DEPARTMENT OF QUANTITY SURVEYING

FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE, PLANNING AND SURVEYING

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA SARAWAK

RESEARCH METHODOLGY

(BQS514)

ASSIGNMENT 1

RESEARCH PROCESS

ISSUES OF ABANDONED BUILDING CONSTRUCTION IN MALAYSIA

PREPARED FOR: DR. SYLVIA GALA MONG @ AGAM

PREPARED BY: PENGIRAN MUHAMMAD DANIAL AKMAL BIN PG MUHD

SUFFIAN (2022602568)

GROUP: AP2243C

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 12TH DECEMBER 2022

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 TITLE OF RESEARCH AND KEYWORDS.........................................................................3

1.1 Title of Research................................................................................................................3
1.2 Keywords.............................................................................................................................3
2.0 INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................3
3.0 PROBLEM STATEMENT.......................................................................................................4
3.1 Delay in Delivery of Project.............................................................................................4
3.2 Financial Problems............................................................................................................4
3.3 Mismanagement.................................................................................................................5
4.0 AIM AND OBJECTIVES.........................................................................................................6
4.1 Aim........................................................................................................................................6
4.2 Objectives............................................................................................................................6
5.0 RESEARCH QUESTIONS.....................................................................................................6
6.0 SCOPE OF RESEARCH........................................................................................................7
7.0 RESEARCH ETHIC FACTORS.............................................................................................7
8.0 REFERENCES........................................................................................................................9

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 1.0 TITLE OF RESEARCH AND KEYWORDS

1.1 Title of Research

Issues of Abandoned Building Construction in Malaysia
1.2 Keywords
Issue, Abandoned, Building, Construction, Malaysia

2.0 INTRODUCTION

According to (Ariffin, 2018), any country's economy would not function without the
construction industry. When the economy is doing well, construction activity often
increases, but when the economy is struggling, project abandonment is more
frequent. As mentioned by (Ariffin, 2018), construction work that has been
consistently put off for six months or more, either within the project's completion term
or after the projected completion date, is defined as an abandoned building.
Abandoned projects have a negative impact on many stakeholders, including the
client, contractor, and consultant. Mainly due to its detrimental effects on the nation,
the topic of abandoned buildings is now one that comes up regularly. For your
information, construction abandonments have taken place in both public and private
housing projects as well as commercial buildings.

As stated by (Sabri, 2019), the issue of abandoned building constructions first

surfaced when there were increasing numbers of project delivery delays,
development was regularly halted for at least six months, vacant homes were placed
on the market without a buyer, and in the worst-case scenario, the project was
abandoned for unknown reasons after the contract had expired. Before a project is
deemed abandoned, there are a number of phases that must occur, under the
ministry's definition. It is labelled "late" if it is 10% past the scheduled delivery date;
"sick" if it is 10% or more past the planned delivery date; and "abandoned" if no work
is being done on the project site or no staff is present for up to six months, (Sabri,
2019).

As stated before, when a building is abandoned, it may have a bad impact on

organizations as well as the parties involved and the surrounding area. The parties

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involved run the risk of losing money as well as the public's trust, particularly in the
case of a government-funded initiative. They should be aware of the project's goals
as a development business so that the projects may be completed. In addition, a
portion of the structure was demolished because of structural and architectural
issues. The expense of the project will rise the longer the structure is abandoned.
From the viewpoint of society, abandoned buildings might potentially turn into places
where crimes can be committed.

In light of this, this research was carried out to determine the causes of abandoned
construction projects in Malaysia and the steps that may be taken to mitigate the
situation in the near future.

3.0 PROBLEM STATEMENT

The problem statement for this research may be divided into three namely delay in
delivery of project, financial problems and mismanagement.

3.1 Delay in Delivery of Project

According to (Sabri, 2019), the development of Malaysia's economy was
impacted by the building sector. Consequently, there are many cases nowadays
where a project's delivery is delayed, which results in a major abandoned building
project issue. The abandonment of a construction project will have a
serious impact on the individuals and organizations involved as well as the
surrounding environment. Participants in the project, including the developer,
contractor, subcontractor, consultant, government, and client, might lose a
significant amount of money as well as future public confidence, particularly if the
project was government-funded. Next, before beginning anything, a developer
should be well aware of the project's goals to ensure that it is completed on
schedule and without any controversies.

3.2 Financial Problems

Based on a survey conducted by (Ariffin, 2018), it demonstrates that failure to pay
a subcontractor on time—whose relative importance index in the survey is 0.75—

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is the primary reason a construction is abandoned. This can also be indicated as
a financial issue the development firm is dealing with. A company's financial
situation will have an impact on how quickly development moves forward. To
ensure a seamless project with minimal delays, the developer should have a solid
financial foundation. As stated by (Mohamad, 2020), the developers' poor
financial history was also influenced by their need to pay creditors and cover
building expenditures. The developers have been forced by the cash flow issue to
use the initial down payment as their primary source of funding and largely rely on
the progressive payments to cover the cost of construction. The main cause of
the cash flow issue is the developers' inexperience and lack of understanding.

3.3 Mismanagement
According to (Salam, 2020), the basic goal of construction management is to
closely regulate and track a project's development in terms of quality, cost, and
time. The inexperience of developers may lead to management errors. Some of
the examples of mismanagement that may lead to abandoned housing projects
include absence of sufficient feasibility studies, notably incorrect market research.
The project's ability to function smoothly will be reduced, and the extra time and
money required to do a complete feasibility study during the project's
commencement stage will result in the project being abandoned.

Another example of mismanagement is fraud. Non-payments or unreasonably

decreased payments of progress billings are a type of fraud. These actions can
cause cash flow issues for suppliers, contractors, and subcontractors, which may
ultimately lead to project delays or project abandonment. Fraud may also be the
result of exorbitant buyer funds being spent, which causes housing projects to be
abandoned. Developer participation in false claims is another instance of fraud.
Developers and their architects work together to have the architects produce
progress claim certifications that fraudulently show greater levels of building
progress so that the developers may withdraw funds from the project.

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 4.0 AIM AND OBJECTIVES

4.1 Aim
The purpose of the research is to examine the issues of abandoned building
construction in Malaysia.

4.2 Objectives
There are several objectives of this research which are described as below:

a) To identify the issues that contributes to the abandoned building

construction in Malaysia.
b) To analyze the possible solutions to overcome the issue of abandoned
building construction in Malaysia.
c) To identify the affect of abandoned building construction towards the
economy and the surrounding environment in Malaysia.

5.0 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Three research questions are posed to the researcher to aid in reaching the study
objectives in order to support the researcher. The following are the research
questions.

a) What are the issues of that makes a construction building being

abandoned in Malaysia?
b) What are the methods to overcome the problems involved in abandoned
building construction in Malaysia?
c) Does abandoned building constructions in Malaysia affect the economy
and the surrounding environment?

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 6.0 SCOPE OF RESEARCH

The aim of this research focusing on the issues of abandoned building construction in
Malaysia. The scope of study is limited to the parties that are involve in the
construction of a building in Malaysia, which are namely consultants, contractors,
developers, architects, engineers, clients, private sectors and also the government.
Specifically, this research will only reach out to the parties that are involved a
construction project that is being abandoned in Malaysia, asking about their
experience and involvement. This scope of research will be conducted for around 2-4
months through interviews and online platform such as Google Meet. Lastly, the
geographical location that is being covered in this research will be only in Malaysia.

7.0 RESEARCH ETHIC FACTORS

The research ethic factors that are being applied during this research are described
as below:
a) Respect
During this research, the participants involved are being treated with respect and
were being interviewed during their free time so that it does not disturb their time
schedule. Other than that, acknowledgement of works was also given to authors
that are involve in this research study.

b) Honesty

This research is being conducted through questionnaire which are answered by

the parties that are involved in the abandoned building construction in Malaysia
and not by any other entity. Before sending out the questionnaire to the
participants, the researcher has to reach out to the UiTM committee to get the
approval. The respondents answered the questionnaire with their mutual consent
and without the exercise of any pressure or coercion. Moreover, the interviews
were also being conducted with only the parties as stated above.

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c) Responsibility

The respondents’ and participants’ privacy and anonymity are ensured and not
being shared to any agency including UiTM. Adequate level of confidentiality of
the research data should be ensured by the researcher.

d) Good Communication

The researcher applied a quality communication skill when interviewing the

participants without disrespecting, use of offensive, discriminatory, or other
unacceptable language towards them.

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 8.0 REFERENCES

Ariffin, N. F. (2018). Investigation on factors that contribute to the abandonment of building in

construction industry in Malaysia. E3S Web Of Conferences 34 (pp. 1-6). Pahang: EDP
Sciences.

Mohamad, N. N. (2020). UNDERSTANDING ABANDONED HOUSING PROJECTS IN MALAYSIA AND THE

PROTECTION FOR HOME BUYERS. International Journal of Islamic Economics and Finance
Research, 77-90.

Sabri, I. J. (2019). Study on Factors That Lead to the Abandoned Building Project in Borneo (Sabah &
Sarawak). Pahang: Universiti Malaysia Pahang.

Salam, S. A. (2020). Effect of mismanagement towards abandoned project in Malaysia. IOP Conf.
Series: Materials Science and Engineering (pp. 1-8). Pahang: IOP Publishing.