CAUSES OF DELAYS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY: A COMPARISON BETWEEN SINGAPORE, INDONESIA, MALAYSIA, THAILAND AND VIETNAM

Abstract

Through a quantitative analysis done by 59 professionals of the Singaporean construction industry on the level of influence of 52 factors on construction delays, it is found that the most important causes of delay in Singapore include long-term poor site management and supervision of the contractor, shortage of labour, clients-induced and necessary variations, inadequate contractor experience, unrealistic contract duration, inclement weather conditions, inadequate labourer skills. The quantitative analysis also reveals that some problems that arise out of recent events are significant as well. They are the problems of price fluctuations and shortage in materials or equipment possibly due to the 2007 sand ban imposed on Singapore by the Indonesian government and the boom in construction demand worldwide. By comparing the situation in Singapore with that of its other four ASEAN neighbours of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, ways that the five countries can work together to eliminate the causes of construction delays are also explored. The proposed areas of cooperation include coming together to drive the five construction industries towards sustainable construction as material shortage is a problem common in all the five nations. The problem of poor site management and supervision of the contractors is proposed to be overcome by creating avenues for the contractors working on construction projects in the five countries to share their knowledge among themselves.