The Impact of Construction Dispute on Projects in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa

Abstract

Construction disputes have a greater effects on the construction industry as opposed to other industries. Especially negative effects are prevalent on the project participants which lead to poor execution of the project. The study investigated the impact of disputes in construction projects in the Mpumalanga Province. The data used in this paper were derived from both primary and secondary sources. The secondary data was collected via a detailed review of related literature. The primary data was collected through a survey questionnaire which was distributed to project participants. Out of the 90 questionnaires sent out, 80 were received back representing 89% response rate. Data received from the questionnaires were analysed using descriptive statistics procedures such as Ms Excel and SPSS software. Findings from the study revealed that; bad relationship between parties, loss of productivity, cost and time overruns, loss of company reputation, loss of professional reputation delayed payment and rework were the main effects of construction disputes in construction projects. Therefore, construction dispute have an effect on most of the project participants which may lead to poor execution, reduced profit margins and budget escalation. Hence Dispute must be resolved as soon as possible to avoid mostly all the effect they have on projects and stakeholders. Furthermore, risk have been identified to be associated with construction dispute, if risk are well managed the occurrence of construction dispute will be reduced. © 2019 The Authors. Published by Budapest University of Technology and Economics & Diamond Congress Ltd. Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Creative Construction Conference 2019.