
Fahim Ullah- Doctor of Philosophy
- Program Director (Construction) and Senior Lecturer (Construction Project Management) at University of Southern Queensland
Fahim Ullah
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Program Director (Construction) and Senior Lecturer (Construction Project Management) at University of Southern Queensland
Program Director & Senior Lecturer (Construction Management) | HDR Coordinator | Among Elsevier top 2% Scientists
About
113
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Introduction
Dr. Fahim Ullah is a preeminent scholar and pedagogue in the realm of Construction Project Management, occupying the posts of Program Director (Construction) and Senior Lecturer at the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ).
Publications
Publications (113)
Employees' pro-environmental behavior is crucial to the effectiveness of an organization's sustainability efforts and environmental management strategies. Despite its importance, the role of responsible leadership in shaping construction employees' pro-environmental behavior has received limited scholarly attention. This research contributes to the...
Due to climate change, the Northwesterner Gilgit Baltistan's, Ghizer district is highly susceptible to glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). Nearly 24 GLOFs have occurred in this area in the last ∼200 years, demonstrating the growing recurrent nature of these incidents. Taking this into account, the assessment of risks associated with GLOFs was inv...
Purpose-This study aims to address the key issues concerning supplier selection in traditional construction procurement by proposing an innovative, novel, state-of-the-art prototype plugin building information modelling-supplier search and ranking (BIM-SSR) and an associated conceptual framework. It enhances building information modelling (BIM) cap...
Construction safety is often overlooked but is critical for successful site operations, especially in developing countries, where accidents and fatalities are common. The authors of this study conducted a cost–benefit analysis of construction safety and identified 33 key barriers and safety costs through expert evaluation and a literature review. B...
Artificial intelligence (AI), including machine learning and decision support systems, can deploy complex algorithms to learn sufficiently from the large corpus of building information modelling (BIM) data. An integrated BIM-AI system can leverage the insights to make smart and informed decisions. Hence, the integration of BIM-AI offers vast opport...
Infill materials play a pivotal role in determining buildings’ life cycle costing (LCC) and environmental impacts. International standards prescribe LCC and life cycle assessments (LCA) to assess materials’ economic and environmental sustainability. The existing methods of LCC and LCA are tedious and time-consuming, reducing their practical applica...
Circular Economy (CE) is a necessary intervention for enabling resource efficiency, energy conservation, waste minimization, and sustainability within the construction industry (CI). Among its many facets, circular procurement (CP) is a nascent concept that enables CE in CI. Despite the extensive literature and review studies conducted on CE and it...
In the era of the global drive for sustainability in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), sustainability measures are encouraged to be taken at all levels. This study explores a novel mix design integrating Reclaimed Asphalt (RAP) with waste Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) to enhance pavement performance and sustai...
Over-budgeting due to inflation is a common phenomenon in the construction industry of both developed and developing countries. Inflation, with time changes, leaves an adverse effect on the project budget. Hence, this study aims to focus on the construction price index (CPI) behavior and inspect its correlation with inflation in Thailand’s construc...
Purpose
Contemporary technological disruptions are espoused as though they stimulate sustainable growth in the built environment through the Green Internet of Things (G-IoT). Learning from discipline-specific experiences, this paper articulates recent advancements in the knowledge and concepts of G-IoT in relation to the construction and smart city...
The project selection criteria are required for an effective project lifecycle, and the selected projects should correspond with organizational aims and objectives; yet, the organization lacks severely in its ability to act decisively on the problem. Hence, this study aims to highlight the best project selection criteria that are related to organiz...
Sustainable development (SD) is of prime importance in the present world, where resources are depleting fast and causing conflicts among nations to control essential resources. Since the construction industry (CI) consumes most of these resources, Construction Sustainability (CS) is a key focus of SD. Among the three pillars of sustainability, i.e....
Modular construction (MC) is a promising concept with the potential to revolutionize the construction industry (CI). The sustainability aspects of MC, among its other encouraging facets, have garnered escalated interest and acclaim among the research community, especially in the context of climate change (CC) mitigation efforts. Despite numerous sc...
Due to the rising prices of houses and rent, apartment buildings have become the preferred and most utilized dwellings in Australia. However, there have been cases of serious defects in multi-unit dwellings (apartment buildings), posing various risks to and reducing potential residents’ confidence in such dwellings. To address this issue, the curre...
This study presents a novel approach for forecasting the construction cost index (CCI) of building materials in developing countries. Such estimations are challenging due to the need for a longer time, the influence of inflation, and fluctuating project prices in developing countries. This study used three techniques—a modified Artificial Neural Ne...
The traditional methods of marking construction site layouts using manual techniques such as chalk lines are prone to human errors, resulting in discrepancies between blueprints and actual layouts. This has serious implications for project delivery, construction, costs and, eventually, project success. However, this issue can be resolved through au...
The healthcare industry significantly impacts the environment due to its high usage of energy and natural resources and the associated waste generation. This study applied a cradle-to-grave Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) approach to assess the environmental and social life cycles of public hospitals. One hundred twenty-four public hosp...
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the current construction progress monitoring (CPM) process in relation to the contractual obligations, how project management teams carry out this activity in the field and why teams continue to adopt the current method. The study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the current monito...
Job stress (JS) is a significant issue in the construction industry of developing countries. This study aims to examine the impact of error-management climate (EMC), safety climate (SC), and psychological capital (PC) (as a mediator) on employee JS in the construction industry, and establish relationships between these constructs. A questionnaire s...
Non-renewable resources have been becoming scarcer on a global scale by the day, while energy demand has been rising exponentially. To tackle this problem, organizations worldwide have been striving to learn and adopt green practices to sustain themselves and benefit society. In this context, the current study aims to identify and understand the cr...
Mixed Reality (MR) that combines elements of both augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) has great potential for use in the construction industry. However, its usage in construction projects in developing countries has not been widely researched. This study aims to examine the major drivers of, and barriers to, the adoption of MR technolog...
Falls from height (FFH) are common safety hazards on construction sites causing monetary and human loss. Accordingly, ensuring safety at heights is a prerequisite for implementing a strong safety culture in the construction industry. However, despite multiple safety management systems, FFH are still rising, indicating that compliance with safety st...
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and allied disruptive technologies have revolutionized the scientific world. However, civil engineering, in general, and infrastructure management, in particular, are lagging behind the technology adoption curves. Crack identification and assessment are important indicators to assess and evaluate the structural health o...
Construction projects are complex endeavors where achieving higher quality standards is challenging due to the intrinsic difficulties and dynamic quality management processes. Several quality management techniques exist to overcome quality concerns, such as the cost of quality (COQ). However, implementing COQ in building construction is challenging...
One of the key functions of global water resource management authoritiesis river water quality (WQ)CODassessment. A water quality index (WQI) is developed for water assessments consideringnumerous quality-related variables. WQI assessments typically take a long time and are prone to errors during sub-indices generation. This can be tackled through...
Building information modeling (BIM) through data-rich digital representation has revolutionized the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. BIM implementation in the AEC industry has noticeably increased over the last decade. Various BIM roles have been discussed in the literature to ease the process of BIM implementation, but t...
Increased globalization and disruptions caused by pandemics are contributing towards complexity of the supply chain (SC) across all industries. The construction sector is not an exception, and is faced with similar SC disruptions. This has increased the integration issues of the construction SC. Therefore, it is important to manage the complexities...
In the globalized world, one significant challenge for organizations is minimizing risk by building resilient supply chains (SCs). This is important to achieve a competitive advantage in an unpredictable and ever-changing environment. However, the key enablers of such resilient and sustainable supply chain management are less explored in constructi...
The public-private partnership (PPP) is a potential procurement strategy for delivering complex construction projects. However, implementing PPPs has not been explored extensively in develop-ing countries like Pakistan. A performance framework is developed in this study to evaluate the application of PPP projects based on ten key performance indica...
Drones have gained increasing attention in the healthcare industry for mobility and accessibility to remote areas. This perspective-based study proposes a drone-based sample collection system whereby COVID-19 self-testing kits are delivered to and collected from potential patients. This is achieved using the drone as a service (DaaS). A mobile appl...
Due to the increased globalization and the disruptions caused by pandemics, supply chains
(SCs) are becoming more complex in all industries. Such increased complexities of the SCs bring
in more risks. The construction industry is no exception; its SC has been disrupted in line with
its industrial counterparts. Therefore, it is important to manage t...
Maintaining quality in construction projects is paramount to project success, achieved through techniques such as Total Quality Management (TQM). However, the key factors of TQM implementation in the construction industry of developing countries are not well explored. Accordingly, this paper evaluated the causative relationship and intricacies of T...
The progress monitoring (PM) of construction projects is an essential aspect of project control that enables the stakeholders to make timely decisions to ensure successful project delivery, but ongoing practices are largely manual and document-centric. However, the integration of technologically advanced tools into construction practices has shown...
The progress monitoring (PM) of construction projects is an essential aspect of project control that enables the stakeholders to make timely decisions to ensure successful project delivery, but ongoing practices are largely manual and document-centric. However, the integration of technologically advanced tools into construction practices has shown...
Construction is a resource-intensive industry where a circular economy (CE) is essential to minimize global impacts and conserve natural resources. A CE achieves long-term sustainability by enabling materials to circulate along the critical supply chains. Accordingly, recent research has proposed a paradigm shift towards CE-based sustainability. Ho...
Infrastructure, such as buildings, bridges, pavement, etc., needs to be examined periodically to maintain its reliability and structural health. Visual signs of cracks and depressions indicate stress and wear and tear over time, leading to failure/collapse if these cracks are located at critical locations, such as in load-bearing joints. Manual ins...
All assets deteriorate with time requiring regular maintenance and management. Asset management attempts to monitor and react to this deterioration to deliver the expected levels of service. However, current road asset management techniques are highly reactive and unable to thoroughly analyse the holistic environment and associated effects. The mas...
Disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) is one of the significant global issues that is more evident in developing nations. One of the key methods for disposing of the MSW is locating, assessing, and planning for landfill sites. Due to rapidly expanding global urbanization, associated lack of resources, and inadequate urban waste management, MSW is...
Effective leadership and creative performance are the predominant factors for the success of modern projects in the global construction industry. However, rigorous research has not explored the nexus between such factors and the leader–member exchange (LMX). To address this gap, this study explores the relationship between dimensions of paternalist...
Owing to the extensive global dependency on groundwater and associated increasing water demand, the global groundwater level is declining rapidly. In the case of Islamabad, Pakistan, the groundwater level has lowered five times over the past five years due to extensive pumping by various departments and residents to meet the local water requirement...
Construction processes are complex and dynamic. Like its other components, the construction supply chain (CSC) involves multiple stakeholders requiring varying levels of information sharing. In addition, the intensity and diversity of information in CSCs require dexterous management. Studies reveal that information complexity can be reduced using c...
The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project was signed between China and Pakistan in the year 2013. This mega project connects the two countries to enhance their economic ties and give them access to international markets. The initial investment for the project was $46 billion with a tentative duration of fifteen years. Being an extensive p...
This study addressed the complexity involved in integrating the causative risk factors influencing construction profitability. Most of the existing studies cover the individual effects of profitability influencing factors. Very few focus on the systematic impact without incorporating the complexity and associated dynamics, presenting a gap targeted...
Disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) is one of the significant global issues that is more evident in developing nations. One of the key methods for disposing of the MSW is locating, assessing, and planning for landfill sites. Faisalabad is one of the largest industrial cities in Pakistan. It has many sustainability challenges and planning proble...
The identification of significant areas impacting safety performance has always been a key concern for construction management researchers. This paper aims to examine the diversified influence of sensitive sub-categories of demographic variables on construction safety climate (SC). The data relating to fourteen demographic variables and twenty-four...
The detection and classification of drug–drug interactions (DDI) from existing data are of high importance because recent reports show that DDIs are among the major causes of hospital-acquired conditions and readmissions and are also necessary for smart healthcare. Therefore, to avoid adverse drug interactions, it is necessary to have an up-to-date...
Big data have become an integral part of various research fields due to the rapid advancements in the digital technologies available for dealing with data. The construction industry is no exception and has seen a spike in the data being generated due to the introduction of various digital disruptive technologies. However, despite the availability o...
The current young generation in Australia is increasingly facing issues around housing, and the demand for affordable and personalised housing alternatives to suit the needs of the younger population has given rise to a variety of housing options. The Build-to-Rent (BTR) housing supply model is one such option that was recently introduced with the...
Extraction of built-up area (BUA) is essential for proper city planning and management. It enables the concerned authorities to formulate better city development policies and manage emergent disasters. However, the traditionally used optical data present spectral confusion where BUAs are mixed with other features adding to management complexities....
Automatic detection of corrosion and associated damages to civil infrastructures such as bridges, buildings, and roads, from aerial images captured by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), helps one to overcome the challenges and shortcomings (objectivity and reliability) associated with the manual inspection methods. Deep learning methods have been wi...
Manual inspection of infrastructure damages such as building cracks is difficult due to the objectivity and reliability of assessment and high demands of time and costs. This can be automated using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for aerial imagery of damages. Numerous computer vision-based approaches have been applied to address the limitations of...
Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) involves the managing of information, materials, cash flows, and collaboration among enterprises along the supply chain, integrating sustainable development goals. This research paper aims to determine challenges in SSCM adoption and to address related complexity using the system dynamics (SD) approach uti...
Water scarcity has become a major problem for many countries, resulting in declining water supply and creating a need to find alternative solutions. One potential solution is rainwater harvesting (RwH), which allows rainwater to be stored for human needs. This study develops an RwH assessment system through building information modeling (BIM). For...
Groundwater is one of the primary sources for the daily water requirements of the masses, but it is subjected to contamination due to the pollutants, such as nitrate, percolating through the soil with water. Especially in built-up areas, groundwater vulnerability and contamination are of major concern, and require appropriate consideration. The pre...
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected global economies due to lockdowns, business closures, and travel and other restrictions. To control the spread of the virus, several countries, including Australia, imposed strict border restrictions and lockdown measures. Accordingly, international borders have been closed, and all incoming internat...
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as a global pandemic since late 2019 and has affected all forms of human life and economic developments. Various techniques are used to collect the infected patients’ sample, which carries risks of transferring the infection to others. The current study proposes an AI-powered UAV-based sample collecti...
Floods are one of the most fatal and devastating disasters, instigating an immense loss of human lives and damage to property, infrastructure, and agricultural lands. To cater to this, there is a need to develop and implement real-time flood management systems that could instantly detect flooded regions to initiate relief activities as early as pos...
Bushfires have been a key concern for countries such as Australia for a long time. These must be mitigated to eradicate the associated harmful effects on the climate and to have a sustainable and healthy environment for wildlife. The current study investigates the 2019–2020 bushfires in New South Wales (NSW) Australia. The bush fires are mapped usi...
Concrete is an important construction material. Its characteristics depend on the environmental conditions, construction methods, and mix factors. Working with concrete is particularly tricky in a hot climate. This study predicts the properties of concrete in hot conditions using the case study of Rawalpindi, Pakistan. In this research, variable ca...
With the boom of industry 4.0 technologies and their adoption in the built environment (BE), conceptual frameworks (CFs) are increasingly developed to facilitate the adoption. It is becoming increasingly important to develop a standard or guide for new BE research entrants and aspirants who want to conduct a systematic literature review and develop...
Building Information Modeling (BIM) is recognized as one of the most significant technological breakthroughs in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. The pace of implementation of BIM in AEC has increased during the past decade with an enhanced focus on sustainable construction. However, BIM implementation lags its potenti...
Global climate has been radically affected by the urbanization process in recent years. Karachi, Pakistan’s economic hub, is also showing signs of swift urbanization. Owing to the construction of infrastructure projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and associated urbanization, Karachi’s climate has been significantly affected....
Australia is a regular recipient of devastating bushfires that severely impacts its economy, landscape, forests, and wild animals. These bushfires must be managed to save a fortune, wildlife, and vegetation and reduce fatalities and harmful environmental impacts. The current study proposes a holistic model that uses a mixed-method approach of Geogr...
Floods have been a major cause of destruction, instigating fatalities and massive damage to the infrastructure and overall economy of the affected country. Flood-related devastation results in the loss of homes, buildings, and critical infrastructure, leaving no means of communication or travel for the people stuck in such disasters. Thus, it is es...
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Global disruption and innovation are revolutionising many industries and creating a digitally disruptive environment (DDE); real estate is no exception. Real estate online platforms (REOPs) are getting more attention in the era of COVID-19, where the real estate businesses must run on-line, and the service users are pushed to a forced digital exper...
The built environment has been disrupted through innovative technologies in line with Industry 4.0 requirements laying the foundations of the smart built environment. However, with the recent introduction of Industry 5.0, additional steps are required to transform the smart built environment further. The focus of Industry 5.0 is to complement the e...
While historically significant for ancient civilizations, the Indus basin is also known for its floods and complex anthropogenic management history. Resulting from years of modifications by the pre-British era Mughal rulers followed by the post-partition division of river waters among the two neighbors, India and Pakistan, Pakistan faces severe man...
Smart cities are complex endeavors that present several management challenges. The current study proposes a conceptual framework based on Six Sigma for managing smart cities. DMADICV is a novel method proposed in the current study for Six Sigma. The proposed DMADICV framework consists of six key constructs: Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Improve...
Real Estate Online Platforms (REOPs) are used for conveying real estate and property-related informationto potential users (buyers, renters, or sellers). The information leveraged through REOPs supports theseusers in reaching conclusive rent or buy decisions. Despite their promised utility, user perception aboutaccepting online information through...
The real estate sector brings a fortune to the global economy. But, presently, this sector is regressive and uses traditional methods and approaches. Therefore, it needs a technological transformation and innovation in line with the Industry 4.0 requirements to transform into smart real estate. However, it faces the barriers of disruptive digital t...
Real‐estate advertisements through electronic and print media are bringing considerable fortune to the global real‐estate sector. However, innovative advertisement methods must be adopted if real estate aims to transform into smart real estate. The current study, which is based on a systematic literature review of 58 articles published in the last...
Sustainable smart cities are confronted by technological, organisational and external risks, making their governance difficult and susceptible to manipulation. Based on a comprehensive literature review of 796 systematically retrieved articles, the current study proposes a multilayered technology-organisation-environment (TOE-based) risk management...
Blockchains-based smart contracts are disrupting the smart real estate sector of the smart cities. The current study explores 8 the literature focused on blockchain smart contracts in smart real estate and proposes a conceptual framework for its adoption in smart cities. Based on a systematic review method, the literature published between 2000 and...
UAVs are increasingly incorporated in a wide range of domains such as disaster management and rescue missions. UAV path planning deals with finding the most optimal or shortest path for UAVs such that minimum energy and resources are utilized. This paper examines the path planning algorithms for UAVs through a literature survey conducted on 139 sys...
Competitiveness is a complex domain with multiple perspectives and a vast range of definitions, meanings, and measures. Therefore, it is challenging to create an appropriate framework to evaluate the competitiveness of an ever-changing and evolving construction industry. This study captures the contractor's perspectives about the competitiveness of...
The aim of this paper is to examine students’ performance in a computation-based course by evaluating the effects of key factors including sketching, visualization resources provided to them during the lectures, their attendance and tutors’ experience. A systematic review was conducted including 192 articles published during January 2010 to Decembe...
Digital tools and marketing have been widely adopted in various industries throughout the world. These tools have enabled companies to obtain real-time customer insights and create and communicate value to customers more effectively. This study aims at understanding the principles and practices of sustainable digital marketing in the Malaysian prop...
The real estate sector is receiving mix responses throughout the world, with some countries like USA receiving lesser and European and Asia Pacific markets receiving more transactions in recent years. Among the concerning factors, post-purchase regrets by the real estate owners or renters are on the rise, which have never been assessed to date thro...
Big data is the concept of enormous amounts of data being generated daily in different fields due to the increased use of technology and internet sources. Despite the various advancements and the hopes of better understanding, big data management and analysis remain a challenge, calling for more rigorous and detailed research, as well as the identi...
Rising demand and limited production of electricity are instrumental in spreading the awareness of cautious energy use, leading to the global demand for energy-efficient buildings. This compels the construction industry to smartly design and effectively construct these buildings to ensure energy performance as per design expectations. However, the...
Digital disruptive technologies are an integral component of the modern world. These technologies are transforming the global industries from traditional to more innovative and adaptive. However, the state of global real estate is yet to improve and is currently lagging the technology curve. Because of this lag, useful information is either not mad...
Online Platforms (OP) are increasingly being used for e-business in different sectors. With the advances in the internet-based business, OPs are increasingly being used for increasing global outreach and attracting more users in different industries. Real Estate industry, following the global trends, has developed multiple OPs that are currently be...
Floods are natural disasters and pose a threat to the lives, property, and infrastructure of an urban area. Though their risk cannot be fully eliminated, several methods can be used to manage floods, once they occur. This includes identification of flood-prone areas, timely detection of the affected areas, mapping rescue routes and arranging logist...
Risk is inherent in construction projects and managed through contingency. Dynamic management of contingency escrow accounts during project execution poses decision-making challenges. Project managers use key performance indicators (KPIs) for contingency release decisions. However, their subjective mental models influence risk perception, exacerbat...
Safe, efficient and user-friendly transportation of people and goods is the premier concern for highway agencies due to a growing tendency in urbanization, especially in developing countries such as Pakistan. This study presents economic-efficiency analysis of a proposed project, i.e. Rawalpindi Bypass, and an existing roadway structure in Pakistan...
Most of information technologies in different sectors including construction and property management businesses have failed. Previous studies intended to identify a variety of factors influencing the technology adoption process while the dynamics that govern the adoption of information technologies in real estate business over time were ignored. Th...
Tracking systems are known as valuable approaches for monitoring vehicles and heavy equipment in infrastructure construction and mining sites. Tracking job-site equipment and monitoring the workforce during construction are critical for improving productivity. The current locating practices are based on real-time positioning sensors by alerting sta...
The determination of the concession period (CP) in public-private partnership (PPP) infrastructure projects presents complexities to decision makers because various critical success factors (CSF) are involved which may be overlooked. This paper outlines a system dynamics (SD)-based approach to provide an in-depth understanding of CSFs that determin...
Traditionally students' attendance and overall performance have been hypothesized to go hand in hand. In current study, 195 students from non-engineering background were taught a three credits core course of construction and their attendance vs performance results are empirically investigated. Further, the students' attendance and performance have...
Virtual and Augmented Realities (VR & AR) are increasingly utilised in construction
and Real Estate industries. Due to the absence of immersive visualisation mechanisms
that records the construction process and its defects, the clients can only discover any
defects after their purchases. Such discoveries portray a negative image of the real estate...
Real estate needs to improve its adoption of disruptive technologies to move from traditional to smart real estate (SRE). This study reviews the adoption of disruptive technologies in real estate. It covers the applications of nine such technologies, hereby referred to as the Big9. These are: drones, the internet of things (IoT), clouds, software a...
The determination of the concession period (CP) in public-private partnership (PPP) infrastructure projects presents complexities to decision makers because various critical success factors (CSF) are involved which may be overlooked. This paper outlines a system dynamics (SD)-based approach to provide an in-depth understanding of CSFs that determin...
Construction industry plays critical role in the development of any country. Construction projects in developing countries usually face the time and cost overrun, hence affecting the profit and overall performance of the contractors. This paper aims to analyze the factors influencing the time overrun and cost overrun in Pakistani construction proje...