Heap Yih Chong

Selection of dispute resolution methods: factor analysis approach

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to discover the behavior of dispute resolution in the Malaysian construction industry by analyzing factors that affect the selection of dispute resolution methods using factor analysis approach.Design/methodology/approach – Preliminary interviews and a questionnaire survey were conducted. Dispute resolution methods were grouped and discussed together, based on the similarity of their characteristics, and used for the questionnaire survey. This research approach is different from the earlier studies that mostly focused on a single dispute resolution method. The data were further analyzed with factor analysis. This improved the data interpretation.Findings – Seven latent factors were extracted and revealed that the contractors and developers preferred alternative dispute resolution (ADR). However, the appreciation of the outcomes of ADR was perceived to be very low. Arbitration and litigation were in part accepted and agreed upon by the respondents.Originality/value...

Accidents in Malaysian construction industry: statistical data and court cases.

Safety and health issues remain critical to the construction industry due to its working environment and the complexity of working practises. This research attempts to adopt 2 research approaches using statistical data and court cases to address and identify the causes and behavior underlying construction safety and health issues in Malaysia. Factual data on the period of 2000–2009 were retrieved to identify the causes and agents that contributed to health issues. Moreover, court cases were tabulated and analyzed to identify legal patterns of parties involved in construction site accidents. Approaches of this research produced consistent results and highlighted a significant reduction in the rate of accidents per construction project in Malaysia.

Employing Data Warehousing for Contract Administration: e-Dispute Resolution Prototype

Although data warehouse is very practical for decision making, its application in contract administration is rather limited because of the complicated legal issues and the voluminous data involved. This research attempts to bridge this gap in two ways. First, conceptual models of data warehouse are developed to explain the contents and overall features of the system that were verified by 12 experts in Malaysia. Second, an electronic dispute resolution template, known as e-Dispute Resolution (e-DR), is prototyped by using a database tool based on the guidelines of contractual variations agreed by the experts. Subsequently, the prototype is evaluated by 16 professional quantity surveyors from an established consulting firm. The prototype was organized based on a systematic breakdown of issues and incorporated a Boolean keyword search feature. The results show that the concept of datawarehouse is applicable to contract administration and is well received by practitioners. Overall, this article renders significant theoretical and practical contributions in which the resulting e-DR does not only lead toward more informed decision making but is also able to mitigate or prevent contractual disputes in the construction industry, where such a phenomenon seems to be inevitable. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000642.

Construction contract administration in Malaysia using DFD: a conceptual model

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model which is aimed at assisting end‐users, i.e. construction practitioners who are without a proper legal background for effective administration of construction contracts, to enable them to make correct interpretations and decisions in dealing with vast amount of legal information.Design/methodology/approach – This study proposes the application of data warehouse technology in the contract administration process of the construction industry. Upon identification of a comprehensive list of problems associated with construction contracts based on the feedback from 12 reputed experts in the construction industry, a conceptual model is developed using data flow diagram.Findings – The results show that data warehouse technology is feasible and practical to the construction practitioners in the contract administration process.Research limitations/implications – This research focuses only on the development of a conceptual model and thus the practi...

A review of customer relationship (CRM) implications: Benefits and challenges in construction organizations

The management philosophy, namely, Customer relationship management (CRM) has been widely accepted and successfully applied across a range of sectors. However, there has been very little research efforts in the field of CRM in the construction industry. This paper provides a review of the CRM philosophy and technology, and considers the implications; benefits and challenges to construction organizations at a strategic business and operational level. Given the generally unstable economic and highly competitive marketplace, implementation of CRM throughout the lifecycle of assets may provide for more effective management of existing and prospective clients. The CRM approach would seem to be compatible with general trends in the construction industry towards more collaborative working and the paper provides that both the philosophy and technologies can be integrated with current initiatives such as building information modeling (BIM). Construction clients in the public and private sector are diverse in nature, complex in their buying processes and at varying levels of knowledge of the Industry. In addition to seeking value for money from their projects and assets, they have become more concerned about sustainability and environmental impact. It has been recognized that management of a broader range of business and project level stakeholders is necessary.

The behaviour of dispute resolution methods in Malaysian construction industry

Every project is bound to have disagreement. Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) techniques do not require full legal process and become mainstream option to traditional dispute resolutions. Yet, the actual practice of ADR is very low in the construction industry. Therefore, a comprehensive study is necessary to understand the behaviour of these dispute resolution methods. The research described in this paper discusses the philosophies and the selection factors of the dispute resolution methods. The factors are based on the attributes of the methods. Preliminary interview and questionnaire survey were conducted. The results from the data collected indicated that the contractors and developers are keen on ADR methods, however arbitration and litigation are somehow accepted and agreed by the respondents. It is concluded that selection on ADR or non-ADR is not a major issue, rather the increased efficiency and appreciation of the methods is more demanding towards the desired benefits at the end of the proceedings.

Transforming of Construction Contract Administration: Data Warehouse Modeling

Construction stakeholders always use standard form of contract to regulate their contractual obligations and expectations during contract administration process. They need to refer a vast of contract provisions in the process. It always leads misunderstanding and interpretation errors as most of construction practitioners are without a proper legal background. Hence the research aims to apply data warehouse technology to assist end-users for better and/or right decision making. A conceptual model of data warehouse for contract administration is developed and verified by twelve reputed experts in the construction industry. The results show that the data warehouse modeling is feasible and practical to the construction practitioners. It would render a more effective and proactive approach in contract administration towards dispute resolution or prevention.

Construction Contract Clarity: Conceptual Process Flow Modeling

Construction contracts can be a complex subject if issues corresponding to their interpretation and administration are not handled properly. The need for clarity of construction contracts is eminent especially in the context of the construction industry. The paper holds that a better interpretation and understanding of construction contracts could offer a proactive approach to avoid the inevitability of conflicts occurring in a project. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to develop a conceptual process flow model on how to clarify contract provisions in a contract. It is a subsequent development from the survey and case study that carried out for Malaysian Public Works Department (PWD) -203A (Rev. 10/83) Contract Form. The model is based on the results on the survey and case study, but it designed to render a generic approach of clarifying process for other contracts. Data Flow Diagram (DFD) method was selected to illuminate the process flow as the method focuses on object perspective and appropriate for this development. Certain limitations and recommendations of the model were highlighted. Ultimately, the model renders a useful guideline for future contract drafting and an important insight on clarity approach in contract administration for dispute avoidance.