Investigating Reworks in Green Building Construction Projects: Magnitude, Influential Factors, and Solutions

Abstract

Rework is a stubborn issue in the construction industry, and it has been drawing considerable attention from the industry and academia over the past decades. However, so far, little effort has been made to investigate reworks in green building construction projects. This study aims to assess the status quo of rework in green building construction projects in Singapore, identify and evaluate the rework factors in green building construction projects, compare their criticalities with those in the conventional counterparts, and propose a set of feasible solutions. To achieve these aims, a questionnaire survey was administered, and data collected from 30 different construction companies were analyzed. Results showed that, compared to conventional building construction projects, green building construction projects tended to have a lower incidence of rework, but suffered more from the rework’s adverse impacts in terms of cost overrun and schedule delay. Results also showed that the top four most critical rework factors in green building construction projects were “owner change”, “design change”, “design error/omission” and “contractor’s error/omission”. In addition, this study proposed five practical solutions that can help curb reworks in green building construction projects. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by examining the rework problem in green building construction projects. Meanwhile, this study contributes to the industry by providing the practitioners with an in-depth understanding of rework in green building construction projects. The specific solutions proposed by this study can also offer the industry practitioners direct help in reducing works in such projects.