Assessing the extent to which value engineering is applied in the implementation of building construction projects in Uganda: Techniques and staging

Abstract

Value Engineering (VE) is an innovative service which involves an organized approach to the identification and elimination of un-necessary costs without loss of function, hence this study describes a Masters research based on the application of VE in the implementation of building construction projects. In Uganda today, many building projects continue to stall and others even fail to take off due to the high unnecessary costs associated with design and execution thereby imposing very heavy financial burdens to clients and a development of a negative attitude towards building construction professional team’s services. This study, therefore, aimed at assessing the extent to which VE is applied in the implementation of Building Construction Projects in Uganda, in particular, assessing the extent to which VE is applied in the implementation of building construction projects in Uganda, establishing VE techniques that are in use within Uganda’s construction organizations, establishing factors affecting VE implementation in Uganda as well as establishing proposals for effective VE implementation within building construction organizations in Uganda. The methodology used involved a thorough literature study and the use of structured questionnaires to seek for opinions from a sample of 39 professionals who were purposively drawn from practicing professionals in their respective bodies. The findings of this study indicated that these practitioners’ level of adoption of VE is still low in comparison with the practice elsewhere despite them (respondents) being fairly familiar with the aspect of VE. It was also established that the common VE techniques practiced by respondents included: SWOT Analysis, Issues generation as well as Design and Methodology Analyses. Other VE techniques established in literature included: Functional Analysis (FAST), Brainstorming, Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) Life Cycle-costing, Creative-thinking and Stakeholder Analysis. Regarding the extent of VE application in Uganda, this study established that VE is fairly known to practicing professionals and actually mostly observed at construction stage and merely incorporated in the cost control and reduction approaches by some professionals in the industry. It is therefore concluded that the Ugandan Construction industry is fairly aware of what Value Engineering is and its associated benefits. However, the level of application of VE in the general building construction sector in Uganda is still low despite the revealed potential benefits VE provides such as improved project value for clients, and improved effectiveness in project execution among others.