Improving Design Quality by Contractor Involvement: An Empirical Study on Effects

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The article is largely good, the originality of the subject deserves mention and the review of the literature is satisfactory. The methodology implemented is also well thought out. One observation, however: the authors make no mention of BIM (Building Information Modelling) except for a timid hint to “… and four-dimensional 142 computer-aided design” in line 142 on page 4. The results effectively conclude that the involvement of the contractor in the preliminary phases of the design is required, however, how would this involvement be envisioned within the framework of BIM?

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The manuscript “Improving design quality by contractor involvement: an empirical study on effects” is well structured and easy to read.

The literature review focuses on the objectives of the proposed research and includes a good number of articles reviewed, with a mix of older references (the 1990s and early 2000s) and contemporary references (the last ten years).

The research is based on a case study, developed from multiple sources of evidence (analysis of multiple meeting memo issues, drawing issues, and open-ended interviews) and presents robust results, demonstrating the role of the early participation of the contractor in the design process.

The analyzes and conclusions are consistent with the results of the empirical research developed and bring incremental findings to the body of knowledge reviewed.

 

Although the results are limited to the case studied, they allow for discoveries and insight for broader research protocols and future research.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf