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Causes And Effects Of Design Variation In Road Construction Projects
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According to the J.C.T. 80, design variation in road
construction refers to a change in the works initiated by the engineers,
consultants, employer or other factors as the case may be which
involves the alteration of any kind or standard of materials to be used
in the work. A design change is regarded as any change in the design or
construction of a project after the contract is awarded and signed, and
such changes are related not only to matters in accordance with the
provision of the contract but also changes to the work conditions.
Akinsola et al (1997) also noted that these changes as any additions,
omission or adjustment to the contract price or contract time, and it
occurs regularly on construction projects. Park (2002) defined design
variation as a change to the work state, processes or methods that
differ from the original construction plan or specification and usually
resulted from different in work quality and condition, scope changes or
uncertainties that make construction dynamic and unstable. Affirmed that
design variations are inevitable on major construction projects
particularly on road construction where the project is complex, the
ground conditions variables or the employer desire to incorporate the
latest technology into the project. And the more design changes on a
project, the greater effect which become time consuming and costly in
construction projects (Mohamed, 2001). It is therefore of greater
concern regarding the adverse effects of the design changes in both
public and private construction in Akwa Ibom State.
According to
Arian and Pheng (2005), design variation on road construction project
resulted into a substantial increment in amount of funding budgeted for
the work, hence caused the inability to complete and handover the work
as agreed initially at the commencement of the work. As a result of
this, it is extremely noticeable that time and cost overrun occurs due
to variation in many construction projects especially road construction.
Similarly, variation order which contains a set of instructions that
allows changes or modifications to be made to as earlier agreement in
terms of volume or nature of task to be carried out, (O’Brien, 1998).
These changes are however occur after the award of the initial contract
or after work might have commenced at the construction sites. The
changes may be due to various reasons such as the modification of
original design and scope, schedule, costs and methods.
Variation
from the original project design is seen as the major causes of project
failure, though project monitoring and control could cause corrective
actions to bring deviation during construction but failed to take
cognizance of identifying and analyzing the root cause of such
variation (Ubani, Nwanchukwu and Nwukonkwo, 2010). The performance
objectives defect due to variation of many completed and ongoing road
projects resulted in employer’s dissatisfaction, project time extension
and cost overrun, low quality and substandard outputs, project
conflicting between the contractors and employers arising from variation
in contract sum. And the unusual thing about it is the extent of such
differences as well as the frequency occurrence. The causes and cost
implication of variation needs to be assessed and analysed at the onset
of the project, and it is on this background that the study was carried
out.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
All road construction
projects undergo various degrees of design variations throughout the
project life cycle. Changes in construction projects are inevitable
particularly when the actual work commences to correct or modify
original design or scope of work (Alnuaimi et al., 2010). The research
study by Naoum (1997) highlighted the lack of time and effective
communication, lack of integration, uncertainty, a changing environment
and increasing project complexity as the drivers of design changes.
According
to a study by Ogunlana, Promkuntong and Jearkjirm (2000), construction
owners are the major causes of design variations due to changing plans
in line with the changing economic climate to meet customer demands or
for making marketing reasons. Design variation need to be constantly
monitored to avoid escalation (Olawale and Sun, 2010).
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]Variation is one of the most severe problems in the construction industry. This variation occurs in every construction project and the magnitude of these variations varies considerably from project to project. As such, the client had to spend more than what was initially estimated in most cases, sometimes, disputes and unnecessary delays occur due to variations. This study focused to investigate causes and effects of design variation in road construction project in Akwa Ibom State. The objective ... Continue reading---
