The impact of Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Phases on Project Performance: A Case of Large-scale Residential Construction Project

Abstract

The Construction Industry is a complex and fragmented industry worldwide with regards to its supply chain, products, and processes, and is faced with a similar dilemma as faced by manufacturers during its time in past decades. Scope, time, and cost are the triple constraints of project management and leading factors in defining the project performance. Productivity and efficiency of each construction project is measured through its triple constraints, therefore the factors that affect project success are significantly important. Despite the importance of understanding project performance indicators, few empirical studies have been conducted over the last decade in terms of analyzing the factors that determine the performance of high-rise buildings in Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) projects. Hence, the aim of this paper is to analyze and rank EPC critical activities across large-scale residential construction projects in Iran, by using the TOPSIS method as a multi-attribute group decision-making technique. Results indicate that engineering design, project planning and controls are significant factors contributing to the project performance. In addition, engineering has a pivotal role in project performance and this significance is followed by the construction phase. On the contrary, all believe procurement is more important than Construction phase.

Improving the Performance of Building Construction Firms through Addressing the Gap of Building Production Management: A New Production Model Approach

“…1 = never; 2 = rarely; 3 = sometimes; 4 = often; 5 = very often Table 5 indicates that all the responding construction firms are fully aware of the gap of BPM in the construction industry. As stated by Kabirifar and Mojtahedi (2019), manageable factors such as inadequacy, ineffective control, poor planning, poor allocation, poor design, resources and information, improper implementation and execution, poor dispensation, insufficient quality, and nonmanageable factors such as environmental issues and failure in external methods, are the most significant factors that caused construction project's inefficiency. Evidence has shown that people see construction or building works as a fast way of getting rich, hence, traders, lawyers, microbiologists or political scientists ventures into engineering and building professions undisturbed in the Nigerian construction industry (Osuizugbo, 2018).…”

“…Unproductive time such as travelling, waiting, working slowly, doing reworks, and ineffective work are the major causes of productivity loss on construction projects (Aliyu et al, 2015). As stated by Kabirifar and Mojtahedi (2019), manageable factors such as inadequacy, ineffective control, poor planning, poor allocation, poor design, resources and information, improper implementation and execution, poor dispensation, insufficient quality, and nonmanageable factors such as environmental issues and failures in external methods are the most significant factors that caused construction project's inefficiency.…”

“…To achieve satisfying results such as aesthetic satisfaction, value for money, completion within budget, completion on time, health and safety, and functional satisfaction, a sound and good management of construction project is required (Iheme and Chiagorom, 2018). According to Kabirifar and Mojtahedi (2019) a successful BPM plays a significant role in a construction firm's success, and organisations that manage its resources effectively will achieve highperformance efficiency. In the Nigerian construction industry, the possibility of tracing ineffective BPM in the system may not be far-fetched.…”

“…Unauthorized practices are illegal practices by unlicensed firms and individuals in the Nigerian construction industry (National Bureau of Statistics, 2015). In spite of the application of various techniques, tools, and theories, the construction sector still suffers from incompetence in relations to time and cost overruns and poor quality globally (Kabirifar and Mojtahedi, 2019).…”

Analytical Study of the Causes of Abandoned Construction Projects

“…In the same country, Alao and Jagboro (2017) [22] has reached a decision that delayed payments, fund mismanagement, inadequate budgetary allocation, inadequacy of finance, inflation and bankruptcy of contractor were the most significant causes of abandoned projects. One common reason for abandoned projects is the unpredicted factors causing from the preliminary estimation of the cost of projects through the forecasting stage, the conflicts between the estimated and real construction costs make the project unworkable during the execution stage, such causes may oblige the developer to abandon the project [9].…”