CONSTRUCTION

Author: FORCADA MATHEU NURIA.
Year: 2004.
University: POLITÉCNICA DE CATALUÑA [www.upc.edu].
Place of defense: EXPOSALA, ETSEIT.
Place of preparation: EDIFICI C1 Campus NORD.

Summary: The construction industry is fragmented due to the many Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and phases involved in a construction project. This fact has led to well documented problems with project management and concretely communication and information processing. What most SMEs require in terms of project management is the ability to manage and share the companyâs documents. This is achieved by removing certain core applications from individual PCs and running them on a server such as an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS). Such tools should centralise the information specific to the organisation in an easily accessible environment, allowing users to store, access and modify information quickly and easily.On the other hand, large companies, often early adopters of IT, demand that SMEs that work with them adopt the same management systems. Currently, the most popular option used by larger companies for the project management is web based tools such as Web based Project Management Systems (WPMS) that are applications designed to store and manage project information. Quite simply project collaboration applications allow disparate groups of people such as engineers, architects and clients to control access and automate dissemination of information. The most WPMS used in the construction sector is to rent a completely developed WPMS from an Application Service Provider (ASP) for a usage fee. The development and operation of this option require a minimum of technical, financial and human resources.The start point of the thesis is survey carried out in several SMEs in the construction sector in Spain in order to acquire a general idea of their working methodologies and the deficiencies on document management.From the SMEs standpoint, the main challenge of WPMS still lies within the lack of a standardized document organization and the inefficiency of the information flow from different sources (Documents stored in their EDMS and those stored in the WPMS). The suggested remedy for this inefficiency and the aim of this thesis is to create a tool to improve both internal and external document organization. This Life cycle Document Management System for Construction automatically creates a folder structure for each specific project to be download into each companyâs server and into the WPMS which is being used for the project management. This folder structure will be the same to the folder structure of the WPMS with the consequent improvement of document storage, interaction and exchange of information between all the actors working in the same construction project. To do this, the flow of information between the different parties involved in a construction project is mapped out and a Concept Model for Information Flow is designed to store all the documentation of a construction project and its metadata throughout the life cycle of the project. Different approaches are analyzed to obtain the most accurate solution.Moreover, when these actors are working with WPMS sharing documents all the stakeholders should have the same working standards. This thesis also provides a Guidelines for Document Management through WPMS to unify the different working processes of all the companies involved in the project. These guidelines are applicable to projects of varying complexity, size and duration. Document codification, organization of folders and documents, publication dates, documentation control, and so on, are some of the aspects that these guidelines are oriented to. Finally, the system is submitted for criticism and evaluation by several academics with the aim to verify its contents and consistency. A survey is also carried out in 30 SMEs out of a variety of project types, sizes, values, and Project Management utilized to validate the system.The syst 8 em will 32a serve as a demonstration for all the participants in a construction project that a good document management is basic for the fulfilment of the project objectives.

Author: ROCA RAMON XAVIER.
Year: 2005.
University: POLITÉCNICA DE CATALUÑA [www.upc.edu].
Place of defense: EDIFICI TR5, 1A. PLANTA-CAMPUS TERRASSA.
Place of preparation: EDIFICI C1 Campus NORD.

Summary: In general, composite materials (MC) have the great advantage of having a very low density with a very good mechanical properties, enabling the design of components and a very light construction enjoyable. In the construction sector industry, the MC is already being used at present but mostly in secondary items. The main purpose of the Doctoral Thesis is to study and demonstrate the applicability of advanced composite materials (polymer matrix reinforced with fibers), as building blocks in the industrial buildings. It has focused its study on the application of these materials to constructive structural system, the system constructive facades and constructive system cover. The applicability is analyzed from the aspects of technical feasibility, runtime, implementation costs, construction safety, and environmental impacts caused by the application of advanced composite materials in the building indicated over the life cycle of a industrial building (from the construction phase to the deconstruction and the subsequent revaluation of the materials used). This compared with constructive solutions considered âtradicionalesâ in the construction sector industrial. The outline of the work carried out in the thesis reflected in the following points: 1) Search overview of composite materials. Types of materials and types of manufacturing processes for them. Applications MC in construction. 2) Comparison between the various composite materials conducting studies entirely theoretical. Comparison between the MF and the most common conventional materials. 3) Study and choice of composite material and the manufacturing process most appropriate for the purpose of the doctoral dissertation to develop. It concludes that the concrete composite material more appropriate now to be used in structural elements of industrial buildings is composed of an array of polyester isoftálico reinforced with glass fibers E. As for the manufacturing technology, which best fits the specific requirements of this material for the construction industry, is the pultrusión. 4) Tests in laboratory profiles of composite material chosen. Characterization of the material through the results of the tests conducted. 5) Modeling and simulation profiles in MC by finite element software. 6) Study methods union between components of composite materials and identification of specific methods union for each type of union in an industrial building. 7) Analysis and determination of sections for improved beams of composite material selected by finite element software. It has obtained a profile with an enhanced section for the efforts to bear on the part of a structure of an industrial building. This has been called Element Resistant Improved (ERM). 8) Determine the size of an industrial building type for SMEs Spanish, and their loads to be considered. Breakdown unit constructive items for the building studied. 9) Comparison of cost, time, safety and environmental impacts in the implementation of various materials (MC and traditional) for the building analyzed. 10) conclusions and comparisons made on the applicability of advanced composite materials in the construction of industrial buildings. 11) Validation results obt 8 enidos. 37 f The general conclusion drawn, in view of the results, is that the applicability of the MC in the construction industry is possible, and that today, it is partially advantageous over other solutions considered traditional.

Author: GONZÁLEZ TEJEDA LEONARDO.
Year: 2005.
University: AUTÓNOMA DE BARCELONA [www.uab.es].
Place of defense: DEPARTAMENTO DE ECONOMICA APLICADA.
Place of preparation: ECONOMÍA APLICADA.

Summary: This thesis contains four tests discuss various theoretical and empirical aspects of the housing market. The first test examines the housing market in the case of Mexico and identifies certain characteristics of the demand, supply and the role of the public sector. In this market, there are clearly three segments, the formal private, informal private and the public. We observe a high level of self-help housing, as well as a high concentration metropolitan. There is a conflict in the allocation of property rights in land ownership and regulation in this market is oriented towards the occupation of owner-occupied housing. There are multiple institutions involved in the direct or indirect provision of housing. The legal framework for credit hipotecaros is weak and taxes on financial benefits are transferred to the end user. Also, we note stiffness in contracts, a slow adjustment in quantities and a systematic excess demand. In this trial, we raised a proposal to grant market-oriented type of rental housing vouchers, which allows encourage investment in this sector and improve the quality of housing services to which families should have access to low incomes. The second trial estimated the demand for housing in the metropolitan markets of Mexico. We use the method of selecting sample to estimate the probability of occupying a property to property and spending on housing services. We show the existence of frictions in rental markets and trend itself. We also collect elasticities of spending on housing services. The third trial is studying the dynamics of residential capital in the presence of rational expectations and certain fiscal policy for house purchase. There is a model that makes it possible to consider options for fiscal policy to acquire residence. This approach allows analysis of the dynamics of competition and price formation of the residential units taking into consideration the land market, and the dynamics of stock prices and residential variations of the parameters before tax and inflation real or nominal. It also expresses the relationship between the housing market and factors construction materials, labor and land introduced in the role of investment in the short term some adjustment costs. Finally, we identify the serial correlation in the prices of housing for him if Mexico. And finally, the fourth essay examines a policy of control and renteas and its implications on investment irreversible residential under a backdrop of uncertainty. The importance of this analysis is due to the low levels of investment and declining occupancy and use observed in the rental market. It considers the nature of ireversibilidad investment in housing as well as institutional restrictions that were imposed before a policy of rent control. It explains the process of transfer of property rights, as well as changes in the value of residential assets.