Causality, Magnitude and Impact Mitigation of Rework in Uganda

Research has shown the Ugandan construction industry to be, primarily, an informal sector dominated by unskilled labour contracted mainly on minor building works such as alterations and renovations. Within such a context, the industry has also received negative publicity due to increasing quality failures on sites – commonly referred to as shoddy work. Some reasons cited for these failures include; use of substandard building materials and ineffective supervision by design consultants. This, inspite of the existing national regulatory and institutional framework regarding the built environment.The omnipresent quality failure attribute, however, is rework. This is because contractual obligations between a client and a contractor may necessitate rework where quality failures are noted, regardless of the causes. Notably,absolute compliance to established client quality requirements is one such contractual obligation, but it is difficult to attain, particularly, in public building construction due to varying socio-economic, cultural and political factors. It still remains, nevertheless, that where ways of mitigating against the impacts of non-compliance to client quality requirements are not established, there could be adverse impacts to national development plans for example, in Uganda’s case. The research aim, therefore, was to study the causality and magnitude of rework and to recommend ways of mitigating against non-compliance to client quality requirements. Rework and client quality requirements were considered as the units of analysis. With insufficient information available on the subject in the Ugandan context, the research was designed to, therefore, begin with an exploratory study into rework causality and subsequently into explanatory research that studied the magnitude of rework-related impacts on budgets and schedules, non-compliance to client quality requirements and ways of mitigating against non-compliance to client quality requirements. The mixed research methodological approach that used case studies and a questionnaire survey was found useful in aiding the triangulation of data and enhancing the generalisability of inferences from the findings. The identified rework causality factors were; ineffective client-consultant communication, inadequate design information, end-user based causality, inefficient supply chain management, use of non-compliant building materials and inefficient works supervision. Operationrelated rework was found to occur at an average of 0.25% of construction contract sums. With regards to the magnitude of rework-related impacts on project budgets and schedules, it was deduced that the average percentage range of rework-related impacts on the project budgets was within 10-13%, while the percentage range contribution of rework to the project schedule overrun was 6-11%. The recommended ways of mitigating against non-compliance to client quality requirements were; stringent action on public sector graft, increased quality testing of materials, increased end-user participation and routine supervisor participation, increased use of vocationally skilled personnel and improved procurement practices that cater for efficient supply chain management and focus more on value-for-money rather than selection of contractors on the basis of “the best bid is the lowest evaluated bid”. The research emphasises viewing rework as a phenomenon that occurs over the life of public buildings and additionally proposes the adoption of a whole-life value philosophy as an intervention in the mitigation of rework-related impacts. Relatedly, public sector client entities in Uganda are encouraged to document quality requirements over the life of buildings and this begins with developing protocols for collecting quality-specific project data from the design through to the operation and maintenance stages of building facilities. It is aknowledged that much more research into rework in Uganda is necessary, with a particular emphasis on rework in the operation and maintenance stages of building facilities

Investigating equipment productivity in feeder road maintenance in Uganda

Rural roads form the largest part of Uganda’s road network (approximately 50.2%) and is therefore a critical part of economic growth in an agriculturally dependent country like Uganda. With Uganda’s rural population standing at approximately 76% of the total population and agriculture still employing approximately 72% of Uganda’s population, this underscores the need to fix loopholes in road maintenance strategies in Uganda with emphasis on rural roads. This study sought to conduct a detailed cost analysis with a view to determining whether productivity is at an optimum for specific road maintenance equipment in Uganda, with emphasis on mechanized agricultural plantation access road maintenance works. Two descriptive research methods were used: observations and case study approach. Control parameters affecting machine production were identified as machine repair costs, maintenance costs, machine depreciation costs, worker’s salaries, machine insurance costs, and machine fuel costs. Machine downtime was mainly affected by delays in procuring spares. The total hourly machine production costs were calculated to be 699,602 Ugx (185.84USD). This cost calculation can be improved upon in subsequent studies. The study recommends the need for an effective centralised electronic database where all feeder road maintenance data is collected, analysed, and recorded

Impact of construction-related rework on selected Ugandan public projects

Purpose The purpose of this paper was to assess the magnitude of the impact of construction-related rework on selected project budgets and schedule in public building construction in Uganda. The magnitude of construction-related rework was the mean determined over construction contracts under a selected project and expressed as a percentage of the construction contract sum. Design/methodology/approachA single case multi-unit study approach was adopted. A case study protocol was prepared that included a checklist, observation schedules and an interview guide. The three instruments were used to collect data from building contractors and end-users (the teaching staff and medical assistants). Representatives of the client entity and the end-users provided sufficient project documentation and related supplementary information for the study. FindingsConstruction-related rework was predominantly attributable to design information omissions, unacceptable workmanship and inadequate supervision of the contractor. Lightning conductor, electrical and roofing installations were the building elements that had the highest frequency of rework. It was further determined that the mean percentage of rework related impact on project budget and schedule was approximately 4.53 and 8.42 per cent, respectively. Originality/valueThe findings inform policy makers about likely areas that contribute to significant wastage and value loss in quality management of public sector projects. The research advocates for improved data collection protocols, integration of adequate design management and a whole life value philosophy during the public building construction process

Investigating the cost of mechanized unpaved road maintenance operations in Uganda

Force Account Mechanism (FAM) is the predominant road maintenance system in Uganda’s local government setup and a similar, though slightly different approach, is used in some large private sector agriculture plantations. With the Uganda Road Fund (URF) 2021/2022 annual report and previous research citing challenges in cost management and efficiency of the FAM method of road maintenance, it becomes paramount to analyse how FAM is implemented in government-led operations, in comparison to similar private sector approaches, while proposing possible solutions to these challenges. This research offered to analyse unpaved road maintenance cost drivers alongside providing a cost model solution to improve on cost prediction of the FAM system. Gulu District Local Government (DLG) and Kakira Sugar Limited (KSL) were selected as case study areas. Two descriptive research methods were used: observations and case study approach. The selected case study areas were accessible and reachable in terms of data. Control parameters affecting unpaved mechanized road maintenance were identified as machine repair costs, tool costs, labour costs, material costs, fuel costs and machine fuel costs. Unpaved mechanized road maintenance costs at KSL and Gulu DLG were computed as a cost/km ratio of 26,442,032Ugx/km (6,958.4USD/km) and 32,674,895Ugx/km (8,598.65USD/km) respectively. The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) unpaved road maintenance costs were calculated as an average of 34,987,122.9Ugx/km (9,165USD/km) while the World Bank ROCKS database provided a comparable figure of 7,971USD/km (30,553,440.83Ugx/km). A USD to Ugx conversion rate of 3,800 was used. Two linear regression cost models with a 0.679 and 0.687 R2 value were computed, and these can be used in preliminary road maintenance cost prediction. The study recommends the need for an effective, digital road maintenance cost database system for mechanized unpaved road maintenance works, cost driver analytics and management, alongside improvement in aspects of maintenance processes at both the DLG and KSL. Further research can be conducted on equipment condition level prediction and analytics in the private sector and at the DLG