Cost and time control of construction project: inhibiting factors and mitigating measures in practice

Yakubu Olawale, Ming Sun

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Despite the availability of various control techniques and project control software many construction projects still do not achieve their cost and time objectives. Research in this area so far has mainly been devoted to identifying causes of cost and time overruns. There is limited research geared towards studying factors inhibiting the ability of practitioners to effectively control their projects. To fill this gap, a survey was conducted on 250 construction project organizations in the UK, which was followed by face-to-face interviews with experienced practitioners from 15 of these organizations. The common factors that inhibit both time and cost control during construction projects were first identified. Subsequently 90 mitigating measures have been developed for the top five leading inhibiting factors—design changes, risks/uncertainties, inaccurate evaluation of project time/duration, complexities and non-performance of subcontractors were recommended. These mitigating measures were classified as: preventive, predictive, corrective and organizational measures. They can be used as a checklist of good practice and help project managers to improve the effectiveness of control of their projects.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)509-526
Number of pages18
JournalConstruction Management and Economics
Volume28
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2010

Bibliographical note

This is an electronic version of an article published in Olawale, Y & Sun, M 2010, 'Cost and time control of construction project: inhibiting factors and mitigating measures in practice', Construction management and economics, vol 28, no. 5, pp. 509-526. Construction management and economics is available online at http://www.informaworld.com/openurl?genre=article&issn=0144-6193&volume=28&issue=5&spage=509

Keywords

  • cost control
  • interview
  • practice
  • project control
  • project management

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