FACTORS AFFECTING DESIGN AND

DOCUMENTATION QUALITY IN
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

BY

MOSTAFA ISMAIL DARWISH

A Thesis Presented to
THE DEANSHIP OF GRADUATE STUDIES
KING FAHD UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM &
MINERALS
DHAHRAN, SAUDI ARABIA

In Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the Degree of

MASTER OF SCIENCE
In
CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING
& MANAGEMENT
May, 2005

KING FAHD UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM & MINERALS

DHAHRAN 31261, SAUDI ARABIA

DEANSHIP OF GRADUATES STUDIES

This thesis, written by
MOSTAFA ISMAIL DARWISH
Under the direction of his Thesis Advisor, and approved by all Thesis Committee,
has been presented to and accepted by the Dean of Graduate Studies, in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN
CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING & MANAGEMENT.
THESIS COMMITTEE:
_________________________
Prof. Abdulaziz A. Bubshait
Chairman
______________________
Prof. Sadi A. Assaf
Member
______________________
Prof. Osama A. Jannadi
Member
_______________________________
Prof. Abdulaziz A. Bubshait
CEM Department Chairman
Date:_____________________
_______________________________
Prof. Mohammad A. AL-Ohali
Dean of Graduates Studies
Date______________________

DEDICATION
To the soul of my Father, the first to teach me.
To my beloved Mother, for her prayers to me.
To my Wife, for care and support all the time.
And to my Childrens, Salma, Omar and Ismail with hope for bright future.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I wish to express my deep appreciation to Professor Abdulaziz A. Bubshait, who served

as my advisor, for all the support and guidance. I also appreciate his positive comments
and advices throughout my research.
Thanks are due also to other members of the thesis committee Professor Sadi A. Assaf
and Professor Osama A. Jannadi.
Acknowledgement is due to King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals. Specially
for the Department of Construction Engineering & Management for supporting this
research.
My thanks and gratitude is due also to my wife for her encouragement and patience
without which this work would not have been possible.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page

Dedication .......................................................................................................................iii
Acknowledgment ............................................................................................................iv
Table of contents..............................................................................................................v
List of tables ....................................................................................................................iii
List of figures ..................................................................................................................ix
Abstract ...........................................................................................................................xii
Arabic Abstract ...............................................................................................................xiii
CH. I INTRODUCTION
Page
I.1 Background..............................................................................................................
I.2 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 2
I.3 Statement of the Problem .........................................................................................5
I.4 Objectives of the Study ............................................................................................7
I.5 Scope and Limitations...............................................................................................7
I.6 Significance of the Study..........................................................................................8
I.7 Thesis Organization ................................................................................................10
CH. II LITERATURE REVIEW
Page
II.1 Introduction..............................................................................................................11
II.2 Terminology.............................................................................................................11.
II.3 Construction Defects Categories..............................................................................16
II.4 Design and Documentation Attributes.....................................................................16
II.5 Design and Documentation Quality.........................................................................21
II.6 Design Deficiency in Construction Industry............................................................25
II.7 Responsibility for Design Document Deficiency .. 32
II.8 Impacts of Design Deficiency ................................................................................34.
II.9 Influence of Fees on Quality ..................................................................................36
II.10 Methods of Design Quality Measurement.............................................................41
II.11 Improving of Design and Documentation Quality ...............................................41
4II.12 Development of List of Factors from Previous Studies .....................................45
II.13 Comparing the Factors used with Similar Previous Studies ............................56
II.14 Summary ..............................................................................................................59
CH. III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
III.1 Introduction
III.2 Methodology
III.3 Questionnaire Design
III.4 Sample Size
III.5 Data Gathering
III.6 Scoring

60
60
63
65
68
69

CH. IV FINDINGS AND RESULTS

Page
IV.1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 72

IV.2 General Information and Industry Characteristics ..73

IV.3 Statistical Techniques................................................................................ 90
IV.4 Ranking of the Factors...................................................................... ..95
IV.5 Construction Process Efficiency 108
IV.6 Correlation......................................................................................................... 118
IV.7 Comments from Respondents 131
CH.V SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
Page
V.1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 133
V.2 Summary of The Study....................................................................................... 133
V.3 Conclusions......................................................................................................... 138
V.4 Recommendations............................................................................................... 146
V.5 Recommendations for Further Studies ................................................................149
V.6 References...........................................................................................................150
APPENDIX I Questionnaire Forms .........................................................................AI
A - Arabic Form...........................................................................
B - English Form..........................................................................
APPENDIX II Statistical Results for all Professional Responses.............................AII
APPENDIX III Rank Agreement Calculations on current Research and Previous
Studies.AIII
VITA

LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 2.1 Design Quality Attributes ....................................................................................... 17

Table 2.2 Documentation Quality Attributes . .18
Table 2.3 Most Important Risk Categories . 29
Table 2.4 Responsibilities for Construction Defects .. 30
Table 2.5 Average proportion of Non-Desirable Const. Elements ............. 36
Table 2.6 Problems issues affecting design and documentation quality in Aust. 46
Table 2.7 Factors Influencing Design Documents Quality in Japan . .48
Table 2.8 Comparison of the Factors used with other Previous Researches .. 56
Table 3.1 Scale (interval) value assigned for each response of questionnaire ...................... 70
Table 4.1 Statistical Results for Combined Responses ................................................. 93
Table 4.2 Consultants Ranking ..................................................100
Table 4.3 Contractors Ranking ........................................................................................... 102
Table 4.4 Owners Ranking ........................................................................ 104
Table 4.5 Combined Ranking.................................................................... .106
Table 4.6 Undesirable Construction Elements for Consultants Responses 116
Table 4.7 Undesirable Construction Elements for Contractors Responses 116
Table 4.8 Undesirable Construction Elements for Owners Responses .. 117
Table 4.9 Undesirable Construction Elements for Combined Responses . . 117

LIST OF TABLES (Cont.)

Page

Table 4.10 Rank Agreement and Spearman Correlation Calculations .121

Table 4.11 Determination of Max. Rank Agreement Factor . ...124

Table 4.12 Test the Ranking Order (Kendalls Coefficient Calculations) 128

LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Figure 3.1 Methodology Chart .......................................................... 62

Figure 3.2 Scoring Scale ........................................................ 70
Figure 4.1 Experience of Owners ............................................... ..75
Figure 4.2 Experience of Consultants.....................................................................................75
Figure 4.3 Experience of Contractors.................................................................................... 76
Figure 4.4 Experience of Total Respondents ........................................................................ 76
Figure 4.5 Respondents Role in Construction....................................................................... .77
Figure 4.6 Classification of Contractor Organization ....... ....................................................78
Figure 4.7 Types of Projects done by Total respondents....................................................79
Figure 4.8 Types of Projects done by Consultants ..................................................... ..80
Figure 4.9 Types of Projects done by Contractors .............................................. ..80
Figure 4.10 Type of Owners Organization .................................................................... ..81
Figure 4.11 Size of Owners Organizations . ............................................................. 82
Figure 4.12 Size of Consultants Organizations.......................................................................83
Figure 4.13 Size of Contractors Organizations .......................... ...83
Figure 4.14 Size of Total respondents .................................................................................. 84

LIST OF FIGURES (Cont.)

Page

Figure 4.15 Percentage of Design Income for Consultants .................................................. 85

Figure 4.16 Level of QA Accreditation of Owners .............................................................. 86
Figure 4.17 Level of QA Accreditation of Consultants ........................... .87
Figure 4.18 Level of QA Accreditation of Contractors............................. 88
Figure 4.19 Level of QA Accreditation of Total respondents............................................... 89
Figure 4.20 Influence of Design and Documentation Quality on Price.. .109
Figure 4.21 Change in Tender Price due Design Deficiency................................................110
Figure 4.22 Influence of Design and Documentation Quality on Time ..... .111
Figure 4.23 Change in Tender Time due Design Deficiency..................... ..112
Figure 4.24 Undesirable Construction Elements By Total Respondents ............................ 114

THESIS ABSTRACT
Student Name: Mostafa Ismail Darwish al-Far
Title Of Study: Factors Affecting Design Documentation Quality in Construction Industry.
Major Field: Construction Engineering & Management
Date of Degree: May, 2005

This thesis discusses the main factors affecting Design and Documentation Quality in
Construction Industry in Saudi Arabia. A survey of 21 contractors, 19 consultants and 14
owners from the Eastern Province was performed. The survey included 39 different
factors affecting Design and Documentation Quality and their level of importance. The
severity of those factors were measured by the level of importance and were ranked
according to the importance index for consultants, contractors, owners and a combination
of all respondents.
A test for Correlation Agreement on the ranking of the factors between different project
participants consultants, contractors and owners was also calculated using Spearman's
and Kendall's techniques. It was found that the overall construction parties have moderate
agreement on the ranking of important factors.
It was concluded that, Last minute changes by client, Insufficient overall design time,
Unstable clients requirements, Waiting for client decision and that Consultants tend to
copy and modify from their previous work to minimize time and cost, were the most
important factors. Finally, some recommendations were made in order to improve the
design and documentation quality in the construction industry.

MASTER OF SCIENCE DEGREE

KING FAHD UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM & MINERALS
DHAHRAN, SAUDI ARABIA

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
I. 1 Background
The construction sector is one of the major parts of the contracting business in Saudi
Arabia and it constitutes a major portion of the Kingdom's domestic economy, even
though the share of construction sector GDP in the total national output has fallen since
the early 1990s. The construction sector alone provided employment to more than one
million workers in 2002 and accounted for nearly 14.4% of the Kingdom's total 7.3
million-labor force (Alahli, 2004).
The construction sector GDP grew by 3.1% in 2001 and again increased by 5.0% to
(SR43 billion) in 2002 and grown by around 2.8% in 2003, but with increased
expenditure in 2004, the construction sector is expected to grow faster at 5.0% in the
current year. However, the share of the construction sector GDP in the total national
output has declined from an average of 12% for the most of the 1980s to a more
sustainable average of around 8% in the 1990s, mostly due to the completion of various
infrastructure projects. However, the share of construction sector GDP within the non-oil
output averaged around 10.5% in the 1990s and amounted to around 10.2% in 2002,
suggesting continued investment activities in the construction sector (Alahli, 2004).

I. 2 Introduction
Designers provide the graphic and written representations that allow construction and
trade contractors to transform concepts and ideas into physical reality. How effectively
and efficiently this transformation occurs, depends largely on the quality of the design
and documentation provided. And while good design needs to be "effective" and ensure
fitness for purpose, it also needs to be communicated effectively through the
documentation (i.e. drawings, specifications, etc.). Unfortunately, a perceived decline in
project documentation quality over the past few years is considered to be causing

increased delays, disruption and costs to all parties involved in the construction process
(Tilley et al, 1999).
In an ideal world, the design and documentation provided for construction projects would
be complete, precise and unambiguous. Unfortunately, contractors are often supplied
with project documentation that is considered to be substandard or deficient due to
incomplete, conflicting or erroneous information. Design and documentation quality is
greatly determined by the level of professional services provided, with the quality of
these services generally being determined by how the services are selected and how the
fees are negotiated (Defraites, 1989).
Findings of design deficiencies are being reported with greater frequency in professional
publications and local newspapers. When these design deficiencies make headlines, it is
usually because of catastrophic failure or death. The design deficiencies that do not make
headlines usually end up in contract claims, accompanied by delays and significantly
higher costs (Vlatas, 1986).
However, while the design itself needs to be "effective", it also needs to be
communicated effectively through the documentation (i.e., drawings, specifications, Bills
of Quantities). When documentation quality is considered, a number of attributes - such
as timeliness, accuracy, completeness, coordination and conformance - are looked at to
determine the level of quality achieved. Tilley et al. (1997) reported that the quality of
design and documentation achieved could be determined by measuring the extent to
which attributes of design and documentation quality are incorporated.
Abolnour (1994) discussed the problem of the absence of a system that organizes and
unifies project documents in order to simplify the process of understanding and reviewing
these documents. He stated that in Saudi Arabia, each design office selects an
international system that is compatible with his employees, the nature of the project, and
his clients. This inconsistency leads to a higher probability of making mistakes, more
wasted time and effort and a lower rate of experience acquisition.

As the quality of the design and documentation provided has a major influence on the
overall performance and efficiency of construction projects (Burati et al. 1992;Lutz et al.
1990; Kirby et al. 1988), any improvements in design and documentation quality can
only lead to corresponding improvements in the efficiency of the construction process
(Tilley et al, 1999).
Where designers are selected based on low design fees, then the level and quality of the
service provided is likely to be limited and generally translates into additional project
costs to the owner (Abolnour, 1994).
But what is design and documentation quality? The assessment of design and
documentation quality can be highly subjective and open to a wide variety of
interpretations. When considering the issue of quality, Burati and Farrington (1987)
indicated that quality can be defined as "conformance to established requirements",
which by avoiding the issues of degree of goodness and satisfaction - seen as being too
subjective - allows for a basis of measurement. However, by investigating the type and
extent of quality "deviations " - defined as "departures from established requirements" a way of determining the root causes of quality deviations as well as method of
measuring design and construction quality costs is provided (Burati and Farrington,1987
; Burati et al.,1992; Davis et al.,1989).
Based on these definitions of quality and quality deviations, it can be deduced that
reductions in the quality of the end product can be more easily avoided by ensuring all
project requirements are properly considered during the early design stages. Allowing
any unresolved or unworkable design issues to remain in the documentation, will only
necessitate changes further on in the process and add to the extent of quality deviations.
As insufficient documentation and detailing, leads to similar problems, the factors causes
these problems must be considered when determining design and documentation quality.

Based on the above, the quality of the design and documentation process can be simply
defined as: The ability to provide the contractor with all the information needed to
enable
construction to be carried out as required efficiently and without hindrance."
(Tilley,1998) .
While this definition does not insist that all project information is required up front at the
start of construction, it does imply that the contractor is supplied with sufficient
information to ensure that the construction process can be planned and carried out in the
most efficient manner available.

I. 3 Statement of the Problem

The quality of design and documentation has a major influence on the overall
performance and efficiency of construction projects. As designers provide the graphic
and written representations which allow contractors and subcontractors to transform
concepts and ideas into physical reality, it is the efficiency with which this transformation
occurs that determines the level of project performance and efficiency achieved.
Researchers and practitioners have acknowledged defective design is a major cause of
contract claims and change orders during construction (Vlatas,1986; Al-Dubaisi,2000).
One study shows that design error is the single most common cause for a contract claim
(Diekmann and Nelson,1985). It is also found that more than 50% of change orders are
attributable to defective design (Kirby et al., 1988 and Lutz et al., 1989).
Design deficiencies are occurring more frequently because of the complexity of the work,
new and different relationships among the professionals in design and construction, and
haste to get the projects completed and in operation as soon as possible. These
deficiencies are a major cause of contract disputes (Vlatas, 1986).
Poor design and documentation quality is a major cause of construction process
inefficiency, leading directly to delays, rework and variations, and contributing to

increases in project time and cost, for both owner and contractors alike (Tilley et
al.,1999).
This study aims to assist all construction parties to plan effectively before starting a
project beginning with the design phase. This can be done by creating awareness and
paying enough attention to this important phase to minimize the problems and eliminate
extra costs incurred to make corrective actions to complete the defective design and
documentation.

I. 4 Objectives of the Study

To identify main factors affecting design and documentation quality in the Saudi
Arabian construction industry.
To investigate the nature and extent of the impacts (effects) of design and
documentation deficiencies on project cost and time (duration).
To calculate the percentage agreement between different project participants on the
ranking of the factors.

I. 5 Scope and Limitations

1- Experts from each group (consultant/Designer, contractor and owner/ owner
representative ), with more than 10 years experience in construction projects greater than
10 million Saudi Riyals, were interviewed.
2- All building Projects built in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia.
3- The focus of this study is on traditional procurement projects in the Public
sector.

I. 6 Significance of the Study

As the quality of the design and documentation produced has a major influence on the
overall performance and efficiency of construction projects, it is vitally important and
useful that issues affecting design and documentation quality be identified and discussed.
There is no study that has dealt with the subject of the relationship between design
document quality and construction deficiencies in the local construction industry in Saudi
Arabia. Although this study is limited to the Eastern province area, the results could be
use as guidelines in the context of Saudi Arabia. The results of the research shall benefit
the following parties: Owners, Designers, Contractors, Consultants and Public Agencies.
Improvements in construction process efficiency will result from creating an awareness
of the value of quality design and documentation and the introduction of selection criteria
that includes consideration of the designer's skills and experience. Once developers fully
understand the value of quality design and documentation, they would then ensure that
sufficient time and fees are available to allow designers to provide the level of service
needed to carry out the design function completely (Tilleyet al., 1999).
https://ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/15450/Thesis-Ch_1-3.pdf?sequence=8
The benefits would be more projects being completed on time, within budget and with a
reduced likelihood of legal action due to contractual disputes. In addition, with less
variation, rework and disputes, then contractors would be able to minimize the
management time and cost spent on non-value added activities.
These benefits would be reflected in reduced project and contractual risk and a higher
level of profitability for both developers and contractors. More reasonable fee levels
would also enable designers to restore staff training programs -to develop a higher
standard of designer- and encourage innovation (Tilley et al, 1999).
Consequently, it is to the benefit of construction parties to recognize the situation and
identify the causes of design deficiencies in the early stages of the project (Design

Phase). This will help to take the necessary precautions to control these causes before
they be aware when they occur during construction phase.

I. 7 Thesis Organization
This thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter gives general background
information on construction process in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It also presents a
statement of the problem, the objectives of the study, its scope and its limitations and
significance of the study.
Chapter two summarizes the literature related to the construction process efficiency, the
factors affecting design and documentation quality in the construction industry and the
identification of its impacts on the construction process efficiency.
Chapter three addresses questionnaire design, the sample size, the selection of the experts
interviewed and a method of collecting data from construction professionals (experts)
related to the problem discussed.
Chapter four discusses the statistical methods used, tables and information deduced from
statistical analysis, the statistical results and interpretation of these tables and
information. It also contains the ranking by importance index of the factors affecting
design documentation quality by, consultants, contractors, owners and for combined
response.
Finally, the last chapter contains summary of the study, conclusions, suggested
recommendations and recommendations for further study.