Classification of project cost overruns in the construction industry
Cost overruns vary evidently almost in every construction project, but their magnitude from project to project. The cost overruns have hit down the economy and the reputation of many Construction Company and hit down the economy and the reputation of many construction companies around the world. Many project management tools are designed to manage the project's budget. However, cost management is still considered poor, as there are many cost overruns in the construction industry. Thus, this work is aimed at identifying and clustering potential factors of the excess cost of construction projects in accordance with their original groups using a thematic approach. Basically, through a literature review, all the potential factors that could cause cost overruns were carefully analyzed before they were grouped into seven (7) groups of underlying factors, namely: project, contract, client, contractor consultant, workforce and external. Each potential factor was clearly explained with some examples based on Malaysian case studies to illustrate the cost overruns scenario. These findings may help in the future to focus on how to mitigate critical potential cost-overs to reduce or overcome its impact on all involved stakeholders.