Analysis Of Data From Source Documents

9.0 Conclusion

In construction project management, the issue of changes has long been acknowledged as a major contributor to conflict and disputes (CII, 1994a; Sutrisna, et al., 2003; Arain, et al., 2004; Arain and Low, 2005a). One of the most common reasons for conflicts and disputes were bad management decisions due to lack of decision support (Arain and Low, 2005b). Changes are inevitable in construction projects. However, timely management decisions may assist in reducing the adverse impact of changes to building projects.

This study presented an extensive investigation of issues related to change management. Initially the study concentrated on the causes, their effects and controls for changes in building projects. In-depth and rigorous analyses were carried out for identifying the root causes of changes, their effects and controls. Overall analyses indicated that the majority of changes were related to the design stages of building projects. This eventually pointed toward the consultants for major contributions to changes in projects. Nevertheless, the in-depth analyses also presented some very interesting and realistic issues pertinent to the building projects and their timing of implementations. It was revealed that the nature and frequency of occurrence of changes varied from one project to another.

The major findings of the study include:

1. The study identified, through survey analyses and in-depth interviews with the professionals who were involved with school building projects under the PRIME, the most important causes, effects and controls for changes in school building projects. Errors and omissions in design, change in specifications by owner, unforeseen problems, change of plans or scope by owner, and design discrepancies were considered to be the most important causes of change orders for school building projects in Singapore. Furthermore, it was also revealed that of the top five most important causes of changes, four causes were from both owner related changes and the consultant related changes groups. This showed that the owner and the consultant had almost equal contributions to initiate changes in building projects.

2. The study also revealed that project cost increase, progress is affected but without any delay, additional payment for contractor, increase in overhead expenses and rework and demolition were considered to be the most frequent effects of change orders for school buildings in Singapore. Interestingly, most of these effects were experienced by the contractors and developers. However, the root causes of the most frequent effects were mostly consultant related causes.

3. Furthermore, the in-depth analysis revealed that the top five most effective controls were owner‘s involvement at the planning and design phase, clear and thorough project brief,

thorough detailings of design, continuous coordination and direct communication, and team effort by owner, consultant and contractor to control change orders. It was clearly identified that the design stage and design and construction interface stages were considered as the most potential phases for implementing controls for minimizing the adverse impact of changes. The study suggested that the owner and the consultant should provide careful considerations for implementing controls for reducing changes in building projects.

4. The study confirmed that the nature and frequency of occurrence of changes varied from one type of project to another; for instance, the nature and frequency of occurrence of changes varied in upgrading and new school building projects. This hypothesis was proven through in-depth analysis of the information collected from the source documents of school building projects completed under the PRIME.

5. To complement the survey findings, the study presented the in-depth analysis of the information collected from source documents of the school building projects. Interestingly, it was confirmed that the majority of changes were related to the owner related changes and consultant related changes groups. As mentioned above about the most important causes, change of plans or scope by owner, and change in specifications by owner from the owner related changes group and noncompliance design with government regulations, design discrepancies, change in design by consultant, and errors and omissions in design from the consultant related changes group were again ranked as the most important and common root causes of changes in school building projects.

The most important recommendations based on the findings of the interview sessions with the professionals were the allocation of sufficient time for design activities, team efforts by owner, consultant and contractor for effective management of building projects, utilization of other graphical means for making the user understand the design details of the building projects, and thorough detailings of design, for effective management of changes in building projects. Furthermore, the study also revealed additional causes, effects and controls that were suggested by the professionals.

Learning from the changes is imperative because the professionals can improve and apply their experience in the future. In cases where professionals left the organization, the project experience would remain within the individual professionals. Therefore, a comprehensive system for consolidating decisions made on past similar projects was highly recommended. In the absence of an established and organized knowledge-base of past similar projects, the professional teams would face problems in planning effectively before starting a project, during the design phase as well as during the construction phase to minimize and control changes and their effects.

Acknowledgements

This study would not have been possible without the kind assistance of Dr Faisal Manzoor Arain as well as collaborators from the Project Development and Management Branch, Ministry of Education, Singapore. Their inputs and contributions are gratefully acknowledged. Financial support for this research project came from the Academic Research Fund (R-296-000-078-112).