Evaluation of Disputes in Kerala Construction Industry

Disputes are an inevitable part of the construction industry. Every year a huge amount of money and time is wasted on the settlement of disputes in construction projects. There can be different causes for the disputes to arise in construction projects. Prevention of disputes can be possible through proper identification and analysis of the factors causing them. This paper is a study on the identification of construction disputes from literature and through a questionnaire survey in Kerala public projects. The responses from the survey were logically analysed using fuzzy-DEMATEL analysis and Relative Importance Index (RII). Fuzzy-DEMATEL categorizes the factors as causes and effects. RII scaling is used to scale the factors that cause disputes causing cost overrun in Kerala public works. Thus, this study intends to find the factors affecting disputes, their inter-relationships and effects on Kerala construction sector.