Review study for rework causes in construction industry

Abstract

Rework is a global phenomenon in the construction industry, which is hard for any construction project to free from it. Rework is the main reason for time and cost overruns in construction projects, and dissatisfaction causes the parties involved in the project. Therefore, to reduce the rework occurrence and impact should be determined factors that causing rework in the construction project. Accordingly, a comprehensive literature review has been conducted to identify dominant factors causes of the rework. A total of 81 factors causes of rework were identified and categorized into the significant five groups were client-related factors, design-related factors, contractor related factors, subcontractor related factors, and the human capability and supervisory related factors. Stakeholders from clients, contractors, and consultants should consider the results of this research in order to reduce or avoid the occurrence and impact of the rework in construction projects.

Full text

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“Review study for rework causes in construction industry”
Assim Muwafaq1, Mohamed Abdel-Monem2, Karim Mohamed EL-dash3
Master of since, Shoubra Faculty of engineering1; Assistant Professor, Shoubra Faculty of
engineering2; Professor, Shoubra Faculty of engineering3

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Abstract
Rework is a global phenomenon in the construction industry, which is hard for any
construction project to free from it. Rework is the main reason for time and cost
overruns in construction projects, and dissatisfaction causes the parties involved in the
project. Therefore, to reduce the rework occurrence and impact should be determined
factors that causing rework in the construction project. Accordingly, a comprehensive
literature review has been conducted to identify dominant factors causes of the rework.
A total of 81 factors causes of rework were identified and categorized into the
significant five groups were client-related factors, design-related factors, contractor
related factors, subcontractor related factors, and the human capability and supervisory
related factors. Stakeholders from clients, contractors, and consultants should consider
the results of this research in order to reduce or avoid the occurrence and impact of the
rework in construction projects.
1.Introduction
The construction industry is a global industry that contributed to increasing the national
economy, for example in Palestine the construction industry contributes to the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) by about 26% (Mahamid, 2016), and in Egypt 15% (Gerges,
2015). However, the construction industry is still suffering from delays, cost overruns,
and dissatisfaction of the parties concerned, the main reason for this is to rework.
Rework is defined as "Activities in the field that must be performed more than once or
as activities which remove the works that previously installed in a field as part of the
project" according to Construction Industry Institute (CII 2001). Rework is known as
"non-conformance" or "quality deviations" (Abdul-Rahman 1995; Burati et al.1992)
Besides, Zaiter (2014) defined rework as the unnecessary effort (people, material, time
and equipment) of redoing a process or activity that was incorrectly implemented the
first time or was not needed actually to complete the work.
Al-Azhar University Civil Engineering Research Magazine (CERM)
Vol. (4) No. () January, 2020

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Rework has a negative impact on project performance, where contributions to the
cost and schedule overrun in construction projects (Shibnai, et al .2015; Love et al.2010;
Hwang, et al. 2009(. It is a significant source of cost overrun, quality degradation, time
overrun (extension), contractual claims, disputes between contracted parties, design
team dissatisfaction, end-user/client dissatisfaction, and contractor dissatisfaction in
construction projects as a study conducted by (Eze and Idiake, 2018).
The cost of rework was estimated at 4.4% of the construction values of the observation
period, and the time needed to correct them was 7.1% according to the case study by
(Josephson et al.,2002) in Sweden. Additionally, Love et al. (2010) identified the cost of
rework in civil infrastructure projects in Australia by accounted a 10% of the total
contract value.
Many studies have been conducted to determine the causes of the rework in the
construction industry in different countries such as (Mahamid 2016; Miri and
Khaksefidi, 2015; Ajayi and Oyeyipo, 2015; Love et al.,2010; love et al., 2004b). Even
so, several projects are stilled accompanied by rework. This is attributed to the
ambiguity of the common causes of the rework, that different from country to others
according to the culture of construction and extent of development of the construction
industry in the country concerned Accordingly, this study aims to conduct a
comprehensive review of previous studies for different countries to determine the main
causes of rework. Thus, reduce rework occurrence and its impact on construction
project performance.
2.Previous studies
There are many research efforts undertaken to determine the causes of rework in the
construction industry in different countries. Table 1 summarizes the technique, method
of data collection, and the industry sector type targeted for each study conducted.
Besides, Table 2 showing the summary top five factors causes of the rework for each
study(country). The factors cause of the rework for the some of the previous studies of
different countries will be excessive discussed, as described in the section below:
Aiyetan et al. (2013) examined the reasons for rework in public building projects in
Nigeria. They indicated 71 rework factors and categorized into three groups related to
the client, contractor, and design, based on the questionnaire survey. Their study
concluded that wrongly laying of forming course (blockwork), poor quality of concrete,
lack of correct interpretation of customer requirements, poor communication, and
inadequate construction planning are the five major causes of construction rework.
Zeiter et al. (2017) studied the reasons for rework construction projects in the Caza
strip, based on the questionnaire survey. They concluded that 57 reasons accounted for
the construction rework, and categorized into 7 groups. Their findings indicated that the
main reworks were due to, attempts to fraud by contractor, competitive pressure / low
contract value, ineffective management and decision-making, schedule pressures
construction process, and the absence of job security capability. Mahamid (2016)
discussed causes of rework in residential buildings in West Bank, based on 86
contractor participants. He identified 43 causes of rework, and categorized them into
five groups. his findings concluded to the major rework causes were the poor
communication of client with the consultant and contractor, use of poor-quality
material, poor site management, poor communication with the design consultant.
The causes of rework were studied by (Ye and Skitmore, 2014) regarding
construction projects in China. They identified 39 major factors, based on 277

22
questionnaires, and categorized into 11 groups. According to their findings, the most
significant factors were unclear and ambiguous project process management, poor
quality of construction technologies used, use of poor construction materials, active
rework made by the contractors to improve quality, and design error/omission because
of too many design tasks and time boxing.
Simpeh (2012) studied the causes of the rework in construction projects in South Africa.
He identified 43 causes of rework and categorized them into four groups related to
client, design, site, and subcontractor. The most common causes of rework were non-
compliance with the specification, low labour skill level, shortage of skilled labour,
setting out errors, and changes made at the request of the client.
Jarkas et al. (2015) surveyed about the causes of rework in the building projects in
Qatar. The survey included 36 causes of delay, which were grouped into 4 major
categories related to the clientdesigner, contractor, and exogenous. According to their
findings, frequent changes during the construction phase, obscure contractual clauses
and specifications, incomplete design details at the tendering stage, errors and omissions
in design drawings, and shortage in skilled labour were the five most important causes
of rework.
Raghuram and Nagavinothini (2016) studied the causes of rework in construction
projects in India. In their study, they identified 40 causes of rework in India construction
projects and categorized them into five groups related to the client, design, construction,
site, and subcontractor. The most common causes of rework identified were errors due
to inappropriate construction methods, shortage of skilled supervisors, low labour skill
level, non-compliance with the specification, and lack of experience and knowledge of
the design process.
Josephson et al. (2002) examined 7 different construction projects in Sweden. Hence,
they identified 23 variables that cause the rework and categorized them into 6 groups.
According to their findings, the five most important factors were erroneous
workmanship, unsuitable or faulty design, lack of coordination, late deliveries, and
mistakes in planning.
3. Categorization of Rework Factors.
Rework factors are classified into five common related groups, which were;1) client-
related factors, 2) design-related factors, 3) contractors related factors,4) subcontractor
related factors,5) human capability & supervisory related factors. The cause and effect
(Fishbone) diagram are developed to show the main groups of rework causes, as shown
in Figure 1.

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Figure 1. Fishbone diagram of rework groups
The rework factors will be discussed according to each related group in the following
section, as described below.
3.. Client related factors
The client is the most influential part of the decision-making process within the project
and considers as a main source of construction rework according to (Mahamid et
al.,2016; Jeffrey et al.,2017; Forcada & Edwards, 2016; Love & Edwards, 2010; Eze &
Ganiyu,2018., etc.). Hence the variation orders by the client may be accompanied by a
construction rework (Enshassi et al., 2010). The cost of rework only caused by client-
related factors was estimated at 6% among total rework costs in Swedish Construction
Industry (Josephson et al., 2002), and amounted 7.1% and 14.73% as other studies
conducted by Hwang et al (2014) in Singapore and Liu and Peng, (2018) in residential
buildings of China, at respectively.
Rework
Client related
factors
Contractor related
factors
Design related
factors
Human capability and
supervisory related factors
Subcontractor related
factors

24
Table 1. Summary previous studies of rework in construction projects.
Res. no.
Authors
Country
Year
of public
Project owner
Project type
Method of data
collection
No. of participants
No. of rework
causes
No. of Rework
causes groups
What asked for participants
Technique
used to rank delay causes
Technique used to get rank
1
Aiyetan et al
Nigeria
2013
public
buildings
Questionnaires
Contracting (69),
Consulting (17), Federal
Ministry (6), State
Ministry (12), and
Developer (16)
71
3
Severity in 5
levels
Mean
No
2
Zeiter et al
Palestine
(Gaza Strip)
2017
N/A
N/A
Questionnaire
Owner (40), Contractor
(89), Consultant (46)
57
7
Importance in 5
levels
Relative
Importance
Index (RII)
Spearman rank
correlation
coefficient
3
Mahamid
Palestine
(West Bank)
2016
N/A
residential
Questionnaire
Contractor (86)
43
4
Severity in 5
levels
Severity index
(S.I.)
No
4
Ye and
Skitmore
China
2014
N/A
N/A
e-mail, postal
letters, and on-
site distribution
Questionnaires
277 Questionnaire
39
11
Importance in 4
levels
Mean and Std. Dev
No
5
Simpeh
South Africa
(Cape Town)
2102
N/A
Most facility types:
commercial (18.4%),
residential
(18.4%), industrial
(15.8%), and
educational (10.5%)
Mailed
questionnaire
Contractors (30),
quantity surveyors (17),
architects (12),
consulting engineers
(12), and project
managers (6)
38
4
Agreement in 5
levels
Mean and Std. Dev
No
6
Jarkas et al
Qatar
2015
N/A
Buildings
Questionnaire
Contractors (93)
36
4
Importance in 5
levels
Relative
Importance
Index (RII)
No
7
El Hussein
Dubai
2014
N/A
N/A
Mailed
questionnaire
project managers (4),
quantity surveyor (16),
consulting engineers
(4), contractor (20), and
architect (6)
31
4
Agreement in 5
levels
Mean and Std. Dev
No
8
Mahamid
Palestine
2017
Public
Highway of projects 22
hand, fax, and
email
questionnaire
Contractor (40),
Consultant (30)
19
1(no
named)
Influence in 5
levels
Mean
Spearman rank
correlation
coefficient
9
Ajayi &
Oyeyipo
Nigeria
2015
N/A
Buildings
Questionnaire
Contracting (19),
Consulting (30), and
Client (3)
26
3
Agreement in 5
levels
Mean score
No
10
Eze & Ganiyu
Nigeria
2018
N/A
N/A
Questionnaire
builders (32), quantity
surveyor (61), 44
Architects (44), and
civil engineers (51)
47
4
Frequency of
occurrence in 5
levels
Mean
Kruskal-Wallis
H test
11
Yap & Wang
Malaysian
2017
N/A
Residential,
Commercial,
Institutional, Industrial,
and Mixed development
buildings
Questionnaire
Clients (39), 36
consultants (36), and
contractors (39)
18
5
Importance in 5
levels
Mean and SD
Kruskal-Wallis
H test
12
Liu & Peng
China
2018
N/A
Residential
Case-based
Respondents from 6
35
11
daily logs of
Contribution of
No

25
approach
projects the included
relevant staff from
clients, designers,
developers, suppliers,
and contractors.
implementation
and supervision,
meeting
summary,
monthly progress
reports, and
rework bills.
causes to
rework costs
(%)
13
Raghuram &
Nagavinothini
India
2016
N/A
N/A
Questionnaire
Project manager (25%),
site engineer (30%),
structural engineer
(25%), and supervisor
(20%) from 20
construction projects.
40
5
Influence in 5
levels
Mean score
No
14
Wilson &
Odesola
Nigeria
2017
Public
Oil and Gas
Questionnaire
contractors (458),
consultants (342)
22
1
frequency and
influence in 5
levels
Mean score
Spearman rank
correlation
coefficient
15
Hwang et al
Singapore
2016
N/A
Green buildings
Mailed
questionnaire
Contractors (13),
Architects (5), Quantity
surveyors (3), and
Consultants (9)
8
3
Likelihood and
impact in 5 levels
Mean score
Spearman rank
correlation
coefficient
16
Love et al
Australia
2010
Public
Civil Infrastructures
telephone and
Mailed
questionnaire
115 questionnaires of
consulting engineers,
project managers, and
contractors
42
7
Predictors of cost
for each cause
from contract
value.
Stepwise
multiple
regression
No
17
Hwang et al
Singapore
2014
N/A
Residential and
Commercial
Questionnaire
Contractors (169),
Clients (N 57)
7
1
frequency of
occurrence and
contribution to
client-related
rework (CRR) in
5 levels
Mean
Spearman rank
correlation
coefficient
18
Josephson et
al
Sweden
2002
Private
and
Public
Museum, School,
University building,
Housing, Industry, Fire
station, and Shopping
centre
Case-based
approach
7 construction projects
23
6
variation
registers, site
instructions,
requests for
information,
final accounts,
progress reports,
and extension of
time claims.
Contribution of
causes to
rework costs
(%)
No
19
Idowu &
Aligamhe
Nigeria (Edo state)
2015
Public
Buildings
Questionnaire
Quantity Surveyor (17),
Architecture (10), Civil
Engineer (22), and
Builder (16)
20
5
Importance in 5
levels
Mean
No


Table 2. Summary outcomes of previous studies of rework in construction projects.
Res.
No.
Authors
Country
Year
Rework groups
Top five causes of rework
1
Aiyetan et al
Nigeria
2013
1- Client
2-Contractors
3-Design
1-Wrongly laying of forming course (block work)
2- Poor quality of concrete
3-lack of correct interpretation of customer requirements
4-Poor communication
4- Inadequate construction planning
2
Zeiter et al
Palestine
(Gaza
Strip)
2017
1- Contractor related causes
2- Human resource capability related
causes
3- Design related causes
4- External environment related causes
5- Client related causes
6- Materials and equipment supply relate
causes
7- Construction process related causes
1-Attempts to fraud by contractor
2-Competitive pressure / low contract value
3-Ineffective management and decision-making
4-Schedule pressures construction process
5-The absence of job security capability
3
Mahamid
Palestine
(West
Bank)
2016
1- Client-related factors
2- Contractor-related factors
3- Consultant-related factors
4- Environmental factors
1- Poor communication with the consultant
2- Poor communication with the contractor
3- Use of poor-quality material
4- Poor site management
5- Poor communication with the design consultant
4
Ye and Skitmore
China
2014
1- Contractor field management
2- External environment
3- Contract management
4- Subcontractor management
5- Design management
6- Project communication management
7- Project plan changes
8- Changes for quality improvement
9- Client management
10- Project scope management
11- Project process management
1- Unclear and ambiguous project process management
2- Poor quality of construction technologies used
3- Use of poor construction materials
4- Active rework made by the contractors to improve
quality
5-Design error/omission because of too many design
tasks and time boxing
5
Simpeh
South
Africa
(Cape
Town)
2012
1- Client
2- Design
3- Site
4- Sub-contractor
1- Non-compliance with specification
2- Low labour skill level
3- Shortage of skilled labour
4- Setting out errors
5- Changes made at the request of the client
6
Jarkas et al
Qatar
2015
1- Client
2- Designer
3- Contractor
4- Exogenous
1- Frequent changes during the construction phase
2- Obscure contractual clauses and specifications
3- Incomplete design details at the tendering stage
4- Errors and omissions in design drawings
5- Shortage in skilled labour
7
El Hussein
Dubai
2014
1- Client 2- Design
3- Site
4- Sub-contractors
1- Specification non-compliance
2- Low level of labor skill
3- Shortage of skilled labor
4- Setting out of errors
5- Defective workmanships
8
Mahamid
Palestine
2017
Nineteen causes of rework were selected
1- Non-conformance with specification requirements
2- Scope changes
3- Late design changes
4- Lack of labor skills
5- Improper subcontractor selection
9
Ajayi & Oyeyipo
Nigeria
2015
1- Client related causes 2- Design related causes
3- Subcontractor related causes
1- Poor communication with design consultant
2- Use of poor-quality materials
3- Poor workmanship
4- Lack of experience and knowledge of design and
construction process
5- Incomplete design as at time of design
10
Eze & Ganiyu
Nigeria
2018
1- Client
2- Design
3- Contractor
4- External
1- Unclear instruction to workers
2- Shortage of skilled supervisors
3- Incomplete and inaccurate information
4- Errors in Setting out


5- Contractor's Ineffective use of quality management
practices
11
Yap & Wang
Malaysian
2017
1- Project coordination management
2- Technology, machines and material
management
3- Project implementation management
4- Design process management
5- Site workmanship management
1- Poor coordination among design team
2- Poor quality management by contractor
3- Poor sub-contractor management
4- Construction errors due to misunderstanding of design
5- Unclear project management process
12
Liu & Peng
China
2018
1- Contractor field management
2- External environment
3- Contract management
4- Subcontractor management
5- Design management
6- Project communication management
7- Project plan changes
8- Voluntary rework
9- Client management
10- Project scope management
11- Project process management
1- Lack of communication between client and project
users
2- Overfull design assignment with limited time leading
to mistake of design
3- Erroneous or contradictory instructions
4- Ineligible technique
5- Insufficient on-site constructional conditions
13
Raghuram &
Nagavinothini
India
2016
1- Client
2- Design
3- Construction
4- Site
5- Subcontractor
1- Errors due to inappropriate construction methods
2- Shortage of skilled supervisors
3- Low labour skill level
4- Non-compliance with specification
5- Lack of experience and knowledge of the design
process
14
Wilson &
Odesola
Nigeria
2017
1- Design-related causes
1- Error and omission in design document
2- Ineffective communication
3- Lack of site verification by design team prior to
detailed design
4- Design changes
5- Lack of as-built documentation
15
Hwang et al
Singapore
2016
1-Change
2-Omossions
3-Errors
1-Owner change
2-Design error/omission
3-Design change
4-Contractor’s error/omission
5-Contractor change
16
Love et al
Australia
2010
1-Design
2-Contract management
3-Designer
4-Client management
5- Site management
6-Contractor
7-Subcontractor
1- Ineffective use of IT by design team members
2- Lack of client involvement in the project
3- Working procedures and communication lines were clearly defined4- Change(s) made at the request of the client
5- Change(s) initiated by the contractor to improve
quality
17
Hwang et al
Singapore
2014
1- Client-related rework
1- Change of plans or scope by the client
2- Inadequate/incomprehensive project objectives by the
client
3- Change in specification by the client
4- Impediment in prompting the decision making of the
client
5- Replacement of materials by the client
18
Josephson
Sweden
2002
1-Client
2-Workmanship
3-Production management
4-Design
5-Mechine
6-Materail
1- Erroneous workmanship
2- Unsuitable or faulty design
3- Lack of coordination
4- Late deliveries
5- Mistakes in planning
19
Idowu &
Aligamhe
Nigeria
(Edo
state)
2015
1- Leadership and Communications
2- Human Resource Capabilities
3- Engineering and Review
4- Construction Planning and Scheduling
5- Materials and Equipment Supply
1- Noncompliance with specifications (Materials and
Equipment)
2-Incompetent supervision and poor job planning
3-Unclear work specifications
4-Ineffective management of project team
5-Insufficient skill levels


Hwang et al (2014) they investigated about causes of rework related to the client in
seven different construction projects in Singapore. Their findings are concluded to that
''replacement of materials by the client'' and ''change of plans or scope by the client'' are
contributed most to client-related rework and exerted most impact. As a study carried
out by Mahamid (2016) to analysis the causes of the rework in Palestine residential
building projects, it was identified eight-factor related to the client, and his findings
concluded that the two major causes notable are the poor communication of the client
with the consultant and poor communication of the client with the contractor.
Additionally, Jarkas et al, (2015) demonstrated that ''poor client brief'' was the main
factor causing of the rework in building projects of Qatar. Table3 showing the summary
of 17 factor causes of rework related to the client, and that identified from a survey of
some previous studies.
.2. Design related factors.
The design is an important and essential part of any construction project, and this may
be accompanied by many omissions, errors, and changes of the design, that cause the
rework and occurring as through both design or construction process. Many studies
Table 3. Factors of rework related to client.
No
Factor causes of rework
Sources
1
Lack of client participation during design and
construction processes
Mahamid (2016); Miri & Khaksefidi (2015); Ajayi & Oyeyipo
(2015); Raghuram & Nagavinothini (2016); Love et al. (2010);
love et al.(2004b)
2
Insufficient knowledge and experience for the
construction and design process
Mahamid (2016); Miri & Khaksefidi (2015); Ajayi & Oyeyipo
(2015); Zeiter et al (2017); Raghuram & Nagavinothini (2016);
Love et al. (2010); love et al.(2004b)
3
Lack of funding for consultations and site investigation
Mahamid (2016); Miri & Khaksefidi (2015); Ajayi & Oyeyipo
(2015); Zeiter et al. (2017); Raghuram & Nagavinothini (2016);
love et al.(2004b); love et al.(2004b)
4
Delay in providing site requirements to Contractors,
such as water and electricity
Ye and Skitmore (2014)
5
Poor coordination and communication with design
consultants
Mahamid (2016); Miri & Khaksefidi (2015); Ajayi & Oyeyipo
(2015); Love et al., (2010); love et al.(2004b)
6
Poor coordination Between the owner and End-users
Ye and Skitmore (2014); Aiyetan et al, (2013)
7
lack of owner commitment
Feng & Tommelein (2009); Aiyetan et al, (2013)
8
Poor management practices
Aiyetan et al, (2013)
9
Cost pressure and change in plan, and scope
Mahamid (2016); Ye and Skitmore (2014); Hwang et al. (2014);
Aiyetan et al. (2013)
10
Lack of quality focus
Aiyetan et al. (2013)
11
Change the specifications by the client
Hwang et al. (2014); Aiyetan et al, (2013); Raghuram and
Nagavinothini (2016)
12
Financial problems faced by the client
Hwang et al. (2014); Aiyetan et al, (2013)
13
Poor communication with contractor
Mahamid (2016); Aiyetan et al, (2013)
14
Payment of low fees for preparing contract
Documentation
Ye and Skitmore (2014); Raghuram & Nagavinothini (2016);
Love et al. (2010)
15
Inadequate of summary of things or client's brief
Miri & Khaksefidi (2015); Ajayi & Oyeyipo (2015); Love et al.
(2010); Aiyetan et al, (2013); Love et al.(2004b); Simpeh
(2012)
16
Inadequacies in contract documentation
Mahamid (2016); Ajayi & Oyeyipo (2015); Ye and Skitmore
(2014); Love et al. (2010); Zeiter et al. (2017)

Lack founding for contract documentation
love et al.(2004b)


have categorized the design as one of the main reasons of construction rework (e.g.,
Love and Edwards, 2004; El Hussein et al.,2014; Feng and Tommelein, 2009; Zeiter et
al., 2017). By a study of Josephson and Li (2002) in Sweden, estimated the rework cost
regard to design only 26% among all rework costs, and accounted it for 18.91% in
residential buildings in china (Liu and Peng, 2018). Wilson et al.(2019) demonstrated
that the most five significant rework factors related to design, which affects the time
and cost of oil and gas projects in Nigeria were, errors and omission in design
document, ineffective communication between project team members, design changes,
lack of site verification/investigation by design team, and lack of as-built
documentation.
In addition to, Ekambaram et al.(2007) identified the inadequate time frame for overall
design phase, very tight consultancy fee that led to insufficient resources, Ineffective
use of quality management systems, inadequate of knowledge and experience, poor
leadership of the project team, poor interface coordination, and key staff reallocation
during the project were the main root causes of design rework in construction projects.
Table 4 shows the 18 most common rework factors related to design, which has been
identified from excessive previous studies.
Table 4. Factors of rework related to design.
No
Factor causes of rework
Sources
18
Incomplete design at the time of tender
Zeiter et al. (2017); Raghuram and Nagavinothini (2016); Mahamid
(2016); Love et al. (2010); El Hussein (2014); love et al.(2004b);
Simpeh (2012); Aiyetan (2013); Ajayi & Oyeyipo (2015)
19
Design change based on client request or end user
Raghuram and Nagavinothini (2016); Love et al. (2010); El
Hussein (2014); love et al.(2004b); Simpeh (2012)
20
Errors and omission during the prepare design
Zeiter et al. (2017); Ye and Skitmore (2014); Raghuram and
Nagavinothini (2016); Mahamid (2016); Aiyetan (2013)
21
Poor coordination between design team
Ye and Skitmore (2014); Mahamid (2016); Love et al. (2010); Miri
& Khaksefidi (2015); El Hussein (2014); love et al.(2004b);
Simpeh (2012); Aiyetan2013); Ajayi & Oyeyipo (2015)
22
Incomplete information for design or misunderstanding
of client specification.
Zeiter et al. (2017); Love et al. (2010); Aiyetan (2013)
23
Lack of use modern technology by design team
Love et al. (2010); love et al.(2004b); Aiyetan(2013)
24
Lack of quality practices in design
Love et al. (2010); Miri & Khaksefidi (2015); Simpeh (2012);
Aiyetan (2013)
25
Method of procurement
Zeiter et al. (2017);
26
Lack of IT usage
Love et al. (2010); Miri & Khaksefidi (2015); love et al.(2004b);
Simpeh (2012); Aiyetan (2013)
27
Insufficient supervision by designers
Fayek et al. (2003)
28
Complex design details are difficult to implement, or
Inappropriate design process
Ye and Skitmore (2014); Raghuram and Nagavinothini (2016);
Mahamid (2016); Aiyetan (2013)
29
Design change due to financial changes
Raghuram and Nagavinothini (2016);
30
Changes in drawing or drawings are unclearwrong
Raghuram and Nagavinothini (2016);
31
Low design fees
Zeiter et al. (2017); Mahamid (2016)
32
Insufficient experience for design consultants
Zeiter et al. (2017); Mahamid (2016); El Hussein (2014)
33
Design change as contractor request during construction
Raghuram and Nagavinothini (2016); Love et al. (2010); El
Hussein (2014); love et al.(2004b); Simpeh (2012)
34
Insufficient time for contract documentation
Mahamid (2016); Love et al. (2010); El Hussein (2014); love et
al.(2004b); Ajayi & Oyeyipo (2015)
35
Errors or omissions in the contract documentation
Love et al. (2010); El Hussein (2014); love et al.(2004b); Simpeh
(2012); Aiyetan (2013)


3.3. Contractor related factors
The contractor related factors considered one source causes which have an importance
influencing rework (Ye and Skitmore, 2014; Aiyetan et al., 2013; Eze and Ganiyu,
2018; Zeiter et al., 2017., etc). The rework cost attribute to the contractor estimates
about 20.1% of total rework cost as a study of (Liu and Peng, 2018) in residential
buildings of China.
Zeiter et al. (2017) identified the main factors related contractor that caused rework
in construction projects of Gaza Strip which are, the attempts to fraud, competitive
pressure (low contract value), the unqualified technically contractors, poor quality
system, financial weakness, misreading of drawings and specifications.
Additionally, the most influential factors causes of the rework related to contractor
in China that have been identified are: the ineligible construction technique, ineligible
materials, insufficient check of the materials and equipment, ineligible quality of
construction process, non-standard construction management, misunderstanding of the
design intention, and lack of use of advanced mechanical equipment, according to (Ye
& Skitmore,2014; Liu and Peng, 2018).
A total of 23 factors of rework related to the contractor has been identified based on the
literature review, as shown in Table 5.
Table 5. Factors of rework related to contractors.
No
Rework factors
Sources
36
Poor quality system
Zeiter et al. (2017); Mahamid (2016); Love et al. (2010);
love et al.(2004b); Simpeh (2012); Aiyetan (2013)
37
Setting-out errors during construction process
Love et al. (2010); El Hussein (2014); love et al.(2004b);
Simpeh (2012); Aiyetan (2013)
38
Omission during the construction process
Love et al. (2010); love et al.(2004b); Aiyetan (2013)
39
Bad practices on site.
El Hussein (2014); Simpeh (2012); Aiyetan (2013)
40
Lack of proper monitoring, and poor safety
considerations
Zeiter et al. (2017); Simpeh (2012); Aiyetan (2013)
41
Lack of communication with design consultants
Ajayi& Oyeyipo (2015); Mahamid (2016)
42
Weak funding and cash flow
Zeiter et al. (2017)
43
Inappropriate construction technology due to site
conditions
Raghuram and Nagavinothini (2016); Love et al. (2010);
44
Poor coordination of resources(e.g. subcontractors)
Love et al. (2010); El Hussein (2014); love et al.(2004b);
Simpeh (2012)
45
Insufficient support for site management
Mahamid (2016); Aiyetan (2013)
46
Unqualify contractors
Zeiter et al. (2017)
47
Non-compliance with specifications or specifications
of
work is unclear
Zeiter et al. (2017); Mahamid (2016)
48
schedule pressure
Zeiter et al. (2017)
49
Lack of use of modern (poor) construction
technology
Ye & Skitmore (2014); Liu and Peng (2018)
50
Lack of protection for construction work
Ajayi & Oyeyipo (2015); Mahamid (2016); Love et al.
(2010); El Hussein (2014); love et al.(2004b); love et
al.(2004b); Simpeh (2012); Raghuram and Nagavinothini
(2016);
51
Errors resulting from inappropriate construction
methods
Raghuram and Nagavinothini (2016); Love et al. (2010);
love et al.(2004b)
52
Use of poor-quality materials
Ye & Skitmore (2014); Liu and Peng (2018); Mahamid
(2016); Aiyetan (2013)


..Sub-contractor related factors.
Subcontractor related factors are an important group that influencing rework according
to studies conducted by each of (Ye and Skitmore, 2014; Miri et al., 2015; El
Hussein,2014; Love et al., 2004). The rework cost due to subcontractor is estimated to
account as 10.54% of total rework cost in residential buildings (Liu and Peng, 2018).
The poor communication of construction managers, poor coordination of
subcontractor between upstream and downstream(contractor), poor communication of
construction team members, and damage to the completed works are primary factors
that contribute to rework related to subcontractors as(Ye and Skitmore, 2014; Liu and
Peng, 2018). Besides the improper subcontractor selection was identified as a significant
factor of rework (Ajayi and Oyeyipo, 2015; Zeiter et al.,2017). According to Love et al.
(200b,2010), the major subcontractor related factors are an ineffective use of quality
management practices, damage due to carelessness, inadequate managerial and
supervisory skills, and use of poor materials. Table 6 illustrated the ninth most common
rework factors related to subcontractor.
53
Poor site management
Mahamid (2016)
54
Lack of use of advanced mechanical equipment
Ye & Skitmore (2014); Liu and Peng (2018)
55
Use of defective equipment and tools
Ye & Skitmore (2014); Liu and Peng (2018); Mahamid
(2016)
56
Poor supervision of admission materialsequipment
Ye & Skitmore (2014); Liu and Peng (2018)
57
Ineffective use of construction management standard
Ye & Skitmore (2014); Liu and Peng (2018)
58
Construction error due to misunderstanding of the
design
intention
Ye & Skitmore (2014); Liu and Peng (2018); Zeiter et al.
(2017)
Table 6. Factors of rework related to subcontractor.
No
Rework factors
Sources
59
Poor coordination and communication with
the contractor
Ye and Skitmore (2014); Liu and Peng (2018); Miri &
Khaksefidi (2015); Liu and Peng (2018)
60
Insufficient administrative and supervisory
skills
Love et al. (2010); love et al.(2004b); Ajayi & Oyeyipo
(2015)
61
Improper subcontractor selection
Ajayi & Oyeyipo (2015); Zeiter et al. (2017)
62
Poor communication of construction
managers, construction
team members
Ye and Skitmore (2014); Liu and Peng (2018);
63
Damage to completed works
Ye and Skitmore (2014); Liu and Peng(2018;
Raghuram and Nagavinothini (2016); Love et al.
(2010); El Hussein (2014); love et al.(2004b); Simpeh
(2012); Ajayi & Oyeyipo (2015)
64
Non-compliance with specifications
Raghuram and Nagavinothini (2016); El Hussein
(2014); Simpeh (2012); Ajayi & Oyeyipo (2015)
65
Restrictions in many activities and tasks
Miri & Khaksefidi (2015); Simpeh (2012)
66
Use of poor materials
Love et al. (2010); Miri & Khaksefidi (2015); Miri &
Khaksefidi (2015); love et al.(2004b); Liu and Peng
(2018); Ajayi & Oyeyipo (2015)
67
Ineffective use of quality management
practices
Love et al. (2010); love et al.(2004b)


3.5. Human resources capability and supervisoryrelated factors.
Poor workmanship and inadequate supervisory/managerial skills are two main sources
of rework in Nigeria construction projects, according to (Ajayi & Oyeyipo,2015). From
other hands, Zeiter et al,(2017) explained ineffective management and decision-
making, the absence of job security, an insufficient skill level are most influential
factors related to human resources capability, that causing rework. Additionally, the
shortage of skilled labor, lack skilled supervisors, defective workmanship, Inadequate
supervisor, and Instructions which are unclear to workers has been described as
significant rework factors according to studies that conducted by (love et al.,2004b;
Love et al.,2010; El Hussein 2014; Simpeh 2012).
The role of professional supervisors is important to reduce rework in construction.
Where, Alwi & Mohamed (1999) explain that the contractors, who spend more money,
as training costs, to develop supervisory skills can reasonably reduce their rework costs
ranging between 11% to 22%.The total of 14 rework factors related to human resources
capability and supervisory has been identified, summarized in Table 7.
Table 7. Factors of rework related to human resources capability and supervisory.
No
Rework factors
Sources
68
Lack of supervision
Mahamid (2016); El Hussein (2014); Simpeh (2012);
Alwi et al. (1999)
69
Lack of skills of laborers
Zeiter et al. (2017); Raghuram and Nagavinothini
(2016); Mahamid (2016); Love et al. (2010); Miri &
Khaksefidi (2015); El Hussein (2014); love et
al.(2004b); Simpeh (2012); Alwi et al. (1999)
70
Lack safety and job security procedures at site
Zeiter et al. (2017); Raghuram and Nagavinothini
(2016); El Hussein (2014); Simpeh (2012)
71
Turnover or reallocation of employees to other
projects
Ajayi & Oyeyipo (2015); Zeiter et al. (2017); Mahamid
(2016); Love et al. (2010); love et al.(2004b)
72
Lack of training and skill development
Raghuram and Nagavinothini (2016); El Hussein (2014)
73
Disturbance in planning of personnel or poor job
planning
Zeiter et al. (2017); Mahamid (2016); Miri &
Khaksefidi (2015)
74
Absence of incentives and rewards for laborers
Zeiter et al. (2017); Mahamid (2016)
75
Poor communication and integrated coordination
Zeiter et al. (2017)
76
Inadequately skilled labor to accomplish work
tasks
Love et al. (2010); Miri & Khaksefidi (2015); El
Hussein (2014); love et al.(2004b); Simpeh (2012)
77
Lack of proper interpretation of specifications and
design
by the supervisor
Alwi et al. (1999)
78
Insufficient supervision skill
Raghuram and Nagavinothini (2016); Mahamid (2016);
El Hussein (2014); Simpeh (2012)
79
Poor workmanships
Ajayi & Oyeyipo (2015); Raghuram and Nagavinothini
(2016); El Hussein (2014); Simpeh (2012)
80
Unclear instruction to workers
Raghuram and Nagavinothini (2016); El Hussein (2014)
81
Excessive overtime
Zeiter et al. (2017); Raghuram and Nagavinothini
(2016); El Hussein (2014); Simpeh (2012)


4. Conclusion
Rework is one of the primary sources for the cost and time overrun in construction
projects, which no project is free from its. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to
identify the main factors causes of rework in the construction industry. A
comprehensive review of the literature was conducted to determine the factors causing
rework. Accordingly, a total of 81 rework factors identified, and its categories into five
major groups related to; client, design, contractor, subcontractor, and human capability
& supervisory.
The results of the comprehensive review of previous studies showed that among the
most important factors causing rework related to client are, lack funding for
consultations and site investigation, lack of client participation during design and
construction processes, insufficient knowledge and experience for the construction and
design process, inadequate of summary of things or client's brief, and poor coordination
and communication with design consultants.
Additionally, the main factors of rework related to design were incomplete design
at the time of tender, poor coordination between the design team, design change based
on client request or end user, and lack of quality practices in design. Besides, the lack of
protection for construction work, poor quality system, and setting-out errors during the
construction process are the most significant factors of rework related to the contractor.
The most influential factors of rework related to subcontractors were damage to
completed works, use of poor materials, poor coordination and communication with the
contractor, and non-compliance with specifications. Finally, the lack of skills of
laborers, turnover/reallocation of employees to other projects, inadequately skilled
labour to accomplish work tasks, and insufficient supervision skills are the primary
rework factors related to human capability and supervisory.
Based on the above research results, the stakeholders from, clients, contractors, and
consultants should consider these results to reduce/minimize the rework of construction
projects.
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