Managing Critical Factors Causing Delays in Public Construction Projects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

School of Design and the Built Environment Managing Critical Factors Causing Delays in Public Construction Projects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Nasser Obaid M Alotaibi This thesis is presented for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Curtin University April 2018 DECLARATION To the best of my knowledge and belief, this thesis contains no material previously published by any other person, except where due acknowledgement has been made. This thesis includes no material which has been accepted for the award of any different degree or diploma in any university. In accordance with the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council’s guidelines for research involving humans, ethics approval for this research was obtained in 2015. The proposed research study received human research ethics approval from the Curtin University Human Research Ethics Committee (EC00262), Approval Number #RDHU-172-15. Signature: Nasser Obaid Alotaibi Date : 29 March 2018 i DEDICATED TO: My Mum, my beloved wife and my kids (Joud, Naif and Thaar) for their patience and understanding during the long journey to achieve this project. Thank you for your support through the difficult time spent on my studies. I would also like to dedicate my work to my brother, Abdullah, and my other siblings who have always been supporting and encouraging me to complete this journey. Thank you all for your understanding during the time that I was committed to my academic work. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has made my journey to produce this thesis possible. First, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Associate Professor Monty Sutrisna, for mentoring and guiding me through my PhD dissertation program and for providing his precious support to help me achieve this work. He has shown great wisdom in his guidance to me. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my co-supervisor, Dr Heap-Yih Chong (John), and Associate Supervisor, Dr. Oluwole Olatunji, for their encouragement, guidance, immense assistance and support from the initial to final stages of this study. I would like to thank all the people at Curtin University who have made it possible for me to conduct my research work. I am also grateful to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia government for their scholarship to undertake my high-degree studies. Many others have helped and inspired me during my studies outside of the university setting. Most importantly, I want to thank my wife, my kids and my family, who have given me their unfailing love and support throughout my life; this thesis would have been impossible without them. Special thanks go out to all the participants in this study, notably, the individuals that I interviewed. I appreciate the valuable knowledge that you have shared with me. Thank you for making it possible for me to make significant contributions to the field. Lastly, for those that I forget to mention, I offer my regards and blessings to all of you for showing your support to me, in one way or another, during my PhD studies. iii ABSTRACT Construction projects have remained as essential drivers of economic and social development globally. The importance of construction projects is further demonstrated as the other segments of the economy depend on them to attain their objectives. The growing demands for buildings, roads, commercial and residential homes, and hospitals, amongst others, to fast-track the developmental goals of several nations have led to rapid increases in the number of construction projects. However, this situation has also brought many challenges to the implementation of these construction projects. In Saudi Arabia, there has been widespread cases of construction delays reported over the last four decades. The prevalence of delays within public construction projects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is now a source of concern for governments in the KSA, especially as the nation has recently lost significant income due to the falling prices of petroleum resources in the recent years (the mainstay of the country’s economy). Consequently, the governments are becoming more interested in the implementation of construction projects that deliver on their cost, schedule, environmental, and quality objectives. This research study was conceived with the primary aim of minimising delay and improving the performance of public construction projects in the KSA, so that maximum benefits can be derived from them. In order to develop an understanding that could be employed to address the problem of delays plaguing public construction projects in the KSA, four objectives were designed for this study. These objectives are to: identify the critical factors causing the delay in construction projects in the KSA and their relative importance; study the current use of project management knowledge, tools and techniques in managing delays in public construction projects in the KSA; evaluate the association between the application of project time management tools and incidence of project delays in the KSA’s public construction industry; and to develop a framework that could be used to minimise the likelihood of delays and support the effective time management of delays in public construction projects in the KSA. To satisfy the objectives mentioned above, the following: a triangulation of three research methods, a literature review, quantitative and qualitative studies, were undertaken. Thus, this research was conducted in three phases. In the first phase, an in-depth study of the existing literature was performed to identify the issues concerning: construction projects; delays; the magnitude of construction delays; types of construction delays; construction delay factors; sources of construction delays in the KSA; and iv gaps in the study of construction delays. Further in this stage, updated project management knowledge, tools, and techniques that could be potentially employed to address the problem of construction delays were re-examined. Following the conceptual understanding of the problem area from the review of the relevant literature, a quantitative study was designed and carried out in phase two to address this research’s objectives. A questionnaire acted as a research instrument for this phase and was developed based on the information gathered from the literature review. The data collected from the quantitative study were statistically analysed using Structural Equation Modelling and Mean Ranking. To assure the reliability and validity, a few tests such as Cronbach Alpha and Average Variance Extracted were undertaken. The results of the analyses revealed that the factors contributing to delays in KSA’s public construction projects to be: slowness in decision-making; lack of qualifications; lowest bidding system; design issues; financial difficulties; ineffective project planning and scheduling; change orders; and workers’ inexperience. Also, the current knowledge and application of project management tools and techniques in the management of delays were found to be inadequate and ineffective. Moreover, this study revealed that an effective implementation of project management knowledge, tools and techniques could lead to a reduction in the likelihood of the occurrence of delays in public construction projects in the KSA. In phase three of this study, the research objectives were again addressed using four rigorously selected cases of tertiary institution buildings that were currently being constructed in the KSA. In addition to analysing documentary evidence on the cases studied, interviews were conducted for 16 professionals (four for each case project) involved in their implementation. The results obtained in the analysis of these qualitative data were found to validate those reported in the quantitative study, thereby reinforcing the need to address the problem of public construction delays in the KSA. Also, the delay factors identified in the case studies were the same as those found in the quantitative research. Various project management tactics were identified as essential for minimising the delay factors. Essentially, this study established that an application of project management tools and techniques such as Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), Critical Path Management (CPM), Bottom-up Estimation, Gantt charts, and Earned Value Management (EVM) is crucial for minimising delay issues in the KSA’s construction sector. Minimising strategies for specific delay factors were also v identified. For the issue of slow decision-making, the minimising approaches included prioritising decision requests, decentralising the decision-making process, as well as assigning deadlines to the finalisation of decisions. Moreover, assessing the financial capacity of contractors and a periodic revisit of contractual agreements were identified as important strategies for addressing delays induced by the lowest bidding system. Tactics that can be used to reduce financial difficulties were found to include ensuring reliable financing options, alternative sources of funds such as public- private partnership, and stakeholder engagement. The approach identified to be useful for addressing delay issues arising from a lack of qualifications was pre-determination of the needed requirements for the contractor and consultants at the pre-project phase. Furthermore, for delays induced by workers’ inexperience, they can be reduced by identifying and clarifying roles and responsibilities, establishing an active line of reporting and staff development

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