An Investigation into the Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on the Construction Industry

Entebang, Andrea Geni (2022) An Investigation into the Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on the Construction Industry. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has been the world’s most serious health crisis in decades. Apart from the unprecedented number of deaths and hospitalizations, the pandemic has resulted in economic slowdowns, widespread business disruptions, and substantial hardship. As an initiative, the Malaysian government has enforced the Movement Control Order (MCO) as one of the lockdown alternatives starting on 18th March 2020. The construction industry, which has always been a significant growth driver of the economy has been completely shut down. All developments and projects have been postponed until further notice. As a result, the MCO has had a significant impact on all economic sectors, particularly the Construction Industry. Therefore, this research intends to investigate the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the construction industry. The main objectives of the research are to identify the effects of Covid-19 on the construction industry and to propose viable solutions that can mitigate the adverse effects of Covid-19 on the industry. In an attempt to collect data from the respondents during this current crisis, questionnaires were distributed online to construction firms and subcontracting firms. Cross sectional study coupled with a non-random sample population were deployed. SPSS software was used in the data analysis. The study found that the most prominent impacts of Covid-19 are the debilitative effect on the progress of current projects, time overrun, cost overrun, adverse financial impact on the companies, and disruptive effect on the supply and delivery of materials. The study has also found viable solutions to mitigate the adverse effect of Covid-19 such as implementing flexible work arrangements, reducing overtime works, following up payments from Client, applying for Covid-19 government aid schemes, and implementing Standard Operating Procedures at Head Offices and project sites.