Construction claim problems in Malaysia: from the contractors perspective

¹ Faculty of Civil Engineering, 2 Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Surveying Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
² Faculty of Civil Engineering, 2 Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Surveying Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
³ Faculty of Civil Engineering, 2 Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Surveying Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia

Abstract

There is high frequency of disputes arising from construction contract claims. Even with the most expert understanding of construction contract and the most reasonable risk-allocation system, claims will continue to present problems if they are poorly managed in practice. The significantly increasing number of construction claims indicates the need for the implementation of an effective construction claim management. This research aimed at surveying the most common problems experienced by Malaysian contractors in construction project. The paper presents the survey results and main findings, which indicate that the lack of site staff awareness to proactively detect claims, inaccessibility or unavailability of relevant documents, and conflicts arising during owner/contractor negotiation are all critical problems associated with the process of claim management. The problems observed from this research could be used to solve or improve the contractors' claim management system.