Expert Opinion on the Key Influencing Factors of Cost Control for Water Engineering Contractors

There are many unpredictable circumstances during the implementation process of a water conservancy project, which often cause financial loss, increased construction costs and schedule delays. This paper investigates the influence factors for water conservancy project cost control. The present study used the factor analysis method to extract the major cost control influence factors, and performed a correlation analysis to clarify the relationship between these cost control influence factors and the sub-factors under each factor. Several water conservancy project practitioners were invited to analyze the sub-factors of the cost control influence factors and to provide some strategic suggestions in terms of minimizing the impact of the influence factors. The results of the study illustrate that in construction, water engineering contractors who want to reduce costs need to focus on the lack of a clear definition for the scope of works, subcontractors' insufficient ability to perform the work, site construction conditions and the escalation of the construction material cost. The correlation analysis demonstrated that unreasonable requirements from the supervision unit and unfair standpoints of the supervision unit are highly correlated; the insufficient mobilization ability and lack of management capability of the subcontractor are medium correlated; the site construction conditions and the lack of a clear definition for the scope of works are medium correlated; and the escalation of the construction material cost and shortage of construction materials are medium correlated. This facilitates future water works contractors to identify the underlying causes of cost increases.