Researcher Highlights
Building Construction Capabilities

Professor Peter Davis took up the role of Chair of Construction Management in early 2014. He has equal long-term experience in industry and academic research and teaching. 

Davis' industry experience provides a leading perspective on construction management associated with large economic and financial infrastructure projects, whilst his academic career that augments this extensive experience has been divided between University leadership roles juxtaposed with teaching construction/project management teaching and collaborative research.

Davis remains closely involved with collaborative industry led research within the School of Architecture and Built Environment at the University of Newcastle focussing on advanced safety, productivity and excellence research in construction management. For example Davis is currently leading a small team to review and develop a model of psychological contracts and safety in construction. They contend that using measures of psychological contract, or the personal deal they will identify and catalogue explicit benefits as they arise from existing constructions safety activities, thereby creating tangible benefit over time to construction safety within projects and the wider construction industry. This project is supported by one of the joint funders of the Chair of Construction Management position that Davis occupies. In another research project Davis is working with the Australian Institute of Building to create taxonomy of construction organisation capabilities under an umbrella of terms including innovation, value for money and productivity. These will be catalogued using documents collected over the past 5 years providing a base line from which to generate new organisational and sector learning and advancement.

Davis sees his role as one of external engagement at a University and Community level. New research projects will engage other disciplines within the University for example engineering, business and law. The outward-looking focus of Davis will, through 2015 and beyond, build strong relationships between the construction management discipline and key industry players in New South Wales and International partners with intent to deliver practical research-founded benefit to the industry.

Davis has published over 100 scholarly research papers in an array of international journals and conference proceedings and has co-authored several book chapters in important construction industry reference books. Prof Davis has received several collaborative research grants and managed extensive research programs; he is currently collaborating with RMIT on an Office of Learning and Teaching grant.

The Chair of Construction Management is jointly funded by two of Australia's leading construction companies - Lend Lease and John Holland – together with the University.