Quality Management and Rework in Public Construction Projects in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The construction sector plays a vital role in Saudi Arabia’s economy; it is expected to represent more the 7% of the GDP by 2023. However, the construction sector in Saudi Arabia is affected by poor performance; for example, 60% of the construction projects encounter poor performance in terms of cost overrun and time delay. Although the causes of poor performance of public projects are widely discussed, rework causes and impacts on the public construction performance in Saudi Arabia were not investigated in particular. Thus, this dissertation investigated the major causes and impacts of reworks within public construction projects in Saudi Arabia. The study adopted a qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews with ten professionals in two construction companies. After that, the data were analyzed using qualitative coding, thematic analysis, to identify the causes of reworks and their impacts. The researcher has found that the public construction projects in Saudi Arabia are subjected to reworks due to several reasons which are grouped into four main categories: human resources, engineering and reviews, leadership and communication, and materials issues. Furthermore, the rework cost on average 14.5% of the project cost and delayed the schedule by approximately 11% of the project duration. Finally, the researcher identifies eight measures to minimize and overcome reworks within the public construction in Saudi Arabia.