Landslides pose serious threats to life, traffic, engineering structures, facilities, and environment. Landslides sometimes result in serious inconvenience to the economic and social activities of people. Many factors contribute to the occurrence of landslides and rock falls that commonly include geological, physical, chemical, hydrological, seismic, and biological ones as well as human activities. Prevention of landslides and mitigation measures heavily depend on the data provided by site investigations, laboratory testing, visual inspection, and instrumentation measurements.

Most of the landslides that occurred in Jordan in the last few decades at the sites of major engineering projects could have been averted had adequate site investigations been conducted.1 The causes and the prevailing geological and geotechnical conditions at some of these landslides areas are discussed with the correction and mitigation measures being considered or carried out. The paper discusses the different options for dealing with the landslide hazards and suggests construction regulations for the newly developed areas based on the hazard intensity, cost of treatment, and the resilience of the community. The paper emphasizes the important role of landslide hazard zoning maps, monitoring and warning systems, and the preparedness measures in avoiding or alleviating the consequences of landslides hazards. Risk analysis and guidelines regarding the reconstruction works of the areas affected or under the threat of potential landslides as well as their impact on people and environment are discussed. The proper selection of the team (engineers, geologists, planners. …etc.) commissioned to carry out these works is emphasized.

Reconstruction of damaged structures and facilities requires proper estimation of the costs and assessment of the potential hazards, natural or otherwise, to which these structures and facilities might ever be subjected in their entire design life. Reconstruction of these structures and facilities at other safer sites is an alternative that should be carefully considered. The reconstruction process provides opportunities to construct structures and facilities better than the damaged ones .Yet, the reconstruction process could have adverse impact on the environment and people and could seriously interfere with their economic and social activities especially if these structures and facilities are constructed at sites far from their original ones. The decision concerning the development activities in the new areas mainly depends on three factors, namely: the hazard intensity, cost of treatment, and the resilience of the community. Landslides hazard intensity mainly depends on the probability of their occurrence, their volume, speed of displacement, and their consequences. The resilience of the community depends on its capacity of self management and recovery and the quality of the preparedness measures. Based on the level of the above three factors rated as L (Low), M (Moderate), and H (High) the new areas considered for development and construction activities could be classified into the following four groups (Table1): 1- Prohibitive areas where no construction activities are allowed. 2- Restricted areas where construction activities are only allowed under the condition of extreme necessity and after intensive investigations and proper precautionary measures. 3- Regulated areas where construction activities are allowed after conducting adequate investigations and taking defensive measures against the potential landslide hazards. 4- Allowed areas where construction activities are allowed without restrictions due to the high level of safety against landslide hazards.

In Jordan and most developing countries, the construction industry faces problems such as chronic resource shortages, general situation of socioeconomic stress, institutional weaknesses and a general inability to deal with key issues. There is also evidence that the problems have become greater in extent and severity in recent years. Building Information Modelling (BIM) has emerged as a potential solution to these problems and to improve the performance of the construction industry. Construction procurement routes currently applied in Jordan predate the use of life-cycle BIM for the delivery of construction projects. To date, little has been done to align the various procurement routes used in delivering buildings with the novel opportunities offered via BIM. This paper is a part of an on-going research project to determine whether procurement approaches influence the ability to use BIM approach to deliver sustainable buildings in Jordan

There are 139 middle and low income economies referred to as developing countries according to World Bank (World Bank, 2016). Jordan as a developing country faces a variety of sustainable challenges shared by other developing countries especially in the Middle East such as increasing level of pollution and energy concerns (Ali and Al Nsairat 2009), Jordan is also considered as one of the world‟s most water-stressed countries (Kisbi, 2011). These issues and other issues pertaining to global warming and carbon emissions make sustainability a priority area of concern (Sheth, 2011) cited in (Mohammad, 2016). Sustainable development is an ambiguous concept, with a meaning that is complex and contested (Carter, 2007). It has been defined, interpreted, or used in a variety of ways by different groups (planning, academia, business or environmental policy) to suit their own goals (Redclift, 2005). The most frequently quoted definition is from the Brundtland Report (WCED, 1987): “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Sustainable built environment‟ or „sustainable construction‟ is a subset of sustainable development that integrates effectively low-energy design materials whilst maintaining ecological diversity (Edwards, 1998). Sustainable construction is defined as “the creation and management of a healthy built environment based on resource efficient and ecological principles” (Kibert, 2008). Jordan suffers from rapid urbanization as approximately 80% of the general population resides in urban areas and 70% of its population lives within 30 km of the capital, Amman (Kisbi 2011). Du Plessis (2007) suggests that an urgency action should be taken to ensure that the high volume of construction that will be undertaken in the developing countries in the process of urbanization is done in ways that are „socially and ecologically responsible‟. However, there are numerous challenges to the introduction of more sustainable technologies and practices in these countries (Ofori, 2007). Technological innovation plays a key role in both short and long-term economic, societal and environmental sustainability. In recent years, BIM has been considered as one of the most effective technological and organizational innovation in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry (Succar, 2015) cited in (Soltani, 2016). It can assess design and deliver sustainable building through for example, its ability to virtually construct buildings prior to construction phase which effectively assesses their constructability and resolves any uncertainties during the process that could affect building sustainability (Green Building Development in Jordan, 2013). This can lead to better and more efficient designs that optimize energy usage, limit wasted resources, and promote passive design strategies (Eastman & Liston, 2008). On the other hand, BIM is considered as a collaborative platform; thus, getting the maximum benefit from its implementation requires a collaborative environment between all disciplines. Different procurement (contractual arrangement) routes can achieve different collaboration levels by establishing the relationships between the involved parties and tasks on buildings‟ life cycles (Laishram, n.d.). The issue with the above is that, to date, procurement types were not chosen on their ability to deliver collaborative environments; therefore, BIM has been used in a relatively isolated way, with limited collaboration between designers and other professionals within the projects (Stirton & tree, 2015). This paper is part of an on-going research project to determine whether procurement approaches influence the ability to use BIM techniques to deliver sustainable buildings in Jordan

Current studies show that most project procurement or delivery methods in Jordan are based on the traditional approach. This traditional construction procurement method has been widely criticized for its fragmented approach to project delivery and its failure to form effective teams. Consequently, construction projects experience a number of problems and issues, such as reworks, time delay, rising costs, lack of communication and coordination, and wastages. BIM is seen as an innovative design process that will help solving issues that may arise in delivering sustainable buildings. Procurement routes or delivery methods are considered in the literature review to be one of the critical actions to fully implement BIM and gain its benefits. However, to date, little has been done to align the various contractual procurement methods in Jordan with the novel opportunities offered via BIM

Buildings and structures are getting old which is often accompanied by sever condition degradation and hence they need assessment and rehabilitation. Furthermore, changes and update of National Building Codes including provisions for earthquake resistant design necessitate upgrading or retrofitting of unqualified structures, especially buildings, taking in account the latest seismic provisions, theories and methods. In structural sense assessment is a process to determine how reliable the existing structure is able to carry current and future loads and to fulfill its task for a given time period while rehabilitation is an operation to bring a structure to specified safety and performance level. There are a number of approaches and techniques that are used worldwide in the assessment and rehabilitation practices to examine and evaluate different types of structures and in particular concrete and masonry buildings. Rehabilitation of structures is getting more attention and demand in Jordan and other countries. The main objective of this paper is to present an overview of the current practices in assessment and rehabilitation of existing buildings/structures in Jordan. The paper will focus on explaining the comprehensive methodology/procedure for structural assessment then documenting the locally applied traditional strengthening/ repair techniques and finally showing the more sophisticated systems and techniques, particularly Fiber Reinforced Polymers “FRP” and High Performance Concrete “HPC” , now being extensively introduced in Jordanian rehabilitation practices amongst which some can be adapted to accommodate preservation requirements for historical and ancient buildings as well.

Many reinforced concrete and masonry buildings in Jordan, like other countries, are getting old which is often accompanied by sever condition degradation due to several structural and/or environmental factors and hence they need rehabilitation. Structural assessment can be initiated, when there has been a change in resistance, such as structural deterioration due to time-depending processes (e.g. corrosion and fatigue - spalling, cracking, and degraded surface conditions are typical indications of deterioration) or structural damage by accidental actions or fires. Also when there will be a change in loading (e.g. the need to support additional floor/ floors or changes of use/ function) or an extension of the design working life. Assessment can also be carried out to analyze the current structural reliability (e.g. for environmental hazards like earthquake or extreme winds).Sometimes, it may be necessary to assess an existing structure after concerns about the correct design and construction arise, including low quality building material or workmanship.