D Chan

A comparative study of causes of time overruns in Hong Kong construction projects

Abstract This paper presents the results of a survey undertaken to determine and evaluate the relative importance of the significant factors causing delays in Hong Kong construction projects. The survey covered 83 previously identified delay factors, which were grouped into eight major categories. The main reasons for delays were analyzed and ranked according to different groups classified on the basis of (a) the role of the parties in the local construction industry (i.e. whether clients, consultants or contractors) and (b) the type of projects. Results indicate that the five principal and common causes of delays are: ‘poor site management and supervision’, ‘unforeseen ground conditions’, ‘low speed of decision making involving all project teams’, ‘client-initiated variations’ and ‘necessary variations of works’. Differing perceptions as to the principal causes delaying projects are observed between Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, the two latter countries being chosen for purposes of comparison with other countries. It is hoped that the significant delay factors identified in this survey will provide a basis for strategies to minimize delays and will also be incorporated into a ‘construction time’ forecasting model for Hong Kong construction projects in the future research programme.

An empirical study of the benefits of construction partnering in Hong Kong

Many construction companies have adopted partnering in their construction projects over the past 10–15 years due to favourable project outcomes achieved. Its use in construction projects has been increasing rapidly as its benefits become more apparent and pervasive. This paper reviews the partnering literature within the construction field and tries to portray the comprehensive picture of benefits for the partnering practice. Through partnering and the active involvement of all key project parties, the project is more likely to be completed within budget, on time, and with the least number of conflicts, claims and work defects. Also, this paper reports upon the findings of a questionnaire survey of partnering benefits in Hong Kong. Seventy‐eight project participants completed a questionnaire to indicate the relative importance of partnering benefits. The perceived benefits were measured and ranked from the perspectives of the client, contractor and consultant for cross‐comparison. The results revealed that ‘Improved relationship amongst project participants’, ‘Improved communication amongst project participants’ and ‘More responsive to the short‐term emergency, changing project or business needs’ were the most significant benefits derived from the use of partnering. More partnering arrangements should be actively introduced into the construction procurement process so that every party can enjoy the full benefits of partnering.

Critical Success Factors for PPPs in Infrastructure Developments: Chinese Perspective

With the rapid growth of the Chinese economy, the desperate demand for infrastructure developments has created bottlenecks in the countrys sustainable development. Infrastructure investment could not be funded completely by the government alone. Taking Beijing as an example, there will be about 2,400 infrastructure projects to be developed during 2006-2010 with a total investment of over RMB 470 billion, which may impose budgetary pressure on the government. As a result, public-private partnership PPP could be considered as a favorable option to help provide these rapidly demanded public works and services. In order to investigate the potential for adopting PPPs in the Peoples Republic of China, this paper aims to explore the critical success factors CSFs necessary to conduct PPP projects. The views from Chinese experts were collected via an empirical questionnaire survey. The respondents were invited to rate a total of 18 CSFs that contribute to the success of PPP projects as gleaned from the contemporary literature. The results of this survey were analyzed by the factor analysis technique. The findings showed that the 18 CSFs could be grouped into five underlying factors including: Factor 1—stable macroeconomic environment; Factor 2—shared responsibility between public and private sectors; Factor 3—transparent and efficient procurement process; Factor 4—stable political and social environment; and Factor 5—judicious government control. DOI: 10.1061/ASCECO.1943-7862.0000152 CE Database subject headings: China; Infrastructure; Partnerships; Private sector; Procurement. Author keywords: China; Infrastructure; Partnerships; Private sector; Procurement.

An evaluation of construction time performance in the building industry

Abstract Building industries in many countries have been increasingly recognising the need for more efficient and timely completion of projects. Often, a number of unexpected problems and changes from original design arise during the construction phase, leading to cost and time overruns. Therefore, exploring the reasons for delay is one of the prerequisites of keeping the cost within budget and of good construction time performance. The primary objective of this paper is to identify the principal factors responsible for delays in the Hong Kong building industry, and determine their relative importance as perceived by different participant groups. A questionnaire survey, based on 83 previously identified delay factors, grouped into eight major factor categories, was conducted in early 1995. Responses from 78 construction personnel — from client, consultant and contractor organisations — suggest a strong consistency in perception between clients and consultants, for example as to the importance of the “poor site management and supervision” delay factor and the “contractor-related” delay factor category. However, there was a substantial disagreement between consultants and contractors, as well as between clients and contractors, in respect of the rankings of both the individual factors and the factor categories. Suggestions are given for more effective project management based on the observations. The results of this survey also provide a foundation for further research towards the development of an envisaged “construction time” prediction model for local building projects.

Contributors to construction delays

Projects can be delayed for a large number of reasons. The third phase of an investigation into such factors focused on the causes of construction delays in Hong Kong. A questionnaire was based on 83 factors identified in previous phases of the investigation. Analysis of the responses reveals differences in perceptions of the relative significance of factors between clients, consultants and contractors. There was general agreement about the relative importance of delay factors such as unforeseen ground conditions. Improving productivity is a useful approach to controlling delays. Important factors affecting productivity itself are thus examined in more depth, with a view to enhancing productivity and reducing delays. The conclusions of this phase of the investigation include a ranking of factors and factor categories that are perceived by different groups of project participants to contribute to delays. For example, higher-ranking factors, such as unforeseen ground conditions, and factor categories such as project-related factors, are found to merit special management attention in countering construction delays. The high degree of disagreement as discerned between the groups of clients, consultants and contractors is indicative of their experiences, possible prejudices and lack of effective communication. It is also confirmed that productivity and other non-scope factors such as effective communications should supplement the project scope factors incorporated into the construction time prediction models that were proposed in the previous phases of this investigation.

A study of the factors affecting construction durations in Hong Kong

This is the second phase of an investigation into the significant factors influencing construction duration of projects in Hong Kong. The results of the first phase led to the conclusion that larger samples were justified to investigate further the discerned relationships. Expanded samples were obtained in this second phase by adding some reported data from Hong Kong projects to the original surveyed sample. The second phase of this study also further investigates the relationships between different project characteristic variables such as the construction duration, construction cost, total gross floor area and the number of storeys in the case of buildings. Moreover, a case study on plant utilization level and site labour productivity was carried out on a building site to explore the ‘micro-factors’ that affect construction durations. The findings are of importance to all construction industry participants as the derived models help to estimate the construction duration of a project on the basis of signi...

Determinants of construction duration

This paper probes the range of factors affecting construction project duration through a literature review and a pilot survey in Hong Kong. Time-cost models previously proposed in Australia and the UK are compared with data obtained in Hong Kong and similarities are noted. The 111 responses to the detailed questionnaire issued in Hong Kong and the follow-up interviews also indicate other factors that may significantly affect project duration. Of these productivity is examined here, while other factors will be probed in the second phase of this investigation. Time-floor area relationships are also examined and found to be significant. Projects are classified as public or private sector housing and other buildings, roads and other civil engineering projects. Larger samples in each category of construction project will be targeted to test the validity of the models and their parameters in Hong Kong as derived from the pilot survey. It is noted that standardization in public housing projects (as in Hong Kong ...

Overview of the Application of “Fuzzy Techniques” in Construction Management Research

During the last decade, “fuzzy techniques” have been increasingly applied to the research area of construction management discipline. To date, however, no paper has attempted to summarize and present a critique of the existing “fuzzy” literature. This paper, therefore, aims to comprehensively review the fuzzy literature that has been published in eight selected top quality journals from 1996 to 2005, these being Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, ASCE; Journal of Management in Engineering, ASCE; Construction Management and Economics; Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management; International Journal of Project Management; Building Research and Information; Building and Environment; and Benchmarking: An International Journal. It has been found that fuzzy research, as applied in construction management discipline in the past decade, can be divided into two broad fields, encompassing: (1) fuzzy set/fuzzy logic; and (2) hybrid fuzzy techniques, with the applications in four main ca...

Drivers for Adopting Public Private Partnerships—Empirical Comparison between China and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

The private sector has long been involved in delivering public sector projects, whether its role has been as a partner or just as a contractor for the government. Over recent years the interest in adopting public private partnerships (PPPs) has increased internationally. Many research studies have presented positive reasons for the governments and the private sector to welcome this form of procurement, rather than continue adopting the traditional options. This paper aims to explore and compare the key drivers for adopting PPP in China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (referred to as Hong Kong from here onwards). An empirical questionnaire survey was conducted in both of these administrative systems and survey respondents were invited to rate their perceptions on the importance of 15 different drivers identified. Eighty-seven completed survey questionnaires were returned for analysis. The findings indicated that respondents from China rated economy-related drivers higher, whereas Hong Kong ...

Critical Analysis of Partnering Research Trend in Construction Journals

AbstractOver the past two decades, significant literature has been dedicated to research studies on construction partnering and related issues, and a plethora of underlying theories and industrial practices on partnering application have been reported. This paper aims to explore, analyze, and summarize the research trend of partnering related studies in construction using desktop search method from several leading construction-related journals. On the basis of an extensive and rigorous literature review, a series of partnering related journal articles published from 1989 to 2009 were analyzed in terms of the annual number of partnering related publications, the level of contributions made by various institutions and regions, and the research focus on their studies. A critical analysis of the reported literature revealed that, in general, the number of partnering related publications in these journals has been increasing from 1989 to just before 2007 when the number of publications the peaked. The findings...