Contractors’ Approaches to Risk Management at the Construction Phase in Malaysia

Abstract - Often times, contractors failed to identify, plan, strategize, analyzed, execute, monitor, control and manage the risk involves during construction phase in Malaysia. Consequently, the contractor failed to complete the project on schedule, within client’s budget and quality. The idea of introducing formal risk management among Malaysian contractors during construction phase is seem to be a proactive approach to achieve the project objectives. This paper intends to identify the application of formal risk management among the contractors during the construction phase in Malaysia. Questionnaires and interviews were used. It was found that although the risk management process in Malaysian construction industry has been introduced, most of them are not well structured and not being implemented in a formal manner. Therefore, it is suggested that these contractors should try to implement formal risk management and hope that the construction industry in Malaysia can enjoy the benefits and lead our industry effectively into the next stage of building the nation.Keywords : Risk Management, Contractors, Construction Phase, Malaysia

Assessing causes of contractual disputes from different type of condition of contracts

In a construction industry, a Condition of Contract (CoC) is primarily used to ensure a project can be delivered successfully with minimum disputes. The contractual disputes rooted from many factors, including from the improper management of conflict between parties in the project, misinterpretation of the CoC, lack of documentation, and discrepancies and ambiguities of documents which may lead to as cost overruns, project delay and project cashflow. Thus, a comprehensive CoC plays a significant role to express the rights and obligations of the main contracting parties. CoC functions in stating to each party on what they shall do and to the extent of their entitlement of rights and obligations under the contract. Despite having various of published CoC such as PAM Contract and series of PWD Form of Contract to govern the construction projects, numerous construction cases in relation to contractual disputes are still increasing over the years and there has been little discussion about the causes of disputes. It indicates the ineffectiveness of the contract provision in the CoC. Hence, this study presents thorough review of the disputes occurs in the construction industry by outlining the issues raised in the court cases. This scenario has paved this paper to achieve the objectives of the research, including to identify the factors attribute to the construction dispute and to investigate the provision in CoC that caused the contractual disputes. The data collection used was mainly through literature synthesis and surveys. The results revealed that there are five attributes of construction disputes. The findings of the paper would be beneficial to practitioners in increasing their awareness of the flaws in the CoC and could be helpful in mitigating the disputes

Effect of Rake Angle on Stress, Strain and Temperature on the Edge of Carbide Cutting Tool in Orthogonal Cutting Using FEM Simulation

Demand for higher productivity and good quality for machining parts has encourage many researchers to study the effects of machining parameters using FEM simulation using either two or three dimensions version. These are due to advantages such as software package and computational times are required. Experimental work is very costly, time consuming and labor intensive. The present work aims to simulate a three-dimensional orthogonal cutting operations using FEM software (deform-3D) to study the effects of rake angle on the cutting force, effective stress, strain and temperature on the edge of carbide cutting tool. There were seven runs of simulations. All simulations were performed for various rake angles of -15 deg, -10 deg, -5 deg, 0 deg, +5 deg, +10 deg, and +15 deg. The cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut (DOC) were kept constant at 100 m/min, 0.35 mm/rev and 0.3 mm respectively. The work piece used was ductile cast iron FCD500 grade and the cutting tool was DNMA432 series (tungsten, uncoated carbide tool, SCEA = 0; and radius angle 55 deg). The analysis of results show that, the increase in the rake angle from negative to positive angle, causing the decrease in cutting force, effective stress and total Von Misses strain. The minimum of the cutting force, effective stress and total Von Misses strain were obtained at rake angle of +15 deg. Increasing the rake caused higher temperature generated on the edge of carbide cutting tool and resulted in bigger contact area between the clearance face and the workpiece, consequently caused more friction and wear. The biggest deformation was occurred in the primary deformation zone, followed by the secondary deformation zone. The highest stress was also occurred in the primary deformation zone. But the highest temperature on the chip usually occurs in secondary deformation zone, especially in the sliding region, because the heat that was generated in the sticking region increased as the workpiece was adhered by the tool and later it was sheared in high frictional force

Speaking Good Arabic: Learners’ Perceptions

Learners’ beliefs and perceptions play an important role in language learning. This paper describes a study investigating the perceptions of good as well as poor Malay speakers of Arabic regarding the Arabic language, and their views on the necessary skills and competencies to become good speakers of Arabic. It highlights the similarities and differences between both Malay groups of Arabic speakers, and explains how their perceptions influence their strategies and performance in learning Arabic speaking skills. The author provides some suggestions for teachers in the concluding section. Keywords: Arabic language, speaking skills, language learning strategies, learners belief, foreign language learning

The teaching methodology of Arabic speaking skills: learners’ perspectives

Teaching methodology plays an important role in transmitting knowledge and skills to learners. The effectiveness of both knowledge and skills depends greatly on the methodology used. This paper describes a study to investigate the learners’ perspectives on the teaching methodology used by the teachers at the Centre for Foundation Studies, International Islamic University Malaysia, to teach Arabic speaking skills. The data were collected using a focus group interview with 6 Arabic language learners at the centre. The findings show that the learners were dissatisfied with the teaching methodology as it emphasizes memorization. Instead they prefer a communicative approach where they can apply orally what they have learned, be corrected and improve

Using Communicative Approach in Arabic Language Classroom to Develop Arabic Speaking Ability

Studies have shown that most Malay learners of Arabic language exhibit weak performance in speaking Arabic despite spending years of learning the language. Among the causes of the problem are traditional methods like reading, translation, and memorization that are popularly used in the teaching and learning of Arabic language. Since Arabic language is not widely used in Malaysian society, the only chance the students have to speak Arabic is in the classroom. Therefore the researcher designed a series of classroom activities using communicative approach for a period of 14 weeks on 45 students of Islamic Education minoring in the Teaching of Arabic as Second Language at the Institute of Education at the International Islamic University Malaysia. Surveys were administered to the students before and after the communicative activities took place. In addition the researcher also performed classroom observation and collected self reports from the students after each activity. The results from paired sample t-test showed that students’ perception on Arabic speaking and ability to speak Arabic improved after 14 weeks. In addition level of difficulty faced to speak Arabic decreased gradually. Results from the Pearson Product Moment correlation coefficient suggested that the improved perceptions of speaking Arabic lessened the difficulties faced by students in speaking Arabic. The results also suggested that the improved perceptions towards speaking Arabic increased students’ ability to speak Arabic

QUANTUM MERUIT CLAIM IN CONSERVATION PROJECTS

Quantum meruit claim is an ordinary claim that arises in the construction industry which is compensated for works and labor where no price has been agreed in the contract. Most of the quantum meruit claim cases drawn by the court rulings were focusing on the practice of new construction projects only. Currently, the quantum meruit claim is little known in the construction industry especially for the conservation projects. Conserving an existing building involvesinaccurate pre-determined works in terms of extent, specifications, duration, and cost. There are many major drawbacks and limitations of conserving a heritage or old building which will thwart the process of quantum meruit claim. This systematic review article focuses on the use of quantum meruit claim in conservation projects. The objective of this study is to investigate the limitation factors of quantum meruit claim in conservation projects. This study adopted Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) by utilizing an online database. Accordingly, 20 articles and 23 precedent court cases were resulted to be analysed systematically. This study managed to develop 4 limitation factors of quantum meruit claim for conservation projects which are (i) nonavailability of contract, (ii) undetermined price, (iii) lack of experiences and skillful parties, and (iv) improper documentation provided for conservation projects. Eventually, two recommendations for the use of future researchers were presented at the end of this research

Conceptual framework on noise ranking classification in eatery places for human psycho-acoustics preferences towards acoustic comfort

One of the important dining interests for focusing on smelling and tasting during dining in eatery places is having concentration or attention perceived of what we eat or drink. The dining satisfaction influenced positive behavior of return intent and recommending the eatery places to others. Higher noise level may distract the concentration for having a fine dining experience and could interrupt the ability of smelling and tasting senses. Settings in the noisy atmosphere of eatery places such as located near to a busy road, open kitchen, table layout and inappropriate decoration as well as the patrons’ conversation behavior may affect speech intelligibility. Ultimately, the long period exposure towards high decibel sound and noise affecting not only the health and wellbeing but also the social interactions and communications. It is also having a direct significant impact to human preferences on acoustic comfort during their dining. However, there is no specific classification or rating system established in Malaysia to assist the information on acoustic environment obtained in the eatery place. The aim of this paper is to identify the framework of eatery places classification in Malaysia within the context of the acoustic comfort and its performance. The main concern is to elucidate clearly different categorization of eatery places which might have significant on human psychoacoustics. Based on ongoing research, this paper will discuss on the critical literature reviews to develop a conceptual framework in classifying eatery places typologies and diners’ acoustical preferences

Effect of Rake Angle on Stress, Strain and Temperature on the Edge of Carbide Cutting Tool in Orthogonal Cutting Using FEM Simulation

Demand for higher productivity and good quality for machining parts has encourage many researchers to study the effects of machining parameters using FEM simulation using either two or three dimensions version. These are due to advantages such as software package and computational times are required. Experimental work is very costly, time consuming and labor intensive. The present work aims to simulate a three-dimensional orthogonal cutting operations using FEM software (deform-3D) to study the effects of rake angle on the cutting force, effective stress, strain and temperature on the edge of carbide cutting tool. There were seven runs of simulations. All simulations were performed for various rake angles of -15 deg, -10 deg, -5 deg, 0 deg, +5 deg, +10 deg, and +15 deg. The cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut (DOC) were kept constant at 100 m/min, 0.35 mm/rev and 0.3 mm respectively. The work piece used was ductile cast iron FCD500 grade and the cutting tool was DNMA432 series (tungsten, uncoated carbide tool, SCEA = 0; and radius angle 55 deg). The analysis of results show that, the increase in the rake angle from negative to positive angle, causing the decrease in cutting force, effective stress and total Von Misses strain. The minimum of the cutting force, effective stress and total Von Misses strain were obtained at rake angle of +15 deg. Increasing the rake caused higher temperature generated on the edge of carbide cutting tool and resulted in bigger contact area between the clearance face and the workpiece, consequently caused more friction and wear. The biggest deformation was occurred in the primary deformation zone, followed by the secondary deformation zone. The highest stress was also occurred in the primary deformation zone. But the highest temperature on the chip usually occurs in secondary deformation zone, especially in the sliding region, because the heat that was generated in the sticking region increased as the workpiece was adhered by the tool and later it was sheared in high frictional force.