Reworks causes and related costs in construction: case of Parand mass housing project in Iran

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the main reworks and their causes in a case study of the ongoing mass housing project in Iran. Using the real data captured from the project, the most important causes for reworks have been computed and prioritized. Design/methodology/approach More than 900 non-conformance forms filled in the construction site have been used to categorize reworks. Then, the frequency and cost of each rework group in the project have been estimated. Finally, using these data, the primary classification and sorting of the main causes of reworks have been specified. Findings Results show “Poor site supervision and inspection” with 24 percent of costs had the most impact and “unclear project management process” with about 6 percent of costs had the least impact on the formation of non-conformances. “Cost of each incidence” (COI) ranged from 0.67 for “The need to categorize the complicated operations” to 1.86 for “Unclear project management process.” Research limitations/implications The causes of rework which are not in contractor’s hand (like change orders from the client) have not been considered in this study. Originality/value Although some works have been done in rework causes, the key elements and causes of reworks in mass housing projects in developing countries have not been yet fully specified through the real data. Knowing the root causes of reworks can help project managers to remove them and reduce reworks costs in future projects. COI which is defined here for the first time and computed in a relative concept could be a good criterion to compare rework causes between two or more similar projects.

Comparative Assessment of Rework on Buildings in Akure Municipal, Ondo State, Nigeria

“…Rework on buildings (Oke & Ugoje, 2013;Aiyetan, 2014;Jarkas, 2015;Ade-Ojo et al, 2016;Adomah, 2016;Yap et al, 2017;Eze & Idiake, 2018a, 2018bLiu et al, 2018) Factors influencing rework (Oyewobi & Ogunsemi, 2010;Meshksar, 2012;Simpeh, 2012;Zaiter, 2014;Adomah, 2016;Love et al, 2016;Ajayi, 2017;Enshassi et al, 2017) Client-related rework Jarkas, 2015;Ade-Ojo et al, 2016;Liu et al, 2018) Building defects and rework (Sommerville, 2007;Bakri & Mydin, 2013;Taggart et al, 2014) Rework cost (direct and indirect) ( Oyewobi et al, 2011;Meshksar, 2012;Oke & Ugoje, 2013;Aiyetan, 2014;Zaiter, 2014;Love et al, 2016;Eze & Idiake, 2018a;Liu et al, 2018;Balouchi et al, 2019)…”

“…Direct rework cost can be 5% of the construction cost and it could be as high as 20% (Ade-Ojo et al, 2016;Balouchi et al, 2019). In most construction work, it could range from 3% -10% (Zaiter, 2014).…”

“…seen to be significantly influenced by rework. Meanwhile, rework has become pervasive in its actions to hinder the timely fulfilment of the project objectives (Liu et al, 2018;Eze & Idiake, 2018a;Balouchi et al, 2019).…”

“…The sources of these costs were further identified to be a result of failed contractor field management, design management, and client management (Liu et al, 2018). A greater detail into the direct and indirect cost of rework shows direct cost expended on rework to fall within 5% -20% of the contract sum for most countries across the globe, including Nigeria (Aiyetan, 2014;Balouchi et al, 2019). Moreover, the indirect cost of rework could amount to six times the actual direct rectification cost, which could lie below 3.6 -6.6% initially excluding the indirect impact (Love et al, 2016) and according to Love (2002), combination of the direct and indirect impact could make the total rework cost as high as 23%.…”

“…However, studies on rework have majorly been based on the construction professionals' perception with less focus on the clients' perception. Also, the rising increase in rework cost has sprouted the need to focus on rework's frequency of occurrence in relation to its effect on cost (Balouchi et al, 2019).…”