Penulis: Zukiflee Abdul Samad, Ng Xin Pei, Othman Mohamed, Hussain Yusri Zawawi

Post-project reviews are essential for evaluating the success or failure of projects, allowing teams to learn from their experiences and mistakes to enhance future endeavours. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the construction industry in Malaysia has faced significant and lasting impacts. However, beginning in 2021, the economic situation and conditions within the construction sector gradually began to improve. The post-pandemic landscape presents numerous challenges for  contractors, while also offering valuable lessons that can be applied after project completion.

This research explores post-project review practices among Malaysian G7 contractors in the post-COVID-19 era. It examines the importance of these reviews and assesses their implementation levels during this period. The study employs a quantitative method for data collection, using a questionnaire distributed via email to G7 contractors in Malaysia, resulting in 124 responses. The collected data were analysed through descriptive statistics and the Relative Importance Index (RI). The Relative Importance Index (RII) ranks the significance of post-project review practices, identifies the reasons for their lack of emphasis, examines the motivations for conducting them in the post-pandemic context, and highlights the challenges faced in their implementation. The results show that monitoring project risks and learning from past mistakes are key to successful post-project reviews. The study also uncovered a rise in awareness among G7 contractors about post-project reviews in the post-COVID-19 period, along with an increase in the frequency of their implementation compared to pre-pandemic levels.

In addition, several obstacles to performing post-project evaluations have been recognised. The results of this study serve as a valuable resource for researchers and stakeholders aiming to improve post-project review practices in the Malaysian construction sector.