Project Delivery Method for Construction Projects: Review of Malaysian Public Sector Practice

Abstract

Appropriate project delivery method (PDM) is vital to ensure good performance of construction project. For decades, numerous researches have been conducted to develop a structured and descriptive decision-making framework for selecting an appropriate PDM. However, the adoption of structured and descriptive decision-making in selecting PDM in the construction industry is still understudied, especially in the Malaysian public sector. Thus, this paper attempts to investigate the practices and constraints of the Malaysian public sector in PDM selection for construction projects. This paper adopts an interpretive approach by conducting in-depth literature reviews of the numerous related researches, government policy and guidelines of PDM selection. This paper also assesses the effectiveness of the current PDM selection practices based on previous study findings and reports on PDM performance. Findings indicate that the traditional delivery method is prevalent PDM in most Malaysian public-funded construction projects. The Malaysian public sector has practised authoritarian and prescriptive decision-making governed by the government procurement guidelines in selecting PDM, which intentionally preserves political interests. Inappropriate PDM selection in project execution has produced an unconvincing performance by showing optimism bias on the expected outcome. The Malaysian public sector needs to improve the decision-making process by introducing a structured and descriptive PDM selection framework to derive better outcomes and convincing results. Thus, this paper is significant in improvising the decision-making mechanism in selecting appropriate PDM for the Malaysian public construction project.