Common disputes related to public work projects in Thailand

• Main Author: Borvorn Israngkura Na Ayudhya
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Prince of Songkla University 2011-10-01
• Series: Songklanakarin Journal of Science and Technology (SJST)
• Subjects: construction dispute; public works; Thailand
• Online Access: http://rdo.psu.ac.th/sjstweb/journal/33-5/0125-3395-33-5-565-573.pdf

The construction industry is one of the key players in driving the economy, generating both employment and wealth.However, disputes have frequently been claimed to proliferate in the construction industry. Disputes often result in drawbacksand disharmonizations in the completion of the construction projects with considerable cost. The objectives of thisresearch were to identify and evaluate the common dispute factors in public work projects. The paper reported on a questionnaire-based research investigation targeting main contractors with a focus on critical dispute problems during the projectconstruction phase. Identified dispute factors have been evaluated for severity index by selected samples of 390 variousconstruction practitioners consisting of owners, consultants, and main contractors. The paper presented survey results andmain findings, which indicated that violating the conditions of the contract, insufficient work drawing details, delays in theprogress payments by the owner, poor evaluation of completed works, inaccurate bill of quantities and unrealistic contractdurations were all critical dispute problems during the project construction phase. These findings can be helpful to constructionpractitioners in understanding the dispute problems in public work projects. This can minimize the risk of cost overrunsassociated with disputes and conflicts.