Causal Mapping to Explore Emergence of Construction Disputes

Abstract

Disputes, frequently encountered in construction projects, can substantially affect project success, necessitating a clear understanding of how and why disputes occur. Previous studies on disputes mostly yielded exhaustive lists or hierarchies of possible causes of disputes, which can hardly be used to understand how these causes come together to form a dispute. To address this gap, this study provides an alternative approach to understand the underlying causes of disputes, and their relationship within a specific context, using causal map analysis. This study is conducted using causal mapping approach to understand dispute emergence patterns in practice. Initially, a causal map of construction disputes is developed based on literature. The map is altered and verified through an expert workshop, considering projects contracted through FIDIC Yellow Book. The causal representation of the dispute emergence patterns highlights the importance of pre-construction studies, people factor, and contract terms. It is revealed that significant causes are either result of a chain of preceding factors or are triggers for further ones. This finding reinforces that the occurrence of disputes does not only depend on individual causes; rather, these causes combine with a series of other factors for a dispute to occur.

Modeling cost overrun in building construction projects using the interpretive structural modeling approach: a developing country perspective

“…The five causes located at the highest level can directly and immediately lead to cost overrun. Tanriverdi et al. (2021), for example, developed a causal mapping to examine the causes of construction disputes and concluded that change orders and variations are the most important causes of claims which can both result in high costs and losses.…”

“…The five causes located at the highest level can directly and immediately lead to cost overrun. Tanriverdi et al (2021), for example, developed a causal mapping to examine the causes of construction disputes and concluded that change orders and variations are the most important causes of claims which can both result in high costs and losses. Kermanshachi et al (2020) concluded that extensive change orders driven by different project stakeholders make project execution more complex and affect project objectives, such as cost, schedule and quality.…”

Relationship networks between variation orders and claims/disputes causes on construction project performance and stakeholder performance

“…, 2019; Saseendran et al. , 2020; Tanriverdi et al. , 2021), outcomes of construction claims (Chaphalkar et al.…”

Leadership issues for road project engineers

“…The lack of experience of technical personnel has a substantial impact, including delays in highway or road construction [11] and disputes. Shortcomings such as inadequate skills to handle a claim-related [4] and lack of communication [12], [13] have contributed to a construction dispute. Disputes in construction can be referred to as prolonged disagreements over unresolved claims and protracted conflicts [14], such as delays, payments, and scope changes ( [12], [15].…”