Owner involvement in project quality

The paper discusses the relationship between owner involvement in public construction projects and the level of project quality. North American experiences are summarized first, and then a case study from Saudi Arabia is presented. Owner involvement was measured by asking the government agencies concerned about their level of involvement in several tasks during the construction stages. Project quality was measured by determining to what degree the implementation of the project conformed with the project terms and specifications, the work schedule, the contract price, aesthetics, satisfactory operation, and overall satisfaction. The data was analysed statistically, and the important tasks that had a high correlation with project quality were determined. The highly correlated tasks were found to include the following: involving the owner in preliminary studies, studying users' requirements, reviewing documents submitted by contractors, and clarifying ambiguities in contract documents.