Exploring the Impacts of Change Orders on Performance of Construction Projects in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The construction industry is one of the most complex industries, and it involves numerous change orders. Change orders often occur in all or some phases of industrial construction work and have a significant impact on the success of the project, its on-time completion, or ultimately, an increase in the estimated cost of the project. Change orders are one of the most frequently common problems facing construction projects in Saudi Arabia. The purpose of this study is to examine the impacts of change orders on construction projects in Saudi Arabia and identify preventive solutions to mitigate these impacts. To achieve this objective, the effects of change orders on construction projects in general were identified through a comprehensive literature review. Then, an analytical study was conducted on five construction projects in diverse universities in Saudi Arabia. Following that, interviews were conducted with some experts in these projects. Finally, a survey was conducted by distributing questionnaires to the parties involved in the projects, and the responses were analyzed by using the relative index method. A triangulation technique involving collecting data from the analytical study, the interviews, and the survey was used to improve the validity of the findings. The results showed that the major impacts of change orders on construction projects in Saudi Arabia were on meeting the needs of the project, disputes among parties of the project, and the development of project specifications. A set of preventive solutions were suggested to mitigate these impacts, such as having all parties study the project and coordinate between them before starting the project and hiring a specialized consultant with experience in similar projects.

Ranking of Variation Orders Caused by the Owners of Construction Projects in Saudi Arabia Using Statistical and Fuzzy-Based Methods

“…Cost and time, with an average (18 factors) score of 3.2, each superseded quality and scope with average scores of 2.9 and 2.8, respectively. These findings align with past studies on the impact of variation orders on construction projects [68][69][70][71]. FSE also supports this finding, where cost and time obtained average weights of 0.26 and 0.27, while average relative weights for quality and scope were 0.24 and 0.23.…”

The Impact of Change Orders Caused by Legislative Changes on Program Management in the UAE Construction Industry

“…Some of the reported strategies to ensure the proper implementation of safety and environmental laws in construction projects include the use of Building Information Management (BIM) systems to ensure project compliance with the requirements of safety management, by ensuring accident prevention and avoiding personal injury or property damage, as well as environmental management, which is necessary to confirm that projects follow laws and regulations relating to the environment [61]. Additionally, the reported mitigation strategies in the literature that focused on tackling change orders were mainly divided into Design Management (e.g., sufficient stipulated time for design and establishment of project management plan), Quality Management (e.g., periodic reviews of project requirements), Documentation Management (e.g., reviewing the sufficiency of contract documents for changes), Financial Management (e.g., detailed breakdowns and pricing of change order components), Dispute Resolution Management (e.g., establishment of a claims and disputes resolution system as set out in the contract), Communication and Relationship Management (e.g., regular meetings between contracting parties to discuss changes), and Procurement Management (e.g., early identification of lead items during design stage), to name a few [62][63][64][65][66].…”

Development of a Performance Assessment Model for Contractors in Saudi Arabian Construction Projects

“…Saudi Arabia, nowadays, is witnessing a boom in the construction industry in light of 2030 Saudi vision and demand for building millions of housing projects [16,17]. Previous studies showed that 60% of the construction projects are behind schedule because of the inappropriate selection of contractors for construction projects [18]. Another reason might be the cost deviation of construction projects [19].…”