Wael Sherif

Abstract

The construction industry is one of the most active sectors of the Egyptian economy. This industry links with other sectors such as manufacturing of steel. One of the most projects that are continuing to grow rapidly in Egypt is the repetitive residential units due to the expansion of population in Egypt. The composition of the Egyptian population is a major contributor to the booming of the repetitive residential units sector in Egypt. This is because of more than half of the Egyptian population are under the age of 25. Construction projects contain complex operations that cannot be predicted. Also it is rare to find a construction project without changes. This leads to the issue of variation order. Variation orders cause time delay, cost overrun, quality defects, and other negative impacts. Moreover, variation orders lead to uncertain flow processes and increase of non value-adding activities which reduce the output value. This research aims to study the impact of variation orders on performance of repetitive residential units in Egypt by identifying the causes, impact on project performance and the associated non value-adding activities from the point of view of owners, consultants and contractors. A compiled list was prepared regarding variation orders causes, non value-adding activities and impact of variation orders. This was done through an extensive literature review. This compiled list was concluded and adapted to the Egyptian construction industry through seven semi-structured interviews. The interviewees commented according to their experiences to the Egyptian context. Three further interviews with experts were conducted to ensure and confirm the results of the list that has been reached. Subsequently, a questionnaire survey was submitted to the participants and 76 responses were received including 23 owners, 24 consultants and 29 contractors. The data received was analyzed and the importance index was used for ranking. The analyzed data presents the result of each party independently. The degree of agreement was measured between different parties and it was noticeable that some conflicting points of view between the owner and the contractor, while good correlation was found between the owner and the consultant. The overall results indicated that the most three important causes of variation orders for the repetitive residential units in Egypt are change of plans or scope by owner, change of schedule sequence by owner and change in specifications by owner. Moreover, the most significant impacts of variation orders were time overrun, disputes between parties to the contract and professional reputation of one or more parties adversely affected. The study also found that the top five non value-adding activities with variation orders are waiting due to resources problem, rework due to varied works, waiting due to ignorance of specifications, frequent design changes and idling due to the shortage of skilled labor

Department

Construction Engineering Department

Degree Name

MS in Construction Engineering

Graduation Date

6-1-2016

Submission Date

May 2016

First Advisor

Waly, Ahmed

Committee Member 1

Hosny, Osama

Committee Member 2

Marzouk, Mohamed Mahdy

Extent

85 p.

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Rights

The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy.

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval

Approval has been obtained for this item

Comments

Firstly, I would like to thank God for giving me the strength and the capability to accomplish this study. Secondly, I would like to thank my advisor Dr. Ahmed Waly for his invaluable guidance and support, and I am grateful to him for inspiring me to embark on that thesis topic. My appreciation extends to everyone participated in the research and find the time to share their experience and knowledge. and Finally I am using this opportunity to express my gratitude to my family, and especially my father for his continuous support and encouragement; also, I cannot forget my wife for always being my constant source of support and happiness through good and hard times.

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