Scoping issues up for major projects

INADEQUATE scoping is being blamed for escalating cost blowouts and delays on some of the country's infrastructure projects, according to new research.

The survey, undertaken by Blake Dawson with support from the Australian Constructors Association and Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, said poor scoping had become an "endemic problem" in Australia.

About 52 per cent of survey respondents said their project was not adequately scoped, a jump from the 2006 research of just more than 40 per cent, with a majority of respondents claiming the difficulties were getting worse.

The research surveyed $60 billion worth of public and private projects across a range of sectors including road, rail, ports, hospitals, schools, resources and property.

The size of projects surveyed ranged from the smaller end, between $20 million and $50 million, up to $1 billion, with the average project value $360 million.

Blake Dawson partner and head of the firm's national engineering and construction practice, Paul Riethmuller, said the problem had become worse and more widespread since the 2006 survey.

"We knew it was likely to be a big problem, but we were surprised it was as big as it appeared to be," he said.

"From the comments and the statistics, it seems more widespread than two years ago."

Respondents said lack of time spent on scoping and a shortage of skilled people to prepare scoping documents were of particular concern.

"In boom times, people are rushing to get to market to finish projects and get finished product generating revenue," Mr Riethmuller said.

"In the rush to get projects finished, not enough time is spent preparing up front."

Overall, 61 per cent of projects had cost overruns, and in more than one-third of those cases the cost overrun was more than 20 per cent.

For projects worth more than $1 billion, one quarter had cost blowouts of more than 20 per cent.