SLIIT International Conference on Engineering and Technology [SICET]
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SLIIT International Conference on Engineering and Technology is organized by the Faculty of Engineering. SICET welcomes submissions from various disciplines, focusing on emerging trends in Engineering, Technology, and Applied and Natural Sciences. The conference will encompass research in theory, practical applications, and education. This event offers a unique platform for academics, student researchers, and industry practitioners to present innovative ideas and engage with professionals from diverse engineering fields
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Publication Embargo Impact of Pandemic on Finances of SMEs in Sri Lankan Construction Industry(SLIIT, Faculty of Engineering, 2024-10) Abeysiria, O; Allis, C; Lokuge, AThis study focuses on the impact of the pandemic on the financial aspects of Sri Lankan construction SMEs. The pandemic has significantly affected economies globally. Sri Lanka, a country whose economy mainly consists of SMEs, has faced adverse effects due to the preventive measures implemented to control the spread of the disease. Nearly 90% of registered construction firms in Sri Lanka belong to the SME category. Financial challenges or difficulties were encountered by construction SMEs even before the pandemic impacted Sri Lanka. Currently, most of the Sri Lankan construction SMEs are on the brink of bankruptcy, mainly due to the financial challenges brought about by the pandemic. This study comprises primary data produced from semi-structured interviews and secondary sources of data from the literature review. It has identified the financial challenges undergone by construction SMEs in usual manners, including limited access to bank credit facilities, lack of capital of the contractor, and lack of cash flow due to delayed payments, among others. Principally, there were several financial challenges created due to the pandemic, including barriers in obtaining credit facilities from suppliers, and the challenges that were usually present have intensified with the effects of the ongoing pandemic. In the latter part of this study, strategies that Sri Lankan construction SMEs have executed to survive in the industry are pointed out. Most SME contractors in Sri Lanka do not have positive perspectives on staying in the industry for the long term, given the financial challenges they have encountered with the current pandemic.Publication Open Access Mitigation Practices for Frequent Accidents in High Rise Building Construction(SLIIT, 2022-02-11) Delpachitra, Y; Allis, CHigh-rise building construction accidents are observed within the construction industry in Sri Lanka. These accidents represent a significant loss for the construction industry in terms of lives, cost, time, and the reputation of the construction company. To overcome those losses, this research aimed to develop the framework as guidance to mitigate frequently happening accidents in high-rise building construction in Sri Lanka. It was achieved by three main objectives, identify the frequent accidents in high-rise building construction, investigate the causes of frequent accidents happen and analyze the strategies to minimize them. The first two objectives were completed by literature review, and the third objective was completed by data collection while developing the second objective. The data collection was done through semi-structured interviews with 12 professionals who work as health and safety officers, project managers, engineers, and quantity surveyors in high-rise building construction. Only those who work in the Colombo area were considered here as a limitation. Under the first objective, scaffolding accidents, struck by falling objects, plant, and machinery accidents, falling from a height, and fire accidents were identified as frequent accidents in high rise building construction, and causes were listed below the human factors, material, and equipment factors, environmental Factors, safety technology factors, and management failures as the second objective. Essentially risk assessment, developing the site conditions, conducting training programs establishing safety system with the procedure control system, and establishing penalty procedure were the discoveries of the third objective, and those are categorized separately in the pre-construction stage and post-construction stage. According to all these findings, the framework was developed to identified relevant mitigation practices for the causes of high-rise building construction accidents, and this research recommended for government to introduce new regulations for safety while strictly following up the safety system of the high-rise building construction sites to reduce the accidents.Publication Open Access Fire Safety Performance of High-rise buildings in Sri Lanka(SLIIT, 2022-02-11) Perera, H. D. N. L; Allis, CFire safety is the most critical aspect of high-rise building safety. As human life is essential than other aspects, analysis of a reliable building fire safety performance is more critical than ever. Whenever an actual fire incident occurs, the active firefighting systems in the building would be activated first. As a result, it is necessary to identify the operation of active firefighting systems as well as proper service and maintenance of the systems. The research problem was identified as, people tend to fulfill the minimum fire safety requirements imposed by regulations. Therefore, the condition of fire safety performance in most highrise buildings are very poor. The aim of this research is to identify suggestions to improve the fire safety performance in high-rise buildings in Sri Lanka. Consequently, three objectives have been established to fulfill the research aim. In the first objective, building design features, human behaviors, equipment failures, and underperformance of fire regulations are highlighted as contributing factors to building fire events. The second objective evaluates fire safety precautions implemented in high-rise buildings, such as alarm activation, communication and evacuation procedures, service and maintenance periods of live fire systems, and fire evacuation drills. In the third objective, suggestions to improve the fire safety performance in high-rise buildings are recognized as, maintaining proper coordination between the fire brigade and building fire maintenance department at all times. Since the interpretivism philosophy used in this inductive qualitative research, the data was collected through conducting ten interviews with professionals who are primarily engaged with achieving reliable fire safety performance in high-rise buildings. In conclusion, recommendations such as, establish a coordination center to maintain proper coordination with fire brigade, air force and building maintenance staff and introduce a trained air force squad with helicopters and firefighting equipments can be implemented in Sri Lankan high-rise buildings