The complexity and uncertainties associated with construction projects mean that contracts invariably provide sufficient flexibility for changes in design as the work proceeds. However, the concomitant effects of this arrangement often cause time and cost control to be adversely affected – resulting in schedule delays and cost overruns. In seeking an improved understanding, this study aimed to identify the specific causes of design changes and their implications –cost performance of Malaysia-based building projects. A total of 39 causes were first identified through a comprehensive literature review and, in conjunction with 12 semi-structured interviews with experienced construction industry practitioners, then categorised into those originating from clients, consultants, contractors, site and external sources. A questionnaire survey of 338 clients, consultants and contractors was then analysed to infer and rank the identified causes and their overall effect. The research reveals that building projects in Malaysia encounter time–cost overruns of 5–20% due to design changes. Lack of coordination among various professional consultants, change of requirements/specification, addition/omission of scope, erroneous/discrepancies in design documents and unforeseen ground conditions are the five most significant causes. The analysis also reveals considerable heterogeneity of perceptions between the respondent groups of the most significant causes of design changes, attributed to the adversarial culture within the industry.

The adoption rate of new technologies is still relatively low in the construction industry, particularly for mitigating occupational safety and health (OSH) risks, which is traditionally a largely labor-intensive activity in developing countries, occupying ill-afforded non-productive management resources. However, understanding why this is the case is a relatively unresearched area in developing countries such as Malaysia. In aiming to help redress this situation, this study explored the major barriers involved, firstly by a detailed literature review to identify the main barriers hampering the adoption of new technologies for safety science and management in construction. Then, a questionnaire survey of Malaysian construction practitioners was used to prioritize these barriers. A factor analysis further identified six major dimensions underlying the barriers, relating to the lack of OSH regulations and legislation, technological limitations, lack of genuine organizational commitment, prohibitive costs, poor safety culture within the construction industry, and privacy and data security concerns. Taken together, the findings provide a valuable reference to assist industry practitioners and researchers regarding the critical barriers to the adoption of new technologies for construction safety management in Malaysia and other similar developing countries, and bridge the identified knowledge gap concerning the dimensionality of the barriers.

The Malaysian construction industry is stigma-laden ‘dangerous, dirty and difficult’ (3 D) with a high number of blue-collar foreign workers. Poor safety performance is undermining the public perception. The purpose of this study is to examine the current level of safety awareness in construction, to determine the significant factors affecting safety performance and to evaluate the potential measures for improving the construction workers’ safety awareness. A total of 27 reasons were first identified through a comprehensive literature review. A questionnaire survey then employed to evaluate the perceptions of construction personnel on the factors that affect safety performance and potential measures to improve safety awareness, in which the understanding on the hierarchy of controls is still lacking. The primary safety issues are: personal protective equipment (PPE), working environment, working attitude, communication and maintenance of equipment. Then, an exploratory factor analysis revealed eight underlying factors. The most effective preventive measure are: install fall protection system, effective communication and regular safety inspection. Finally, the relationships between the factors and preventive measures were identified using correlation tests. This paper provides more profound insights into the underlying factors affecting safety performance in construction and recommends feasible measures to raise safety awareness among the construction personnel.

Failure to communicate effectively and poor project knowledge continue to plague the construction industry, particularly concerning delay management and cost control. This paper aims to empirically examine the influence of project communication management and project learning as preventive measures to mitigate time-cost overruns. Based on a comprehensive literature review, a conceptual framework was developed. A two-stage data collection was used, namely semistructured interviews and a broad questionnaire survey. The qualitative data was analyzed by content analysis of critical incidents. Partial least-squared based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analyses statistically tested the model hypotheses. The results suggest that project communications and project learning contribute positively to time-cost performance of construction projects. Effective communication tools, critical learning situations, and essential reusable project knowledge are identified. Collective sharing of experiences facilitates personal development and enables effective project learning. A triangulated approach was adopted to conceptualize the control loop-process emphasis on networking and communication, collaborative learning, experience accumulation, and expert judgment as critical elements of continuous learning. As such, this study advances the current knowledge of exploiting project communication management and project learning in mitigating time-cost overruns in construction.