Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2011

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Construction, Engineering and Infrastructure Management.

Construction industry is getting competitive and complex due to increasing demands of the Employers and global economic downturn. This complex environment leads to claims and dispute causation which is totally counterproductive for the project Success. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify the types, causes of claims against the frequency of occurrence, degree of severity and level of importance so that preventive and corrective measures could be taken accordingly. Causes and types of claims provide the information on the elements which are responsible for claim and dispute causation in general terms with no pin pointing detail. For that matter, Pathogenic influence on the causation of claims was determined in order to know the practices, tasks, circumstances and other pathogens which lead to claim and dispute causation. Data analysis was done on the responses of 59 respondents belonging to all three target populations i.e. Employer, Consultant and Contractor. Causes and types of claims were ranked against frequency, severity and level of importance. Most important causes which have been revealed from this study are delayed payments by the Employer, competitive market forcing contractors to bid low leading to tight profit margins, ineffective planning and scheduling by Contractor, poor financial management of the Contractor, price hike of materials and increased rentals of plant & equipment, and improper technical study by the Contractor during bidding stage of the project. For types of claims, extra work claims and change claims found out to be the most critical. Case studies were conducted to figure out the pathogenic influence on claims causation; Practice, task and circumstance pathogens were found to be the main pathogens responsible for claim and dispute causation. Recommendations were developed specifically for Employers, Consultants and Contractors with the theme of preventing and avoiding claim causation.