Vít Hromádka

The paper addresses the issue of quality management in large-scale infrastructure projects, with a specific focus on tunnel construction, where technical complexity and geotechnical risks represent critical factors. The primary objective of this work is to analyze modern approaches to quality management and to propose an effective control process, which is subsequently validated through a case study of the Norwegian highway tunnel. The study examines the development and application of an Inspection and Test Plan in compliance with strict Norwegian legislation and standards, particularly N500 and R761. Within the context of the Drill and Blast technological method, three standardized production cycles are defined—standard, water-control, and post-injection—enabling systematic and repeatable inspections. Special emphasis is placed on the digitalization of processes through a Common Data Environment and the Novade software application, which facilitates real-time data collection, transparent protocol approval, and the effective mitigation of human-error risks. The case study defines a process model for quality management in a CDE environment and, based on workflow mapping, demonstrates the potential of digitalization to accelerate approval processes, improve data traceability, and eliminate human errors during cyclic tunnel construction. The insights gained from Norwegian practice, which emphasizes detailed process specifications, can serve as significant inspiration for the modernization of quality management systems.

This paper explores the implementation of the Best Value Approach in public procurement, particularly in construction projects, with a focus on its application at Brno University of Technology. This study addresses the need for qualitative evaluation criteria in supplier selection to improve project outcomes and mitigate risks. The key problem addressed in this paper is the use of qualitative methods in selecting suitable contractors for public contracts. As the main methods, a descriptive mixed-methods study that includes a narrative overview and two descriptive cross-sectional surveys were adopted. Drawing on theoretical foundations such as Information Measurement Theory and the Kashiwagi Solution Model, this paper outlines the principles and processes of BVA, including its emphasis on transparency, expert-driven decision-making, and risk management. The results show that BVA enhances procurement quality by reducing reliance on lowest-price criteria, encouraging realistic pricing, and fostering deeper bidder engagement. The surveys reveal growing interest in qualitative methods but also highlight limited awareness and experience with BVA in the Czech Republic. Pilot projects confirmed the method’s effectiveness and informed procedural refinements. This paper concludes that successful BVA implementation requires a paradigm shift, leadership support, education, and continuous improvement. BVA principles offer tools for cultivating transparency, efficiency, and quality in public procurement.

The article presents a methodology for the management of repairs to property damaged by a disaster. The article describes the procedure for the development of an organizational layout, along with planning and managing activities leading to the restoration of damaged property. Last but not least, the article deals with financial planning. The methodology presented was applied to a case study that was conducted in the village of Hrušky, South Moravian region, the Czech Republic, which was hit by a tornado in 2021. More than three years have passed since this tragedy, and repairs to the village’s property are still planned to continue until the middle of 2025. Qualitative approaches to data collection and evaluation were used for data collection, especially in-depth interviews related to the given issue. The mayor of the village, the village management, and representatives of construction companies were involved in the in-depth interviews. Another important source of data was the project documentation and the municipality’s accounting records. The main outputs include a list of construction works, which served as a basis for the financial damages; the municipality’s participation in state subsidy programs for the financing of the restoration; and, last but not least, a list of works that was used to create the project documentation for the reconstruction of individual buildings. Other outputs of the work include a structural plan, which has been developed for the purposes of planning and managing activities leading to the restoration of the damaged area, and a financial plan, which contains information on expenses and funding sources. The key contribution of the paper is a methodical procedure for the identification, the design, and the execution of crucial activities connected with the restoration of the territory after a disaster. The methodological procedure is designed considering the experience associated with a specific disaster, namely, a tornado in the southeastern part of the Czech Republic, which served as the basis for this case study.

This contribution is focused on the presentation of individual research results aimed at evaluating the socio-economic impacts associated with increasing the safety and reliability of the railway transport route. The goal of the research is to propose and subsequently verify an original approach for assessing the impact of the implementation of investment projects, including measures aimed at increasing the safety and reliability of railway transport routes, on the resulting number of occurrences that happen on the railway in the Czech Republic. The proposed procedure is based on several key documents. In addition to already existing national methodologies, these are mainly the database of occurrences managed by the Railway Administration of the Czech Republic, including approximately 1000 occurrences for each year of the evaluated period (2009–2018), and information on 33 projects on the railway transport route, where the effects of their implementation on the overall frequency of occurrences are examined events in the subject location. The output of the research is a methodical approach for assessing the impact of the implementation of projects aimed at increasing the safety and reliability of the railway transport route. We perceive the impact on the occurrences from the point of view of the frequency of their occurrence and from the point of view of the socio-economic impacts that are achieved as a result of the implementation of the projects. From the point of view of the frequency of occurrence, a reduction in its value of 4.63% was found. As part of the research, the impact on the occurrence of extraordinary events is also assessed in the context of the scope of the railway transport route, both with regard to the length of the reconstructed track and also with regard to traffic performance.

This article focuses on the issue of the urban development of cities and their residential development from the perspective of spatial planning. Spatial planning fundamentally determines what kind of construction is feasible in cities. However, spatial plans often do not consider spatial limits, which often go against the proposed ways of using the given sites, or make their use fundamentally difficult, for example, by disproportionately increasing of the costs of residential construction, when it is necessary to remediate old burdens in the defined locality. The subject of the presented research was to examine the possibility of establishing an Index of Residential Development (IoRD), which evaluates the possibilities of residential development in the territory of urban agglomerations. The aim of the research, in the form of establishing of an Index of Residential Development (IoRD), was to assess how it is possible to consider spatial limits associated with residential construction in urban intravilanes in order to identify the objectives of further spatial development planned by cities. Subsequently, the partial aim of the research was also to create a usable tool for support in the decision making of development organizations on the location of their project in a given space. Based on the results of the research, it was deduced that the limits associated with the residential development in intravilanes based on the IoRD could be considered. Clear links were also shown between the limits in the territory and the impaired possibility of construction in cities with zoning plans, which did not respond to the limits in the territory by adding other design zones, or completely ignored them. Although the methodology for determining of the Index of Residential Development (IoRD) was verified due to the availability of data in the case study carried out in the Czech Republic city of Brno, the methodology is applicable to any urban agglomeration even outside the Czech Republic when fulfilling the conditions defined in the article.

This article focuses on the issue of urban development of cities and their residential development from the perspective of spatial planning. Spatial planning fundamentally determines, what kind of construction is feasible in cities. However, spatial plans often do not consider spatial limits, which often go against the proposed ways of using of the given sites, or make their use fundamentally difficult, for example by disproportionately increasing of the costs of residential construction, when it is necessary to remediate old burdens in the defined locality. The subject of the presented research was to examine the possibility of establishing an Index of Residential Development (IoRD), which evaluates the possibilities of residential development in the territory of urban agglomerations. The aim of the research, in the form of establishing of an Index of Residential Development (IoRD), was to assess, how it is possible to consider spatial limits associated with residential construction in urban intravilanes in order to identify the objectives of further spatial development planned by cities. Subsequently, the partial aim of the research was also to create a usable tool for support in the decision making of development organizations on the location of their project in a given space. Based on the results of the research, it was deduced that the limits associated with the residential development in intravilanes based on the IoRD could be considered. Clear links were also shown between the limits in the territory and the impaired possibility of construction in cities with zoning plans, which did not respond to the limits in the territory by adding other design zones, or completely ignored them. Although the methodology for determining of the Index of Residential Development (IoRD) was verified due to the availability of data in the case study carried out in the Czech Republic – the city of Brno, the methodology is applicable to any urban agglomeration even outside the Czech Republic when fulfilling the conditions defined in the article.

This contribution is focused on the issue of the application of energy-saving measures in the construction of new residential properties and their optimal combinations with regard to the life-cycle costs of these buildings. The aim of the research is to create a methodological basis for considering the economic and financial impacts of various combinations of energy-saving measures, aiming at the optimization of these measures and the sustainability of developer projects. The research methodology is based on the principle of building life-cycle costs, which serve as a key criterion for the process of choosing the optimal combination of energy-saving measures and for comparing a conventional solution with an innovative solution including the application of energy-saving measures. The result of the research is the methodological approach for the design of technologically proven combinations of energy-saving measures, which will lead to optimization of the life-cycle costs with regard to the reference variant represented by a conventional solution. This approach is subsequently verified on three case studies of residential properties with a proposal for the optimal combination of energy-saving measures in the form of photovoltaic panels and a water-air heat pump. The added value of the paper consists of the possibility of optimizing the building construction project from the point of view of energy-saving measures already in the design phase.

This study focuses on the issue of the best value approach (BVA) method in the public procurement and on the European experience with the implementation of the BVA method, with a focus on the use of this method in the Czech Republic. The key topic here is the effort to manage the risks of the construction project already at the stage of preparation and tender for suppliers of construction works or services, namely, for public contracts evaluated through the BVA. The findings show that public procurement tenderers often misunderstand the concept of project risk as managerial, temporal, economic, or qualitative risk. Case studies show reserves and possibilities for improvement. The goal of the study is to provide a framework for understanding and explaining the principles and methods of evaluating a qualitative criterion in the form of the risk assessment plan.

Investment projects aimed at brownfield revitalization have significant potential for the economic development of the area where they are located. Such a project usually removes old environmental burdens or deals with a problem with non-functional or dilapidated buildings. However, an appropriately set investment plan which respects internal territorial economic connections as well as the character of surrounding environment can provide solutions to other regional problems or implement economically beneficial activities both in the commercial and public sectors. Previous research identified and analysed in detail several brownfield revitalization case studies of various characteristics. The purpose of the presented paper is to synthesize the obtained information on the economic evaluation of individual brownfield types in order to determine a common platform for the evaluation of the economic efficiency of investment revitalization projects. The output of the paper presents a general overview of key input data for economic analysis including a proposal of its determination and evaluation resulting in a development of a key method for its implementation.

The issue of assessing socio-economic impacts represent a key element of the decisionmaking process on the implementation of major public investment projects. The correctness of the decision depends both on the chosen principle of the socio-economic analysis and the input data. The presented article focuses on updating selected input values for the socio-economic assessment of railway infrastructure projects. Specifically, the simplified values of the estimated rail accidents costs. Accident costs are used for considering the change in the safety. At present, these values, which are also stated in the national methodological resources, are based on statistical data of the entire European Union and thus do not reflect the possible national specifics of projects implemented in the territory of individual Member States. The principle of updating values is from a methodological point of view based on the original calculation principles, however, involves a set of information items on the occurrences that emerged in the past in a specific area. The output of the article is a set of methodological steps considering national conditions when determining the average accident costs, subsequently verified on a case study of the railway network in the Czech Republic. The outputs of the presented article directly build on the results of the research project in which the team of article authors has been involved. The research results refer to different values of accident costs uniformly determined for the entire European Union territory and those determined individually for the conditions of the railway infrastructure in the Czech Republic.