Research Publications

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Open Access
Material Wastage on Cost Overrun in Construction Projects: An Impact Study Carried Out in Sri Lanka
(SLIIT, Faculty of Engineering, 2025-02) Kothalawala, N.T.B.; Malkanthi, S.N.; Dharmaratne, P.D.
Cost overruns are a prevalent issue in construction industry, and material wastage is recognized as one of the key contributory factors of it. Against that background, this research investigates the impact of material wastage on cost overruns in construction projects experienced in Sri Lanka. It strives to achieve the objective of providing insights into the relationship between material wastage and cost overruns and identifying potential strategies to mitigate its impact. The research methodology developed in this concern involves a comprehensive literature review to establish a theoretical premise of material wastage and cost overruns in construction projects. The data about the issue was collected through surveys, interviews, and site inspections of a series of ongoing and completed construction projects in Sri Lanka. Later, the data was analyzed statistically to determine the extent of material wastage and its impact on cost overruns. The findings achieved thereby reveal a significant correlation between material wastage and cost overruns in construction projects in Sri Lanka, highlighting that inefficient project planning, inadequate supervision, lack of skilled labour, and ineffective procurement practices contribute to material wastage, which ultimately leads to cost overruns. The financial implications of this situation are substantial and affect project budgets and profitability. Based on the research findings, the paper strives to make recommendations for strategies to mitigate material wastage and reduce cost overruns in construction projects. These include improved project planning and scheduling, enhanced supervision and training, effective procurement and inventory management, and adoption of sustainable construction practices.
Open Access
Mitigation Practices for Frequent Accidents in High Rise Building Construction
(SLIIT, 2022-02-11) Delpachitra, Y; Allis, C
High-rise building construction accidents are observed within the construction industry in Sri Lanka. These accidents represent a significant loss for the construction industry in terms of lives, cost, time, and the reputation of the construction company. To overcome those losses, this research aimed to develop the framework as guidance to mitigate frequently happening accidents in high-rise building construction in Sri Lanka. It was achieved by three main objectives, identify the frequent accidents in high-rise building construction, investigate the causes of frequent accidents happen and analyze the strategies to minimize them. The first two objectives were completed by literature review, and the third objective was completed by data collection while developing the second objective. The data collection was done through semi-structured interviews with 12 professionals who work as health and safety officers, project managers, engineers, and quantity surveyors in high-rise building construction. Only those who work in the Colombo area were considered here as a limitation. Under the first objective, scaffolding accidents, struck by falling objects, plant, and machinery accidents, falling from a height, and fire accidents were identified as frequent accidents in high rise building construction, and causes were listed below the human factors, material, and equipment factors, environmental Factors, safety technology factors, and management failures as the second objective. Essentially risk assessment, developing the site conditions, conducting training programs establishing safety system with the procedure control system, and establishing penalty procedure were the discoveries of the third objective, and those are categorized separately in the pre-construction stage and post-construction stage. According to all these findings, the framework was developed to identified relevant mitigation practices for the causes of high-rise building construction accidents, and this research recommended for government to introduce new regulations for safety while strictly following up the safety system of the high-rise building construction sites to reduce the accidents.

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