Abstract
M. Ing.
Change management is a crucial component in the daily activities inherent
within the civil engineering industry, which if used effectively, can mitigate the
impact of project scope changes and be beneficial to the life cycle of the a
project. Project scope changes regularly occur during the construction phase
of civil engineering projects, and normally result in severe disruptions.
Although scope changes during the implementation phase are avoided where
possible, their existence is a practical reality. These changes can be managed
by a Change Management System (CMS) that can minimize the impact of
these changes.
This dissertation investigates different change management systems, which are
used by major companies to mitigate the impact of project scope changes.
Case studies on change management systems are provided, and the
advantages and disadvantages of these systems are discussed.
These change management systems were used as a reference axis for a newly
proposed project scope change management system, namely the Proactive
Change Management Database System (PACMDS). The PACMDS was
developed by the author, to minimize the impact of scope changes in civil
projects.
In a survey done to establish whether the PACMDS would be effective in
mitigating project scope changes, it was found that the PACMDS would assist
in managing project scope changes effectively.