Construction claims in Saudi Arabia: a study of sources and associations of claims

The construction industry is a complex one involving the participation of several parties, each with its own aims from getting into a project. The difference in these aims is one basic factor leading to conflicts and claims. Ownership of projects is split between government (public) and private entities and the size of projects in terms of cost could be categorized between small, medium and large. The Saudi construction industry is relatively young, and research on the local environment and problems is far from being extensive. This thesis will discuss the issue of construction claims in the Saudi construction industry with the aim of identifying the major heads of claims in the country. A literature review was made and the dependent and independent variables affecting the claim issue were identified. The dependent variables were Time, Money, Quality, Operation, Function, Life Expectancy, Reputation and Future Relations. The independent variables were: Party to a project (owner, contractor and consultant) Project Ownership (government, private) and Size of a project (small, medium or large). From the literature review and from experience the claim causes were grouped under six claim groups: 'Acts of God', 'Man-made', 'Market-Driven', 'Site Conditions', 'Contract Administration-based' and 'Information-based' claims. A research methodology was formulated to gather the necessary data by a postal questionnaire. Responses were classified in three major categories; party to the project responding to the questionnaire (owner, contractor or consultant) ownership of the project (government or private) and size of the project (small, medium or large). Six hypotheses were formulated and the data was analysed to get results and test the hypotheses. The results were discussed and they showed that the Information-based group of claims had the strongest association with the sample followed by the 'Contract Administration' group. The highest weight of association of claims in the 'Information-based' group were by the claims on poor skills by contractor, defected work by contractor and poor management by contractor. In this group the Money factor was the most highly associated followed by the Time factor. The highest weight of association of claims in the 'Contract Administration' group were by the claims on delayed payments by owner, variation order timing and the claim on too many variation orders. In this group, the Time factor was the most highest associated of the eight variables followed by the Money factor. This research on Saudi Arabia identifies the source of claims based on the perception of a hundred respondents to the questionnaire. A summary of the findings was made together with what contribution this thesis has made to new knowledge. A section on future work was also included.