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Quantifying the causes and costs of rework in construction

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Love
  • Heng Li

Abstract

Very few construction companies and consulting firms in Australia measure their costs of quality. Consequently, it is difficult for them to prove that systems for preventing quality failures are cost-effective. Although the direct costs of a quality system can be quantified with some accuracy (salaries, costs of documentation, audits, etc.), the corresponding benefits are far more difficult to assess. Indeed quality failures have become an endemic feature of the procurement process in construction and invariably lead to time and cost overruns in projects. Thus, in order to improve the performance of projects it is necessary to identify the causes and costs rework. The research presented in this paper quantifies the causes, magnitude and costs of rework experienced in two construction projects that were procured using different contractual arrangements. The causes and costs of rework projects are analysed and discussed. The findings reveal that the cost of rework for the case study projects was 3.15% and 2.40% of their project contract value. Changes initiated by the client and end-user together with errors and omissions in contract documentation were found to be the primary causes of rework. It is recommended that construction companies and consultant firms (particularly design consultants) implement quality management practices as well as place emphasis on coordinating project documentation during the design development process so that the amount of rework in projects can be reduced or even eliminated.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Love & Heng Li, 2000. "Quantifying the causes and costs of rework in construction," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(4), pages 479-490.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:conmgt:v:18:y:2000:i:4:p:479-490
    DOI: 10.1080/01446190050024897
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Yuting Qi & Queena K. Qian & Frits M. Meijer & Henk J. Visscher, 2019. "Identification of Quality Failures in Building Energy Renovation Projects in Northern China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-23, August.
    2. Mark Hall & Cyril Tomkins, 2001. "A cost of quality analysis of a building project: towards a complete methodology for design and build," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(7), pages 727-740.
    3. Yehiel Rosenfeld, 2009. "Cost of quality versus cost of non-quality in construction: the crucial balance," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(2), pages 107-117.
    4. Ergo Pikas & Lauri Koskela & Olli Seppänen, 2020. "Improving Building Design Processes and Design Management Practices: A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-18, January.
    5. Hosang Hyun & Hyunsoo Kim & Hyun-Soo Lee & Moonseo Park & Jeonghoon Lee, 2020. "Integrated Design Process for Modular Construction Projects to Reduce Rework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-19, January.
    6. Raymond Aoieong & S. L. Tang & Syed Ahmed, 2002. "A process approach in measuring quality costs of construction projects: model development," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(2), pages 179-192.
    7. Roman Trach & Yuliia Trach & Marzena Lendo-Siwicka, 2021. "Using ANN to Predict the Impact of Communication Factors on the Rework Cost in Construction Projects," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-15, July.
    8. Guofeng Ma & Shan Jiang & Tiancheng Zhu & Jianyao Jia, 2019. "A Novel Method of Developing Construction Projects Schedule under Rework Scenarios," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-25, October.
    9. Raphael N. Milion & Thaís da C. L. Alves & José Carlos Paliari & Luisa H. B. Liboni, 2021. "CBA-Based Evaluation Method of the Impact of Defects in Residential Buildings: Assessing Risks towards Making Sustainable Decisions on Continuous Improvement Activities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-20, June.
    10. Alencastro, João & Fuertes, Alba & de Wilde, Pieter, 2018. "The relationship between quality defects and the thermal performance of buildings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 883-894.
    11. Chantelle Brink & Sangwon Han, 2015. "Application of Social Network Analysis for Analyzing the Relationships between Root and Direct Causes of Defects," Modern Applied Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 9(12), pages 1-12, November.
    12. Shahid Hussain & Wang Xuetong & Talib Hussain, 2020. "Impact of Skilled and Unskilled Labor on Project Performance Using Structural Equation Modeling Approach," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(1), pages 21582440209, March.
    13. Fatemeh Mostofi & Vedat Toğan & Yunus Emre Ayözen & Onur Behzat Tokdemir, 2022. "Predicting the Impact of Construction Rework Cost Using an Ensemble Classifier," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-19, November.
    14. Othman Ayman Ahmed Ezzat & AlNassar Nooran, 2021. "A framework for achieving sustainability by overcoming the challenges of the construction supply chain during the design process," Organization, Technology and Management in Construction, Sciendo, vol. 13(1), pages 2391-2415, January.
    15. Kudrekodlu V. Prasad & Venkatesan Vasugi, 2023. "Readiness Factors for Sustainable Lean Transformation of Construction Organizations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-23, April.
    16. Kheira Anissa Tabet Aoul & Rahma Hagi & Rahma Abdelghani & Monaya Syam & Boshra Akhozheya, 2021. "Building Envelope Thermal Defects in Existing and Under-Construction Housing in the UAE; Infrared Thermography Diagnosis and Qualitative Impacts Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-23, February.

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