A study on methods for reducing construction costs of single-houses in subdivision projects through value engineering

Abstract

This research was conducted to explore the approaches for reducing construction costs in single-detached housing projects through value engineering. Data was collected using structured interviews with eight key informants involved in value engineering for single-house residential projects in the Bangkok Metropolitan  Region, from eight publicly listed companies on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. The collected data was then analyzed through Content Analysis. The research findings revealed the application of value engineering in controlling costs in the following areas: (1) Construction material costs, including the selection of high-quality materials that meet standards while reducing costs, procurement management, the use of substitute materials, and minimizing material waste; (2) Labor costs, which include fostering a team-based work culture, planning for labor selection, determining the appropriate workforce size relative to the workload, and adopting modern construction technologies and management techniques; (3) Operational costs, which involve reducing construction time and cutting costs related to quality through improvements in material ordering processes, site office engineering controls, adjusting work details, refining recruitment processes, team-based work approaches, joint construction planning, workforce skill development, and the integration of modern technologies