Exploring Project Complexity Relations to Scope Changes in Construction Projects: A Case Study of NEC Projects in South Africa

Abstract

Construction projects are of very complex nature, and subject to circumstances of high uncertainties and risks due to the interdependences of activities and processes in the project performance. As a result of the dynamic complexities inherited in construction projects, changes in the scope of work are inevitable. Of particular concern is that, when scope changes are introduced in a project, contractors follow a systematic procedure in managing the changes, but with poor planning and implementation thereof because the project complexities that underpin the scope changes are not fully understood. Therefore, despite that complexity is an inherent and defining feature of construction projects, studies in the literature have failed to grasp and present the dynamics of project complexity which underlie the scope changes in the delivery of construction project. The TOE (Technical Organizational Environmental) framework was adopted and applied on a multiple-case study research design in order to explore and denote project complexity relations to scope changes in construction projects. Through a content analysis procedure, six key elements of project complexities that relate to scope changes in the construction projects has emerged. Understanding these complexity elements could enable the project management team to apply a front-end planning approach in the initiation phase of the projects in order to better manage scope changes in the execution phase of the project, and eventually to improve the project performance.

Complexity in Construction Projects: A Literature Review

“…This criterion was found in 24 studied papers. The sources for the complexity of the scope include the number of objectives and activities, interdependencies between these objectives and activities, the number of deliverables, and clarity and understanding of the project scope [19,20,24,25,29,[38][39][40][41]54,62,[68][69][70][71][72][73]76,77].…”

Factors Causing Dispute in Construction Industry: Contractors’ Perspectives

“…The complexity of the construction projects and continuous expanding nature of construction industry involved a large number of stakeholders, which frequently leads to a change of project scope and hence resulted in dispute (Fatima et al, 2019;Lukhele et al, 2021), and the number of construction dispute cases increased over the years especially during the Covid-19 pandemic (Arcadis, 2022). Construction disputes lead to the loss of profit and time delays of construction projects (Mashwama et al, 2016), which further influenced the global market, includes Asia, Middle East, Europe and United Kingdom (UK) (Allen, 2016).…”

Structural Relationship of Causes and Effects of Construction Changes: Case of UAE Construction

“…Although every stakeholder involved in construction works aims to achieve project completion within planned scope, time and budget can become challenging when changes occur in project activities [7]. Changes in the project are unavoidable [8] and create serious adverse effects [9]. Hence, it is very imperative to control changes in construction.…”