Effective framework for change order management using analytical hierarchy process (AHP)

Abstract

Construction projects are of very complex nature and come along with an intrinsic but undesirable property of change orders. The purpose of this paper is to propose an effective framework for the change order management in the construction industry. This is achieved by investigating and identifying various causes of change orders and their impact on project objectives like project duration, cost, and quality. The data for this project were gathered by conducting a survey among the professionals like owners, project management consultants, design/supervision consultants and contractors in construction industry. The survey respondents were requested to provide feedback on the impact of change orders on project duration, cost and quality. Initially, the data collected from 105 professionals was analyzed through Relative Importance Index (RII). Furthermore, multiple objective decision technique of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was applied to rank the causes of change orders according to their impact on project duration, cost and quality considered collectively. According to AHP, the top three causes of change orders with highest cumulative impact on project duration, cost and quality were, �Change in specifications by the owner�, �Change of plans or scope by the owner�, and �Poor project planning by the contractor�. This paper also suggests improvements for the existing change order management processes and ranks these suggestions according to their role in reducing impact on project duration, cost and quality. The proposed framework can be adjusted to suit individual construction projects with different relative importance of project objectives.