Construction Disputes in the UAE: Causes and Resolution Methods

El-Sayegh, Sameh M.; Ahmad, Irtishad; Aljanabi, Malak; Herzallah, Rawan; Metry, Samuel; El-Ashwal, Omar

doi:10.3390/buildings10100171

Cited by 53 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…In the 1960s, oil was first discovered in the UAE, kickstarting the construction industry toward fulfilling the region's infrastructural needs. The UAE eventually transformed itself into a dynamic country based on zealous tourism and business activities that became its push factor in involving itself in grandiose construction projects and attracting international construction stakeholders to participate in them (El-Sayegh et al, 2020).…”

Section: Literature Review Significance Of the United Arab Emirates Construction Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of COVID-19 on project performance in the UAE construction industry

Rehman

Shafiq

Afzal

2021

JEDT

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Purpose The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the global economy and, thus, the global construction industry. This paper aims to study the impact of COVID-19 on construction project performance in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design/methodology/approach This study adopted a qualitative and exploratory approach to investigate the impact of COVID-19 and its policies on project performance in the UAE construction industry in critical areas of the project management body of knowledge (e.g. schedule, cost, resources and contracts). Semi-structured interview questions were asked from ten construction professional to obtain valuable insights into the pandemic’s effects on the UAE construction industry and the effectiveness of policies implemented to rectify the damage and identify the industry’s new normal. Findings The findings indicate that the construction industry faced several challenges such as schedule delays, disrupted cashflows, delayed permits, approvals and inspections, travel restrictions, serious health and safety concerns, material and equipment shortages, among others which hindered the timely delivery of construction projects. It also indicates that efforts made by the government institutions and the construction industry of the UAE such as economic support programs, digitization of processes, fee and fine waivers, health facilities, among other statutory relaxations proved effective in supporting the construction industry against the adverse effects of the pandemic. Research limitations/implications The research findings are limited to the literature review and ten semi-structured interviews seeking an expert’s opinion from industry professionals working in the UAE construction industry. The research team did not get access to project documents, contracts and project progress reports which may be required to validate the interview findings, and to perform an in-depth analysis quantifying the impact of COVID 19 on construction projects performance, which is a limitation of this research. Practical implications The implication is that, owing to the imposed lockdowns and strict precautionary measures to curb the rapid spread of the pandemic, smooth execution of the construction project across the country was affected. The government institutions and stakeholders of the construction projects introduced and implemented various techniques and solutions which effectively handled the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the construction industry of the UAE. Originality/value This study has identified the challenges faced by the construction industry of the UAE in the context of the management of project schedule, project cost, construction contracts, health and safety of construction employees and other related aspects of the construction projects. This study also identified the techniques and solutions adopted by various public and private institutions of the country and their implications on construction projects. Therefore, this study provides guidelines for policymakers and future research studies alike.

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Section: Literature Review Significance Of the United Arab Emirates Construction Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of COVID-19 on project performance in the UAE construction industry

Rehman

Shafiq

Afzal

2021

JEDT

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The other frequent three concepts ("ambiguities in contract documents", "delayed/partial site possession", and "poor communication between parties") also had moderate to high link densities. Moreover, El-Sayegh et al (2020) ranked the top three disputes as variations initiated by the owner, obtaining permits/approval from the municipality/different government authority, and material change and approval during the construction phase. Our results are parallel in terms of changes and variations, and prevention of progress by employer being two of the main factors.…”

Section: Discussion Of Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, they lack a clear understanding of how those causes affect or trigger each other to form a dispute that prevents practical use of these findings. Regarding construction disputes, the literature is saturated with works identifying various causes and returning exhaustive lists of factors contributing to the occurrence of disputes (e.g., Jaffar et al, 2011;El-Sayegh et al, 2020;Naji et al, 2020;Viswanathan et al, 2020). Several researchers worked on developing a clear terminology and taxonomy to investigate the emergence of disputes and to identify "pathogenic influences" for dispute causation (e.g., Ilter, 2012;Love et al, 2010).…”

Section: Point Of Departure 1causes Of Construction Disputesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Playing the key role of reflecting an extensive body of information and experience into a study, knowledge elicitation is a core aspect of constructing a reliable causal map. Bristow and Vasilopoulos (1995), Sykes (1996), Yates (1999), Molenaar et al (2000), Chan and Suen (2005) Ambiguities in contract documents Spittler and Jentzen (1992), Bristow and Vasilopoulos (1995), Kumaraswamy (1997), Yates (1999), Mitropoulos and Howell (2001), Ashworth (2005) Kumaraswamy (1997), Yates (1999), Chan and Suen (2005), Acharya et al (2006), El-Sayegh et al (2020 Unforeseen ground conditions/ inadequate site investigations Kumaraswamy (1997), Yates (1999), El-Sayegh et al (2020 Inferences with utility lines Kumaraswamy (1997) Exceptional inclement weather Semple et al (1994), Kumaraswamy (1997), Yates (1999), Acharya et al (2006), El-Sayegh et al (2020 Delayed site possessions/restricted access Hewitt (1991), Semple et al (1994), Kumaraswamy (1997), Yates (1999) Knowledge elicitation for causal maps can be carried out either through interviews (e.g., Bryson et al, 2004), documents (e.g., , or through workshops (e.g., Ackermann et al, 2014). In this respect, this study combines documents and workshops since the initial map that was built based on literature was then evaluated, revised, and enriched through an expert workshop.…”

Section: Development Of the Final Causal Map: The Expert Workhopmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Causal Mapping to Explore Emergence of Construction Disputes

Tanriverdi

Atasoy

Dikmen

et al. 2021

Journal of Civil Engineering and Management

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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.

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“…A significant amount of studies have made great efforts on the causes of construction disputes [45][46][47][48][49]. Nevertheless, these studies and findings have mainly focused on the traditional bid-build projects, few studies have been conducted to investigate the causes of disputes between public and private sectors in PPPs.…”

Section: Knowledge Gapmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the Decisive Causes of PPP Project Disputes in China

et al. 2021

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Disputes are inevitable in public-private partnership (PPP) projects and generate great losses of time and money in practice. If an in-depth understanding of dispute sources can be obtained beforehand, the process of PPP may become more smooth. This paper aims to identify and assess the causes of PPP disputes between the public and private sectors. First, 15 causes are explored based on the PPP litigation cases from China Judgments Online. Second, the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method is utilized to provide a holistic understanding of the relative importance and define the cause-effect categories among PPP dispute sources. The results demonstrate that the top three decisive causes of PPP disputes are the repudiation of contracts (result category), lack of expertise and experience (reason category), and unreasonable risk allocation (result category). Further, dispute avoiding strategies are proposed to minimize or completely avoid the occurrence of PPP disputes. The outputs are expected to add meaningful insights to potential sources of dispute and dispute prevention mechanisms in PPPs. To some extent, the investors can develop strategic measures through the findings before entering into PPP markets.

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Construction Disputes in the UAE: Causes and Resolution Methods

Cited by 53 publications

References 46 publications

Impact of COVID-19 on project performance in the UAE construction industry

Impact of COVID-19 on project performance in the UAE construction industry

Causal Mapping to Explore Emergence of Construction Disputes

Understanding the Decisive Causes of PPP Project Disputes in China

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