A Dissertation: Client-Induced Variations in UAE Construction Projects

This dissertation investigates the client-related causes of variation in construction projects within the United Arab Emirates. It explores the significance of understanding these variations, as they directly impact project success and are influenced by stakeholders like owners, consultants, and contractors. The research delves into the nature of variations, including schedule changes, alterations in project requirements, and cost implications. The study highlights the importance of addressing these variations, particularly within the UAE's rapidly developing construction sector, driven by oil revenues and infrastructure development. The dissertation examines the research background, problem, aim, objectives, scope, and research questions, emphasizing the need for specific insights into client-driven changes to improve project management and outcomes. The research underscores the impact of economic fluctuations, material costs, and the necessity of effective stakeholder coordination to mitigate project delays and budget overruns. The paper aims to provide a focused understanding of how client decisions and actions contribute to variations, ultimately seeking to enhance the successful completion of construction projects in the UAE.

Dissertation
Client causes of variation in construction projects in United Arab Emirates
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Research Background.............................................................................................................4
Research Problem...................................................................................................................5
Research Aim.........................................................................................................................7
Research Objectives...............................................................................................................8
Research Scope......................................................................................................................9
Research Questions..............................................................................................................10
Summary..............................................................................................................................10
Literature Review.....................................................................................................................12
References................................................................................................................................19

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Introduction
The current research paper is on client cause of variation in the construction projects in
United Arab Emirates. The understanding of this aspect is important as it is directly
associated with the failure or success of particular project. The parties that are generally
involved in the construction project are owner, consultants, and contractors. The variations in
the construction projects occur due to various reasons and the involvement of these three
entities are considered as important (Abdul Rahman et al, 2012). Variations are the deviations
that occur within the projects from what has been agreed among the stakeholders at the
beginning of the project. The deviation from the actual planned project can be of various
forms such as removal of certain activity, reduction in the amount defined for the budget, or
any changes in what has been written in the contracts (Wang, 2000). Some of the variations
can be visible to the stakeholders, while others cannot be seen or assessed.
The current paper will assess the variations in the project in the United Arab Emirates using
the various research techniques discussed in the research methodology section. The United
Arab Emirates is the combination of seven states and is ruled by the Supreme Council of
Rulers. The seven states that are under the United Arab Emirates are Abu Dhabi, Um al-
Qaywayn, Fujayrah, Sharjah, Ajman, Dubai, and Ra’s al-Khayma. The country has the
appreciable amount of oil production and most of the economic aspect depends on the
production of oil (Council, 2007). The production of oil and gas in substantial amount from
within the UAE ground is bringing good amount of money into the country which is being
used as an investment in the various infrastructural developments around the country. In the
past decades, the government has invested in various governments run construction projects.
The focus has been on improving the economic situation of the entire country by further
bringing them together with the help of infrastructural development.

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As briefed earlier, the variations can be signified by various forms of changes in the
construction projects. One of them can be changes in the schedule (Alzahrani and Emsley,
2013). Schedule refers to the overall duration that has been assigned for the completion of
project. The changes in the schedule can occur due to factors such as lack of resources, or the
sudden occurrence of any kind of risks (Aminbakhsh et al, 2013). It might be related to the
desire of some of the stakeholder to extend the deadline or stretch the duration without any
reason. In some cases, the variations occur when the parties vary on the requirements that
have been defined for the project. The requirements or the things that are to be achieved by
the end of the project are generally defined in the beginning of the project. However, due to
some changes in the mind of stakeholders or occurrence of any kind of situation leads to the
change in the requirements which eventually creates variations in the project.
The understanding of the client causes of variations in the construction projects in United
Arab Emirates will be at the core of this entire research paper. The next sub-section briefly
states the research background upon which the entire research study is based. The research
background is followed by the research problem that is likely to be resolved through the
conduction of this research. The research problem is followed by the research aim which
states where the entire research project is heading. The research objectives, after the research
aim discusses the aspects that will be touched while moving towards the achievement of the
research aim. The research scope will define the premise within which the research will be
conducted. The research scope is likely to help understand the limitations of this research
paper. The research questions discussed after the research scope will showcase the questions
that are to be answered by the end of this research project. This chapter has been summarized
in end under Summary section.

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Research Background
The existence of variations among the construction project activities is inevitable, and any
effort to eliminate the variations is unlikely to be successful. The variations have impacted
almost all the associated individuals or entities with the construction projects. The individuals
or entities can be project owner, the individual who has monetary investment in the project;
the consultant, these are the individuals or entities who acts as bridge between the owner and
contractors; and the contractors, who are the individuals or entities who undertake the
construction project activities (Brockmann, 2012). The variations associated with the project
are defined as the difference between the time when the particular tasks has to be completed
and the time that was actually invested to complete that task. In any form of civil or private
construction projects, it is expected in the beginning that the task will be completed within
the defined duration and allotted project budgets. However, this is not how things turnout
every time. The changes in the activities, resources, and other factors are always observed
(Guo and Shang, 2012). The projects that are of huge size, the changes can be observed easily
and their impacts are huge.
It is important that the variations in the construction projects are understood clearly to ensure
that the variations can be reduced or controlled, if not completely eliminated. The changes in
the construction projects occur due to various reasons. The variations in construction projects
have negative impact on the entire economy of the particular country along with the
individuals who are engaged in the construction projects such as consultants, contractors, and
the owners (Halwatura and Ranasinghe, 2013). The variation in the construction activities is
an issue. The occurrence of deviations, being a common phenomenon, is the indication that
the entire construction sector is being challenged with certain causes that are to be identified
and appropriately managed.

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In general, the works that are started by the engineers or the contractors for the particular
client, if faces any kind of changes in the schedule, resources, or other aspects, then such
alteration results into the unnecessary extension of the entire project duration and the budget
that has been spent on the project. This is very demotivating for all the stakeholders (Hobbs
and Besner, 2016). If the government is investing in particular civil construction project
considering that the project will be completed in certain time period and within the defined
budget, and if it does not happen, then it is likely that the credibility of the government in the
eyes of the pubic falls down. This situation is not only with the government projects. If the
private construction projects are considered, then it can be stated if the projects fail to be
completed within the certain duration and within the defined budget, then it is likely that the
parties will never meet again to work on other similar projects due to the lack of credibility or
faith in one another (Hwang and Ng, 2013). Therefore, it can be stated from here that the
completion of construction projects within the defined duration and given budget is necessary
to ensure that the credibility is built and better projects are developed.
The United Arab Emirates has witnessed numerous construction projects in past few decades
as it is clearly visible the way entire country has developed its infrastructure (Kang and Kim,
2015). Moreover, not only the government, but the private entities have largely invested in
the construction projects around the country. At present, there are hundreds of construction
projects that are on-going and there are many yet to come in existence. In such scenario, it is
important that the variations in construction projects are understood to ensure that the future
or existing projects progress successfully.
Research Problem
The variations in the construction projects are a major challenge for all the construction
activities that are being conducted in the United Arab Emirates. The construction projects

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face challenge in appropriately managing the construction projects and leading the project
activities towards successful completion. The variations in the construction projects have
been considered as the challenge that is being faced by the stakeholders. There are various
studies that have been conducted with reference to the variations in the construction projects
(Lee et al, 2015; Lindhard, 2015; Muhammad et al, 2015). The projects have resulted into
poor quality output, completion of the projects far from their intended duration, and the
excess expenditure of money on the project which is generally beyond the recommendation
of any of the associated stakeholders. In the United Arab Emirates, some of the projects are
still on hold because the duration of the project passed beyond thinking and now require
unprecedented amount of investment which is not acceptable to any of the stakeholders.
One of the major reasons behind the increased investment in the construction projects from
the one estimated is the continuously changing economic situation of the country and the
world (Taroun, 2014). It has been identified that in some cases, the construction projects are
of such a huge duration that the prices of raw materials are witnessed to varying much during
that duration. These fluctuations generally increase the overall cost of investment in the
project from what has been intended. There are multiple studies undertaken to ensure that
causes of variations are understood. However, it can be observed that many of the researches
have been generic and provide limited core understanding of the issue. The lack of specificity
in the causes that are resulting in the research project variations is likely impacting the
decisions that are made the stakeholders that are associated with the construction project
management.
The client of any construction project is an integral part as it is the sole investor in the project
and for whom the other two major stakeholders – consultants and contractors – conduct the
various activities (Walker, 2007). Therefore, it becomes important that the requirements of
the clients are met while attempting to complete the construction project activities. It has

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been identified that the effective coordination among these individuals or entities are
important to ensure that the project completes successfully and within the planned resources.
However, it has been witnessed that the challenge in the project variation occurs when there
is some input from the client when the project is progressing. This creates major challenge in
completing the project within the stipulated time and defined budget. Therefore, it becomes
an important aspect to understand the client causes of variation in construction projects. As
the focus of the current research project is the United Arab Emirates, therefore it is likely that
the client of causes of variations will be understood from this country’s point of view.
The variation challenges can occur from any side or anywhere, either it can occur due to the
changes in the external environment which might be related to the economic, political,
environmental, societal, technological, or others, or it can be internal to the construction
project that is from the stakeholders (Walker, 2007; Wambeke et al, 2017). The focus of the
current research project is to understand the client causes of variations, therefore limited
focus will be given on the other associated factors that are likely to cause the variations. The
reason is that it is important to understand one important reason for the project variations
appropriately then generalizing the entire research project objectives that is less likely to
yield any fruitful output.
Research Aim
The aim of this research to understand the client causes of variation in the construction
projects in the United Arab Emirates. Understanding the client causes of variation is
important to understand as it is likely to give insight into areas that are leading to the
variation in the construction projects. The client of any construction projects is an integral
part and understanding this aspect is likely to help reduce the magnitude of variations
occurring from this aspect. In general, the clients are found to be suggesting changes when

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the construction projects have taken off or the construction projects are about to complete
(Yan and Chen, 2013). Such changes create issue for the other stakeholders such as the
contractors or the consultants. The issue is associated with the various aspects of the projects
such as required changes in the human resources, extension of the budgets, extension of
timeline, and other such aspects. Therefore, it has been considered to pursue this aim through
this research project.
Research Objectives
Based on the research aim discussed above, there are certain research objectives that have
been considered for this research project. These research objectives are likely to act as guide
in completing this research paper. Given below are the research objectives devised for this
research paper:
1. The first research objective is to understand the main reasons or the causes that are leading
to the variations in the construction projects, with the particular focus on the client causes of
variations and the civil engineering projects.
2. The second research objective is to understand the factors that are mostly impacting or
prevalent in the occurrences of variations in the construction projects.
3. The third research objective is to understand the impact of the variation causes on the civil
construction projects in the United Arab Emirates.
4. The fourth research objective is to identify the strategies that might be adopted so that the
variations in the civil construction projects can be reduced. The focus is on the reduction and
not on the complete the elimination as the client causes of variations is not the only factor
impacting the uncalled for changes.

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Research Scope
The scope of the research in focused on understanding the premise that has been considered
while moving ahead with this research project. The aspects that are outside the defined
premise, despite their indirect relationship with this research paper, have not been considering
the available duration and budget of this project. The scope is oriented towards keeping the
research paper feasible enough for conduction. Given below are some of the research scopes
that have been developed for this research project:
1. The first scope is to understand past researches that have been conducted in association
with the research topic under consideration in this paper. This will be conducted to
understand what has been identified by the previous researchers and only those papers have
been picked that are likely to aide in the achievement of the research aims and objectives.
2. The second research scope is to understand the methodology that is to be adopted in
conduction of this research. There are multitudes of methodologies that can be adopted for
particular research and selection of suitable ones is important.
3. The third research scope is to understand the individuals who will be selected for the
conduction of this research. The respondents are likely to be from the United Arab Emirates
and further understanding of them will dealt with latter.
4. The fourth research scope is to understand the statistical tools that will be applicable on the
research data that are likely to be collected during the research process.
5. The fifth research scope is to understand the way data will be analysed and suitable
conclusions will be reached that are likely to be of benefit to the individuals or entities that
are active in the construction industry in the United Arab Emirates.

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6. The sixth research scope is to recommend strategies or ways that can be implemented to
improve the issues associated with the variations in the civil construction projects in the
United Arab Emirates.
Research Questions
The research questions that have been identified for this research paper is likely to keep the
researcher on track to achieve the research aim. The research questions are likely to be
answered by the end of this research through the processes to be discussed in the
methodology section. There is high possibility that some of the answers to some of the
research questions might be achieved during the conduction of detailed literature review.
Given below are the research questions that have been developed for this research paper
1. What are the main reasons or the causes that are leading to the variations in the
construction projects? What are the client causes of variations in the civil construction
projects in the United Arab Emirates?
2. What are the factors that are mostly impacting or prevalent in the occurrences of
variations in the construction projects?
3. What is the impact of the variation causes on the civil construction projects in the
United Arab Emirates?
4. What are the strategies or ways that might be adopted so that the variations in the civil
construction projects can be reduced?
These research questions will be the focus of this research paper. The research questions will
be answered by the end of this research in the conclusion section.
Summary
The consideration of client causes of variation in the construction projects in the United Arab
Emirates is important to understand as the variations in the construction projects have

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become a challenging aspect within the construction projects to be managed. The
stakeholders associated with any kind of construction projects are finding it challenging to
ensure that the variations do not occur. The variations in the construction projects are
impacting the timeline of the projects and budgets that are predefined for the projects. The
unnecessary delays in the budget and timeline also lead to loss in credibility and bad
relationship among individuals and entities. The United Arab Emirates has numerous on-
going construction projects that require adequate understanding of the variations that take
place. These construction projects are either government financed or of private companies.
Though the major focus of this paper is to understand the variations in terms of civil
construction projects, it is most likely that the private construction projects will be equally
benefitted from this research assessment.
The second chapter of this research paper is focused towards assessment of various research
papers and books developed by researchers and academicians that address the variations in
the construction projects. This chapter conducts the literature review of the past researches
that are directly or indirectly associated with the current research topic. The purpose of this
chapter would be to identify the variables of variations along with the development of
suitable framework. The third chapter of this research paper is focused towards understanding
the research methodology that has been considered for the conduction of this research. This
chapter is followed by the results and analysis chapter that details on the analysis of the data
collected from the respondents. The chapter on recommendation details on the ways or the
strategies that should be adopted to counter the client causes of variations identified in the
results and analysis section. The final chapter gives conclusive remarks on the entire research
study with the answers to the research questions identified earlier.