Contractors’ Perspective of Construction Project Complexity: Definitions, Principles, and Relevant Contributors: Fid-Bau Portal

Contractors’ Perspective of Construction Project Complexity: Definitions, Principles, and Relevant Contributors

Jarkas, Abdulaziz M.

Although construction is a complex and challenging process, an extensive search of the literature revealed that little research on project complexity has been carried out. The objective of this investigation is therefore twofold: First, to establish the general consensus of large contractors operating in Kuwait on the perception of the complexity concept in the construction industry; and second, to identify and rank the perceived importance of the contributors underpinning the project complexity principles. A structured questionnaire survey was thus distributed to a statistically representative sample of contractors. The results obtained show that contractors discern projects with high degrees of interdependencies, interactions, and interrelationships among the parts as most complex to construct. On the other hand, uncertainty, organizational complexity, and inherent complexity are recognized as the most significant principles of the complexity concept, followed by overlapping of construction activities, number of trades, and rigidity of sequence, respectively. The findings further distinguish the following factors as primary contributors to project complexity: (1) lack of uniformity due to frequent changing orders; (2) poor communication channels; (3) shortage in availability of required skilled labor; (4) lack of efficiency in information generation, transmittal, usage, and feedback; (5) lack of working or detailed drawings; (6) managing a role for the first time; (7) shortage in availability of required site management technical staff; (8) interdependencies among the different trades; (9) number of cost-significant packages or activities requiring specialty subcontractors; and (10) discrepancy and obscurity in contract documents. The outcomes can provide useful insights into the main parameters differentiated to impact project complexity, which may further be used to develop a modus operandi for complexity measurement. This will assist in identifying and evaluating, at an early stage of a project, the complexity criteria, where effective planning and control systems can be efficiently applied. Even though the results represent the perception of industry practitioners in Kuwait, the principles of data collection, analysis, and use are generic, and hence could be applied to advantage in other settings.