Performance Based Studies Research Group

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The February 14‐18, 2011 Best Value Conference and CIB W117 Using Performance Information in Construction ‐ Working Commission Annual Meeting exceeded the expectations of previous years. The conference attracted over 260 participants representing 28 different US states and 5 different countries (USA, Canada, Costa Rica, South Korea, Malaysia, and the Netherlands). Read the rest of this entry »

Conference Dates: Feb 8-11, 2010

Total Attendance: 250 research partners, contractors, vendors, and professionals

Patrick Okamura (PBSRG Industry Executive Board President), William Badger, Dean Kashiwagi, and Kenneth Sullivan organized and conducted the 2010 International CIB W117 Annual Meeting in conjunction with the 2010 Best Value PIPS Research Conference. The conference gathers research partners from around the world to review the latest developments in construction, facilities, and project management utilizing the PIPS Process and to strategically plan the $1M/year PBSRG research program. Read the rest of this entry »

For the past 15 years, we have proposed that the problems in the construction industry were non-technical, and caused by simple inaccurate humanistic assumptions:

1. One person or entity could effectively direct, control, and influence another individual.
2. They could get high performance and value by using minimum standards and hiring the lowest price.
3. They could make non-experts act like experts by increasing their micromanagement. Read the rest of this entry »

The Distinguished Educator Award went to Dean T. Kashiwagi, Ph.D., P.E., for his numerous accomplishments in education and research. His many achievements include receiving a Fulbright Scholar award to share state-of-the-art facility and project management research and practices with the people of Botswana, Africa. Read the rest of this entry »

by Jeroen van de Rijt and Sicco Santema

The best value Performance Information Procurement System (PIPS) Procurement has been implemented outside the United States by both visionary contractors and clients. PIPS has recently been implemented in The Netherlands by two of the largest construction companies in the Netherlands, Ballast Nedam (procurement of acoustic fencing along railway track) and Heijmans (bitumen emulsion). Currently, the Rijkswaterstaat (the Dutch government agency which is a part of the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, in charge of public works and water management, including the construction and maintenance of waterways and roads) is implementing the PIPS methodology. Rijkswaterstaat has previously done a pilot using modified best value PIPS concepts (on a small scale) and will now be using the PIPS process in a more pure methodology to procure a $1.7 Billion  infrastructure construction project. This is the largest best value test conducted outside the United States. Read the rest of this entry »