Supply Chain Analysis and the Sustainability of Post Disaster Construction

Paper presented at the Building Abroad Conference on procurement of construction and reconstruction projects in the international context. Organised by the IF Research Group, Universite de Montreal, Canada.

Producing buildings call on the expertise of a wide range of people, initially with the design of the building and finally with its construction. This process is becoming increasingly complex and the industry has developed, over time, methods of accommodating this complexity which it has embedded into the management of such projects.

Relationships are set out in well-known contractual forms and the process of design deadlines, deliverables, sourcing, delivery, pre-assembly and final erection continue to be refined with new technologies and working methods

While the interaction between the design and construction aspects of such a process are fascinating, this paper looks at the supply chain management (SCM) associated with the sustainable construction side of this process and more specifically, at the situation of post disaster reconstruction of housing in Aceh following the tsunami of December 26, 2004.

This paper examines the adoption of sustainable practices at all stages of the supply chain and as well as the implications of such practices in post disaster reconstruction. Lessons learnt are given so that a more sustainable response to post disaster reconstruction can evolve and be adopted.