Potential Barriers in Management of Refurbishment Projects

Abstract

The study presents the sources of the barriers in management of refurbishment projects that may cause delays and escalate costs. To achieve the study objectives, the information was acquired through personal interviews and in-depth discussions with the architects and contractors of the seven refurbishment projects selected in eastern province of Saudi Arabia. It addresses issues often overlooked by the management team in a refurbishment project during the design, document preparation, and construction stages. The twelve most important sources of barriers were the degradation of undamaged materials over time, formidable variations to original structure, salvaged materials, conflict between responsibilities and liabilities, missing design information, illogical imposed conditions, selecting contract types, improper site survey, concurrent operation by owners, selection of contractor, escalated costs and delays during refurbishment, and underpayment for architect’s services were revealed from the in-depth interviews and discussion with the architects and the contractors of the refurbishment projects. Reasons for these problems of management are reviewed with emphasis on the role of the architect in avoiding underestimation of required work during the stages of the project. Recommendations are given to minimize ambiguities in the scope of the work and avoid disputes among the parties to the contract. This can be achieved by employing an experienced architect and by making sound prompt decisions through out the project lifecycle.