Implementing constructability improvement into the Indonesian construction industry

© 2001 Dr. Bambang TrigunarsyahThe construction industry is an essential contributor to the process of development, as it influences the others sectors of economy. In most developing countries such as Indonesia, improving construction capacity and capabilities is important, including improving the efficiency, timeliness, and quality of construction works. It is a common practice that many construction projects separate design and construction. The separation of design from production in the construction process has led to a certain amount of isolation of the professionals from technical development in the construction industry, resulting in poor constructability of construction projects that leads to project exceeding budgets and schedule deadlines. This thesis is aimed at identifying what needs to be done to improve constructability of construction project in Indonesia. Three questions need to be answered: first, what is the understanding of Indonesian construction project stakeholders - owners, design engineers and constructors - on constructability and its impact on project performance; second, how is construction integrated into planning and design in existing practice; and third, how can constructability be improved? Two research methods were selected to answer these research questions. The first method assesses current constructability practices using a questionnaire survey distributed to the three main project stakeholders, viz Project Owners, Design Consultants and Construction Contractors, to provide the answer to the first research question and in part to the second research question. The second method uses case studies to provide the basis for answering the second and third research questions. The results suggest that construction project stakeholders in Indonesia have some understanding of the importance of constructability and its impacts on project performance. However, their limited understanding of the concept and the poor availability of qualified personnel prevent them from being more committed to implementation of improvement in constructability. The traditional approach to construction project delivery is the preferred method selected by many project owners. Despite the above limitations, current constructability practices have had some positive impacts on project performance. Design-construction interface and early contractor's involvement were the main factors in improving project performance. To improve the constructability of construction projects in Indonesia several points need to be done. First, the skills and qualifications of construction personnel need to be improved by establishing standard competency requirements. Second, in cases where the design construct or design-manage approaches are not used, it is necessary to optimise the use of the construction management contracting system. Third, it is possible to adapt constructability concepts which have been developed in other countries but it is necessary to include the following considerations: appropriate construction methods, planning and design for available resources, attention to external factors, quality of local content for material and equipment, and optimise the use of lessons learned