Research Article | OPEN ACCESS
Significant Causes and Effects of Variation Orders in Construction Projects
Aftab Hameed Memon, Ismail Abdul Rahman and Mohamad Faris Abul Hasan
Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Malaysia
Research Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology 2014 21:4494-4502
Received: December 21, 2013 | Accepted: January 16, 2014 | Published: June 05, 2014
Abstract
Variation Order (VO) is a common phenomenon in construction projects. It involves an amendment of the original scope of work as in the contract. VO is caused from various factors. Variations often cause disputes and dissatisfactions among the parties involved in construction projects. Thus, it is very important to control VOs in a construction project. For this, the first step is to uncover and understand the causes and effects of VO. Hence, the aim of this study is to determine the significant causes and effects of VO in construction projects. Data collection involved the survey with a structured questionnaire consisting of 18 causes and 9 effects of variation orders identified through comprehensive literature review. Survey was carried out among client representatives, consultants and contractors involved in handling projects of Malaysian Public Works Department (PWD) known as Jabatan Kerja Raya Malaysia (JKR). A total of 101 completed questionnaire sets were collected against 200 questionnaires distributed among the practitioners. Collected questionnaires were analyzed with statistical software package SPSS and Average Index formula. The results of the study showed that in Malaysia’s JKR projects often variation orders are occurred; these VO’s are majorly caused because of unavailability of equipment, poor workmanship and design complexity. While most significant effects of VO on the projects are increased project cost, delay in completion and logistic delays. Early participation of professionals may be beneficial in reducing the occurrence of variations. Also, improved design and avoiding frequent design changes will be very effective in controlling the problem of variations.
Keywords:
Causes of VO, effects of VO, JKR projects, variation orders,
References
-
Abdi, H. and L.J. Williams, 2010. Principal component analysis. Wiley Interdiscip. Rev. Comput. Stat., 2(4): 433-459.
CrossRef
-
Arain, F.M., S.A. Assaf and S.P. Low, 2004. Causes of discrepancies between design and construction. Archit. Sci. Rev., 47(3): 237-249.
CrossRef
-
Assaf, S.A., M. Al-Khalil and M. Al-Hazmi, 1995. Causes of delays in large building construction projects. J. Manage. Eng., 11(2): 45-50.
CrossRef
-
BNM Quarterly Bulletin, 2012. Economic and Financial Developments in the Malaysian Economy in the Second Quarter of 2012.
Direct Link
-
CII, 1986. Constructability: A Primer. Construction Industry Institute, University of Texas at Austin, TX.
-
CII, 1990a. The Impact of Changes on Construction Cost and Schedule. Publication 6-10, Construction Industry Institute, University of Texas at Austin, TX.
-
CII, 1990b. Scope Definition and Control. Publication 6-2, Construction Industry Institute, University of Texas at Austin, TX.
-
CII, 1994. Project Change Management. Special Publication 43-1, Construction Industry Institute, University of Texas at Austin, TX.
-
CII, 1995. Qualitative Effects of Project Changes. Publication 43-2, Construction Industry Institute, University of Texas at Austin, TX.
-
CIMP, 2012. The Malaysian Construction Master Plan (CIMP) 2005-2015.
Direct Link
-
Clough, R.H. and G.A. Sears, 1994. Construction Contracting. 6th Edn., John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York.
-
CMAA (Construction Management Association of America), 1993. Standard CM Services and Practice. 2nd Edn., Reston, VA.
-
Fisk, E.R., 1997. Construction Project Administration. 5th Edn., Prentice Hall, New Jersey.
-
Geok, O.S., 2002. Causes and improvement for quality problems in design and build projects. Unpublished B. Sc. Thesis, National University of Singapore.
-
Gray, C. and W. Hughes, 2001. Building Design Management. Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, UK.
-
Hanna, A. and M. Gunduz, 2004. Impact of change orders on small labor-intensive projects. J. Constr. Eng. M. ASCE, 130(5): 726-733.
CrossRef
-
Hester, W., J.A. Kuprenas and T.C. Chang 1991. Construction Changes and Change Orders: Their Magnitude and Impact. CII Source Document 66, University of California-Berkeley.
-
Ibbs, C.W., 1997. Change's impact on construction productivity. J. Constr. Eng. M. ASCE, 123(1): 89-97.
-
Ibbs, C.W. and W.E. Allen, 1995. Quantitative impacts of project change. Construction Management Technical Report No. 23, University of California at Berkeley, USA.
-
Ibbs, C.W., S.A. Lee and M.I. Li, 1998. Fast tracking's impact on project change. Proj. Manage. J., 29(4): 35-41.
-
Ibbs, C.W., C.K. Wong and Y.H. Kwak, 2001. Project change management system. J. Manage. Eng. ASCE, 17(3): 159-165.
CrossRef
-
JLARC (Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission), 2001. Review of Construction Costs and Time Schedules for Virginia Highway Projects.
Direct Link
-
Keane, P., B. Sertyesilisik and A. Ross, 2010. Variations and change orders on construction projects. J. Leg. Aff. Dispute Resolut. Eng. Constr., 2(2): 89-96.
CrossRef
-
Kumaraswamy, M.M., D.R.A. Miller and K. Yogeswaran, 1998. Claims for extensions of time in civil engineering projects. Construct. Manage. Econ., 16(3): 283-294.
CrossRef
-
Mokhtar, A., C. Bedard and P. Fazio, 2000. Collaborative planning and scheduling of interrelated design changes. J. Archit. Eng. ASCE, 6(2): 66-75.
CrossRef
-
O'Brien, J.J., 1998. Construction Change Orders. McGraw Hill, New York.
-
Sambasivan, M. and Y.W. Soon, 2007. Causes and effects in Malaysian construction industry. Int. J. Proj. Manag., 25: 517-526.
CrossRef
-
Sanvido, V., K. Parfitt, M. Guvensia and M. Coyle, 1992. Critical success factors for construction projects. J. Constr. Eng. M. ASCE, 118(1): 94-111.
CrossRef
-
Thomas, H.R. and C.L. Napolitan, 1995. Quantitative effects of construction changes on labor productivity. J. Constr. Eng. M. ASCE, 121(3): 290-296.
CrossRef
-
Wang, Y., 2000. Coordination issues in Chinese large building projects. J. Manage. Eng. ASCE, 16(6): 54-61.
CrossRef
-
Zeitoun, A. and G. Oberlender, 1993. Early Warning Signs of Project Changes. CII Source Document 91, Oklahoma State University, USA.
Competing interests
The authors have no competing interests.
Open Access Policy
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Copyright
The authors have no competing interests.
|
|
|
ISSN (Online): 2040-7467
ISSN (Print): 2040-7459 |
|
Information |
|
|
|
Sales & Services |
|
|
|