STANDARD PROCEDURES FOR VARIATION MANAGEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

Abstract

Variations have large impact on project budget, schedule and quality. For years, many researches have been carried out on different methods to manage variation when changes occur to the project as well as to prevent any variation from arising. It is equally important for the project lead administrator and the project owner to work closely in managing variation from when the variation is requested till it is executed and documented. This research hence aims to develop standard procedures for variation management, from the onset of variation till its complete execution, and to identify the responsibilities of project parties in monitoring the procedures. This research adopted literature review as the foundation to gain insight into current industry practices. Information obtained from literature review was used to form the proposed procedures. Further interviews with industry experts helped to devise the proper procedures as well as to eliminate redundant steps. The literature review and interviews were followed by a questionnaire form, which was sent to hundreds of architectural, project management companies and developers to seek their professional advice on the applicability of the proposal. Through survey result and expert advice analysis, it was proved that the proposal was reasonable and widely adopted by many companies. The concluded results proposed three different procedures to be applied for three types of variation, namely: Employer-requested variation, Consultant-requested variation, and Contractor-requested variation. Further explanation was required from interviewed experts to understand the reason for adopting a different procedure from the proposed, and to identify areas of improvement in the proposal. Lastly, utilizing the standard procedures in dispute management, the research recommended prospective solutions for contractual disputes regarding level of liability of each party who causes delay, abortive work, and unreasonable variation evaluation in variation management. Further recommendations to improve the procedures, to better manage variation, and for future studies had been suggested.