Profiling Causes and Effects of Variation Order on Performance of Civil Engineering Projects.

Abstract

One of the most significant challenges bedeviling the construction industry is variations. They occur in almost every construction and their magnitudes are not the same as they vary significantly from project to project. The main objective of this paper is to examine the causes of variation in civil engineering projects, explore its effects and establish strategies that could be employed to reduce their occurrences on construction projects. The study focused on completed civil engineering construction projects awarded by the Federal Government of Nigeria over the past ten years. To achieve the stated objective of this paper, a quantitative research was employed using a questionnaire survey self-administered to construction professionals; the Engineers, Quantity Surveyors and contractors. A total of 120 questionnaires was administered using snowball sampling techniques. The results indicated that the major causes of variation are bad contractual procedure and lack of understanding and correct interpretation of client’s requirement. Chief amongst the effects of variation on projects are cost and time overrun as shown by the analysed results. However, the study suggested that the best strategy to reduce variation is that no design engineer should be allowed to practice without having professional license and that registration of the construction companies should be reviewed regularly to reflect their technical capabilities. It was concluded that a better understanding of the causes of variation would be of help for construction professionals in assessing variation and this would be helpful in taking pre-emptive measures for reducing variation orders in construction projects