| Author: | Lai, Man-kai |
| Title: | Mitigating contractual variations in building construction projects |
| Degree: | M.Sc. |
| Year: | 2000 |
| Subject: | Construction industry -- China -- Hong Kong Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Multi-disciplinary Studies Department of Building and Real Estate |
| Pages: | xi, 104, 130 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Nowadays, construction project practitioners are facing an increasing complicated built environment, ever-changing market conditions and multiple project objectives. Practitioners are inevitably prone to manage changes, variations and uncertainties in order to minimize contractual claims as well as to fulfill project objectives (generally are on schedule, within budget, with satisfactory quality and good safety record). The aim of this study attempts to understand the causes of resulting contractual variations in the context of construction projects in the Hong Kong construction industry and also identifies the possible strategies to enhance the project management control to mitigate its occurrence. This research was to continue the study of the ten (10) perceived methods of reducing contractual variations identified by previous researchers by applying them into the real-life construction projects. The ultimate goal of this approach was to find out the most powerful predictors to predict the value of contractual variations that are likely to occur in construction projects. It also justifies the degree of reality, accuracy and effectiveness of those predictors identified in this research. Analysis of 86 construction projects nominated by respondents in the Hong Kong region has proved that " Clear and Thorough Detailing of Design (tho_des)"; "Good Communication and Co-operation (gd_com)"; "Alternative Procurement Arrangement (lev_proc)" and "Appointment of an Independent Cost Manager for Cost Control (cos_mgr)" were the most powerful predictors of predicting the value of net variations in construction projects. A computed model of equation combining with these four (4) predictors was derived in a form of: % of Net Variations = 56.736 - 5.632 x tho_des + 2.647 x lev_proc - 5.800 x gd_com - 6.310 x cos_mgr Both Stepwise Multiple Regression Analysis and Paired Comparison (or Dependent) T-Test Analysis were used to identify the most powerful predictors and to justify the accuracy and reality of the developed model respectively. A test group comprising of four (4) cases was obtained to test whether there was a significant difference between the predicted values. The analyses of paired data were then performed. The results show at 95% confidence level that the computed equation derived from the multiple regression model is a good predictor for the measures of the actual performance. This analysis gives project practitioners a piece of tool to predict the possible value of variations and encourage them to exercise a tighter control over the four (4) identified predictors in planning and managing their construction projects in a smoother way to the project success. Information obtained from this research is also beneficial to academic for education purpose. An extension of this study will lead to a further understanding of mitigating contractual variations in construction projects in different disciplines, cultures and regions. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| b15593599.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 7.07 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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