Scholarly Papers
Oct 11, 2022

Dispute Avoidance in Public Construction Projects

Publication: Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction
Volume 15, Issue 1

Abstract

The public construction industry brings together diverse groups of subindustries with multiple stakeholders, all of whom should ideally endeavor to deliver a project without any disagreement. However, stakeholders attempting to protect their interests in accordance with a predetermined agreement and departmental code enter a potential zone of dispute. If all stakeholders understand and comply with their contractual obligations, the number of disputes in public construction projects could be reduced. To this end, it was hypothesized that a determination of success factors could be helpful in avoiding disputes. A questionnaire-based survey resulted in 14 success attributes that exhibit a significant influence on avoiding disputes. Analysis was undertaken using a one-way ANOVA. Applying varimax orthogonal rotation of principal component analysis on the attributes yielded three primary success factors for avoiding disputes: understanding of scope and effective monitoring; top management support; and competence of the contractor’s design consultant. The present study covers only public construction projects, and the uniformity of the respondents’ perceptions was maintained by selecting only professionals involved in public construction projects. A comparison of the success factors obtained was made with the findings of an independent expert committee for validation purposes. The results are expected to guide practitioners so that they focus on the selected success factors and mitigate the potential for disputes.

Get full access to this article

View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.

Data Availability Statement

All data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

References

Works Cited

Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra. 2016. “Corruption in international business.” J. World Bus. 51 (1): 35–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2015.08.015.
Ayudhya, B. I. N. 2011. “Common disputes related to public work projects in Thailand.” Songklanakarin J. Sci. Technol. 33 (5): 565–573.
Cheung, S. O., and K. H. Y. Pang. 2013. “Anatomy of construction disputes.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 139 (1): 15–23. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000532.
Clarke, S. N., and B. J. Boyd. 2011. “Youths’ perceptions of the construction industry: An analysis at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.” In Proc., 47th Associated School of Construction Annual Int. Conf., edited by T. Sulbaran. Omaha, NE: Associated Schools of Construction Univ. of Nebraska.
CPWD (Central Public Works Department). n.d.-a. “Office memorandum.” Accessed October 1, 2019. https://www.cpwd.gov.in/WriteReadData/tlqa_cir/42983.pdf.
CPWD (Central Public Works Department). n.d.-b. “Office memorandum.” Accessed November 3, 2020. https://www.cpwd.gov.in/WriteReadData/tlqa_cir/45127.pdf.
Dash, D. K. 2019. “New rules to end disputes with infrastructure companies.” Times of India, September 4, 2019.
Deep, S., D. Singh, and S. A. Ahmad. 2017. “A review of contract awards to lowest bidder in Indian construction projects via case based approach.” Open J. Bus. Manage. 5 (1): 159–168. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojbm.2017.51015.
Elhag, T., S. Eapen, and T. Ballal. 2019. “Moderating claims and disputes through collaborative procurement.” Constr. Innovation 20 (1): 79–95. https://doi.org/10.1108/CI-02-2019-0020.
Gambatese, J. A., M. Behm, and S. Rajendran. 2008. “Design’s role in construction accident causality and prevention: Perspectives from an expert panel.” Saf. Sci. 46 (4): 675–691. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2007.06.010.
Gbeleyi, S. A. 2002. “An evaluation of the causes and effects of variation on building project execution in Nigeria.” B.Sc. dissertation, Dept. of Quantity Surveying, Obafemi Awolowo Univ.
Global Construction Market. 2013. “Global construction market to reach $15 Trillion by 2025, according to ARCADIS sponsored report.” Accessed July 1, 2013. https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2013/07/01/1761787/0/en/Global-Construction-Market-to-Reach-15-Trillion-by-2025-according-to-ARCADIS-Sponsored-Report.html.
Hadikusumo, B. H. W., and S. Tobgay. 2015. “Construction claim types and causes for a large-scale hydropower project in Bhutan.” J. Constr. Dev. Countries 20 (1): 49–63.
Hair, J. E., R. E. Anderson, R. L. Tatham, and W. C. Black. 1998. Multivariate data analysis. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Haron, N. A., P. Devi, S. Hassim, A. H. Alias, M. M. Tahir, and A. N. Harun. 2017. “Project management practices and its effects on project success in Malaysian construction industry.” IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng. 291 (May): 012008. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/291/1/012008.
Khalafallah, A., and Y. Shalaby. 2019. “Change orders: Automating comparative data analysis and controlling impacts in public projects.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 145 (11): 04019064. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001700.
Kim, J., and C. Mueller. 1978. Factor analysis. London: SAGE.
Krosnick, J. A. 1999. “Survey research.” Annu. Rev. Psychol. 50 (1): 537–567. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.50.1.537.
Kumaraswamy, M. M. 1997. “Conflicts, claims and disputes in construction.” Eng. Constr. Archit. Manage. 4 (2): 95–111. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb021042.
Le, Y., M. Shan, A. P. C. Chan, and Y. Hu. 2014. “Investigating the causal relationships between causes of and vulnerabilities to corruption in the Chinese public construction sector.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 140 (9): 05014007. https://doi.org/ 10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000886.
Mahamid, I. 2016. “Micro and macro level of dispute causes in residential building projects: Studies of Saudi Arabia.” J. King Saud Univ.–Eng. Sci. 28 (1): 12–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2014.03.002.
Maharani, S., K. Warman, and Z. Zulheri. 2019. “The settlement of land consolidation dispute in Padang Bypass Road construction through court (a study on case No. 146/PDT.G/2015/PN PDG).” Int. J. Multicultural Multireligious Understanding 6 (2): 403–411. https://doi.org/10.18415/ijmmu.v6i2.728.
Mohd Nawi, M. N., N. Baluch, and A. Y. Bahauddin. 2014. “Impact of fragmentation issue in construction industry: An overview.” In Vol. 15 of Proc., MATEC Web Conf., 01009. Les Ulis, France: EDP Sciences.
Munns, A. K., and B. F. Bjeirmi. 1996. “The role of project management in achieving project success.” Int. J. Project Manage. 14 (2): 81–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/0263-7863(95)00057-7.
Narh, O. C., E. E. Owusu, K. Oduro-Apeatu, and T. W. J. Narh. 2015. “An exploratory study of professional conflicts and disputes within the construction industry.” Int. J. Managerial Stud. Res. 3 (12): 44–65.
Ortega, I. 2000. Systematic prevention of construction failure, 1–13. St. Gallen, Switzerland: Univ. of St. Gallen.
Pinto, J. K., and D. P. Slevin. 1988. “Critical success factors across the project life cycle.” Project Manage. J. 19 (Jun): 67–75.
Project Management Institute. 2013. Project management body of knowledge. 5th ed. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
Proverbs, D., G. D. Holts, and H. Y. Cheok. 2000. “Construction industry problems: The views of UK construction directors.” In Proc., 16th Annual Association of Researches in Construction Management (ARCOM) Conf., 73–81. Glasgow, UK: Glasgow Caledonian Univ.
Society of Construction Law. n.d. “Delay and disruption protocol.” Accessed August 1, 2022. https://www.scl.org.uk/resources/delay-disruption-protocol.
Wegelius-Lehtonen, T. 2001. “Performance measurement in construction logistics.” Int. J. Prod. Econ. 69 (1): 107–116. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0925-5273(00)00034-7.
World Bank. n.d. “How large is public procurement?” Accessed February 5, 2020. https://blogs.worldbank.org/developmenttalk/how-large-public-procurement.
Yap, J. B. H., H. Abdul Rahman, C. Wang, and M. Skimore. 2018. “Exploring the underlying factors including design changes during building production.” Prod. Plann. Control 29 (7): 586–601. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2018.1448127.
Zhao, W. 2019. “The root cause of claims and disputes in construction industry and solution analysis.” PM World J. VIII (V).

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction
Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction
Volume 15Issue 1February 2023

History

Received: Feb 4, 2022
Accepted: Aug 4, 2022
Published online: Oct 11, 2022
Published in print: Feb 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Mar 11, 2023

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

ASCE Technical Topics:

Authors

Affiliations

Syed Zafar Shahid Tabish [email protected]
Additional Director General, Projects Delhi, Central Public Works Department (CPWD), R.K.Puram, New Delhi, Delhi 110022, India (corresponding author). Email: [email protected]
Kumar Neeraj Jha
Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), New Delhi, Delhi 110016, India.

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.

View Options

Get Access

Access content

Please select your options to get access

Log in/Register Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members: Please log in to see member pricing

Purchase

Save for later Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.

Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
ASCE Library Card (5 downloads)
$105.00
Add to cart
ASCE Library Card (20 downloads)
$280.00
Add to cart
Buy Single Article
$35.00
Add to cart

Get Access

Access content

Please select your options to get access

Log in/Register Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members: Please log in to see member pricing

Purchase

Save for later Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.

Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
ASCE Library Card (5 downloads)
$105.00
Add to cart
ASCE Library Card (20 downloads)
$280.00
Add to cart
Buy Single Article
$35.00
Add to cart

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

Share

Share

Copy the content Link

Share with email

Email a colleague

Share