Assessing the Owner’s Role in Improving Constructability of Construction Projects in Indonesia

Abstract

Constructability is an approach that links the design and construction processes, which can lead to significant savings in both cost and time required for completing construction projects. Improving constructability of construction projects is the responsibility of all project stakeholders, ie owners, designers and contractors. However, as the owners have the most authority in enforcing the implementation of constructability, the owners’ awareness of the benefit of improved constructability is the most important. Project owners must be aware that the decisions that are made in the initial stages of planning and design are difficult and costly to change once construction begins. This paper present the study performed on the construction project owners in Indonesia in regard to their current constructability practices and its impact on the project performance. The study, which used survey questionnaires, shows that Project owners in Indonesia do have some understanding of the importance of constructability. However, the traditional approach to project delivery, which is the preferred method by most of them, limits their option for involving construction personnel in the pre-construction phases. There were few significant differences between public sector owners and private sector owners, and among owners who developed different types of project, in their approach to constructability. Project owners improved their project performance by clearly stating their project objectives, project designers improved project performance by interfacing with construction personnel during preparation of design, and contractors improved project performance by providing the designers with timely construction input