed consumers who are the potential clients of construction projects to have more knowledge of the building products available and be aware of the potential benefits of particular building products. In conjunction with the internet, manufacturers can distribute product information and specification online. Before these changes in marketing and internet sources, construction products were selected and presents to the client by the project team. Compare to now, clients have products in mind before initiating a construction project. They also have in mind the advertised visual aesthetics and performance of the products giving clients an overall expectation of the construction prior to the meeting with the design team (Wilkinson Scofield, 2003). Construction clients are committing something they cannot see until it is completed. The challenge for the project team is translating client needs into design requirements and subsequent critical characteristics. Failing to understand client needs is the issue that creates the largest gap between client expectation and client satisfaction. The second largest gap is held by project delivery being on time. The new marketing strategy could potentially create a gap between client expectation and client satisfaction as the visual aesthetics and performance of the product can only be achieve if it was installed in a particular way for under certain circumstances (Atkin, Borgbrant, Josephson, 2003). Such gaps could potentially become points of conflict throughout the construction project and finally reaching the completion and the clients expectation on the project may not be achieved. If clients are educated by the design team as to what to expect during the design and construction of the project and the standards a design team must offer, then minor divergence can then be view as part of the design process and the efforts could be directed toward resolving those routine problems understandingly and effectively (ACEC Oregon, 2008). Clients who are unfamiliar with the trials and adversity of a major project should be educated on the process prior to the design and construction stages. Doing so will facilitate the clarification of clients expectation and allow clients to adjust their expectation to a realistic level. Clients have four main expectations on construction projects. They are the expectation on scope, cost, time and quality. All of these expectations are defined, estimated, planned and specified during the design phase of the project. It is therefore critical for the project team to identify the clients expectations at the beginning of the design phase so that it could work towards the clients expectations. Once the construction phase of the project begins, there would be little room for adjustments on the focus of meeting client expectation. By that stage the project team are adhering, monitoring, controlling and managing the expectations that were set during the design phase. Figure 2: General client project expectation (Oyegoke, 2006) Clients preconceived expectations on construction projects are highly skewed by the marketing strategies employed by manufacturers. Manufacturers often advertise their products performance under optimum conditions and they have a tendency to omit risks that are associated with the product. This is the main contributor to clients expectations as they have a visualisation of how the product performs but in some cases, these products may not be able to perform at their optimum level due to the environment of the project location, the installation, application and the maintenance of the product. Clients expectations over the cost of projects have changed over time. Clients expect costs to be kept at a minimum, however most clients are unaware of the so called costs that are involved in a construction project and the overall whole life time cost of buildings. The trends towards green buildings are a good example, the aim of sustainable buildings, the so called green buildings are to reduce the impact of the buildings operation on the environment and this in sequence usually reduces the consumption of energy of buildings. Sometimes clients are too focus on the capital cost, that they fail to recognise the benefits of the reducing the whole life cost of the building through the slight increase in capital expenditure. Time is another important expectation from customers; sometimes the most important expectation. The idea of prefabrication allows construction time to be reduced, as components are made off-site and are brought to the construction site for assembly. However there is a limit as to how many elements of the construction can be prefabricated and the trend to more complex projects which requires a finer level of design detail and thus contributing to the length of construction time. Client Needs Satisfying client needs is a vital requirement for construction projects. As construction projects are induced by the client needs; but often the project outcomes fails to satisfy them. There are many reasons for this, for the design team the challenge is to comprehend client needs, which should be revealed during the briefing stage of the project (Atkin, Borgbrant, Josephson, 2003). Potential clients of the construction industry are too large and varied group for any meaningful detailed classification to be prepared. Nevertheless an understanding of clients is aided by a broad categorisation (Walker A. , 2002). As different clients from different categories will have different needs for it to initiate a construction project. For example: A commercial client, would built offices to sell or lease to others and is expecting a direct financial gain A industrial client would build factories and expect a gain on productivity A public client is expecting a social investment gain from a new school. When the client is satisfied that there is a need for a project, it will then undertake a feasibility study to ascertain whether the project meets all of the objectives of the client (Lavender, 1996). Clients Objectives The most important feature of any building project should be the clients objective in embarking on the construction of the project. The need for the project will normally have risen from some demand arising from the client organisations primary activities as stated before. The needs of clients are stimulated by the environment of their organisation, which presents opportunities to which they respond. Such external stimulus may be economic forces, which give the opportunity for profit, or sociological forces, which presents the chance to respond to a social need, but usually they are a combination of different forces in which the client must respond to as the result of the need to survive. Above this, clients also respond in order to expand as a result of drive and motivation. The effect of forces in the clients environment will therefore trigger the start of the construction process. Although it may not be realised at the time that a project is needed and at that stage it is unlikely that any members of the project team will be involved. When it becomes apparent that a construction project is needed to satisfy the clients objectives, the brief begins to form. A common major problem is that the project team will normally not be involved at this early stage and a number of important decisions which may inappropriately constrain the design of the project may have been made by the time they are brought in (Walker A. , 2002). Figure 3: Triangle of time, cost and quality (Lavender, 1996) Once the objectives are met, the three qualities of a project must then be prioritized to demonstrate the clients preference. To some clients, if the priority is to keep costs down, then a delay may not matter too much. However to other clients, time may be an absolute priority for example a hotel development is scheduled for completion to meet seasonal increase in trade (Lavender, 1996). These three qualities in turn represent the clients expectation of the output of the project, therefore it is vital to communicate with the clients to discover how the client has prioritised these qualities. Clients often perceive the brief as a reasonably detailed statement of what they require, but it is important that the strategic level of the brief is not overlooked at the expense of detail. The clients priorities must be clearly established and are communicated to the project team. It may well be that there is conflict within the clients organisation regarding priorities, but the project team must be confident that it has interpreted the balance properly. To achieve this it will have to understand the clients organisation, its decision-making process and where the highest authority lies (Walker A. , 2002). Changing Expectations Drivers of change in client expectation: New trend in property ownership Increase in number of investment properties (time expectation) Growing project complexity Due to higher need requirements and technological advancements in material standardisation, construction methods, techniques and technologies. (quality and cost expectation) Influence of life cycle costing Cost of repairs and maintenance Influence of alternative materials and systems Shrinking business and project cycles Shortening of the hypothetical supply chain of building materials (cost and quality expectation) Commoditisation of products and services Specific products and trade specialist as a first tier contractor External stakeholder power Clients knowledge base is expanding Suppliers focus Scarce human resources Ethical agenda Green buildings (to reduce energy consumption and effects of global warming) Time is a finite resource, especially with the new trend of increases in numbers of investment properties, clients of construction projects demand their projects to be completed on time for peak market trading. This in effect translates to the increasing expectation for construction projects to be completed on time and method of fast tracking will be employed to ensure deadlines are met. Communication requirements in complex projects are overwhelming in comparison to more traditional projects and there is a requirement for a great deal of interaction and negotiation (Kelly Male, 1993). The increase complexity will add time to the project duration. Client Expectation and Project Management The general definition of construction project management is said to be the planning, co-ordination and control of a project from conception to completion on behalf of a client. This requires the identification of the clients objective in terms of utility, function, quality, time and cost, and the establishment of relationships between resources, integrating, monitoring and controlling the contributors to the project and their output, and evaluating selecting alternatives in pursuit of the clients satisfaction with the project outcome (Walker A. , 2002). Client expectation begins with the briefing process. Briefing is seen as a singular event at the beginning of the projects by the client; however this is not the case. Briefing is a process, where requirements are systematically written down and this will be updated as required. This means that while the project proceeds and clients awareness of the project increases, the ability to make changes reduces as the project progresses (Atkin, Borgbrant, Josephson, 2003). The recommendation is that briefing is a process running throughout the construction project, by which the clients requirements are progressively captured and translated into effect by the design team. Clients nowadays simply expect too much from the design teams; they expect perfection. Any minor delays, added costs or design changes are taken as a sign of incompetence on the part of the architect, engineer or project manager. Managing client expectations is the key to avoiding unnecessary confrontations, demands and claims. Perfection is impossible to achieve, therefore the best approach to ensure that the client is making realistic expectations about the project and its outcomes (ACEC Oregon, 2008). Communication is vital to this process. Communication should take place continuously throughout the project especially in the beginning. Stress that perfection is unattainable at any price and errors and omissions are common parts of the design and construction process. Clients must understand that they can only expect a standard of care that is provided with the managing or design service. These services are provided with the ordinary degree of skill and care that would be used by other reasonably competent practitioners of the same discipline under similar circumstances and conditions. The standard of care is a concept drawn from English Common Law doctrine. The doctrine holds that the public has the right to expect services provided will be have done so with a reasonable normal, careful and prudent manner. In other words, being perfect is not required as long as the service provided was done so with a reasonable due skill and care (ACEC Oregon, 2008). Goals to achieve perfection however should still be set to give the project team a clear direction and allow for measure of performance if necessary. Risk Management Design projects are inherently risky. Every project is different in some way and this carries with it uncertainties. Risk is the term used to describe the amount of uncertainty and number of threats that exist or potentially exist in a project (Ramroth, 2006). Risks can be technical, physical, commercial or environmental (Walker Greenwood, 2002). Managing risk is one of the most important tasks for the construction industry as it affects the project outcomes (Dey, 2009). This outcome is closely tied in with the output of the project; and at the most basic level, the building and construction industry is recognised by its output (Cross, 2001). Clients expectation on risk should be made known to the design team and in turn, the project risks should be communicated to the client. Doing so will reduce any misunderstanding and possible confrontations. Managing Risk Management of risk is an ongoing process throughout the life of the project, as risk will be constantly changing. Risk management plans should be placed to deal quickly and effectively with risks if they arise. It is important to work as an integrated project team from the earliest possible stages on an open book basis to identify risks throughout the teams supply chain (Office of Government Commerce, 2007). Risk management in construction projects involves: Identifying and assessing the risks in terms of impact and probability Establishing and maintaining a joint risk register, agreed by the integrated project team Establishing procedures for activity managing and monitoring risks throughout the project and during occupation on completion Ensuring that members of the team have the opportunity to engage in a dialogue that will promote agreement of an appropriate allocation of risk. Updating risk information throughout the life of the project Ensuring control risk by planning how risks are managed through the life of the project to contain them within acceptable limits Allocating responsibility for managing each risk with the party best able to do so A common risk management process should be understood and adopted at all levels within the integrated project team, and the risk register regularly reviewed and updated throughout the project lifecycle (Office of Government Commerce, 2007). Investment in developing the brief is often cut; however, this will likely lead to delay and cost overruns further on in the project due to changes and potential misunderstandings. Making risks known to the client can help them develop and prepare budgets for the project and this allows the project team to assess the clients expectation on risk. When preparing the budget, it should comprise of two elements of cost, a base estimate and risk allowance. A risk allowance should be included in the budget for the project to cover the potential financial impact of the clients retained risks as estimated in the risk analysis. Risks inherent in the maintenance and demolition of a facility should be considered during design development and the decisions about risk kept on the register for future reference (Office of Government Commerce, 2007). This inherent risk should be included in the whole life costing of the building. Risk Allocation Risk management arrangements should include risk allocation that (Office of Government Commerce, 2007): Is clear and unambiguous Achieves best value for money Represents a fair balance between risk and control Does not create conflict of interest in those required to give independent advice to the client. Contracts are a way to reduce risks as it is used to reduce uncertainty. Mutual agreements regarding to the project must be stated in the contract. Contracts between businesses have evolved to take on various roles (Walker Greenwood, 2002): Recoding the deal that has been agreed and the rights and obligations of the parties. Providing sanction for non-compliance, or incentive to comply Offering sets of procedures that the parties should follow Catering for uncertainty by deciding in advance how parties will bear the risk on unforeseen events. Responding to Risks Project managers must control the threats and uncertainties that would potentially adversely affect their projects. There are a number of strategies to do so (Ramroth, 2006): Avoidance: where risks have such serious consequences on the project outcome that make them totally unacceptable, measures might include a review of the project objectives and re-appraisal of the project, possibly leading to the replacement of the project, or its cancellation. Reduction: a typical action to reduce risk can take the form of: Redesign: including that arising out of value engineering studies Different methods of construction: to avoid inherently risky construction techniques Changing the procurement route: to allocate the risk between the project participants in a different manner. Transfer: transferring risks to another party in the integrated project teams, who would be responsible for the consequences, should the risk occur. Risks should not be transferred until they are fully understood. The objective of transferring risk is to pass the responsibility to another party who can better manage it. Retention: Risks that are not avoided or transferred are retained by the client although they may have been reduced or shared. These risks must continue to be managed by the client to minimise their likelihood and potential impact. Uncertainty should be understood as being a dual and coherent nature with reference to the environment, comprising the building context and the management of construction operation for the specific building (Atkin, Borgbrant, Josephson, 2003). Two concepts that are relevant are the contextual uncertainty and operational uncertainty. Contextual uncertainty includes the environment as a whole that may have an impact on a specific building. The impact could raise doubts about the result or the effectiveness of the achievement. In order to analyse the shape or form of the contextual uncertainty it is necessary to analyse the building from a broader perspective: the environment, the client and the organisation as a whole. Operational uncertainty is defined as every circumstance that may have an impact on the projects efficiency; that is handling the implementation of construction according to a predetermined set of goals. The logical phase of the construction process means that project visions are needed to reduce planning and design uncertainties, and that a plan is needed to reduce production uncertainty. Contingency funds should be in place to ensure that any uncertainty and imperfections of the project can be corrected. Clients should be made aware that contingency provisions are created to recognise that the final design and construction cost may exceed the initial estimated cost. The contingency fund should equal to a reasonable percentage of the estimated construction cost as a reserve to pay for unanticipated costs. Clients should acknowledge that no claims can be made against the project team with respect to increased costs within the agreed contingency. The building construction stage should be easy to plan and managed, if: The client is satisfied with the design; The design is correct and can be realised through construction; The intention of the designer is correctly communicated; and All conditions on site can be anticipated While it is not possible to alleviate all risks, some risks can be eliminated by thoughtful problem solving, while others can be successfully managed so that their impact on the project is kept to a minimum (Ramroth, 2006). Value Management Value management is the process in which the functional benefits of a project are made explicit and appraised consistent with a value system determined by the client. From a value management perspective, a project is an investment by an organisation on a temporary activity to achieve a core business objective within a programmed time that returns added value to the business activity of the organisation (Kelly, Making client values explicit in value management workshops, 2007). Value management is a structured, multi-disciplinary group decision-making process that encourages the enhancement of the value of a project, process or product in a manner consistent with the business goals of the stakeholders and client needs. Value management enables stakeholders to define and achieve their need through facilitated workshops that encourage participation, teamwork and end user buy-in. Stakeholders are people who have a real interest in the outcome of the project. Stakeholders of construction projects could be promoters, owners, financiers, supervisors, planners, engineer, constructors, operators, user and neighbours. The focus of value management is on function value for money, it is not necessarily to reduce cost. Though reducing cost could be a by-product of the value management activities (Office of Government Commerce, 2007). Value means ensuring that the right choices are made about obtaining the optimum balance of benefit in relation to cost and risk, and in its broadest sense, is the benefit to the client. However with value management, it should be recognised that improving the whole-life project value sometimes will require additional initial capital expenditure. The buildability and maintainability of the facility are central to its long-term value. Value management is a very low cost with high benefit exercise. The greatest benefit from applying value management to a project is when it is integrated into the project development plan, with workshops programmed to take place. If integrated into the project management methodology early in the project development the cost can be almost negligible, because of the reduced need for subsequent reviews and opportunities for substituting VM for some of the routine appraisals and quality audits that are always necessary (Hammersley, 2002). Clients Benefit The client is the party that benefit from the long-term operation of the building and therefore should lead the process from inception to the completion of the building. However it is suggested that clients are not interested in technological correctness. The designer on the other hand has the technological competence, but handling all the interdependencies to reach an optimal technological solution can sometimes lead to long design durations; affecting the clients expectation on the duration of the project. The designer may also have little knowledge on how to produce the design to a finished product. This production knowledge and skill lies with the contractors and subcontractors, often designers rely too heavily on the assumption that the design product is easy to produce. Apparently no single party is fully capable of leading, but rather a group of individuals can stand a better chance of succeeding (Atkin, Borgbrant, Josephson, 2003). To increase clients benefits the following key criteria should be made possible: Clients should have enough time to increase their knowledge of the project outcome, based on their requirement Clients should be able to change their mind when the challenges of their requests are made apparent to them Designers should have sufficient time to convert client requests into key technical criteria Designers should have enough time to investigate the interdependencies of the technical criteria in the building system Contractors and subcontractors, when required, should have the ability to view the impact of decisions regarding constructability As identified earlier, the client comprehends the product increasingly as the process proceeds. This suggests that even though it is hard to manage, it should be possible to review the requirements of the client in order to produce a building that satisfies. What is Value Value management is concerned with what value actually means