Syuhaida Ismail

Causes of delay in residential construction projects in Cambodia

Abstract Construction industry is one of the significant contributors to the economic growth and development of Cambodia. Two major challenges are limiting the performance of the construction industry in Cambodia, which are poor cost and schedule performance of the construction projects. Therefore, the aim of this study is to fill an important knowledge gap by identifying the various attributes for construction project delay, using the residential building projects as a starting point. Feedback from a survey administered to the contractors and consultants was analysed using Relative Importance Index (RII). Results showed that shortage of materials on site; unrealistic project scheduling; late delivery of material; shortage of skilled labour; complexity of project; labour absenteeism; late payment by the owner for the completed work; poor site management; delay by subcontractor; accidents due to poor site safety are ranked by the contractors and consultants as the main causes of project delays in Cambodia. Construction frontline players are recommended to put their efforts on the identified key factors in relation to their magnitudes of influence. By doing so, the causes of project delays in the Cambodia’s construction and real estate sector could be significantly reduced or controlled, which will ultimately lead to the on time project completion.

On-site construction productivity in Malaysian infrastructure projects

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors constraining the on-site construction productivity and measures for its improvement in Malaysian construction industry. Design/methodology/approach Questionnaire survey is administered to 171 respondents, comprising government authorities and construction players. A total of 39 constraints are found to be significant factors in various risk levels. Findings Consequently, improvement measures are recommended addressing those constraints to on-site construction productivity. It is believed that the findings of this study will assist in achieving high level of on-site construction productivity by focusing and acting upon the most risky constraints, where construction players in Malaysia could be guided well in their efforts in a time-, cost- and quality-effective manner. Originality/value It is believed that the findings of this study will assist in achieving high level of on-site construction productivity by focusing and acting upon the most risky constraints, where construction players in Malaysia could be guided well in their efforts in a time-, cost- and quality-effective manner.

A Conceptual Study of Key Barriers in Construction Project Coordination

The complexity of the nature of construction makes it one of the most adverse businesses that has ever existed. Construction projects have often suffered from high fragmentation, large waste, poor productivity, cost and time overruns, and conflicts and disputes for a long time. Thus, many new and innovative management and procurement systems in construction are introduced such as partnering, joint venture, alliances, supply chain management, enterprise resource planning (ERP), just in time (JIT), and total quality management (TQM) to meet these challenges. However, these construction management and procurement systems are meaningless without coordination, a vital managerial principle and activity, which provides the best cooperation among team members. Although coordination plays crucial functions throughout the building process especially during the design and construction stages, some failures in construction projects adopting coordination principles are still observed. Hence, a study is carried out to investigate the key barriers of coordination in construction project. Through the literature review, five groups of key barriers are established in this paper, including the nature of construction, traditional contractual arrangement, construction participants, characteristic of organization and construction management approach. The investigation of these key barriers is expected to assist the construction players in coordinating their projects towards a better implementation of the innovative management and procurement systems. Lastly, worthwhile new research topics are suggested by this paper in developing the coordination key performance indicator (KPI) and critical success factor on construction project for further studies.

Construction Productivity in Turkmenistan: Survey of the Constraining Factors

The aim of this study is to identify the key factors constraining labour productivity of Turkish contractors in Turkmenistan based on the views of project manager consultants, contractors and subcontractors. Qualitative data collected through literature review formed the basis for questionnaire surveys conducted among the target populations. In-depth literature review revealed 28 labour productivity constraining factors, however after the reliability test, corrected scale of the questionnaire merely consisted 24 of the factors. Before the factor analysis factors were ranked according to their mean ratings. Recommendations were provided for improving construction labour productivity of Turkish contractors in the construction industry of Turkmenistan for addressing the labour productivity constraints.

Pareto analysis of on-site productivity constraints and improvement techniques in construction industry

Productivity represents efficient and effective utilisation of scarce resources to achieve set objectives. Based on Pareto principle, this study aims to identify the nature of and improvement measures for the 20% of the factors causing 80% of the on-site productivity problems in the New Zealand construction industry. Qualitative data collected using pilot interviews formed the basis for questionnaire surveys of project managers, contractors and subcontractors in New Zealand. The quantitative data was analysed using the multi-attribute method and Pareto analysis. Results showed that the factors influencing on-site productivity comprise (in order of influence): project management/project team characteristics, project finance/cash flow, workforce characteristics, project design/characteristics, unforeseen events, technology/process, statutory compliance and wider external forces. Overall, it was found that the way a project is managed, financed and managed, coupled with the workforce and project characteristics, account for the bulk of the on-site productivity problems encountered during its implementation. The levels of impact and occurrence frequencies of the variables under the broad factor categories are reported; these are recommended as guide to optimal utilization of the available resources in addressing the constraints with a view to achieving significant on-site productivity improvement.

Cause and Impact of Dispute and Delay the Closing of Final Account in Malaysia Construction Industry

Construction industry is realizing the plans and specifications for the physical structure. The project is success when it is completed to meet customer needs without any issues and problems in terms of time, quality and budget allocation. The budget allocation is important especially to get the total final cost of the project that will be added in the final accounts. Final account is the fact that the sum agreed to be paid at the end of the contract by the owner to the contractor. Moreover, the final account issue has existed in Malaysia construction industry for several decades in which the important factors significantly affect the closing of final account that related with contractor, management and the contract as well. Successful closing is categorized as resolved at the stipulated time without any problems in the dispute and delay. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the important factors that contribute to the closing of final account in construction projects in Malaysia. This aim can be achieved through the objectives of evaluating the contract in Malaysia to compare the final closure of various forms of contract and finally identify the causes and effects of the dispute and delays in the final account closing. As a result, this paper can assist construction industry players to create more effective planning and be used as guidelines in ensuring the on-time closing of final account in constructions projects in Malaysia.

Public construction projects performance in Malaysia

The Malaysian Government remains as the largest client in the construction industry. The government project or public project focusses mostly on the development of the basic infrastructure such as roads, dams, irrigation works, schools, houses, factories and other physical foundations on which development effort is poured in establishing the living standard of the public. Although a large allocation of national budget is used in the public development, some public projects are reported sick due to poor management. There are 235 sick projects discovered in 2011, 191 sick projects in 2013. The decrease of 20 percent in sick projects corresponds to increasing public construction budget from MYR504.5 billion to MYR550.6 billion in 2013. The Malaysian National Budget 2015 has allocated MYR770 billion in public projects, the results are hitherto unidentified. Abstract

Exploring Success Factors of Social Infrastructure Projects in Malaysia

In the context of construction management, Social Infrastructure Projects (SIPs) have long been overlooked. However, SIPs are one of the main criteria for enhancing economic productivity. This paper analyses the results of a survey aiming to develop a framework for SIP success factors to enhance the likelihood of success in the provision of SIPs in Malaysia. The principal component analysis reduces a set of 41 project success factors to six dimensions based on the idea of the project life cycle, i.e., the preconstruction factor, the construction factor and post-construction factor, and three internal factors: the organizational factor, the information management factor, and the change management factor. Understanding these success factors could be crucial in managing SIPs, since it will allow project stakeholders to take precautionary steps to identify foreseeable problems and areas for improvement. This will increase the success rate of the project and could even help avoid problems completely.

Multiple regressions in analysing house price variations

An application of rigorous statistical analysis in aiding investment decision making gains momentum in the United States of America as well as the United Kingdom. Nonetheless in Malaysia the responses from the local academician are rather slow and the rate is even slower as far as the practitioners are concern. This paper illustrates how Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA) and its extension, Hedonic Regression Analysis been used in explaining price variation for selected houses in Malaysia. Each attribute that theoretically identified as price determinant is priced and the perceived contribution of each is explicitly shown. The paper demonstrates how the statistical analysis is capable of analyzing property investment by considering multiple determinants. The consideration of various characteristics which is more rigorous enables better investment decision making.

Significant contributors to cost overruns in construction projects of Cambodia

Abstract Construction industry is one of the leading sectors with its remarkable contribution to the GDP and employment generation in Cambodia. However, one of the major challenges facing the construction industry in Cambodia is poor cost performance of the construction projects. Identifying and addressing the contributors to cost overruns in the residential building projects—which attracts the highest proportion of investment—is crucial for improving the cost performance of the sector. In the absence of related research in Cambodia, this study aims to fill a significant knowledge gap by investigating the key contributors to cost overruns in residential projects which are specific to the operational context of the Cambodia’s residential building sector. Feedback from a survey of the sector’s contractors and project managers was analysed using an exploratory factor analysis. Results showed three principal contributors to cost overruns which were extracted from 26 variables: Project and cost management, project finance and project risks factors. In diminishing order of influence, these accounted for 53, 22 and 16%, of the variance that characterized poor cost performance output in the sector. By focusing available resources and efforts on these key factors in relation to their magnitudes of influence, contractors, project managers and clients could minimise the cost overruns and improve significantly cost performance of the sector and its contribution to the nation’s economy.