Influence of Project Type and Procurement Method on Rework Costs in Building Construction Projects
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 128, Issue 1
Abstract
While it is widely recognized that additional costs due to rework can have an adverse effect on project performance, limited empirical research has been done to investigate the influencing factors. The research presented in this paper aims to determine the influence of different project types and procurement methods on rework costs in construction projects. Using a questionnaire survey, rework costs were obtained from 161 Australian construction projects. The direct and indirect consequences of rework are analyzed and discussed. It is shown that, contrary to expectation, rework costs do not differ relative to project type or procurement method. In addition, it was found rework contributed to 52% of a project’s cost growth and that 26% of the variance in cost growth was attributable to changes due to direct rework. To reduce rework costs and therefore improve project performance, it is posited that construction organizations begin to consider and measure them, so that an understanding of their magnitude can be captured, root causes identified, and effective prevention strategies implemented.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Abdul-Rahman, H.(1995). “The cost of non-conformance during a highway project: A case study.” Constr. Manage. Econom., 13, 23–32.
Alreck, P. L., and Settle, R. B. (1985). “The survey research handbook.” Richard D. Irwin, Inc., Homewood, Ill.
Ashford, J. L. (1992). The management of quality in construction. E & F Spon, London.
Barber, P., Sheath, D., Tomkins, C., and Graves, A.(2000). “The cost of quality failures in major civil engineering projects.” Int. J. Quality Reliability Manage., 17(4/5), 479–492.
Bowen, P. A., Hindle, R. D., and Pearl, R. (1997). “The effectiveness of building procurement systems in the attainment of client objectives.” Proc., CIB W-92 Procurement Symposium, Procurement—The Key to Innovation, Univ. of Montreal, Montreal, 18th–22nd May, 39–49.
Bresnen, M. J., Haslam, C. O., Beardsworth, A. D., Bryman, A. E., and Hell, T. E. (1988). “Performance on site and the building client.” Occasional Paper 42, Chartered Institute of Building, Ascot, U.K.
Brookes, J. P. Jr. (1975). The mythical man-month: Essays on software engineering. Addison-Wesley, Reading, Mass.
Burati, J. L., Farrington, J. J., and Ledbetter, W. B.(1992). “Causes of quality deviations in design and construction.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 118(1), 34–49.
Chan, A. P. C. (1996). “Determinants of project success in the construction industry of Hong Kong.” PhD thesis, Univ. of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.
Chan, A. P. C., Yu, A. N. T., and Tam, C. M. (1999). “Enhanced design and build—An innovative system to procure a hospital project.” Proc., CIB W-92 Procurement Symposium—Harmony and Profit, January 25th–28th Chiang Mai, Thailand, 405–415.
Construction Industry Development Agency and Masters Builders Australia (CIDA). (1995). Measuring up or muddling through: best practice in the Australian non-residential construction industry. Sydney, Australia, 59–63.
Cox, I. D., Morris, J., Rogerson, J. H., and Jared, G. E.(1999). “A quantitative study of post contract award design changes in construction.” Constr. Manage. Econom., 17(4), pp.
Davis, K., Ledbetter, W. B., and Burati, Jr., J. L., (1989). “Measuring design and construction quality costs.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 115(3), 385–400.
Evbuomwan, N. F. O., and Anumba, C. J.(1996). “Towards a concurrent engineering model for design-and-build projects.” Struct. Eng., 74(5), 73–78.
Hanna, A., Russell, J. S., Gotzin, T. W., and Nordheim, E. V.(1999). “Impact of change orders on the labor efficiency for mechanical contractors.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 125(3), 176–184.
Hashim, M. (1997). “Clients’ criteria on the experience of procurement systems—A Malaysian experience.” Proc., of the CIB W-92 Procurement Symposium, Procurement—The Key to Innovation, Univ. of Montreal, Montreal, 18th–22nd May, 273–284.
Hester, W. T., Kuprenas, J. A., and Chang, T. C. (1991). “Construction changes and change orders: Their magnitude and impact.” Source Document 66, Construction Industry Institute, Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, Tex.
Hinkle, D. E., Wiersma, W., and Jurs, S. G. (1988). Applied statistics for the behavioural sciences. 2nd Ed., Houghton-Mifflin, Boston.
Hoedemaker, G. M., Blackburn, J. D., and Van Wassenhove, L. N.(1999). “Limits to concurrency.” Decision Sci., 30(1), 1–17.
Holt, G. D., Proverbs, D., and Love, P. E. D.(2000). “Survey findings on UK construction procurement: Is it achieving lowest cost, or value?” Asia Pac. Building Construct. Manage. J., 5, 13–20.
Ibbs, C. W., and Allen, W. E. (1995). “Quantitative impacts of project change.” Source Document 108, Construction Industry Institute, Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, Tex.
Institute of Building. (1979). Contractor selection—A guide to good practice. Estimating Information Service, 34, Autumn. Institute of Building, Ascot, U.K.
Jahren, C. T., and Asha, A. M.(1990). “Predictors of cost-overrun rates.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 116(3), 548–552.
Josephson, P.-E., and Hammarlund, Y.(1999). “The causes and costs of defects in construction. A study of seven building projects.” Autom. Constr., 8(6), 681–642.
Knocke, J. (1993). Post construction liability and insurance. E & F Spon, London.
Lahdenperä, P. (1995). Reorganising the building process: The holistic approach. VTT Publications, Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo.
Lam, P. T. I., and Chan, A. P. C.(1995). “Construction procurement systems in the Asia Pacific countries.” Australian Project Manager, 16(2), 12–17.
Love, P. E. D., Gunasekaran, A., and Li, H.(1998a). “Concurrent engineering: A strategy for procuring construction projects.” Int. J. Proj. Manage., 16(6), 375–383.
Love, P. E. D., and Li, H.(2000a). “Overcoming the problems associated with quality certification.” Constr. Manage. Econom., 18(2), 139–149.
Love, P. E. D., and Li, H.(2000b). “Quantifying the causes and costs of rework in construction.” Constr. Manage. Econom., 18(4), 479–490.
Love, P. E. D., Li, H., and Irani, Z. (2000c). “Construction rework: The multiplier effect in practice.” 5th Int. Conf. on ISO 9000 & TQM School of Business, HK Baptist Univ. & Productivity & Quality Research Centre, National Univ. of Singapore, Singapore, 435–439.
Love, P. E. D., Mandal, P., and Li, H.(1999). “Determining the causal structure of rework in construction projects.” Constr. Manage. Econom., 17(4), 505–517.
Love, P. E. D., Mandal, P., Smith, J., and Li, H.(2000a). “Modelling the dynamics of design error induced rework in construction.” Constr. Manage. Econom., 18(5), 575–586.
Love, P. E. D., Skitmore, R. M., and Earl, G.(1998b). “Selecting a suitable procurement method for a building project.” Constr. Manage. Econom., 16(2), 221–233.
Love, P. E. D., Smith, J., Treloar, G., and Li, H.(2000b). “Some empirical observations of service quality in construction.” Eng. Constr. Architectural Manage., 7(2), 191–201.
Love, P. E. D., and Wyatt, A. D. (1997). “Communication and rework: Case studies of construction projects.” CSIRO, DBCE DOC 97/38 (B), Australia.
Low, S. P., and Yeo, H. K. C.(1998). “A construction quality costs quantifying system for the building industry.” Int. J. Quality Reliability Manage., 15(3), 329–349.
Mackinder, M., and Marvin, H. (1982). “Design decision-making in architectural practice.” Research Paper 19, Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies, Univ. of York, U.K.
Masterman, J. W. E. (1994). “A study of the basis upon which clients of the construction industry choose their building procurement systems.” PhD thesis, Univ. of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, Manchester, U.K.
Naoum, S., and Mustapha, F. H. (1994). “Influences of the client, designer and procurement methods on project performance.” Proc., CIB W-92 Procurement Systems Symposium, East Meets West, Department of Surveying, Univ. of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 221–228.
National Economic Development Office (NEDO). (1988). “Faster building for commerce.” HMSO, London.
Nylén, K.-O. (1996). “Cost of failure in a major civil engineering project.” Licentiate thesis, Division of Construction Management and Economics, Department of Real Estate and Construction Management, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
Oppenheim, A. N. (1992). Questionnaire design, interviewing, and attitude measurement. Pinter Publishers, London.
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). (1996). Contracts in use: A survey of building contracts in use during 1995. Conducted by Davis Langdon and Everest, November, London.
Sharif, A., and Morledge, R. (1997). “The insensitivity of the procurement processes in the UK construction industry to the problems of the occasional buyers from the industry.” Proc., CIB W-92 Procurement Symposium, Procurement—A Key to Innovation, Univ. of Montreal, Montreal, Canada, 693–703.
Tilley, P. A., and McFallan, S. L. (2000). “Design and documentation quality survey designers’ perspectives.” BCE DOC 00/113. CSIRO—Building, Construction and Engineering, Melbourne, Australia.
Turner, A. (1990). Building procurement. Macmillan, London.
Walker, D. H. T. (1994). “An investigation into the factors that determine building construction time performance.” PhD thesis, Department ofBuilding and Construction Economics, Faculty of Environmental Design and Construction, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia.
Watkinson, E. D. (1992). “Procurement alternatives.” Faculty of Building Journal, Autumn. Nottingham, U.K. 4–6.
Zeitoun, A. A., and Oberlander, G. D. (1993). “Early warning signs of project changes.” Source Document 91, Construction Industry Institute, Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, Tex.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 128 • Issue 1 • February 2002
Pages: 18 - 29
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 23, 2001
Accepted: Mar 6, 2001
Published online: Feb 1, 2002
Published in print: Feb 2002
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.