Readability and comprehensibility of Malaysian construction contracts

Abstract

The international construction industry is projected to grow at a compounded annual rate of 4.2% between 2018 and 2023 valued at USD 10.5 trillion. This growth is marred by increasing disputes. In parallel, the use of plain language has been increasing, although construction contracts have been slow to adapt. This affirms the need for this research. It adopted a combined qualitative and quantitative study to establish the potential of adopting the use of plain language in construction contacts. This research investigated readability and comprehensibility of construction contracts by primary users in the rapidly developing construction industry in Malaysia. Four traditionally styled and one plain-language construction contracts were tested using a text-based cognitively inspired readability and complexity tool. Then, 36 primary users of the documents determined the comprehensibility of these contracts through cloze testing. The users’ own evaluation of the contracts was compared against the measured complexity of the contracts. The plain language contract was superior in both text-based and reader-based testing. The combined testing approach provides strong evidence of the potential benefits of adopting plain language to improve both readability and comprehensibility of construction contracts. This could also benefit the industry through potential reduction in disputes.