Causes of variation order in building construction project in East Coast Malaysia

Variation orders are a common occurrence in building projects. It refers to any change to a previously established scope of work at any stage of construction. There are multiple sources of variation depending on the various parties engaged, project complexity, and kind of project, which can lead to disputes and dissatisfaction among parties involved, time overrun, cost overrun and diminish overall project performance. Thus, controlling variation order is necessary. Hence, the aim of this research is to determine the significant causes of variation order and to identify the possible ways in minimizing the occurrence of variation order in building construction projects in East Coast Malaysia. Data collection involved the survey with a structured questionnaire consisting of 21 causes and 7 possible ways to minimize variation order identified through comprehensive literature review. A total of 97 questionnaire sets were distributed to the consultants involved in building projects in East Coast Malaysia and 48 sets of questionnaires were returned with answer. Data was analyzed statistical software package SPSS and Average Index formula by mean score analysis method and frequency analysis method and further ranked in MS Excel.