Does “front-end planning”work for the Singapore construction industry?

Abstract

While technology advancement resulted in a spiral increase of complexity in construction projects, it tends to be unmatched with an equal increase in planning effort, especially at the pre-construction stage. Front-End Planning (FEP) is relatively new to the Singapore construction industry and its importance is not well recognised. As a result, this study aims to identify the implementation status of FEP in the Singapore construction industry and to analyse its impact on project performance, in order to encourage more organisations to practice and benefit from it. A questionnaire was developed and 327 projects from 27 companies were investigated. The analysis result revealed that about 40% of the companies and projects surveyed practiced FEP. In addition, the analysis reported that FEP can reduce project schedule and cost by up to 15%. Recognising the implementation status and impacts of FEP will be a starting point to improve project performance and to better manage projects, ultimately allowing the Singapore construction industry to significantly increase opportunities for project success.