Success of construction projects will be affected by changing law and policy. In construction, where much money is at stake, risks must be calculated very carefully to finish the construction project with success. Nowadays, social impact of buildings, engineering ethics, and, in particular, environmental sustainability become increasingly important topics in construction, driven by current law and policy, especially in the European Union. The aim of the recently started research project is to find out if and how risks resulting from current changes in law and policy, with focus on sustainability, will be considered in construction project management. In the first step, the authors reviewed legal regulations as well as political considerations, and analyzed relevant research literature. The results are summarized in this paper. They can be a basis for a deeper risk analysis and the elaboration of solutions for how to deal with these challenges in construction contract design and project management. During their research, the authors studied relevant current European and German law and policy as well as scientific articles from the databases Web of Sciences and Scopus. The conclusion from the detailed literature analysis is that there is a need for more and deeper research to identify risks for sustainable construction projects resulting from law and policy and for developing strategies to manage them.

Construction law holds significant importance due to its inherent rationale and pervasive presence at every stage of the project in the construction sector. The average value of construction disputes worldwide was USD 42.8 million in 2021. Complying with construction law and regulations plays a pivotal role in the seamless functioning of the sector. That is why construction law skills are vital for engineers. They ensure regulatory compliance, facilitate effective contract management, foster improved communication among stakeholders, and enhance risk mitigation. The substantial and unique nature of this subject makes it challenging to condense into a traditional course format. Despite being structured as a course, effectively conveying the practical aspects of construction contract law to engineers requires a distinct pedagogical approach. The present pilot study aims to rank student preferences for different teaching methods in construction contract law education in India using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). This study contributes to the knowledge base by identifying preferred pedagogical approaches from the students' perspective. Out of nine teaching methods, the lecture method is the highest ranked by Indian students. This research seeks to enhance subject understanding and effectiveness of construction law courses in the country. This can benefit the construction sector by producing engineers who are better equipped to navigate legal complexities.

Construction processes intensively contributes to greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. The resulting climate change affects historic buildings and complicates built heritage preservation. However, there are several actions under way, such as the European Green Deal, to reduce CO2 emissions in construction. Revaluation of existing structures under application of recycled materials and by re-use of available building elements may save resources and thus reduces emission of CO2 in construction industry. This contributes to a more environmentally friendly construction process. Furthermore, re-using of existing building materials or elements may preserve the historical appearance of structures, in the interest of future generations. For production and usage of new building materials and elements, a plethora of legislation and codes needs to be considered. The same applies to re-use of existing building materials and elements which increases the danger for construction defects and thus expensive claims. Thus, beside the advantages, re-using of building materials and elements bears risks to all stakeholders in a construction project. In the interest of avoiding conflicts between the construction contract parties, a legal risk analysis is necessary to support them in decision about the re-use of existing building materials and elements. The authors examined current international, European and German law, codes, and policy dealing with re-use of building materials and elements. Furthermore, they reviewed existing literature about that topic and analyzed relevant court cases of the last twenty years. The conclusion is, that there is a need for a detailed contract specification which kind of existing building elements and materials can be re-used and who takes the responsibility for known or unknown defects under the aspect of liability. The paper provides suggestions under which legal aspects a re-use of building elements may be recommendable and which requirements need to be met.

This study investigates the application of machine learning (ML) models to accurately predict the compressive strength ratio of square and rectangular concrete columns confined with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets. A comprehensive dataset consisting of 333 CFRP-confined concrete columns compiled from 31 independent experimental studies was used. The dataset incorporates geometric properties, unconfined concrete parameters, and CFRP material characteristics as input features. Four predictive models were developed: a standard artificial neural network (ANN), a random forest (RF), an ANN optimized using random-search-based neural architecture search (NAS-ANN), and a Hyperparameter Optimized RF (HO-RF) model. Model performance was evaluated using several statistical metrics, including the R², R, IOA, RMSE, MAE, and IOS. In addition, k-fold cross-validation was employed to further assess the predictive capability and generalization performance of the models. Among all models, the NAS-ANN model consistently outperformed the others, demonstrating superior accuracy and robustness. Furthermore, it surpassed ten widely used empirical models reported in the literature. The NAS-ANN model achieved R² values of 0.9825 during training and 0.9334 during validation, effectively capturing the complex behavior of CFRP-confined concrete columns. The high predictive accuracy of the NAS-ANN model provides a valuable tool for estimating the compressive strength ratio of CFRP-confined concrete columns. Overall, the study highlights the effectiveness of data-driven model optimization for structural engineering applications and provides a reliable approach for predicting the behavior of FRP-confined concrete columns.

The building industry is still one of the sectors with the greatest impact on the global climate. Especially the production of concrete is CO2-intensive. Reuse of construction products in general may save resources and, therefore, reduces CO2 emissions. Besides the benefits of reusing construction elements, this method also bears risks to all stakeholders in a construction project and therefore is still little applied. Based on a survey, authors experienced that one of the major barriers for reusing construction products, and thus for a more sustainable building industry, are legal concerns. Consequently, the authors first searched in literature for risks for construction projects with focus on legal issues. Additionally, they reviewed legal barriers to reuse construction products. After an in-depth literature analysis, the authors identified specific legal concerns playing a major role as barriers for planning and conducting reuse construction projects. Nevertheless, the number of publications available about the topic is still low. Conclusion is that barriers and risks of construction products’ reuse, especially legal concerns, are not yet deeply examined. Especially the assessment of regulatory risks in reuse projects needs more and intensive research. That can be a basis for strategies to detect and assess these risks, as well as recommendations on how to deal with them. Scientific support of construction projects’ stakeholders in risk management may increase the share of construction projects in which construction products will be reused. This would help to reduce CO2 emissions and to make building more sustainable.