[Variation Orders as a Response to Organizational Issues in Construction Procurement]

By

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would hereby like to take this opportunity to convey my regards to my research supervisor, family and friends for their untiring support and guidance without which this research would not have been probable.

DECLARATION

I, (Your name), would like to declare that all contents included in this dissertation stand for my individual work without any aid, & this dissertation has not been submitted for any examination at academic as well as professional level previously. It is also representing my very own views & not essentially which are associated with university.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

ABSTRACT

In this study we try to explore the concept of construction procurement in a holistic context. The main focus of the research is on variation orders and its relation with organizational issues. The research also analyzes many aspects of variation orders and tries to gauge its effect on construction procurement. Finally the research describes various factors which are responsible for construction procurement and tries to describe the overall effect of variation orders on organizational issues. This dissertation is build upon these past studies by launching an investigation into the factors which give rise to variation orders in construction procurement. This study also determines the different success as well as delay factors in a fashion so as to integrate the two in order to determine the critical factors that prove to be most influential in avoidance of the specific critical factors that result in a delay. Moreover, the legal framework of variation orders is also incorporated in this study to present a holistic perspective of the issue. This study would be able to provide different construction organizations to understand the basis on which delays could be avoided in future. This study is centers on building and construction projects in Brunei, which have been subjected to delay due to variation orders.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

Background of the Research1

Problem Statement2

Rationale2

Aims and Objectives4

Significance of the Study4

Research Questions5

Hypothesis6

Ethical Concerns6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW8

Basic of change11

Variation Order11

The Conditions of Contract13

Variation orders --A Curse to All Construction Projects14

Variations and range orders23

Variation orders Wastes24

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY28

Keywords29

Literature Selection Criteria29

Search Technique30

Keywords Used30

CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS31

CHAPTER 5: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION35

Construction contracts35

Comparative Analysis of the Variations Orders Clause in different contracts ( for a detailed analysis of the various contracts, see appendices)36

The first change43

Contract changes44

Effects of variations44

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION46

REFERENCES49

APPENDIX55

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Background of the Research

An interrogation of the recent literature suggests that construction projects often reach their completion phase with huge overruns on cost, extensive schedules and concerns regarding the quality of the project. When projects are delayed, it implies that the time overruns have gone either beyond the date of completion as specified in the legal contract. It sometimes also goes beyond the date that the involved parties had accepted for the delivery of the project. Many a times, factors like variation orders in construction procurement cause delays in the delivery of the project, as aforementioned (Thomas & Napolitan 2000, pp. 290-296).

Delays caused by variation orders are very common in construction projects, especially when ...