faculty of engineering faculty of engineering faculty of … provisions in standard for… ·...

Faculty of Engineering Faculty of Engineering

Faculty of Engineering

QUALITY PROVISIONS IN STANDARD FORMS OF LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT

Quay Wei Kwang

Bachelor of Engineering with Honours (Civil Engineering)

2008

QUALITY PROVISIONS IN STANDARD FORMS OF LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT

QUAY WEI KWANG

This project is submitted in partial fulfillment of

the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Engineering with

Honours (Civil Engineering)

UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA SARAWAK

BORANG PENGESAHAN STATUS TESIS

QUALTIY ASPECTS OF LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL STANDARD Judul:

FORMS OF CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT

SESI PENGAJIAN: 2005 – 2009 Saya QUAY WEI KWANG

(HURUF BESAR)

mengaku membenarkan tesis * ini disimpan di Pusat Khidmat Maklumat Akademik, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak dengan syarat-syarat kegunaan seperti berikut:

1. Tesis adalah hakmilik Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. 2. Pusat Khidmat Maklumat Akademik, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak dibenarkan membuat salinan untuk

tujuan pengajian sahaja. 3. Membuat pendigitan untuk membangunkan Pangkalan Data Kandungan Tempatan. 4. Pusat Khidmat Maklumat Akademik, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak dibenarkan membuat salinan tesis

ini sebagai bahan pertukaran antara institusi pengajian tinggi. 5. ** Sila tandakan ( a ) di kotak yang berkenaan

SULIT (Mengandungi maklumat yang berdarjah keselamatan atau kepentingan Malaysia seperti yang termaktub di dalam AKTA RAHSIA RASMI 1972). TERHAD (Mengandungi maklumat TERHAD yang telah ditentukan oleh organisasi/ badan di mana penyelidikan dijalankan).

a TIDAK TERHAD Disahkan oleh (TANDATANGAN PENULIS) (TANDATANGAN PENYELIA) Alamat tetap: 31, JALAN GAMBUS 13, TAMAN DESAWAN 41200 KLANG, SELANGOR IR. TING SIM NEE (Nama Penyelia)

Tarikh: 16 April 2009 Tarikh:

CATATAN * Tesis dimaksudkan sebagai tesis bagi Ijazah Doktor Falsafah, Sarjana dan Sarjana Muda. ** Jika tesis ini SULIT atau TERHAD, sila lampirkan surat daripada pihak berkuasa/organisasi

berkenaan dengan menyatakan sekali sebab dan tempoh tesis ini perlu dikelaskan sebagai SULIT dan TERHAD.

Final Year Project Report below:

Title : Quality Provisions in Standard Forms of Local and International Construction Contract Author : Quay Wei Kwang

Matric. No. : 15790

Has been read and certified by:

__________________________ ________________________ Ir. Ting Sim Nee Date Supervisor

QUALITY PROVISIONS IN STANDARD FORMS OF LOCAL AND

INTERNATIONAL CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT

QUAY WEI KWANG

This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of

Bachelor of Engineering with Honours

(Civil Engineering)

Faculty of Engineering

UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA SARAWAK

2009

For the One and the ones who have been there from where it all began

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I take this opportunity to express appreciation to all that have physically and morally

contributed towards this thesis, primarily to my supervisor, Ir. Ting Sim Nee for her

guidance even using up point of using up her own personal time and space.

Also to the following correspondence (in no specific order):

1. Mr. Kamraj Nagayam, a partner from Skrine, one of the largest law firms in

Malaysia.

2. Miss Tan Swee Im, a lawyer of a firm of hers who have been closely involved in

the CIDB Standard Form of Contract drafting.

3. Mr. Lim Chong Fong, an experienced lawyer from Azman, Davidson & Co

4. Ir. Oon Chee Kheng, a lawyer of his own firm and Vice President of IEM; who

has also been closely involved in the CIDB Standard Form of Contract drafting.

5. Sr. Bong Siak Khiun, a seasoned quantity surveyor from KTA (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd

6. Ir. Kueh Kim Meow, an resourceful engineer from Hock Seng Lee Berhad

where I utmostly value their time out of their busy schedule and also literature shared, in

particular Ir Oon and Mr. Nagayam.

Not forgetting the fellow course mates who were there with me throughout this

dissertation. You are the best!

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ABSTRACT

Standard forms of contracts have been in use in the Malaysian construction industry as a

means to expedite contractual and legal duties where clients often seek a quick approach

to arrive at an agreement with their contractors. Various forms have been drafted by

various professional bodies and organisations, both locally and internationally, to closely

meet the demands of the market where quality is one its objectives. Experts within this

field are sought together with the comparison of clauses made to provide a robust study.

This dissertation investigates the adequacy of the provision of these forms and suggests

suitable changes to the current standard forms within this study. Evidently, the standard

of quality in the Malaysian construction industry remains at a low and becomes an

evergreen issue. Whether these forms sufficiently cater for quality, remains disputable.

However it is an undeniable fact that quality provisions can be further enhanced. Since,

the “one-size fits all” postulate may not hold any grounds especially when it comes to

ensuring quality on site, the question of validity and effectiveness of standard forms

becomes a pertinent one.

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ABSTRAK

Borang kontrak digunapakai di Malaysia sebagai satu langkah mempercepat proses

penyediaan kontrak dan guaman di mana klien sering kali ingin mencari jalan mudah

bagi mencapai kata sepakat dengan kontrakor. Borang-borang kontrak ini telah

disediakan oleh pebagai badan dan organisasi professional tempatan mahupun

antarabangsa, bagi memenuhi kehendak pasaran di mana kualiti menjadi salah satu

matlamatnya. Pakar-pakar dalam bidang ini ditemuduga selari dengan perbandingan

klausa bagi mewujudkan kajian yang mampan. Tesis ini menkaji kepadatan provisi

borang-borang ini dan menyarankan perubahan yang sewajarnya. Ternyata, peringkat

kualiti di Malaysia masih rendah dan senantiasa menjadi isu. Sama ada borang-borang ini

menanggung kualiti secara mencukupi, masih menjadi pertikaian. Walau bagaimanapun,

hakikat yang tidak boleh dinafikan adalah provisi kualiti masih boleh dipertingkatkan.

Oleh sebab, teori “satu saiz bagi semua” tidak dapat direalisasikan, terutama bagi

memastikan kualiti di lapangan, maka soal kesahihan dan keberkesanan borang kontrak

menjadi persoalan penting.

v

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTENT PAGE

TITLE PAGE i

DEDICATION ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii

ABSTRAK iv

ABSTRACT v

TABLE OF CONTENT vi

LIST OF TABLES xi

LIST OF FIGURES xii

TABLE OF CASES xiii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 General 1

1.2 TThe Standard Forms of Conditions of Contract 2 T

1.3 Quality with respect to Standard Forms 6

1.4 Problem Statement 7

1.5 Hypothesis 9

1.6 Aim and Objectives 9

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1.7 Scope of Study 10

1.8 Structure of Thesis 11

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 General 12

2.2 Quality – The Reality 15

2.2.1 Middle Ring Road II 16

2.2.2 Immigration Department, Putrajaya 17

2.2.3 Jalan Duta Court Complex 18

2.3 Quality – The Lacuna in a Contract 18

2.4 Quality in Dispute Resolution 20

2.5 Quality Control as a ‘Stick’ 22

2.6 The NEC as a New Benchmark of Quality 24

2.7 Summary 27

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

3.1 General 28

3.1.1 Literature Review 31

3.1.2.1 Case Study 31

3.1.3 Interviews 31

3.1.4 Structured Questionnaire 34

3.1.5 Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis 34

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3.1.6 Results Summary/Inference 35

3.1.7 Discussion and Recommendation 35

3.1.8 Conclusion 36

3.2 The Parameters 36

3.2.1 Adequacy 37

3.2.2 Clarity 37

3.2.3 Versatility 37

CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS

4.1 Introduction 39

4.2 Salient Quality Driving Aspects 40

4.2.1 Material and Workmanship 41

4.2.1.1 PWD Form 41

4.2.1.2 PAM Form 42

4.2.1.3 CIDB Form 43

4.2.1.4 FIDIC Form 45

4.2.2 Testing and Inspection 46

4.2.2.1 PWD Form 46

4.2.2.2 PAM Form 47



4.2.3 Performance Bond 55

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4.2.3.1 PWD Form 55

4.2.3.2 PAM Form 57



4.2.4 Dispute Resolution 63

4.2.4.1 PWD Form 63

4.2.4.2 PAM Form 63



4.3 Comparison in Adequacy 70

4.4 Comparison in Clarity 81

4.5 Comparison in Versatility 87

4.6 Pugh Analysis 91

4.7 Summary 93

CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 Material and Workmanship

5.1.1 Discussion 95

5.1.2 Recommendation 99

5.2 Testing and Inspection

5.2.1 Discussion 100


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5.3 Performance Bond



5.4 Dispute Resolution



5.5 Others 111

5.6 Summary 113

CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION

6.1 Introduction 115

6.2 Research Overview 116

6.3 Methodology Accomplished 117

6.4 Research Findings 117

6.5 Recommendation 120

6.6 Constraints and Future Research 121

6.7 Conclusion 122

REFERENCES 123

APPENDIX 126

xi

LIST OF TABLE

TABLE PAGE

4.1T Comparison of Material and Workmanship

Tprovisions amongst forms 70

T4.2 Comparison of Testing and Inspection


T4.3 Comparison of Performance Bond


T4.4 Pugh Analysis for adequacy 91 T

T4.5 Pugh Analysis for clarity 92

T4.6 Pugh Analysis for versatility 92

xii

T

LIST OF FIGURE

FIGURE PAGE

3.1 T Flowchart of Methodology 30

xiii

TABLE OF CASES

CONTENT PAGE

Holland Hannen &Cubitts(Northern) Ltd v Welsh Health

Technical Services Organisation (1981) 18 BLR 80 100

JM Hill & Sons Ltd v London Borough of Camden

(1981) 18 BLR 31 24

Renard Constructions Ltd v Minister of Public Works

(1992) 26 NSWLR 234 23

Swartz &Son (Pty) Ltd v Wolmaransstad Town Council

1960 (2) SALR 1 104

Young & Marten Ltd v McManus Childs Ltd

[1969] 1 AC 454 97

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 GENERAL

Ashworth (1998) defines a contract as “a legally binding agreement made between

two or more parties, by which rights are acquired by one or more to acts or forbearances

on the part of the other or others.” The essential elements of this definition are as follows:

legally binding: Not all agreements are legally binding. In particular there are

social or domestic arrangements which are made without any intention of

creating legal arrangements.

two or more parties: In order to have an agreement there must be at least two

parties. In law one cannot make bargains with oneself.

According to Hinze (2001) a contract is an agreement, usually between two parties,

that is enforceable by law. Construction agreements are drawn up between two parties for

their mutual benefit. While Totterdill (2001) defines a contract as any construction

Contract is a legally binding agreement between two Parties – the Owner, who is

generally referred to as the Employer, and the Contractor.

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Standard forms of contract are a type of contract most commonly employed in the

construction industry. As its name suggest, it is a model contract which makes

contractual agreements convenient. (Singh, 2002)

1.2 THE STANDARD FORMS OF CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT

Fundamentally, the Standard Forms of Conditions of Contract or the General

Conditions Document (hereinafter referred to as Standard Forms) are the ‘rules’

governing the execution of the contract. Specifically, they define the powers and

rights, responsibilities and obligations of the parties involved in the contract.

Additionally, they detail the rights of the parties to the contract in that they specify

the various courses of action which are open to either party in the event of the other

party’s failure to discharge his contractual obligations (Williams, 1992).

In addition, the standard form of general conditions has been widely adopted as

experience has shown that they facilitate the conduct of trade and have addressed the

common pitfalls and shortcomings in most civil engineering contracts. The standard form

also satisfies the equitable principle requiring that similar projects demand similar

contracts. Moreover, the standard form of general conditions allocates risks relatively

fairly between the parties. Such equitable apportionment of risk hinders contractors from

adding risk premiums and allowances and thereby leads to a fairer commercial

transaction between the parties involved in a contract (Singh, 2002).

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Standard forms are prepared having the nature of work to be undertaken.

Practitioners in the industry are more comfortable using a standard form of contract with

which they are familiar and which is usually capable of interpretation by reference to

readily available text books and case laws. (Thomas, 2001) It is said that familiarity

should make compliance with the form easier and that previous court cases may aid in

their interpretation. (Chan, 2006) This familiarity leads to administrative and cost

efficiency, and minimises possible claims and disputes (Singh, 2002). They are often

drafted and agreed by recognised bodies representing all sides of the industry which will

be affected by them. This last point is to some extent a disadvantage in that a form of

contract, ‘by committee’, is often a compromise containing some defective aspects of one

form or another. (Thomas 2001)

Standard forms of contract have been in used both locally and internationally,

namely the Pertubuhan Arkitek Malaysia (PAM) standard forms of building contracts and

Public Works Department (PWD) Form of Construction Contract which is used locally

and Fédération Internationale des Ingénieurs-Conseils (FIDIC), the International

Federation of Consulting Engineers and which is used internationally. There are more

standard forms of contract in existence; however, this study will gravitate on the

aforementioned so as to give a better focus. Another local contract which is to be looked

upon is the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Standard Form of

Contract which is rarely used. Although less popular, this form is of a different standard

in terms of drafting and would provide a more insightful research.

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The Pertubuhan Arkitek Malaysia (PAM) standard forms of building contracts are

the staples of the Malaysian construction industry, with an estimate of 90% of building

contracts in the private sector are based on a PAM form. The antecedent of the PAM

contracts, The Malaysian 1969 Standard Form of Building Contract, or more commonly

referred to as the ‘PAM/ISM 1969 Form’, was issued with the consent of PAM and

Institute of Surveyors of Malaysia ISM in 1969. As with other building contracts, it spells

out the roles, obligation and consequences involved, with the intention to mitigate

conflicts and to achieve a common end. (Rajoo 1999) The PAM Contract 2006 (PAM06)

was officially launched on 05 April 2007 and is said to be a ‘redraft’ of it predecessor, the

PAM Building Contract, Edition 1998 (PAM98). The drafting of PAM06 was done by

the PAM Contract Review Committee, with many rounds of the construction industry

consultative reviews and feedback.

The PWD forms of contract are the de facto standard forms of construction contract

used by the Malaysian public sector. To streamline this study, the PWD 203 and 203A

forms will be focus since it involves the relationship between the client i.e. the

Government and the Contractor. To make mention, the PWD 203N form caters for

nominated subcontractors, PWD 203P for nominated supplier and PWD DB/T form for

cases of design and build or turnkey system of procurement.

The CIDB Standard Form of Contract for Building Works is still in its first revision

(2000). The CIDB form is significantly thicker than the other forms. Aside from the more

lengthy clauses, the CIDB form also contains a separate section of appendix where

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optional modules are available for different situations and requirements of a particular

contract. It is interesting to note that a Guide to the standard form is also published to aid

users.

The most commonly used Conditions of Contract for international construction

projects are published by the Fédération Internationale des Ingénieurs-Conseils (FIDIC),

the International Federation of Consulting Engineers. The traditional FIDIC ‘Conditions

of Contract Works of Civil Engineering Construction’, commonly referred to as ‘The Red

Book’ is the one which will carry weight. In 1999, this was superseded by the FIDIC

’Conditions of Contract for Construction’ which comprise of:

The General Conditions; and

The Particular Conditions

However, to make mention, there are other sets of contracts for specific conditions

which include; but are not limited to the Conditions of Contract for Design – Build and

Turnkey (The Orange Book) and the Conditions of Contract for Electrical and

Mechanical Works (The Yellow Book).

These standard contracts function to simplify agreements when it comes to

engineering construction contracts by reducing the dependence on legal drafting.

Ironically, they have been drafted with the help of legal advisers and will consequently

lead to the need of their services to interpret clauses due to the incomprehensible jargon

associated contracts. For instance, a study by Bunni (as quoted by Broome, 1997),

revealed that 86% of the sentences in the FIDIC contract could be understood by only 4%

5

of the population, equivalent to those with an IQ of 130 or more. Nonetheless, standard

forms of contract still play a vital role within the construction industry.

1.3 QUALITY WITH RESPECT TO STANDARD FORMS

With respect to cost and time, quality unfortunately, becomes inferior and an often

times is compromised for the former two, especially when these resources are limited. It

is neglected factor in project management. (Barnes, 1988) However when analysed, the

general mindset that “quality will inevitably translate to higher cost” can be eliminated.

According to Juran (1998), ‘Quality’ means those features of products which meet

customer needs and thereby provide customer satisfaction. In this sense, the meaning of

quality is oriented to income. The purpose of such higher quality is to provide greater

customer satisfaction and, one hopes, to increase income. However, providing more

and/or better quality features usually requires an investment and hence usually involves

increases in costs. Higher quality in this sense usually ‘costs more.’ ‘Quality’ can also

mean freedom from deficiencies i.e. freedom from errors that require doing work over

again (rework) or that result in field failures, customer dissatisfaction and claims. In this

sense, the meaning of quality is oriented to costs, and higher quality usually ‘costs less.’

For this reason, quality is not a luxury that only parties with large capitals can take

pleasure in but rather a means of curtailing loses and also increasing productivity.

Therefore, the only apparent grounds to not integrate quality into a work are most likely

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due to misconception and the myopic view of quality, which hinders the foresight of the

benefits of quality.

With respect to the effect on quality on general conditions, Bubshait (1994) defines

quality as the degree to which the general conditions promote the meeting of the project’s

established requirements of materials and workmanship.

In general, quality aspects are addressed in the:

General Section, where a brief description or the overview are provided.

Materials Section, where a specified quality of materials is to be used.

Workmanship Section, where performance and methods of work are spelt.

Testing and Inspection Section, where the procedures and obligations of testing

are spelt out.

Specifications, an additional attached set of itinerary specifying the actual work

quality.

1.4 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Malaysia has been somewhat a ‘contractual backwater’. Her standard forms have

been operating based upon JCT conditions of contract save for the new CIDB Contract

released in year 2000. (Chan, 2006)

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