TY - JOUR
T1 - Identifying Critical Dispute Causes in the Construction Industry
T2 - A Cross-Regional Comparative Study between China and the UK
AU - Wang, Jinpeng
AU - Zhang, Shang
AU - Jin, Ruoyu
AU - Fenn, Peter
AU - Yu, Dongwen
AU - Zhao, Lilin
N1 - Funding Information:
8. Opportunistic behavior Contractors’ opportunistic behavior to secure profit from the lowest bid Lack of financial support from the client
Funding Information:
Variation in quantities Scope of work changes Variation in material prices Variation in labor and equipment Unclear design specifications Design defects Inconsistency of design documents Poor constructability of design Inadequate site investigation Differing physical site conditions Poor site safety conditions Ambiguities in contractual documents Misinterpretation of contractual terms and conditions Breach of contract Poor contract management Late approval and permission Late handover of designs to the contractor Site-handover delay to the main contractor Late decision making by the client Progress delay by the contractor Material and equipment delay Lack of communication between the designer and the client Lack of communication between the designer and the contractor Lack of communication between the contractor and the client Lack of communication between the main contractor and the subcontractor Late payment issued by the client Failure to make compensation for additional work Failure to make payment due to the discrepancy in parties’ satisfaction to construction deliverables Contractors’ opportunistic behavior to secure profit from the lowest bid Lack of financial support from the client Unbalanced bidding Errors caused by insufficient time for bid preparation Bid rigging
Funding Information:
Lack of financial support from the client Poor contract management Late payment issued by the client Inadequate site investigation Variation in labor and equipment Misinterpretation of contractual terms and conditions Breach of contract Bid rigging Poor site safety conditions
Funding Information:
Site-handover delay to the contractor Variation in quantities Material and equipment delay Lack of financial support from the client Differing physical site conditions Poor site safety conditions Variation in material prices Variation in labor and equipment Bid rigging
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
PY - 2023/3/1
Y1 - 2023/3/1
N2 - Construction disputes have long been identified as epidemics in the construction industry worldwide, which has become a more serious problem due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous studies on the dispute causes have primarily focused on country- or region-specific contexts and hence the results cannot be generalized in solving this chronic problem in a broader construction project worldwide. This study aims to explore and evaluate the critical dispute causes in construction projects through a comparative study between China and the United Kingdom. A total of 33 common dispute causes were identified through a comprehensive literature review and further consolidated by pilot surveys in the two countries. An online questionnaire survey was administered among construction professionals in China and the United Kingdom, with 170 valid responses returned for data analysis. Principal component factor analysis, mean score ranking approach, quartile analysis, and Mann-Whitney U testing were employed to identify the most critical dispute causes. Similarities and differences were mapped between the two countries. It was found that the five most critical categories of dispute causes in the two territories are: delay-related problems, lack of communication, contractual problems, site conditions, and design problems. The importance of variation in quantities, breach of contract, misinterpretation of contractual terms and conditions, and poor contract management was perceived significantly differently by the respondents in China and the United Kingdom, whereas design defects and failure to make compensation for additional work were the most critical common dispute causes in both countries. The research provides important findings for both academics and practitioners to holistically understand the similarities and differences of dispute causes in China and the United Kingdom and aids in preventing disputes more effectively in the global construction industry.
AB - Construction disputes have long been identified as epidemics in the construction industry worldwide, which has become a more serious problem due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous studies on the dispute causes have primarily focused on country- or region-specific contexts and hence the results cannot be generalized in solving this chronic problem in a broader construction project worldwide. This study aims to explore and evaluate the critical dispute causes in construction projects through a comparative study between China and the United Kingdom. A total of 33 common dispute causes were identified through a comprehensive literature review and further consolidated by pilot surveys in the two countries. An online questionnaire survey was administered among construction professionals in China and the United Kingdom, with 170 valid responses returned for data analysis. Principal component factor analysis, mean score ranking approach, quartile analysis, and Mann-Whitney U testing were employed to identify the most critical dispute causes. Similarities and differences were mapped between the two countries. It was found that the five most critical categories of dispute causes in the two territories are: delay-related problems, lack of communication, contractual problems, site conditions, and design problems. The importance of variation in quantities, breach of contract, misinterpretation of contractual terms and conditions, and poor contract management was perceived significantly differently by the respondents in China and the United Kingdom, whereas design defects and failure to make compensation for additional work were the most critical common dispute causes in both countries. The research provides important findings for both academics and practitioners to holistically understand the similarities and differences of dispute causes in China and the United Kingdom and aids in preventing disputes more effectively in the global construction industry.
KW - China
KW - Comparative study
KW - Construction project
KW - Dispute causes
KW - United Kingdom
U2 - 10.1061/JMENEA.MEENG-4943
DO - 10.1061/JMENEA.MEENG-4943
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85143622669
SN - 0742-597X
VL - 39
JO - Journal of Management in Engineering
JF - Journal of Management in Engineering
IS - 2
M1 - 4022072
ER -
