Impacts of Covid-19 outbreak on civil engineering activities in the Malaysian construction industry : a review

Abstract

The Covid-19 is a worldwide pandemic that has changed and disrupted the world’s economic perspective. The construction industry, which is considered as one of the major growth engines for the economy, has been directly impacted. The pandemic is having a wide-ranging effect on construction and infrastructure projects globally. All developments and projects have been put on hold until further notice. Indeed, the current pandemic is a significant cause of project delays in Malaysia. The chain effects of the pandemic and its impact on the construction industry is extremely uncertain. In order to deal with this uncertainty, it is vital to determine and discuss the impact of Covid-19 on the construction industry since its early condition up until the current scenario in order to handle the potential risk and lessons that can be learnt for future planning. The aim of this research is to determine the impact of Covid-19 in civil engineering activities and the construction industry as a whole. In order to control the Covid-19 transmission, Malaysia has implemented Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) during the restriction period of the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO). In Malaysia, the entire construction and repair work progress that been subjected to Movement Control Order (MCO) were suspended and thus causes project suspension, delays, labour impact, work loss, time overrun, cost overrun, and other financial consequences. Therefore, it is recommended that the construction industry should utilize innovative construction technologies in order to overcome the problem that occurred due to Covid-19. It is also expected that the usage of construction technologies will assist in the development of a more sustainable infrastructure development as those technologies can be well adopted and implemented as a new norm in Malaysia.