An assessment of the maturity and implementation of assurance frameworks on building construction projects within construction companies in South Africa
- Authors: Govender, Trevor Desigan
- Date: 2013-05-27
- Subjects: Project management , Engineering management , Construction projects - Management , Construction industry - Quality control
- Type: Mini-Dissertation
- Identifier: uj:7547 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8405
- Description: M.Ing. (Engineering Management) , In the wake of the recent global financial crisis, the engineering and building construction industry has been faced with great uncertainty. Emerging from the crisis, investors are taking a cautious approach to how, with, and through whom they invest money. Organisation’s shareholders and stakeholders are therefore seeking new ways to run their businesses looking at cost optimisation and enhanced performance to increase their profitability. Companies are moving towards ensuring tighter control through stronger governance, closer risk management and compliance to statutory and regulatory requirements. To achieve this, assurance frameworks are being used to test, monitor and report to senior management on the organisation’s status. This dissertation highlights the importance of governance, risk and compliance control mechanisms specifically in the building construction sector within construction companies in South Africa. It will assess the maturity of such assurance frameworks and its implementation on building construction projects undertaken by large construction companies. These practices will be compared to the assurance frameworks as recommended and implemented by international leading practice. The dissertation will review the impacts that effective and weak assurance practices have on an organisation’s projects, their businesses and their statutory liability. To understand this, the research conducted interviews, surveys and case studies on large Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed construction companies in South Africa. The data was analysed: quantitatively, qualitatively, statistically as well as trended conclusions are made. The dissertation ends by pointing to the advantages of proper assurance controls on building construction projects and presents a template of an assurance framework that may be developed by construction companies into assurance programmes and other tools for use in their environment.
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Use of site meetings in the prevention of construction claims and disputes in the Swaziland construction industry
- Authors: Mavimbela, Bhekisisa Lawrence
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Construction industry - Risk management , Construction projects - Management , Construction industry - Quality control , Construction contracts
- Language: English
- Type: Masters (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/280374 , uj:30127
- Description: M.Tech. (Construction Management) , Abstract: The construction industry is usually faced with claims and disputes that have surfaced from various aspects of project management that have been over-looked and under-estimated by the construction professional teams. The main aim of analysing the necessity of construction site meetings in the study was to identify the diverse ways in which site meetings assist in reducing claims that results in disputes. This study examined the use of construction site meetings in preventing construction claims and disputes in the Swaziland construction industry. The data used in this study were collected using secondary data via a literature review and through questionnaire survey in which questionnaires distributed to construction professionals. The findings revealed that the management of time using programme charts, site inspections and testing, cost checking during meetings and adequate specification documentation amongst others were among the measures assessed and analysed to prevent construction disputes and claims. Furthermore, the study indicated that the quality standards that site meetings enforce included; developing a project quality control plan, assessing workmanship during construction; increases communication in the construction team, assessing the specification used and appointing a competent construction manager contribute to the reduction of claims and disputes. In summary, the Swaziland construction industry must identify and discuss reasons why construction projects are completed late and with defects. Hence, the study recommends that construction professionals and clients must appoint competent project managers to assess and analyse all measures that causes construction claims and disputes using construction site meetings.
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