Impact of Change Orders on Small Labor-Intensive Projects
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 130, Issue 5
Abstract
In today’s construction, small projects can be just as important if not more important than the larger projects. However, small projects are usually fast track projects, which often involve overlapping design and construction time. Subsequent modifications may be required for the sections that are already under construction. These disruptions to the ongoing project are labeled as change orders. The impact due to changes has been described as the adverse effect upon the unchanged work due to changes in the contract. For this study, 34 projects were selected to develop a statistical model that estimates the amount of labor efficiency lost due to change orders for small projects. The variables in the final model are percent design related changes, percent owner initiated changes, the ratio of actual peak labor to estimated peak labor, the ratio of actual project duration to estimated project duration, and project manager’s percent time on the project. The results of this paper are of value to owners, electrical and mechanical contractors, and construction managers. The model quantifies the impact of change orders by introducing the most important variables that bring the largest disruptions.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Construction Industry Institute, (CII). Small Projects Impact Team. (1991). Manual for small (special) project management, Austin, Tex.
2.
Construction Industry Institute, (CII). Cumulative Change Order Impact Team. (2001). “Quantifying the cumulative impact of change orders for electrical and mechanical contractors.” Research Summary 158-1, Austin, Tex.
3.
Hanna, A.S., Russell, J.S., and Bruggink, M.J. ( 1997a). “An investigation into the impacts of change orders on labor efficiency in the electrical construction industry. “Technical Rep. to the Electrical Contracting Foundation.
4.
Hanna, A.S., Russell, J.S., and Gotzion, T.W. ( 1997b). “An investigation into the impacts of change orders on labor efficiency in the mechanical construction industry: Phase II”, Technical Rep. to the Mechanical Contracting Foundation and the Sheetmetal and Air Conditioning National Association.
5.
Hanna, A. S., Russell, J. S., Gotzion, T. W., and Nordheim, E. V. (1999b). “Impact of change orders on labor efficiency for mechanical construction.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 125(3) 176–184.
6.
Hanna, A. S., Russell, J. S., Nordheim, E. V., and Bruggink, M. J. (1999a). “Impact of change orders on labor efficiency for electrical construction.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 125(4), 224–232.
7.
Ibbs, W., Lee, S., and Li., M. (1998). “Fast-tracking’s impact on project change.” Proj. Manage. J., ▪, 35–41.
8.
Leonard, C.A. ( 1988). “The effects of change orders on productivity.” Masters thesis, Concordia Univ., Montreal.
9.
Peterson, P. ( 1999). “Quantitative and qualitative approaches to determine cumulative impact of change on mechanical and electrical labor productivity.” Masters thesis, Univ. of Wisconsin at Madison, Madison, Wis.
10.
Thomas, H. R., Napolitan, C. L. (1995). “Quantitative effects of construction changes on labor productivity.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 121(3), 290–296.
11.
Thomas, R. et al. (1995). “Labor productivity, disruptions, and the ripple effect.” Cost Eng., 37(12), ▪.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 ASCE.
History
Published online: Oct 1, 2004
Published in print: Oct 2004
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.