A study to determine whether and how value management is applied in the construction industry of Kenya

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to establish whether and how value management is applied in the Kenyan construction industry. Value management/engineering is a creative organized approach aiming at optimizing cost and! or performance of a facility system. It achieves savings or product value by identification and eliminating or modifying components that add cost to the product without contributing to its required function. Different concepts are embodied within the term value and this renders value management difficult to understand and is often confused with cost saving, build ablity and cost planning. The objectives of the study were to find whether and how value management is applied, the phase at which it is applied, the constitution of the value management study and the role of the r team in the Kenyan construction industry. The study hypothesized that the value management team determines how value management is applied in the Kenyan construction industry. The study found that the format of value management that was applied in construction projects was determined by the management style of the team Which is constituted the design team and the client. The study concluded that value management was generally applied in the Kenyan construction industry although no specific value management system has been put in place like in other countries where the technique is widely applied. The study also concluded that value management study was usually undertaken at the design stage and was mainly constituted of the design team whose main role was to evaluate the various design alternatives and come up with the best alternatives to be implemented in the project. The study recommends that a suitable value management system to be established which should be tailored to meet the objectives of the Kenyan construction industry so as to reap the gains associated with value management technique.