Structural modelling of cost overrun factors in construction industry

• Main Author: Memon, Aftab Hameed
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English; English; English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General); TA630-695 Structural engineering (General)
• Online Access: http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/2190/1/24p%20AFTAB%20HAMEED%20MEMON.pdf; http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/2190/2/AFTAB%20HAMEED%20MEMON%20COPYRIGHT%20DECLARATION.pdf; http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/2190/3/AFTAB%20HAMEED%20MEMON%20WATERMARK.pdf; http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/2190/

Construction industry contributes significantly in improving socio-economic growth of a country. However, this industry usually faces chronic problems such as time overrun, cost overrun, poor quality and others. Of all these, cost overrun is a major problem that occurs globally including Malaysia. Cost overrun is resulted from various factors which are essential to identify for improving cost performance in construction project. Hence, this study focused on identifying and modelling the factors of cost overrun for construction projects in Malaysia. Data collection was done through structured questionnaire, which was designed based on 78 factors found from the literature. Qualitative pilot study was done based on the opinions of 15 experts in the construction industry to improve the questionnaire by reducing the factors to 58. The questionnaire survey was carried out among clients, consultants and contractors. A total of 231 questionnaires were collected of which 213 responses were found valid. Partial Least Square Structural Equation (PLS-SEM) model was developed based on 8 categories/constructs generated through factor analysis test and found that Global Fit Index (GOF) of the model to be 0.37. The findings from the model indicate that all the 8 categories have significant effect on the cost overrun. The most significant category is contractor's site management related issues with path co-efficient value of 0.448. The developed model was validated statistically (using power analysis and predictive relevancy) and through interviewing 21 experienced practitioners. Statistical validation tests showed that the developed model had achieved substantial power in explaining cost overrun problem. All the experts agreed with the factors and also categories of the model have significant impact to cost overrun.