Perera, B A K S; Ekanayake, B J; Jayalath, C and Jayathilaka, G R H (2021) A study on variation-specific disputes that arise in road projects in Sri Lanka: A qualitative approach. International Journal of Construction Management, 21(6), pp. 571-581. ISSN 1562-3599
Abstract
With the rapid development in Sri Lanka, a number of highway projects are on the increase. Quite often, these projects suffer cost and time overruns predominantly because of variations. Although many studies have done on the root causes of variations, they have not been focused on proximate factors of variations that lead to disputes in Sri Lankan road projects. This study while taking a qualitative approach included a literature survey, a document review and 15 semi structured interviews with the use of three case studies on Grade 3 Road Projects administered by ICTAD Publication No. ICTAD/SBD/02, Second Edition January 2007, Standard Bidding Document for Procurement of Works. Findings were validated via three expert interviews. By analyzing data using content analysis, 16 root causes, 23 proximate causes and 10 major effects of variations were identified. Although disputes are inevitable, there are measures that can be employed to manage the disputes. The study recommends a best practice guideline with 15 approaches so as to reduce the number of variations which inter-alia include the preparation of proper documentation, reviewing of design and establishment of a proper mechanism itself for processing and evaluating variations.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | disputes; road projects; Sri Lanka; strategies; variations |
| Index terms: | dispute, qualitative approach, time overrun, case study, road project, highway construction, best practice, Sri Lanka, strategy, content analysis, documentation, survey, interview, bidding, publication, variation |
| Subjects: | project controls, contractual condition, Geography, infrastructure engineering, professional development, management, civil engineering, research methods, data analysis and analytics, bidding, dispute resolution, research dissemination and communication, data collection methods, business |
| Topics: | Legal Issues, Contract Administration, Time Control, Engineering Principles, Information Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Procurement |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here