Young-Dai Lee

DESIGN ERRORS: TRAGIC FOR THE CLIENTS

This paper discusses a design error case in a building project in Nepal, where the designer made the wrong assumptions in roof treatment work for waterproofing as well as for heat insulation purposes. Due to the design error, the project had faced profound roof leakage problems over 6000 sq. meters building area. The worst case was that the instructors and the students had to conduct training programs under the leaking roofs. Water proofing polymer not applied directly over concrete slab top and use of heavy concrete block as a heat insulation material were found to be the technical causes of roof leakage. However, carelessness from designer and supervisors also was profound for the leakage. The paper concludes with the lessons to be learned from the problem.

Identification of risk patterns in Vietnamese road and bridge construction: Contractor’s perspective

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify risk patterns of road and bridge projects in Vietnam, where the construction market is emerging but attractive to construction organizations, especially foreign companies. Design/methodology/approach Using a questionnaire, experienced practitioners of various contractors were interviewed to collect risk-related data in terms of actual likelihood and impact from road and bridge construction projects in Vietnam. Using the collected data of actual likelihood and impact, the specific probability and impact of risk factors were determined for different types of road and bridge projects, including small and medium type, big type, government-funding type, and other-funding type (e.g. official development assistance funds, public-private partnership). Findings The results of analysis indicate the specific probability and impact of risk factors in four risk themes, including contractor-related, project-related, owner-related, and external risks. Actual risk patterns for different types of road and bridge projects in Vietnam were identified. Practical implications The identification of actual risk patterns could help practitioners to know which risk factors are severe in frequency and/or impact. Hence, they could establish proper strategies to manage risk-related problems of road and bridge projects, in which they are directly involved. Originality/value The findings of this study could provide construction companies, especially foreign companies, with a better understanding of real risk panorama in Vietnamese road and bridge construction. Hence, they could make effective improvements on risk management of road and bridge projects in Vietnam.