Field diagnosis of causes and effects of rework in higher education residential facilities

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to examine the causes and effect of rework occurring in construction projects so that effective containment and reduction strategies can be developed. Methodology: Case studies were conducted on purposive selected construction projects based in Cape Town to establish the causes and effect of rework. Specifically, qualitative data was collected by means of observation of physical works, semi-structured interviews with relevant parties directly involved into site operations including the contractor’s management team, consultants and subcontractors, and site instruction record documents were analysed. Findings: It was revealed that changes initiated by the client and the design team due to errors and omissions, poor coordination and integration among the design team were the major contributing factors to rework. Moreover, constructability problems, lack of skills and emphasis on time and cost aggravated the occurrence of rework on site. It was also established that rework has both direct and indirect consequences such as cost for redesign, cost of demolition, litigation cost, poor morale, de-motivation and loss of market share in construction projects. Limitations: Only two multiple storey educational facilities were analysed and as a result the reported findings cannot be generalized. In addition, causal histories for identified rework events tended to be grounded in the views of the contractors and as result there is a potential for bias to exist. However, the findings reported are akin to what the normative literature has reported. Value: The study suggests that design and construction firms must develop organisational measurement systems to track rework. It is only through its determining its frequency and cost can effective strategies for its containment and reduction can be identified.