Contractors' views of the potential causes of inconsistencies between design and construction in Saudi Arabia

The study identifies the causes of inconsistencies between the design and construction of large building projects. To achieve the study objectives, a questionnaire survey was carried out to collect information on potential causes of inconsistencies at the project design and construction interface. Responses from 27 contractors were analyzed. The results suggest that the involvement of designer as consultant, communication gap between constructor and designer, insufficient working drawing details, lack of coordination between parties, lack of human resources in design firm, lack of designer's knowledge of available materials and equipment, and incomplete plans and specifications were considered as the most important causes of the project design and construction interface inconsistencies. On the other hand, project management as a professional service, weather conditions, nationalities of participants, involvement of the contractor in design conceptual phase, unforeseen problems, involvement of the contractor in design development phase, and government regulations were the least important causes of inconsistencies between professionals at the project design and construction interface in large building projects.