REACTIVE DEVALUATION AS A BARRIER AGAINST AMICABLE CONSTRUCTION DISPUTE SETTLEMENT

Author(s):  
Keyao Li ◽  
On Yi Chow ◽  
Sai On Cheung

Disputes are common in construction projects. Protracted unresolved dispute destroys contracting parties' desire to fulfil the project objectives. In this regard, promoting amicable and efficient construction project dispute resolution (CPDR) has been one of the key recommendations of almost every construction industry review. However, disputants' irrational behaviors would derail trajectory to settlement. Notable example of irrational decision is failing to seize settlement option that provides utility to both disputing parties. This can be the result of a deep-rooted psychological barrier called reactive devaluation (RD). RD describes the behavior of habitually devaluing the proposal raised by the counterpart. Disputants would reject a proposal irrespective of the quality and reasonableness of the proposal, just because it is raised by the counterpart. The occurrence of RD in CPDR would block proposal exchanges that are inevitable if a settlement is to be reached. This study aims to examine the application of RD in CPDR. Possible manifestations of RD in CPDR scenario were summarized and a conceptual framework of RD was proposed. Five types of RD were identified: reluctance to change, doubts about counterpart's ability, overconfidence, biased information processing, and mistrust of the counterpart. Furthermore, suggestions to alleviate RD were also discussed.

2019 ◽  
Vol 270 ◽  
pp. 05012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wesam S. Alaloul ◽  
Mohammed W. Hasaniyah ◽  
Bassam A. Tayeh

The construction industry is complex, fragmented, dynamic and involves many parties in an adversarial relationship. This makes disputes almost inevitable in any construction project. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the adopted methodologies in resolving disputes that arise in the construction projects. The paper evaluates and classifies the different methods of disputes resolution. A comparison was conducted between the advantages and disadvantages of each method. The paper distinguishes between the traditional method of disputes resolution; litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods such as arbitration, mediation, med/arb, mini-trial and dispute review board. In conclusion there is no best way to solve all kind of disputes in construction projects, however, a general step by step process of how disputes should be addressed is finally presented.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lekan Damilola Ojo ◽  
Deji Rufus Ogunsemi ◽  
Olusola Ogunsina

Purpose The Nigerian construction industry is bedeviled with poor project performance and outcomes which value management (VM) could address if applied. The application of VM on Nigerian construction projects is very minimal due to certain obstacles, namely, lack of VM experts, paucity of knowledge on the techniques, etc., which inhibits the adoption into the construction industry. Therefore, this study aims to develop a conceptual framework of the adoption of VM on construction projects in a typical developing economy. Design/methodology/approach This study engaged 15 selected VM experts in two rounds of Delphi survey to develop a conceptual framework of VM adoption. The method of data analysis includes mean score, standard deviation, Kendall’s coefficient of concordance, chi-square (χ2) test, interrater agreement analysis and significant level analysis. The developed conceptual framework was sent to a team of local and international VM experts for validation. Findings This study reveals that the adoption of VM requires the collective effort of relevant stakeholders in the construction industry. The framework developed presents individual and collective activities to be undertaken by the stakeholders. The activities include training, legislation, government-funded research, etc. Thus, the adoption of innovative management methodology like VM requires the collaboration of academics, construction professional bodies and government parastatals. This will assist in the judicious use of limited construction resources and boost the relevance of the Nigerian construction industry among developing nations and in the global construction market. Originality/value This study used the opinions of few construction professionals that can be regarded as VM experts in Nigeria, as against engaging a pool of construction professionals who may not be knowledgeable in VM process. Engaging the few VM experts in the Nigerian construction industry is important to have a valid basis for drawing conclusion, as large questionnaire survey could be possibly filled by inexperienced or unqualified respondents if stringent criteria are not considered at the outset of this study.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 177
Author(s):  
Seng Hansen ◽  
Susy F Rostiyanti ◽  
Rizaldi Rizaldi ◽  
Clara Andjarwati

The COVID-19 outbreak began at the end of 2019, and has evolved to a pandemic threatening various industries’ sustainability. Decisive actions have been taken to tackle the pandemic’s spread, however, various impacts continue to be felt by many industries, including the construction industry. This paper therefore focuses on the COVID-19 outbreak’s impact on Quantity Surveyors’ (QS) construction projects and activities, as a key profession in the industry. A mixed method approach, questionnaire survey followed by expert interviews, was adopted. Subsequently, 199 valid responses for analysis were obtained from the questionnaire distribution, using descriptive statistics and Significance Index. Furthermore, qualitative data were acquired through semi-structured interviews with five experts, and analyzed using a structured thematic analysis. According to the results, 56.78% of respondents experienced project slowdowns, 13.57% experienced project suspensions or terminations, and 12.56% experienced cost overruns. Most respondents acknowledged the pandemic had present changes to projects (84.92%), in the form of changes in organization structure, work culture, technological application, and project objectives. Meanwhile, the Significance Index has successfully established an 11-factors ranking, regarding the pandemic’s impact on QS activities, with impact on the overall project completion as the most profound impact followed by impacts on project scheduling, supply chain, tendering, cost controlling, and claim management. This study’s qualitative and quantitative findings tend to be in accordance, thus, providing some fundamental insights regarding the COVID-19 outbreak’s impact on the construction industry, including direct impacts on project sustainability, technology adoption, and project resiliency issues. In addition, this study also contributes to scientific knowledge by discussing the issues and trends of work culture changes in QS professional activities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-127
Author(s):  
Berenger Yembi Renault ◽  
Justus Ngala Agumba ◽  
Nazeem Ansary

The quest for delivering successful construction projects has urged South African small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to adopt risk management in their projects. However, it has been evinced that SMEs projects in South Africa especially in the Gauteng province have encountered poor performances. Thus, this article determines core risk management factors influencing project outcome of SMEs. A deductive approach was embraced using a questionnaire. The data were collected from 181 conveniently sampled respondents in Gauteng, graded from Grade 1 to 6 of the CIDB (Construction Industry Development Board) grading system. The Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 23 was used to analyse the data by computing exploratory factor analysis and multiple regression analysis. It was revealed that SMEs performance outcome is influenced by eight risk management factors. The influential factors are organisational environment, defining project objectives, resource requirements, risk measurement, risk identification, risk assessment, risk response and action planning and monitoring, review and continuous improvement. The risk management factors established in this article are reliable and valid in projects undertaken by SMEs in the South African construction industry and the findings can serve as a guideline for contractors to achieve success in this context. The study may be repeated in other countries globally, however, it cannot be generalised due to the restrictions pertaining to the geographical area.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Osama ◽  
Aly Sherif ◽  
Mohamed Badawy

Purpose This paper aims to enlighten the importance of the risk management process which is considered as a major procedure to effectively handle the potential inherent risks in the construction industry. However, most traditional risk analysis techniques are based on theories that deal with each risk factor as an independent, which does not take into consideration the causal relationships between risk factors. Design/methodology/approach This study aspires to identify the overall risk of the administrative construction projects in Egypt and to recognize the most influencing risk factors through the project life cycle by using Bayesian belief networks (BBN). Through a review of the literature, 27 risk factors were identified and categorized as the most common risk factors in the construction industry. A structured questionnaire was performed to estimate the probability and severity of these risks. Through site visits and interviews with experts in the construction field, 200 valid questionnaires were collected. A risk analysis model was developed using BBNs, then the applicability of this model was verified using a case study in Egypt. Findings However, the outcome showed that critical risks that manipulate administrative construction projects in Egypt were corruption and bribery, contractor financial difficulties, force majeure, damage to the structure and defective material installation. Practical implications The proposed study presents the possibilities available to the project parties to obtain a better forecast of the project objectives, including the project duration, total project cost and the target quality by examining the causal relationships between project risks and project objectives. Originality/value This study aspires to identify the overall risk of the administrative construction projects in Egypt and to recognize the most influencing risk factors through the project life cycle by using BBNs.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 03010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina Zaychenko ◽  
Alexandra Borremans ◽  
Svetlana Gutman

The article describes the concept and types of administrative barriers encountered in various areas of the enterprise. The particularities of the Russian high-rise construction industry are described and a comparative analysis of administrative barriers in this sector is performed. The main stages and administrative procedures when the developers implement investment and construction projects in the field of high-rise construction are determined. The regulatory and legal framework for the implementation of investment and project activities in the high-rise construction industry has been studied and conclusions have been drawn on its low level of precision in the issue of the formation of competitive and efficient high-rise construction markets. The average number of administrative procedures for the implementation of the investment and construction project in the field of high-rise construction is determined. The factors preventing the reduction of administrative barriers in the high-rise construction industry are revealed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
José I. Ortiz ◽  
Eugenio Pellicer ◽  
Keith R. Molenaar

This research describes the managerial approaches that contractors follow to determine different types of contingencies in construction project management. Two large Spanish general contractors were selected for an in-depth analysis. Interviews and surveys were conducted with six additional companies to explore the external validity of the findings. Managers constrain time and cost buffers through project objectives, applying heuristics to determine inventory buffers. The management of capacity buffers is entrusted to subcontractors. The contractors take advantage of scope and quality buffers to meet project objectives but rarely share these buffers with the owner, unless the owner is an internal client.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benti Gadisa ◽  
Hong Zhou

PurposeIt is well recognized that the construction industry is characterised by inefficient and ineffective service delivery due to various causative factors. Thus this study aims to examine the influential factors affecting public construction project performance in Ethiopia to improve the industry's service delivery.Design/methodology/approachFrom the extensive literature reviewed, 58 potential factors affecting construction project performance have been compiled. Based on the evidence accumulated, the conceptual model of this paper has been developed. By using survey questionnaires, valuable data were collected from the construction industry professionals in Ethiopia; analysed and interpreted with the use of both SPSS and AMOS software.FindingsIt is concluded that failure factors related to the “performance” of the contractor, the “capability” of the owner, the “project design-procurement process,” and project contract management can significantly contribute to the poor performance of public construction projects in Ethiopia. Ten key factors include inadequate contractor capacity, weak project site management and supervision, weak project management skills and capabilities of the owner, additional work orders, delayed payment, lack of comprehensive project plans between parties and incomplete project design, rising material prices, ineffective project schedules, and cost management, rising market prices and devaluation of the currency.Research limitations/implicationsThe scope of this study confined to public projects in Ethiopia. It suggests that further research needs to consider public and private construction from a comprehensive perspective in the developing countries.Practical implicationsIt provides practitioners with information and guidance on the factors that affect the performance of construction projects.Originality/valueIt provides inclusive evidence related to many factors that affect the performance of public construction projects.


2019 ◽  
Vol 277 ◽  
pp. 03013
Author(s):  
Noraziah Mohammad ◽  
Zabidi Hamzah

Variation order refers to any changes from the scope, plan, specification or contract document in the construction project. This changes of work is a common problem in construction projects in Malaysia. It is inevitable in any construction project and this problem can become more serious when variation order causes work progress to be impaired as a results it increased the construction time and cost that affects the construction industry in Malaysia. This paper critically review the causes of variation order in the construction industry on the double-storey terrace housing project in Malaysia. The discussions began with the construction industry in Malaysia and then related parties involved in the construction industry. The extensive local and abroad literature review on the definitions of variation order and analysis of past studies conducted on variation order and the previous study of the prediction model of variation. The extensive literature on variation order in the construction of building project may help to improve the performance in term of time, cost and quality of the construction of building projects in Malaysia.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 282-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michał Tomczak

AbstractOne of the key problems in managing the realization of a construction project is the selection of appropriate working crews and coordinating their activities in a way that ensures the highest degree of implementation of defined goals (minimizing the project duration and/or reducing downtime and related costs). Most of the existing methods of work harmonization used in construction industry allow obtaining the desired results only in relation to the organization of the processes realization in repetitive linear projects. In case of realization of non-linear construction objects or construction units, it is usually necessary to choose between the reduction of the project implementation time and maintaining the continuity of crews work on the units. It was found that there is a lack in the literature of developed method enabling harmonization of crews’ work, while minimizing the downtime at work and the duration of the entire project taking into account additional constraints, e.g. the need to not exceed the deadlines for the realization of the project stages.The article presents the concept of a multi-criteria optimization method of harmonizing the execution of non-linear processes of a multi-unit construction project in deterministic conditions. It will enable the reduction of realization time and downtimes in work, taking into account the preferences of the decision maker regarding the relevance of the optimization criteria. A mathematical model for optimizing the selection of crews and order of completion of units in multi-unit construction projects was also developed. In order to present the possibility of usage of the developed concept, an example of the optimal selection of crews and their work schedule was solved and presented. The proposed method may allow for better use of the existing production potential of construction enterprises and ensure synchronization of the crews employed during the work, especially in the case of difficulties in acquiring qualified staff in construction industry.


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