Dean Papajohn

Interests

Teaching

Construction Engineering ManagementLeadership

Research

Alternative delivery methods, Public-private partnerships, Sustainable construction,Construction safety

Courses

Scholarly Contributions

Journals/Publications

• El Asmar, M., & Papajohn, D. (2021).

  Impact of Alternative Delivery on the Response Time of Requests for Information for Highway Projects

  . Journal of Management in Engineering, 37(1). doi:10.1061/(asce)me.1943-5479.0000866
• Papajohn, D. S., & El Asmar, M. (2021). Impact of alternative delivery on potential delays from request for information for highway projects. Journal of Management in Engineering, 37(1). doi:10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000866
  More info

  Requests for information (RFIs) on construction projects facilitate communication between the contractor and the owner or designer. If responses to RFIs are not made promptly, they may cause delays. With alternative project delivery methods like design-build (DB) and construction manager/general contractor (CM/GC), the contractor participates in the design phase, which provides a broader understanding of the design. This suggests fewer RFIs for these types of projects compared with the traditional design-bid-build (DBB) delivery method. Because projects with alternative delivery methods are frequently on accelerated schedules, they are sensitive to RFI response time. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by investigating how RFI response time, and by corollary, potential project delays, compares between alternative project delivery and traditional delivery. This research develops a simulation of the RFI process using Simphony simulation software. Probability distributions for the interval times of RFI creation and duration times for RFI response were developed based on over 2,000 RFIs across 19 DB, CM/GC, and DBB highway projects. Simulation results for a two-year highway construction project indicate similar potential delays from the RFI process in DBB and CM/GC projects and higher potential delays for DB projects. This suggests that DB projects are more sensitive to the RFI review process and requires dedicated attention and resources from the project team to manage the RFI process to prevent delays.
• Papajohn, D., & El Asmar, M. (2020). Percent base design and initial award performance in design-build highway projects. Journal of Management in Engineering, 36(3). doi:10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000759
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  The concept that planning efforts conducted earlier in a project can influence project success more than efforts undertaken later in a project is encapsulated by the project influence curve. Though widely accepted, the project influence curve has not been tested empirically in alternative delivery methods like design-build (DB). One possible benefit of DB contracting is engaging the contractor early in design. Whether the timing of contractor involvement in design under a DB contract results in cost savings (lower initial award performance) that follows the project influence curve has never been tested. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge of construction project delivery through the study of empirical data from 30 highway projects delivered under DB contracting where the base design provided by the owner at the time of procurement ranged from 10%-95%. Results indicate that a majority of projects did follow the project influence curve; however, projects experienced variable cost savings. This suggests that there may be other variables that influence the amount of cost savings and that other goals (i.e., reduced schedule, reduced traffic disruption, reduced environmental impact) that may not always result in lower contract costs. These results regarding timing of contractor involvement in design can assist decision makers in determining the suitability of a project for DB contracting and what level of base design to use in procurement.
• El Asmar, M., Molenaar, K. R., & Papajohn, D. (2019).

  Contract Administration Tools for Design-Build and Construction Manager/General Contractor Highway Projects

  . Journal of Management in Engineering, 35(6). doi:10.1061/(asce)me.1943-5479.0000718
• Papajohn, D. S., Alleman, D., Standford, S., Molenaar, K., & Jobidon, G. (2020). Characteristics of stipends and their value-adding potential in design-build US highway construction. Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering Construction, 12(2). doi:10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000759
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  Stipends are payments made to unsuccessful design-build offerors in consideration of design-build (DB) proposal preparation effort. This paper analyzes the relationship between the use of stipends, project performance, and innovation in the context of US highway construction. The authors investigate the processes for calculating stipends, relationship with a contractor’s decision to propose, and the ability to aid agencies in achieving best value through innovation.Findings are based upon a triangulation of document analysis, project data, and industry/agency interviews.Stipends increase competition and often increase the quality of proposals based on the stipend amount (though not proportionally). Additionally, properly valued stipends can demonstrate an agency’s understanding of DB and the work required. They set a tone for collaboration. The qualitative findings suggest that the existence of stipends has a positive relationship with project performance and has the potential to increase innovation by both reinforcing the agency’s desire to receive innovative ideas from a contractor and financially supporting the execution of those ideas. However, no statistically significant correlation was found between stipend values and project performance or innovation.This research fills a gap in knowledge and documents the appropriate uses and valuations of DB stipends, which will enable agencies to make more rational procurement decisions. This paper synthesizes existing stipend practices and benefits as experienced by agencies and contractors. Additionally, the relationship of stipends and design-build project performance is discussed, which current transportation literature does not address.
• Papajohn, D. S., El Asmar, M., & Molenaar, K. R. (2019). Tools for Highway contract administration of design-build and construction manager/general contractor. Journal of Management in Engineering, 35(6). doi:10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000718
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  Alternative contracting methods (ACMs) such as design-build and construction manager/general contractor have been shown in some studies to offer cost and schedule advantages over design-bid-build. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is promoting the use of ACMs and agencies are increasingly implementing ACMs. However, state agency ACM manuals and federal guidebooks tend to focus on pre-award activities. A need exists to provide guidance to agencies on how to effectively administer ACM post-award activities in order to realize their benefits. This paper presents 36 tools for ACM contract administration that were collected from 30 project case studies with 18 transportation agencies involving 91 interviewees. Integrated definition (IDEF0) modeling was used to map and compare differences between delivery methods at the functional level whereas previous ACM models focus on contract relationships and lines of communication. This paper contributes to the construction engineering and management body of knowledge by providing a comprehensive portfolio of tools for ACM highway projects that are field tested by transportation agencies along with recommendations on appropriateness for project complexity and size.
• Papajohn, D. S., El Asmar, M., Molenaar, K. R., & Alleman, D. (2019). Comparing contact administration functions for alternative and traditional delivery of highway projects. Journal of Management in Engineering, 36(1). doi:10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000727
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  Agency roles and responsibilities for contract administration depend on the contracting method. The Federal Highways Administration (FHWA) has encouraged agencies to consider alternative contracting methods (ACMs) like design-build (DB) and construction manager/general contractor (CM/GC). There is a lack of information available to transportation agencies regarding the details of contract administration functions between ACMs and traditional design-bid-build (DBB) delivery. This paper contributes to the existing body of knowledge of highway contract administration by revealing similarities and differences between contract administration functions across contracting methods through the development of Integrated DEfinition Function models (IDEF0). These IDEF0 models depict the hierarchy of contract administration functions for DBB, CM/GC, and DB highway projects and reveal differences such as developing alignment, administering preconstruction services, managing work packages, and creating risk pools for additional scope. The findings can help agencies make more informed decisions about selecting and administering contracting methods, especially as it relates to establishing the level of effort and skills needed for administering projects under various contracting methods. Additionally, these IDEF0 models provide a novel framework for future research on highway contract administration.
• Papajohn, D. S., Alleman, D., Gransburg, D., El Asmar, M., & Molenaar, K. (2017). Exploration of Early Work Packaging in Construction Manager-General Contractor Highway Projects. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 68-75. doi:10.3141/2630-09
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  Recently, state agencies have been successfully implementing construction manager/general contractor (CM/GC) delivery on highway projects. While early work packaging is frequently cited in the literature as a primary benefit of CM/GC, there is limited to substantiate or refute these benefits. Additionally, agencies need a better understanding of the current state-of-practice of early work packing in CM/GC to help with effective implementation. In an ongoing Federal Highway Agency research project, 12 of 34 completed CM/GC projects reported the use early work packaging, and will be the focus of this study. Research methods used within this paper include: literature review, content review of agency manuals/instructions, project surveys, agency interviews, and case studies. Triangulated findings suggest that early work packaging can contribute to expediting project completion, mitigating project risks, reducing project cost, and minimizing public impacts. To achieve these outcomes, agencies must perform detailed planning to generate severable/independent packages that take into account all potential impacts to the project. Trends in data indicate that early work packages can lead to cost savings, yet the sample size does not provide statistical significance. Future research should explore the performance of a larger data set of CM/GC projects with and without early work packaging along with a cost/benefit analysis of early work packages.
• Brinker, C., & El Asmar, M. (2016). Metaframework for assessment of sustainability ratings for buildings and infrastructure. Journal of Management in Engineering. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000478, 04016026.
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  Many sustainability rating systems have been developed to assess the sustainable development of the built environment. Most rating systems rely on indicators to measure specific project features. However, there is no widely accepted framework to help evaluate sustainability rating systems. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by developing a metaframework for assessing ratings of sustainability (MARS). Instead of assessing specific projects, MARS provides a high-level view by analyzing the sustainability rating systemsthemselves. A literature review highlights relevant theories, concepts, and processes used in frameworks of sustainable rating systems. A content analysis of 95 peer-reviewed publications from multiple disciplines identified 19 key criteria. These 19 criteria were organized into a metaframework that can be used to assess, improve, and compare existing rating systems, and may also serve as a basis to create new rating systems in the future. A MARS scorecard is presented and its application explained and pilot tested with a standard infrastructure rating system called Envision. Future research will use MARS to more fully evaluate existing rating systems such as Envision, Civil EngineeringEnvironmental Quality Assessment and Award Scheme (CEEQUAL), Infrastructure Sustainability Rating Scheme, and Leadership in Energyand Environmental Design (LEED).
• Cui, Q., & Bayraktar, E. (2011). Public private partnerships in U.S. transportation: A research overview and path forward. Journal of Managment in Engineering, 27(3), 126-135. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000050
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  Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are contractual relationships between government and industry to deliver facilities or service for public benefit. In the United States, existing transportation infrastructure is aging and new infrastructure is underfunded. PPPs are considered one way to help meet this looming need. Although PPPs have a long history, interest in modern PPPs is renewed. The current debate over PPPs lacks theory and research to support the various views of PPPs. Promoters say they bring needed financing, technology, management, and risk sharing to infrastructure development. Detractors say government agencies are better positioned to finance andown infrastructure and protect the public interest. The unique contribution of this paper is to provide the results of a national survey on the state-of-practice of PPPs in transportation in the United States, and to provide a comprehensive overview of research on U.S. transportation PPPs in the areas of economics, law, and public opinion. Additionally, a path forward is offered to help organize and guide research in U.S. transportation PPPs in the future.

Proceedings Publications

• Papajohn, D. S. (2022).  Using vibrotactile feedback as a real-time postural intervention during shoveling. In Human Factors and Ergonomics, 66.
• Papajohn, D. S., Alleman, D., El Asmar, M., & Molenaar, K. (2018, January). Exploring potential delays associated with requests for information in CM/GC highway construction. In Construction Research Conference.
  More info

  Requests for information (RFIs) on construction projects facilitate communication between the contractor and the owner or designer. If responses to RFIs are not made promptly, they may cause delays. With alternative project delivery methods like construction manager/general contractor (CM/GC), the contractor participates in the design phase, which provides a much broader understanding of the design. This suggests fewer RFIs for these types of projects compared with the traditional design-bid-build (D-B-B) delivery method. Additionally, projects with alternative delivery methods are frequently on accelerated schedules, which would make them sensitive to RFI response time. Research has not addressed whether or how the CM/GC project delivery method relates to RFI response time, and by corollary, potential project delays. In this research, a simulation of the RFI process was developed using the Simphony simulation software. Probability distributions for RFI creation interval times and RFI response durations were developed from CM/GC highway project data. Preliminary results provide insights into the potential delays due to RFIs. Simulation results on a three-year CM/GC highway construction project indicate that RFI review delays could potentially generate construction delays up to 10% of the construction duration.
• Papajohn, D. S., Alleman, D., Antoine, A., & Molenaar, K. (2017, July/Summer). Desired versus realized benefits of alternative contracting methods on extreme value highway projects. In Resilient Structures and Sustainable Construction.
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  Highway agencies choose alternative contracting methods (ACMs) to for a wide variety of reasons, primarily their potential for superior cost and schedule performance. Most literature focuses on these two factors by analyzing aggregate datasets covering a wide-ranging contract values. These analyses create two voids that this paper attempts to explore: (1) ACMs provide a wide variety of benefits, which cost and schedule performance alone do not identify; and (2) projects of differing contract values benefit differently. This paper investigates the selection criteria for ACMs and why US agencies chose ACMs for projects at the extreme ends of the cost spectrum (defined as projects at the upper and lower 10th percentiles for each delivery method) and what benefits are realized, above and beyond cost and schedule performance. These findings are presented through a survey of 291 US projects, interviews of sixteen US agency representatives, literature review, agency ACM manual content analysis.
• El Asmar, M., & Brinker, C. (2016, July). Uncovering key criteria for assessing sustainability rating systems for the built environment. In Construction Research Congress, 1303-1312.
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  Construction has far reaching impacts on human society, economics and the environment due to its pervasiveness in society, investment of financial resources, and commitment of natural resources. Sustainable development is contingent on reaching a balance between these three elements, often referred to as the triple bottom line. Sustainability rating systems have been developed for the built environment as tools to aid in the growth and application of sustainable development. Examples of rating systems for buildings include Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) and the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED). Examples of rating systems for infrastructure include Civil Engineering Environmental Quality Assessment and Award Scheme (CEEQUAL) and the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure’s (ISI) Envision. However, there is no widely accepted method to determine the effectiveness of the more than 100 sustainable rating systems in existence or the future rating systems to be developed. A framework is needed to specify criteria for assessing sustainable rating systems. This paper consists of the first phase in developing this framework: identifying its key assessment criteria. The paper reviews 92 published sources on sustainable development across multiple disciplines to identify and summarize the 19 key criteria used to assess sustainability rating systems. The second phase of this research effort will consist of using these 19 criteria to develop the framework, and apply it to assess, improve, and compare sustainable rating systems, while also providing an approach to create new rating systems.

Others

• Papajohn, D. S. (2020, May). A guidebook for post-award contract administration for highway projects delivered using construction manager/general contractor delivery. NCHRP 08-104, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Wash. D.C.. https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25829/guidebooks-for-post-award-contract-administration-for-highway-projects-delivered-using-alternative-contracting-methods-volume-2-construction-manager-general-contractor-delivery
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  This Guidebook provides a practitioner’s guide for construction administration on CM/GC projects. Whether your agency is using the CM/GC contracting method for the first time or has significant experience with the method, this Guidebook provides useful strategies and tools to support CM/GC project administration. Highway agency personnel are the audience for the Guidebook. As an American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) publication, the guidance must apply at a national level. Each agency will need to adapt the strategies and tools to their unique agency policies and practices.Ultimately, this Guidebook will help agencies incorporate contract administration into their GM/GC procedures manuals.
• Papajohn, D. S. (2020, May). A guidebook for post-award contract administration for highway projects delivered using design-build delivery. NCHRP 08-104, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Wash. D.C.. https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25686/guidebooks-for-post-award-contract-administration-for-highway-projects-delivered-using-alternative-contracting-methods-volume-1-design-build-delivery
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  This Guidebook provides a practitioner’s guide for construction administration on D-B projects. Whether your agency is using the D-B contracting method for the first time or has significant experience with the method, this Guidebook provides useful strategies and tools to support D-B project administration. Highway agency personnel are the audience for the Guidebook. As an AASHTO publication, the guidance must apply at a national level. Each agency will need to adapt the strategies and tools to their unique agency policies and practices.Ultimately, this Guidebook will help agencies incorporate contract administration into their D-B procedures manuals.
• Papajohn, D. S. (2020, May). Post-award contract administration for highway projects delivered using alternative contracting methods. NCHRP 08-104 Research Report, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Wash. D.C.. https://www.nap.edu/read/25692/chapter/1
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  The objective of this research was to produce two practitioner Guidebooks in AASHTO format based on the identification and analysis of the tools utilized on a range of ACM projects for post-award contract administration of D-B and CM/GC projects. The primary research question these Guidebooks addressed was “What are the most effective tools for post-award contract administration of D-B and CM/GC projects?” As previously mentioned, the majority of existing ACM manuals focused on the procurement phase, highlighting a post-award gap and presenting a tremendous opportunity to study and document post-award phases. The goal of these Guidebooks was to focus on the following phases:• Alignment;• Design;• Preconstruction Services (CM/GC only);• Construction; and• Project Closeout.The Research Team developed six distinct objectives to accomplish the goal of developing two Guidebooks for D-B and CM/GC contract administration:1. Present the most effective tools for post-award contract administration for D-B and CM/GC projects. 2. Identify tools for different complexities and sizes of D-B and CM/GC projects. 3. Describe effective tools to implement project design and construction quality assurance. 4. Highlight critical elements of pre-award services contracts and procurement documents that address and mitigate risks in post-award contract administration. 5. Identify and contrast different strategies for post-award contract administration of D-B and CM/GC projects. 6. Recommend implementation strategies and training for parties involved in post-award contract administration of D-B and CM/GC projects.