Master of Science in Construction Law and Dispute Resolution

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item: Thesis-Abstract
Adaptability of OHSAS 18001 as a regulation in the Sri Lankan construction industry: consultant's perspective
Senaratne, GRN; De Silva, N
The management of health and safety is an issue that is relevant and crucial to all organizations across all industries in the globe. It is more significant and crucial for the construction industry. In Sri Lanka, the construction industry is one of the largest industries,accounting about 8.7% gross domestic product in 2013. It employs about 681,000 in 2012 of the national workforce and generates an annual turnover of up to Rs.423.4 billion. However,construction industry still remains one of the most dangerous industries due to its high work force, heavy use of high risk machineries sand lack of safety culture. This research is focused to study the potential of implementation of OHSAS 18001 as a regulation in local construction industry. Thus three objectives such as study the standard process of OHSAS 18001 requirements implementing at a site , Level of current practice of OHSAS 18001 requirements at consultants organisations and Analyse the possibility of implementing OHSAS 18001 as a regulation were set. The survey method was employed in conducting this research. Data collection was mainly through questionnaire survey that consists with structured and semi structured questions. The findings of the research showed that 15.6 % of the companies are following OHSAS 18001 and another 12 .5% have obtained OHSAS 18001 certification. In addition, 59% of the companies are following OHS policies that are quite similar to OHSAS and 71.9 % of the respondents were of the view that OHSAS 18001 can be established as a regulation. These findings will inspire the stakeholders of the construction industry to implement OHSAS 180001 in their construction sites in order to optimize the operational performances and the legislature to introduce necessary legislations to make OHSAS 180001 a regulation for the benefit of the industry and the society at large.
item: Thesis-Full-text
An Analysis of disputes related to earth retaining structure construction projects in Sri Lanka
(2019) Selvarajha S; Hadiwattege C
In last two decades, here the technical and economic circumstances prevailing in the construction industry have changed dramatically to take precedence over the shortcomings of project disputes concerning Earth retaining structures (ERS), such as technical disputes and procurement. Different ERS construction methods are available in the construction industry, recently populated is soil nailing construction, in parallel procurement approaches have arisen with the improvement of most of the construction industry to suit various projects, having their own set of assumptions for each strategy. Here the primary purpose of this research is to study an analysis of disputes related to earth retaining structure construction projects in Sri Lanka. Accordingly, the study discovered that factors initiating conflicts in ERS construction are in numerous forms. So these concern the nature or characteristics of contracts in which contracts or agreements are also ambiguous and unclear, allowing contracting parties to conduct themselves as opportunistic when postal changes are necessary. Factors related to role functions exist when the parties are not performing according to expectations. This study shows that some project participants ' contractual failure and subsequent post - contract adjustments as well as unscrupulous behavior are the root causes of soil nailing projects. The study also found that, adequate mechanism for dealing with disputes in the standard contractual forms appeared in design and construction (D&B) and traditional procurement arrangements and where the provisions contradict the specific interests of the parties, the major party chose the friendly and amicable approaches to the resolution. Design and Build (D&B) procurement arrangements are better at resolving disputes, the availability of methodologies for dispute management in standard forms of contracts, the research study recommends as a strategy the framework that can decrease the conflicts occurrence in soil nailing projects.
item: Thesis-Full-text
Analysis of disputes towards effectiveness of negotiation in the Sri Lankan construction industry : contractors’ perspective
Viththakan, KP; Ramachandra, T
Sri Lankan construction industry is one of the growing industry from the recent past upon end of the three decade civil war. Because of the multi-party involvement in the construction industry and complex in nature, parties are always prone to face numerous disputes in their journey while attempt to safeguard their respective interests. Once the disputes emerged amongst the parties, they seeks suitable ways to solve the disputes in an amicable manner to the parties however it is not always possible for them to reach such amicable solution while maintain the interest of the all parties. Compare with the other approaches available for dispute resolutions, negotiation said to be as easiest, very efficient and economical and less time consuming process. However, the negotiation in the Sri Lankan construction industry is an undesired process for the parties in disputes due to higher rate of its failures. This research were conducted to analyses disputes towards the effectiveness of negotiation in the Sri Lankan construction industry by identifying the causes for the positive and negative outcome of the negotiations and investigating the relationship between negotiation outcome to project characteristics, professionals involved in negotiation, time taken for negotiation, monitory value involved, and causes of dispute etc. Data was collected and analyzed using document analyses methodology using quantitative data analyses techniques respectively. The research concludes that unethical, unprofessional practice of the construction professionals and appointment of in-house team of client as contract administrators and aging of negotiation along with some of the project characteristics such as types of the client, procurement method etc. were major contributors possess significant relations to the negotiation outcome despite the common factors: unpreparedness, skill level of negotiator, model and tactics, cultural barrier and gender mix in the team were found in the literature review.
item: Thesis-Abstract
Analysis of the perception of legal and institutional framework relating to public private partnerships
(2024) Goonatilake, MDMJ; Kulathunga, U
The research on “Analysis of the Perception of Legal and Institutional Framework Relating to Public Private Partnerships” is undertaken to form an opinion of the aforementioned framework from the viewpoint of Contracting Authorities and the private sector. Public Private Partnerships (PPP) is the way forward for countries like Sri Lanka, in developing infrastructure. The PPP model enables Governments to be pro-active and envisage development, without being constrained by limitations in national budgets. Also the ability to allow advanced technologies in infrastructure development to be brought in by private investors under the PPP model greatly enhances the capability of developing countries to move up the development ladder. Sri Lanka has been implementing PPP projects for more than 2 decades, however, the consistency and continuity of implementation is not observed compared to neighboring and countries with similar economies. The flipside of such inconsistency is the lack of economic benefits to the country and slower economic growth rates. Accordingly, it is crucial that the current PPP framework is analyzed from the perceptive of both the public and private stakeholders involved and understand its’ strengths and weaknesses, while also seeking avenues to improve and develop the framework to be more hospitable for PPP project implementation. Key areas identified as issues and challenges in the current framework are disconnect between the existing legal framework and the project document preparation, lack of policy on prioritization, optimization and economic benefits, lack of coordination between stakeholder government institutions and identifying the current PPP framework only as a guideline. Through the comparisons with successful frameworks and suggestions by experts the key improvements would be establishing an independent centralized committee with a mandate to prioritize, coordinate and implement PPP, introduction of PPP policy and a dedicated legislature with standardized documents, and improved accountability of document preparation and review committees. Keywords: Public Private Partnerships, Perception, Legal and Institutional Framework, Challenges and Improvements
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Applicability of building information modeling (BIM) for minimizing disputes arising from project team diversity
(2020) Walimuni WMPC; Jayasena HS
Complexity of construction industry makes it inevitable to avoid disputes among project team members. Diversified nature of team members is identified as a main source of disputes which impose negativity to projects. Even though there is a visible connection between BIM implementation and dispute minimization, people tend to refuse accepting this valuable technology. Therefore, the research is mainly focused on identifying the applicability of BIM technology to minimize disputes within construction projects that arise due to diversified nature of team members. This research aim was approached through a qualitative research strategy by collecting data from qualitative observational study in the form of desk research and semi-structured interviews conducted with industry experts. The qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis to develop a conceptual framework which directed the study towards its aim. The research findings exposed encouraging team work; establishing a vision and providing goals formed by a central scientific idea; creating good communication within project teams; engaging qualified and experienced personnel; increasing levels of trust within the team; establishing effective problem solving mechanisms; and encouraging intellectual disagreement as the main causes of disputes that arise due to diversified nature of team members. Moreover, research disclosed the main techniques that can be used to implement the each identified main methods of dispute minimization. Accordingly, a conceptual framework was developed to identify the applicability of BIM technology in minimizing disputes among project team members. Additionally, the research findings were validated through expert opinions in order to make the outcome more reliable. The developed conceptual framework provides a basis for decision making in initial stage of building construction projects where decision for adopting BIM technology emerge. Moreover, further research directions can be suggested towards the areas such as concerning a different context for the same research problem and using different units of analysis.
item: Thesis-Full-text
Application of early negotiation as a dispute avoidance mechanism in Sri Lankan road construction projects
Gamage, TGSS; Seneviratne, I
Conflicts are very common in construction industry, mainly due to the different objectives of the parties which are intended to be acquired through the project. The parties to construction projects should take all reasonable efforts to resolve their conflicts without letting those developing into disputes because unattended conflicts possibly grow fast, spread and create unpalatable side-effects which are not easy to handle. Out of many dispute avoidance mechanisms, early negotiation has identified as an important reactive measure to be used due to many advantages inborn. Purpose of this research was to improve the effectiveness of early negotiation practice as a disputes avoidance mechanism in Sri Lankan construction industry. A literature review and pilot survey were carried out to identify the factors influencing on negotiation failures at conflict stage. The most significant factors causing failure in early negotiation were identified via questionnaire survey and data analysis. Recommendations to overcome such barriers were identified via interview survey and contents analysis. The findings of the study reveal that (a) unawareness in contract/legal terms and interpretations, (b) poor skills in dealing with the people, handling negotiation deadlocks and using negotiation tactics, (c) insufficient level of authority for party representatives, and (d) attitude of contractor representatives that “we can easily deal with the Employer are the highly influencing failure factors of early negotiation. It is concluded that “early negotiation as dispute avoidance mechanism” has to develop in respect of all aspects such as awareness, skills, attitudes and practice. However most important area to be concerned is concluded as “skills” of professionals who plays major role in negotiation table. Key words: Conflicts, Dispute avoidance, Early negotiations, Road construction projects
item: Thesis-Abstract
The Appropriate delay analysis techniques to analyze the delays in road construction projects in Sri Lanka
Ekanayaka, EMK; Perera, BAKS
The Appropriate Delay Analysis Techniques to Analyze the Delays in Road Construction Projects in Sri Lanka Most of the road constructions projects are unable to complete within the scheduled time and consequently subject to delay. These delays are compensated by the client and the contractor or either party as appropriate. In order to quantify the amount of time of delay and the apportionment of delay to the respective parties/party a proper delay analysis has to be carried out. It is evident that currently some ad hoc methods are followed for this purpose. Therefore it is the high time to identify the most suitable technique to analyze the delays in road construction projects in Sri Lanka. This study is aiming to identify the most suitable delay analysis technique to analyze the delays in road construction projects in Sri Lanka. The descriptive study was carried out through a preliminary survey, questionnaire survey and detailed interviews among the practitioners of the industry. The data was analyzed using percentages on frequencies, relative importance index and mean ratings. Criterion suitability score and overall suitability scores were calculated to decide the most suitable delay analysis techniques. The study revealed that, 66% of the projects in the study sample were delayed and DATs were used in 87.5% of them. As planned v as built method is the mostly used DAT. Unavailability of experts and difficulties in collecting reliable information were the main problems. Nine criteria which influenced in selecting a DAT were identified and the acceptance by the courts and tribunals was the mostly influenced criteria. The window analysis method which scored highest OSS was recommended as the most suitable method to analysis the delay in road projects in Sri Lanka
item: Thesis-Full-text
Are the changes made to the standard forms of contract lead to disputes? :
(2019) Dissanayake IG; Seneviratne LDIPS
In last few years, Sri Lankan construction industry turned a new page towards the construction projects, innovative, complex in nature and boosting its construction outputs. The inherent characteristics, nature and its capacity to contribute to the national economy, is making it progressively challenging than ever for professionals to cope with work challenges. Different professionals are involved in the construction projects and due to its complexity and other characteristics, various types of construction contracts are in practice. Main contract between the Employer and the Contractor is foremost and parties mostly prefer to follow standard forms of contracts so as to draft the rights and responsibilities of the parties via terms and conditions. Due to various driving factors, professionals who are drafting the construction contracts try to amend the standard forms but that are beyond the recommended changes by the originator. Overview to the research is presented in chapter I, describing the background, problem statement, aims and objectives of the research, draft research design and limitations of the research. An extensive literature review is presented in Chapter II in order to form a theoretical framework for the research. A quantitative approach was used for the achievement of the research objectives; hence questionnaire survey was conducted. Questionnaire was developed based on the findings obtained from the literature review and preliminary survey. Altogether, 62 questionnaires were distributed among respondents and among them 54 questionnaires were received. Among them 50 completed questionnaires were considered for the analysis. Findings of the research were presented in Chapter V in detail. Accordingly, the respondents have stated that the expected outcome of the changes made to the standard forms of Contract not achieved, but still the Employers tend to change the standard forms. Hence, it should be further studied in order to find the alternative ways to achieve the expected outcome without amendments to the standard forms beyond the changes recommended by the originator.
item: Thesis-Full-text
Best practices of the engineer to minimize construction claims in government projects in Sri Lanka
(2021) Sendanayake HD; Disaratna V
Claim is fundamentally a term for demand for additional compensation in relation to alteration in the contract or affirmation of right to property or money, concerning time and cost. If claims are not clearly resolved the claims may lead to disputes and have to follow dispute resolution methods which are time consuming and costly. However, claims are inevitable in construction projects. Since, the Engineer is the person who is responsible for administration and supervision of Works fairly and independently his role in a construction project is significant. Further, main source of finance in government construction projects is public funds. Hence, unique characteristics such as limitations in budget allocations, public accountability, transparency, media influence, legislation and policy changes, time impact and media influence will create specific claims which will increase the importance of the best practices of the Engineer. Therefore, this study explored the best practices that can be adopted to minimize claims in Sri Lankan government construction projects by the Engineer. Both, quantitative and qualitative research approaches were used to reach the aim in two stages. Firstly, thirty questionnaires were obtained to collect data on types of claims, causes of claims, effects of claims and best practices to be followed by the Engineer to minimize claims in government construction projects in Sri Lanka. Secondly, five experts were interviewed through a semi-structured interview to create links among top ten causes of claims and best practices to be followed by the Engineer to minimize claims in government construction projects in Sri Lanka. Moreover, usage of ICTAD/SBD/02 for minimizing claims by the Engineer and unique characteristics of Sri Lankan government projects which emphasise the importance of the best practices of Engineer in minimizing claims were discussed. The findings of the research proved that, in order to minimize claims in Sri Lankan government construction projects, the Engineer has a vital role to treat the causes of claims comprehensively and that will enable the smooth functioning of construction project activities without baffling consequences. For this reason, it was evident that there are specific best practices like taking timely management actions and proper contract administration should be followed by the Engineer to minimize claims, in order to achieve successful completion of the project within the originally anticipated estimated time, cost and quality.
item: Thesis-Full-text
Challenges in effective reporting of occupational diseases of municipal council workers in Sri Lanka
(2019) Rathnayake WRAD; De Silva N
Municipal Councils (MC) in Sri Lanka have hardly any occupational diseases (ODs) reporting system to trace the ODs among municipal council workers. For last several decades there has been no reported cases of occupational diseases (ODs). Therefore, need of mitigation, litigation or compensation had not arisen. When compared to the similar scenarios in the neighboring countries, occupational disease reporting system operated in municipal councils in Sri Lanka is exceptionally inactive. It is pretty clear that the occupational disease cases among MC workers were not reported not due to non-availability of OD patients. There should be an effective reporting system for the workers to get the benefit of it. Now the problem prevailing in the MCs is that, the MC is legally bound to comply with the Factories Ordinance of 1942, where occupational diseases as well as occupational accidents should be properly recorded and informed to the factories engineer, but the mechanism utilized to trace the potential patients of OD is not adequate to fulfil that objective. Only thing happened is the loss incurred due to occupational diseases is compensated by the other resources of the Municipal Councils. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has been encouraging the use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) which has created opportunities for keeping health records in an easily accessible mode for the benefit of the patient and for the public health surveillance. It is highly recommended to include the individual's occupation and industry into the standards of EHR. However, at this time, the EHR is continually evolving and the standards have not been finalized and established. As the collection of occupation and industry is not yet a standard in the EHR, this method of surveillance was not among the listed recommendations. However, should occupation and industry become standard variables captured in the EHR, this issue will be reviewed, and the opportunities and limitations provided by this data source will be explored fully for occupational disease surveillance.
item: Thesis-Abstract
Claims Avoidance in road projects : corollary contributions of lessons from the past
(2023) Priyangika AAH; Hadiwattage C
Claims in road/expressway construction are contemplated by many project stakeholders to be one of the most unpleasant and disruptive measures of a project. Claims in road/highway construction projects in Sri Lanka are inevitable, and there is no exception to the other countries. These claims result in an extension of time, cost overruns, and adversarial interrelation between the stakeholders. Therefore, avoidance of claims gets paramount importance; hence knowledge generated on projects must analytically be incorporated into succeeding projects. However, it is perceived that projects continuously fail to avoid claims efficiently and effectively. The study was approached through a literature review, five case studies, and seven semi-structured interviews with claim consultants, RDA consultants, and project directors. An in-depth study was carried out through content analysis. First, it identified the current practices of claim avoidance, the rescindable nature of claims, and strategies for claim avoidance. It is identified that new strategies need to be developed and applied in claims avoidance in road/highway construction projects. The study revealed that incorporation of lessons learned practices, proper contract document through a centralised project management unit, timely acquisition of land, the establishment of real-time contract duration, effective pre-contract process and site investigation, early intervention of stakeholders, honour the contractual provisions, avoidance of late deliverables, change the attitude towards the claims, and increase the awareness of the RDA consultants are as main strategies for claim avoidance. Further, this research bridges the gap between knowledge and claim avoidance through a lessons-learned system to overcome claims in future projects based on the views of the experts in the field. Computer-based feedback software systems, commercial meetings, and PPR are identified as the best tools for obtaining lessons learned knowledge in foreign-funded road projects in Sri Lanka. This study presents an integrated database information system that can be used to capture and disseminate claim-related information in the form of “lessons learned” to utilise in forthcoming projects. Accordingly, a conceptual framework has been developed for the successful implementation of the system.
item: Thesis-Full-text
Conflict handling styles used in re-measurement construction contracts in Sri Lanka
(2021) Damayanthi RAT; Sridarran P
Re-measurement contracts often suffer from massive conflicts between the consultant and contractor during the post-contract stage. A high diversity of multidisciplinary involvement with more stakeholders occurs in this stage. These conflicts influence the project positively and negatively. In a re-measurement contract, experts use different styles to handle these different dispute types during a post-contract stage. Thus, this study aimed at investigating the use of conflict handling styles to resolve conflicts encountered by consultants and contractors in re-measurement contracts during the post-contract stage of Sri Lankan construction projects. A qualitative research approach was selected using semi-structured interviews as the data collection technique to attain the study’s aim. The empirical data collected from the twelve interviews were analyzed using manual content analysis. The scope of the study was limited to the post-contract stage of re-measurement construction projects which use ICTAD/SBD/02. As per the research findings, interviewees identified forty-three (43) conflicts. Thirty-nine (39) and forty-one (41) conflicts by consultants and contractors in re-measurement contracts, respectively, during the post-contract stage of Sri Lankan construction projects. Twenty-two (22) conflicts, most common to both the consultant and the contractor, were identified, whereas Impracticable design and Consultant changes by the client and the consultant were identified as unique to the consultant, and contradictory record-keeping and Less experiences were noted as unique to the contractor. After considering the conflict-handling styles, the consultants identified eleven (11) conflict-handling styles applicable to solve thirty-nine (39) conflicts, and contractors identified ten (10) conflict-handling styles that can solve (41) conflicts during the interviews. Nine (9) conflict-handling styles were unique to the consultant and seven (7) conflict-handling styles were unique to the contactor. Finally, the study revealed that the majority of conflict-handling styles are common to both consultants and contractors. Consultants and contractors used only a few conflict-handling styles, unique for each, during the post-contract stage in re-measurement contracts.
item: Thesis-Abstract
Constraints implementation of PPP urban development infrastructure projects
(2024) Morawaka, UD; Hadiwattege, C
Urban development infrastructure projects are vital as they can facilitate significant benefits to society. As a result of the struggling economies of developing countries Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) have been identified as a key strategic policy to deliver public infrastructure facilities. PPPs facilitate the private sector to get involved with financing, designing, building, operating, maintaining and management of projects. However, Sri Lanka is still struggling to implement PPP urban development infrastructure projects due to institutional constraints. This study focuses on investigating the constraints of the public sector for better implementation of PPP urban development infrastructure projects. From this study, it was critically reviewed the use of PPP by the public sector with special reference to urban development infrastructure projects and explained the PPP coverage on infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka. Further, it explicated the government's institutional barriers to better implementation of PPP projects through a comprehensive literature review. Considering these institutional barriers, a study was carried out in the Urban Development Authority (UDA), Sri Lanka to appraise the challenges that the UDA is facing for better implementation of PPP infrastructure projects. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the empirical data acquired from a questionnaire survey from both inside and outside 32 professionals who closely worked with PPP infrastructure projects of UDA. The studies revealed six main areas and 38 subareas of barriers for better implementation of infrastructure PPP projects. The main areas are Project Feasibility, Procurement Method, Risk Allocation, Managing Social Barriers, Continuous Involvement and Support from the Government Staff. In the context of UDA, Managing Social Barriers and Support from the UDA staff were appraised as the most challenging sectors. Finally, the findings identified the main constraints for better implementation of PPP urban development infrastructure projects. Keywords: Urban Development Infrastructure Projects, Public-Private Partnerships, Urban Development Authority, government institutional barriers
item: Thesis-Full-text
Cost impact of " security of payment act" to the Sri Lankan construction supply chain
Priyadarshani, GHK; Jayasena, S
Construction industry supply chain is a pyramid. Due to its complexity of contracting and sub-contracting, the construction industry is set apart from other industries. For a large construction project, this pyramid can have number of different levels below the sub-contractors also as sub-sub- contractors and so forth down the pyramid. As such, a delay in payment from the employer will freezes up the flow of funds below level of the pyramid. The Act of Security of Payment comes in to action in other countries to prohibit contingent payment clauses in contracts, to minimize unnecessary delays in progress payments and then protect the downstream payments. Accordingly, it has been identified that such Act would be very important to be implemented in Sri Lankan construction context also due to that the same situation is being undergone by Sri Lankan industry too. Since the importance of Act has already been identified, it was decided to identify the potential provisions of a security payment act, identify the parties in the construction supply chain affected by the Act and synthesize the nature of potential cost impact to each party under different situations subjected to the Act. Accordingly, a comprehensive literature survey was carried out to identify the potential provisions of the Act and parties affected by the Act. In order to synthesize the cost impact to each identified party, a semi structured interview was carried out to identify the current grounded phenomenon of payment issues. The professionals were selected from the identified group of levels of employers, main contractors, sub-contractors and suppliers to conduct the interviews. They were mainly questioned about financing the gap in between the progress payment request and receipt of money, delay of payments, back to back payment clauses, prompt payments and Security Payment Act. It was identified through the interviews that no additional premium is added to the contract price in order to finance the payment gaps. But according to the nature of the employer, markup will be adjusted concerning the past experiences with that particular employer. Delay payments have been a common issue in the industry and back to back payment clauses are usually included in sub contracts due to this. Therefore, actually, there is a real request emerged from the industry to take necessary actions to minimize this issue. Further, the potential cost impact to the each party was evaluated under the situations come across under the Act as identified in literature survey. It was recognized that the there is a potential positive cost impact to the contractors, sub-contractors and suppliers who are down below the pyramid and though initially the employer has to bare additional cost, the system itself get balanced once the Act implemented resulting positive cost impact to the employer too.
item: Thesis-Abstract
Critical issues in construction joint ventures in Sri Lanka
Chamara, HWL; Jayasena, S
Joint venture (JV) has become a common business form for construction contractors in undertaking large construction projects worldwide. However, most of studies found that construction joint ventures (CJVs) can be failed due to several issues such as, unclear partner roles, unequal risk sharing, misunderstanding of practices etc. Hence, a necessity was emerged to conduct this research with the purpose of determining the issues which are critical for construction joint ventures in Sri Lanka in order to propose probable attributes to overcome. Accordingly, thirty six issues in CJVs were determined though literature review and preliminary survey. The identified factors were evaluated by conducting a questionnaire survey with respect to the quantitative approach. Thus, the survey was conducted among the forty professionals who are engaged in CJVs in Sri Lanka and having a detailed knowledge and more than five (05) years of experience in the relevant field. The data collected through survey was analysed by using Mean Weighted Rating, Relative Importance Index and Box plot techniques to identify the issues which are critical in CJVs in Sri Lanka. As the results denoted, twenty five critical issues were determined. Among them, not having formal guideline for partner selection and entering to JVs based only on qualification/resources issues were obtained highest rankings. Facing unavoidable events, leakage of information to outside parties and failures with respect to their political, social, legal and government procedures and no proper way to deal with additional installments were identified as least critical issues. Further verifications obtained through the visualization of box plots showed that not having formal guideline for partner selection has obtained the top ranking issue in CJVs in Sri Lanka with a high level of agreement among the survey respondents. Finally, the probable strategies were proposed to overcome the critical issues in CJVs in Sri Lanka. As the main implication of this research, the evaluation of issues of CJVs and the proposed strategies can be used by industry practitioners as a basis to evaluate the current status of CJV projects in order to initiate the successful CJVs in Sri Lanka.
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Developing strategies for cost sharing of utility works in right of way in Sri Lankan road projects
(2020) Jahfar MI; De Silva ML
Roads Authorities in Sri Lanka are obliged to pay all costs associated with relocation and betterment works required/requested by utility service providers through the funds allocated for their initiated projects. As a result, substantial portion from the allocated funds for road works are transferred to unforeseen utility related works. There is no sound legislation exists defining the powers, rights and obligations of Roads and Utility authorities. Moreover, Road Authority is experiencing huge delays in getting utility services relocated while implementing Road projects. Substantial amounts of extra claim have to be paid to the contractors for extension of time due to such delays, which is a real burden to the country, irrespective of whichever agency make the payment. In some instances, when the Contract of Utility services were awarded road works were nearing completion or even completed, which will cause damages to the newly constructed road or road structures or vice versa, causing unnecessary expenditure out of public funds. Since there were no documented cost sharing agreements in place between the Roads Authority and the local utility service providers, in response, this research is initiated for Developing Strategies for Cost Sharing of Utility Works in Right of Ways (ROW) between Roads Authorities and the respective Utility owners. The research works includes conducting a desktop study of international cost sharing practice. Qualitative research method was adapted through inductive process by selecting purposive samples of experts for semi structured in-depth interviews and more data were collected through documents review from sources both International and Sri Lanka. Finally, the data collected from multiple sources were analyzed by creating themes, coding and thereafter combining codes into categories and summarizing the findings. Therefore, this study will fulfill the knowledge gap in the sector to analyze the procedures and to identify the areas to develop to remedy for the issues prevail in Sri Lanka and formulate cost sharing strategies for utility relocation and the provision of new utility infrastructure between Roads Authority and the respective Utility owners.
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Developments to be brought into condition precedent notice provision in contractor's claim clause for betterment of the contractor: contractor's perspective
Karunathilake, TAK; Seneviratne, I
There is now a growing propensity to apply the “condition precedent” notice provision to the contractor’s claim clause in standard forms of contracts throughout the world. Accordingly, valid and meritorious claims of the contractors are forfeited if the contractor cannot comply with the time bar notice provision. The main intent ofthis notification is to alert the employer or the engineer at an early stage about the events that will take root to incur additional time and/or cost to the project and allow them to manage relevant consequences in fact. In that sense, it is questionable how the contractor can be deprived of his right to receive additional payment and/or time for a real claim situation, only because ofthe lack oftimely notification. On the contrary, notification of the employer's claim is required to give as soon as possible after the employer became aware ofthe event giving rise to the claim. Therefore, the time bar notice provision in contractor’s claim clause is now argued critically both in the construction industry as well as in the judiciary worldwide. Therefore, this document examines the importance of claim notification with respect to the opinion of contractors and the causes of non-compliance with the notification provision. To understand the perception of contractors in the industry, a survey of questionnaires and unstructured interviews was conducted. Therefore, several additional reasons were identified for the lack of claim notices despite the reasons available in the literature. Further, this paper examines challenges to condition precedent notice provision in contractor’s claim clause and proposes suitable developments to the same for the betterment ofthe contractor by addressing identified shortfalls in the contractor’s claim clause. According to the collected data and analysis procedures employed, the most affected challenges to contractor’s claim clause were: “Unjust enrichment”, “Conflicts with Prevention Principal”, “Defense for claims”, “Doctrine of Penalty”, “Unlawful exercise of rights” and “Loosing good faith obligation”. It is important to address those challenges when developing the contractor’s claim clause.
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Dispute avoidance of delay claims by improving delay notification process of contractors in sri lanka
Goonawardana, PJA; Perera, BAKS
Most of the delay claims submitted by Sri Lankan Contractors were either rejected or under certified purely due to contractor’s inefficiency of supportive documents mainly delay notices. Due to this lack of notices to prove the entitlement, contractors lose their power to bargain. Hence, generally lose their genuine entitlement for an extension of time for the actual delays as well as lose the entitlement for reimbursement of actual costs incurred by the contractors as a result of project delay. Hence, it is important to identify the reasons for this shortfall and to propose method to overcome this situation of Sri Lankan contractors. This study is aiming to identify most practical and useful delay notification process for Sri Lankan contractors in order to strengthen their contractual entitlement for compensation in the event of excused and compensable delay events. This study was carried out through a literature survey, questionnaire survey and interviews among the experts in the industry. The collected data was analyzed using percentages on frequencies, relative importance index and mean ratings. This study revealed that 71% of Sri Lankan construction projects which were completed during last 10 years were impacted with delays. Despite the scale of the project, delay has mainly impacted on all scales without much variance. In 94% of the delayed projects, contractors have successfully requested for an extension of time but only 83% of them were managed to serve notices. However, in most of the situations notices are served beyond the time bar and in some instances notices are not properly linked to the events. Due to this circumstance only 79% of the delay projects were granted extension of time but 50% of the instances the extension of time was not granted within the stipulated time period of 42 days. Due to these lags and failures around 41% of the delayed projects faced with disputes. Majority of the contractors believe that they hurt consultants or clients when notify delays and further they feel that they will be penalized by the consultants with other approvals if they notify any delays. Hence, most contractors prevent from notifying delays which then leads to disqualification of delay claims due to lack of notices which then leads to disputes. Most of the respondents recommended identification of the event and identification of the delay due to that event as important factors prior to the notification. Based on the type of change and notice provisions under FIDIC 1999 edition, a notification model is proposed to facilitate notification process. Further, Changes to notice provision in FIDIC 1999 and to educate construction industry stakeholders on notices are also recommended.
item: Thesis-Full-text
Disputes and resolution mechanism of public-private partnership projects in Sri Lankan construction industry
Heenkenda, HMNSB; Sandanayake, Y
Sri Lanka is a developing country, which is experiencing of acceleration in the construction development at present, after 30 years of civil war. Construction industry is the fourth largest economic sector, which contributes in an important level to the country’s GDP. Nowadays Sri Lankan construction firms are on a trying to expand the business with new concepts of Public private partnership investment for government projects. But when consider about conflicts, claims and disputes within the projects, the occurrence is very frequent and the value of conflictive claims is higher when compared to the countries. Most of those destructive conflicts cause to inefficiency and losses to the final project in all the three terms of cost, quality and time. This directly effects to the enhancement of the construction sector. Many of those conflicts generate within the groups of construction parties. A Conflict can be solved at two particular stages of an ongoing project, either before arise the conflict by proper planning or through pre-designed mitigation means or after the arrival, through proper dispute resolution mechanism. This research used expert interview to identify the common conflictive and dispute situations arose in Public Private Partnership Construction project and suggestions were made to mechanisms for dispute resolution. Expert interview has been carried out by using different organization entities from government, private and public population to gather fair thoughts from all main parties. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the respective expert such as Project managers, Engineers, QSs, Investors and clients, whom involved with PPP projects. Base on the research findings, suggestions were decide to most practical dispute resolution mechanisms, such as recommendation of observed expert opining as separate mechanism or supportive mechanism or combined mechanism. It is expected that the findings will be useful for all professionals who lead PPP construction project, which are situated in Sri Lanka.
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Disputes arising from variations in road construction projects in Sri Lanka
Jayathilaka, GRH; Perera, BAKS
Sri Lanka is rapidly developing from the infrastructure sector with the emergence of huge and highly costly road networks and highway projects. This complexity gives rise mostly to unwanted situation as variations together with their attached effects, and greater likelihood that they become time consuming and costly than as-planned projects. Therefore, dispute arises naturally from the construction process largely where players involved must coordinate their work in all stages. On the other hand, though much literature had developed on the broad view on variations and disputes, there is no literature which deeply addresses disputes arising from the variations within the Sri Lankan road projects by analyzing the cases. Therefore, this research aims to fill the gap of disputes arising from variations in road projects in Sri Lanka and to propose probable attributes towards managing of such disputes. The research aim was approached through case studies based on three road projects. During the data collection, semi-structured interviews were conducted with top level professionals of all three projects who had participated in the dispute procedures adopted in the Contract. Thereafter, the gathered data was analyzed using content analysis and mapping techniques (with NVivo 2011). Findings deeply revealed that the existing disputes arise from the variations in Sri Lankan road projects. Causes of variations, contractual provisions for the variations and effects and the disputes arising from such variations in existing practice are discussed. Finally suggest probable measures to manage such disputes by developing a frame work.