Assessing the feasibility of implementing value engineering in the Ghanaian construction industry

Abstract

The cost involved in undertaking a construction project nowadays comes uneasy particularly with monetary value of materials and processes associated. This call indeed requires a cost management technique to effectively reduce the cost of such projects whiles maintaining its function and quality. The study in this direction assessed the feasibility of implementing value engineering, a cost management technique in the Ghanaian construction industry to redress this need. Giving more drive to the study, emphasis was laid on the following objectives which formed the core component of this study; assessing the level of understanding of value engineering among construction practitioners in the Ghanaian construction industry, examining reasons for its non-adoption, identifying factors that influence its implementation as well as developing a FAST model for its implementation in the Ghanaian construction industry. Employing a cross sectional survey in its design from a population of architects, civil/structural engineers, project managers, quantity surveyors and contractors, 92 participants were drawn from architects (24), civil/structural engineers (13), project managers (20), quantity surveyors (21) and contractors (14) through questionnaires via electronic and self-administration in the towns of Accra, Kumasi and Sunyani respectively. Microsoft Excel and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20 were used in analyzing the data. The resultant outcome from the analysis indicated that practitioners in the construction industry clearly understood the meaning of value engineering as not Cost cutting, Design review, Reduction of quantities, Reduction of quantities and Use of cheap labour. Conversely, quality control and renewal of old ideas rather were given as the meaning of value engineering in terms of their level of understanding. The findings again pointed to five factors as the reasons for non-adoption of value engineering in the Ghanaian construction industry. These were Knowledge barrier, Demand barrier, Awareness barrier, Readiness barrier and Human resource barrier. Regarding the factors that encouraged the implementation of value engineering, the findings showed that five factors surfaced as the key areas among the other related factors which were, reduced wastage of resources, Quality improvements, creating new ideas for improved outcomes, reduced conflict and risks and efficient labour. Subjecting these same factors to factor analysis, four factors were revealed towards implementing value engineering in the construction industry. They were Project satisfaction factor, Conceptual factor, Client satisfaction and Cooperation factor which in turn were used to develop a FAST Model. Convincingly, the turn out of the findings for the study concluded that value engineering stands feasible to be implemented in the Ghanaian construction industry. It is therefore recommended with a cue from this study that, experts in this field should enlighten clients and practitioners to recognize the impact and need of value engineering in improving the cost management technique in the Ghanaian construction industry.