Failure factors of Makkah’s mega construction projects: qualitative study

Abstract

Makkah city in Saudi Arabia is the holiest place for all Muslims across the world due to the presence of Masjid Al-Haram where the “KAABA” is located. In the holy city of Makkah, mega construction projects are currently under construction to accommodate the increased numbers of pilgrims. These mega projects faced many impediments and challenges to be completed successfully. Hence, this paper presents an investigative study on failure factors of mega Makkah construction projects, particularly from the site management viewpoint. The insight issues are based on interview with senior manager having 15 years of working experiences in handling mega construction projects. The interview was carried out on open-ended mode where ample time was given to the respondent to express his experienced in handling Saudi’s construction projects. This study uncovered that 50 % of project failure is due to contractor, 30% is due to client/PMC (Project Management Consultant), 15% is due to supervision consultant and 5% is due external factors. It also identified 58 failure factors and clustered in 4 groups in which the group are Client Instigated Factors with 17 failure factors, Contractor Instigated Factors with 27 failure factors, Consultant Instigated Factors with 10 failure factors and External Instigated Factors with 4 failure factors. The findings are helpful for construction community as well as to researchers to understand the insightful issues engulfing construction projects in Makkah city.