Value engineering as a pragmatic value enhancing tool for public sector construction projects

Abstract

Value Engineering is a globally accepted methodical approach that enables the best balance between the quality, performance and reliability of a project while improving the “value” of goods, products and services. The concept of Value Engineering is applied within the construction industry of many countries to improve the output comparing to conventional practice. Most importantly, adopting conventional practice reasons for less value for the resources use for the construction projects. This is quiet high in public sector projects. Therefore, applying Value Engineering for public sector projects, will give better value for the resources use. Nevertheless, the applications of Value Engineering in public sector construction projects of Sri Lanka are rare. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the challenges that affect the implementation of Value Engineering for the public sector construction projects in Sri Lanka. In order to achieve the above aim, two objectives were implemented as (1) identify the significance of Value Engineering and the challenges affecting to the implementation of Value Engineering for the public sector construction projects in Sri Lanka, and (2) to develop a suitable framework to overcome the challenges affecting the implementation of Value Engineering in public sector construction projects. 23 challenges were identified through a comprehensive literature review and a questionnaire survey was conducted to identify the impact of those challenges and to find out suitable strategies to overcome them. There the data were collected from 71 construction industry professionals with Value Engineering knowledge. Then, the RII technique was adopted to rank the challenges based on the collected data. Eventually, based on the challenges and the proposed strategies a framework was developed for better adaptation of Value Engineering for the public sector construction projects in Sri Lanka.