Preventing Coordination Problems during the Design Stage of Projects
Abstract
The design stage of construction projects is considered one of the most fragmented stages in the life cycle of a project since it involves many participants and several geographic locations. Considering the giant size of the construction industry in the United Arab Emirates and the complexity of construction projects, it is hardly surprising that there are also coordination problems during the design process. Coordination problems, normally seen in the contract documents of almost every project, are direct results of the ongoing growth in the construction industry in the country. Decisions during the design stage have an extensive impact on all succeeding stages. Producing a quality design is highly dependent upon effective coordination among the diverse teams in the process. As a step towards effective design coordination, this paper investigates the manner by which expert designers prevent mistakes, detect mismatches, and communicate changes during the design stage. A questionnaire survey was conducted among design firms in the United Arab Emirates to collect information about the current coordination practice used during the design stage. Causes and frequency of coordination problems along with recommendations on solutions to these problems have been presented and areas of potential improvement have been identified. Based on the results of the survey, the study then suggested a coordination management scheme that can be used as a general guide to improve coordination during the design stage. Common interrelationships within the design development have also been explicated.
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Introduction
Infrastructure development in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at federal and local levels has been phenomenal in view of the relatively short period since the country’s establishment. Modern cities have risen from the barren desert, connected by a vast network of first-class roads and linked to the outside world by modern airports and ports. Houses, schools, hospitals, shopping centers, telecommunications, electricity and water, luxury hotels and recreational facilities have all been provided for the people in a remarkably short space of time. The government of the UAE is constructing new infrastructure projects, office buildings, and residential accommodations. In view of the above, the construction industry is considered the UAE's largest single industry. Yet, it is also the most fragmented. Unlike the manufacturing industries, the construction pie is shared by many contractors and sub-contractors. Considering the giant size of the industry and the complexity of construction projects, it is hardly surprising that there are also coordination problems during the design process. Coordination problems, normally seen in the contract documents of almost every project, are direct results of the ongoing growth in the construction industry in the country and in Dubai and Abu Dhabi Emirates in particular. Bad coordination during the design process results in bad-quality tender documents.
Construction projects are becoming much more complex and difficult to manage. One complexity is the reciprocal interdependencies between different stakeholders, including those who are involved during the design stage [1, 2]. Considering this complexity, the quality of design has, undoubtedly, an extensive impact on all subsequent stages of a project’s life cycle. Producing a quality design is highly dependent upon effective coordination among many teams, including architectural, structural, electrical, and mechanical. At present, however, coordination relies primarily on manual methods of crosschecking and frequent exchange of drawings and documents [3]. Such practice has thus been characterized as slow, costly, and ineffective [3-5]. In addition, most studies have confirmed the positive relationships between improved coordination and saving in project costs and time, as well as better safety and quality performance [6-10]. Currently, design offices are suffering from the lack of coordination among the different documents and the absence of effective guidelines and mechanism to solve such a serious and complicated problem. Examples of design coordination problems include contradictions, mismatches, errors, and discrepancies in drawings. This results in problems during constructions where late changes may be needed to correct coordination errors and mismatches.
Conclusion
This study identified design coordination as an independent program that needs to be strengthened within design firms. As a step towards enhancing the design coordination process, a questionnaire survey was conducted among 49 design firms in the United Arab Emirates and 74 responses were received. The survey elicited current practice related to design coordination at the inter-team level and the interdisciplinary level as well. Based on the survey responses, design coordination-related problems were identified along with the causes and frequency of these problems. Suggested solutions were presented along with expert rules-of-thumb used by practitioners to prevent mistakes, detect mismatches, and effectively communicate design changes. This study can be used to identify several common coordination-related problem areas in the design process in UAE with an effective and low cost manner. One of the common problem areas is the “information not distributed” team coordination problem which, according to this study, was the most frequent problem and needs special consideration. “Last minute client changes” problem came second and “designers leaving project” was ranked last. It can also be concluded that “delay in obtaining information” is the most frequent multi-team coordination problem while “there will be, at times, all sorts of problems” was ranked last, indicating that it is the least frequent multi-team coordination problem.
Based on the survey findings, four main areas of potential improvement to the multidisciplinary design process were identified for future research: 1) full use of Internet technology as a low cost tool for effective communication among remote experts; 2) the use of process analysis techniques to model the flow of design information, identify conflict areas, and resolve coordination problems; and 3) better organization and documentation of electronic filing systems that enable a practical and cost-effective shift from the prevailing paper-based procedures; and 4) the use of “Building Information Modeling (BIM)” software to simulate the construction of a project to improve coordination and detect conflicts. Perceived benefits are improved design consistency, increased productivity, cost savings, and better constructability of projects.