International Journal of Sustainable Construction Engineering and Technology 

About: International Journal of Sustainable Construction Engineering and Technology is an academic journal published by Penerbit UTHM. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Compressive strength & Materials science. It has an ISSN identifier of 2180-3242. It is also open access. Over the lifetime, 325 publications have been published receiving 1822 citations. The journal is also known as: IJSCET.

Factors Affecting Construction Cost in Mara Large Construction Project: Perspective of Project Management Consultant

Abstract: Project cost is one of the most important criteria of success of project and is of high concern to those who are involved in the construction industry. However, studies show that rarely projects are complete within stipulated budget. This study is focusing on identification of significant causes affecting construction cost in MARA large projects. This paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey conducted among the personnel of Project Management Consultant (PMC). Data was analyzed with statistical tools to determine the rank of factors affecting construction cost. It is concluded that cash flow and financial difficulties faced by contractors, contractor's poor site management and supervision, inadequate contractor experience, shortage of site workers, incorrect planning and scheduling by contractors are most severe factors while changes in scope of project and frequent design changes are least affecting factors on construction cost. Spearman correlation analysis showed that incorrect planning and scheduling by contractor has strong positive relationship with contractor’s poor site management and supervision, inadequate experience of contractors has strong positive relationship with incorrect planning and scheduling; and contractor’s poor site management and supervision, changes in scope of project has strong positive relationship with frequent design changes; and vice versa.

Preliminary Study on Causative Factors Leading to Construction Cost Overrun

Abstract: Cost is the fundamental component for any construction project. However, cost overrun is observed as one of the most frequently occurring issues in construction projects worldwide and need to be studied more to alleviate this issue in the future. This trend is more severe in developing countries where these overruns sometimes exceeds 100% of the anticipated cost of the project. Like other countries, construction industry in Malaysia is also facing a lot of challenges such as the delay to complete the project in time, the expenditure exceeding the budget, the building defects and over dependent of foreign workers. The ultimate effects of project delay also results in exceeding cost. This leads to serious need of addressing the critical issue of construction cost overrun. To avoid construction cost overrun, very first and most important step is to identify and understand the causes and factors responsible for that. Hence, this paper is aimed to identify various factors responsible for construction cost overrun. Through a comprehensive study of literature review, common factors causing cost overrun resulting in identification of 78 factors were mapped in frequency table. A questionnaire survey and interviews were carried out amongst selected experienced personnel for expert opinion to identify the significant factors causing cost overrun in Malaysia. Five respondents were selected from each of the respondents groups including client, consultant and contractor. The questionnaire responses were analyzed by average index method, which resulted in identification of 59 common factors causing construction cost overrun in Malaysia. Results show that poor design & delays in Design, unrealistic contract duration & requirements imposed, lack of experience, late delivery of materials & equipment, relationship between management & labour, delay preparation & approval of drawings, inadequate planning & scheduling, poor site management & supervision and mistakes during construction were most common and significant factors causing cost overrun in Malaysian construction industry as perceived by experts

The Properties of Special Concrete Using Washed Bottom Ash (WBA) as Partial Sand Replacement

Abstract: This paper presents the use of Washed Bottom Ash (WBA) as fine aggregate in special concrete. The WBA is a waste material that is taken from electric power plant and the source material is called as bottom ash. To substitute the amount of carbon usage in concrete the bottom ash was utilized and fully submerged in water for 3 days to produce as WBA with low carbon composition. The aim of the study is to investigate the feasibility and potential use of washed bottom ash in concreting and concrete applications. The results of the physical and chemical properties of WBA were discussed. Different concrete mixes with constant water to cement ratio of 0.55 were prepared with WBA in different proportions as well as one control mixed proportion. The mechanical properties of special concrete with 30% WBA replacement by weight of natural sand is found to be an optimum usage in concrete in order to get a favourable strength and good strength development pattern over the increment ages.

Risk Allocation in Public Private Partnership (PPP) Project: A Review on Risk Factors

Abstract: It is important for the public and private sectors to establish effective risk allocation strategies for Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects. According to Malaysia’s PPP Guideline, one of the key feature or characteristics is to optimal sharing of risk whereby risk is allocated to the party who is the best able to manage. This mean that in PPP itself, it emphasis risk allocation in construction project. This paper presents on reviewing the risk factors of PPP construction project by mapping previous research works on PPP project around the world. The matrix of the mapping gives the frequency of factors that are considered the risk allocation of PPP project. The risk factors are clustered into 10 groups namely: Political, Construction, Legal, Economic, Operation, Market, Project selection, Project finance, Relationship and Natural factor. Result shows that the highest score frequency factors are change in law, delay in project approvals & permits and land acquisition. By knowing the risk factors gives better understanding in allocating them to parties/stakeholders involved.

Potential Use of Malaysian Thermal Power Plants Coal Bottom Ash in Construction

Abstract: As Malaysia focuses its attention to the call for a “greener” culture, so did the engineers and those in the scientific community especially the construction industry who is a major contributor to the depletion of green house gases. The engineering and construction community has now taken up the challenge for the use of “green and recycled by-products” in construction. One of those by-products is the Coal Bottom Ash (CBA) from thermal power plants that faces an increasing production running into hundreds of thousand tonnes in Malaysia alone, and its method of disposal is relegated to landfills alone with no other commercial usage. The construction industry is now forced to rethink on the utilization of the industrial by-products as supplementary materials due to the continuous depletion of natural aggregates in construction. A significant amount of research has been conducted elsewhere on CBA to ascertain its pozzolanic activity, compressive strength in concrete and mortar, durability, water absorption characteristics and density, in order to ensure its usage as a construction material. In this paper, a critical review of the strength characteristics of concrete and mortar as influenced by CBA as partial replacement of fine aggregate is presented based on the available information in the published literatures. Diverse physical and chemical properties of CBA from different power plants in Malaysia are also presented. The influence of different types, amounts and sources of CBA on the strength and bulk density of concrete is discussed. The setting time, workability and consistency as well as the advantages and disadvantages of using CBA in construction materials are also highlighted. An effective utilization of CBA in construction materials will significantly reduce the accumulation of the by-products in landfills and thus reduce environmental pollution.