Digital Technologies For The Reduction of Variation Orders in Construction Projects

Abstract

Numerous alterations, such as advancements in technology and market inflation, frequently impact construction projects, altering specifications and client requirements and prompting variation orders that affect architectural and engineering designs. The more variation orders are involved, the greater the potential for increased time and cost. These orders often lead to unnecessary expenses due to additions, alterations, omissions, or substitutions, necessitating the development of strategies and tools within the construction industry to mitigate workflow disruptions. Among these are digital technologies aimed at streamlining construction processes and minimizing interruptions. Digitalization enhances business processes by facilitating safer information dissemination for decision-making, thereby boosting competitiveness across industries. Challenges confronting the construction sector, including high costs, dwindling productivity, safety concerns, underperformance in large-scale projects, lack of innovation, and the proliferation of variation orders, contribute to inefficiencies and disputes. This paper concentrates on utilizing digital technologies to curb variation order occurrences in construction projects. A quantitative approach was employed, involving the distribution and analysis of structured online questionnaires among 159 construction professionals and contractors. Factor analyses, correlation matrices, and coefficients were utilized, ensuring visibility of coefficients exceeding 0.3, along with Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett tests. Findings reveal that digitalization yields benefits such as timely and budget-compliant project completion, improved customer relations, reduced disputes, enhanced communication, better information exchange, tracking capabilities, and increased productivity. Given its demonstrated efficacy in decision-making across industries, digitalization presents an opportunity to reduce variation orders in South African construction projects.