Analysis of Construction Claims and Road Projects in Uganda - BS4S14

This assignment focuses on construction claims and their impact on road projects in Uganda. It begins with a student's research topic proposal, outlining objectives such as identifying claim types, causes, and performance impacts. The core of the assignment is a review of two journal articles. The first article, by Aslam, Baffoe-Twum, and Saleem (2019), examines design changes as a primary cause of construction claims, leading to cost overruns and affecting project performance. The second article, by Muzaale and Auriacombe (2018), investigates factors contributing to project delays, cost overruns, and claims, highlighting the impact of time overruns on operational costs and project completion. The assignment evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of these articles, including their methodologies and practical implications for corporations to avoid claims and enhance project performance. The student's work fulfills the requirements of a literature review assignment within the context of a research methods course, BS4S14, at the university.

Running head: CONSTRUCTION CLAIMS AND ROAD PROJECTS IN UGANDA
CONSTRUCTION CLAIMS: TYPES, CAUSES AND IMPACT ON ROAD
PROJECTS IN UGANDA
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1CONSTRUCTION CLAIMS AND ROAD PROJECTS IN UGANDA
Aslam, Baffoe-Twum and Saleem (2019) in the article “Design
Changes in Construction Projects–Causes and Impact on the Cost”
have tried to undertake an analysis of the primary causes of design changes
within the different construction projects and also the manner in which they
have affected the completion of the different construction projects,
especially road projects. The researchers formulated two research questions
for addressing the research topic, that is, “What are the impacts of design
changes on the overall project cost?” and “How design changes can impact
the overall project performance?”. The researchers took the help of the
secondary collection method and qualitative data analysis method. For
instance, the researchers collected 40 peer-reviewed articles from the three
online databases, Science Direct, Taylor and Francis and Elseveir, and the
method of systematic review was used for the analysis of these 40 articles
(Aslam, Baffoe-Twum and Saleem 2019).
The result obtained by the researchers indicate that design changes
are an important cause of construction claims and “may upshot into cost
overrun between 5 and 40% of the project” which in turn can adversely
affect project performance (Aslam, Baffoe-Twum and Saleem 2019). The
strength point of this is article is the fact that the researchers collected
different articles related to design changes, construction claims and project
performance which had been published in the last 30 years and used the
information offered by the same for the completion of this article. However,
the weakness of this article is that the authors have relied solely on the past

2CONSTRUCTION CLAIMS AND ROAD PROJECTS IN UGANDA
secondary literature and have not used primary data to backup the claims
made by them on the basis of the secondary data. The most important
practical implication of this article is that the corporations need to have a
clear design so as to avoid over-run costs, construction claims and others.
Muzaale and Auriacombe (2018) in the article “Policy challenges to
road infrastructure projects performance-trends, issues and
concerns in Uganda” undertake an analysis of the factors which have
contributed to persistent delays in road construction project delays, cost
overrun and construction claims in Uganda despite changes in policies. The
researchers primarily focus on three important questions which are listed
below-
1. How have cost overruns affected the performance of road
infrastructure projects?
2. How have time overruns affected the performance of road
infrastructure projects?
3. How has quality affected the performance of road infrastructure
projects?
The researchers took the help of a “cross-sectional research design” and
the tools of interview and survey was used for the collection of the data from
the contractors and also the governmental officials. Furthermore, the
information obtained from survey was analyzed through the usage of

3CONSTRUCTION CLAIMS AND ROAD PROJECTS IN UGANDA
quantitative data analysis method whereas the data obtained from interview
was analyzed through the usage of the qualitative data analysis method.
The results of the study indicate that “time overruns resulted in spending
additional time on site” which in turn enhanced operations cost and thereby
gave rise to construction claims which in turn adversely affected the
completion of the projects and also their performance as well (Muzaale and
Auriacombe 2018). An important strength point of this article is that it takes
the help of both tools of interview and survey for the collection of the data
required for the completion of the study. On the other hand, the weakness of
the article is the fact that the authors have solely focused on the cost and
time factors which give rise to construction claims, poor project performance
and others whereas completely disregarded the other important factors
which contribute towards the same like design changes, project governance
and others. This has important practical implications since in order to avoid
construction claims, enhance project performance and others, the
corporations are required to take into consideration the above mentioned
factors.

4CONSTRUCTION CLAIMS AND ROAD PROJECTS IN UGANDA
References
Aslam, M., Baffoe-Twum, E. and Saleem, F., 2019. Design Changes in
Construction Projects–Causes and Impact on the Cost. Civil Engineering
Journal, 5(7), pp.1647-1655.
Muzaale, T. and Auriacombe, C.J., 2018. Policy challenges to road
infrastructure projects performance-trends, issues and concerns in
Uganda. African Journal of Public Affairs, 10(3), pp.134-154.