Abstract:
Earthquakes have influenced New Zealand over the years, and mostly they caused severe damages to the economy of the impacted regions, especially in the construction sector. The construction industry has introduced several methods and technologies to reduce the damage and the associated repair costs. One type of these technologies is seismic resistant technologies. However the slow process of adoption of these new technologies has become a significant issue. This study attempts to address a series of interrelated issues around the low process of adoption of new seismic-resistant technologies in the New Zealand construction industry.
In the literature review, the factors that influence the adoption of the new technologies were identified. These factors were categorised into four main groups, cost, market, organisation and project-related factors. Based on the identified factors, an online questionnaire survey was designed and released to the construction industry experts in New Zealand. The results of the survey, revealed the important factors facilitating the adoption of seismic-resistant technologies in the industry.
Another round of online questionnaire survey was conducted to explore the roles of the identified factors in enabling or preventing the process of adoption.
The results were cross-checked by conducting expert interviews where the effects of enabler and barrier factors were investigated from the perspective of developers and users of the seismic-resistant technologies. The interviews involved finding their challenges in relation to cost, project, organisation and market (the findings from survey one) when implemented these new technologies. They were also requested to provide their views about the impact of enabler and barrier factors on the process of adoption (the findings from survey two). Finally, they ranked
their choice of the top three enabler and barrier factors that influence the process of adoption to new seismic-resistant technologies.
The findings put the expertise of consultants in using new technology, experience with the new technology and structural engineer's recommendation as the most influential enabler factors in the adoption process. Also, the cost of new technology, the client resistance to change and complicated design and construction were indicated as the top influential barriers of adoption to seismic-resistant technologies in New Zealand.
In the final part of this research, the recommendations and suggestions that make new technology adoption more straightforward related to users, policy and regulations, products, and design were suggested.
The findings of this research can help to improve and develop a path to facilitate the uptake of new seismic-proofing technologies in earthquake-prone countries.