Current practice of variation order management in the Saudi construction industry

Abstract

The complexity of construction projects means that it is unusual to deliver a project without any change during its project lifecycle. Liability to change is an attribute that generally characterises almost all projects. It is assumed that the use of a change management system in construction projects would assist the management of variation orders effectively. Variation order management is not fully understood nor well applied in the Saudi construction industry. In order to better understand the current practice of variation order management at the design stage of public sector construction projects in Saudi Arabia, this paper reports the results of an exploratory study that used a series of interviews with public sector clients and consultants in 2011. Findings indicate that there are currently no formalised approaches to the management of variation orders at the design stage. In addition, there is a general lack of knowledge about managing variation orders. The paper concludes that there is not only a need to apply an appropriate variation order management system to Saudi