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In view of the above, and considering the giant size of these projects, it is not surprising that the number of claims continues to increase. Construction claims are considered by many project participants to be one of the most disruptive and unpleasant events of a project [1]. According to
Vidogah and Ndekugri [2], however, claims are becoming a way of life and, indeed, an indispensable part of modern contract systems. In UAE, construction claims, normally seen in almost every construction project, are direct results of the ongoing growth in the construction industry in the country. In general, claims are common in construction projects and can happen as a result of several reasons that can contribute to delaying a project and/or increasing its costs. Finishing a project on schedule is a difficult task to accomplish in the uncertain, complex, multiparty, and dynamic environment of construction projects [3]. To enhance the chances of success, contractors submitting claims must closely follow the steps stipulated in the contract conditions, provide a breakdown of alleged additional costs and time, and present sufficient documentation [4]. On the other hand, project owners need to follow an overall comprehensive step-by-step procedure for tracking and managing the claims submitted by contractors [5–7].
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Once a claim has been presented, the owner and contractor can come to an agreement concerning the claim and, thereby, create a change order or a modification, or they may disagree and create a construction contract dispute. Analyzing the various types and causes of claims is an important task to resolving these claims [8,9]. Since project participants are becoming more aware of the high costs and risks associated with claims and their litigation, the construction industry needs to develop methodologies and techniques to reduce or prevent claims. Even though construction claims are frequent and their resolution is difficult, many times legal advice is not sought because it is not available or because it is expensive [10,11].
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Information for 124 claims related to different construction projects in Dubai and Abu Dhabi Emirates in UAE were collected. The data were collected from 71 different entities (29 contractors, 33 consultants, and 9 owners) in the two emirates. Owners and firms were asked to provide information related to types of claims, causes of claims, and frequency of each type and cause by filling a questionnaire, in which they choose one of five possible options for the frequency of each type and cause of claims: (1) never; (2) rare; (3) average; (4) frequent; and (5) very frequent. The data were then analyzed and a detailed analysis of the data is shown in the following section.
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The data received indicated that there are 26 possible causes of claims. Similar to what is explained in the previous subsection for types of claims, firms were asked to choose one of five possible options for the frequency of each cause of claims: never, rare, average, frequent, and very frequent with a weight for each in a scale from 0 to 4. Responses for the frequency of the ‘‘change orders’’ cause of claims, for example, indicated that 4 firms did not respond, 4 responded as ‘‘never’’, 13 responded as ‘‘rare’’, 18 responded as ‘‘average’’, 21 responded as ‘‘frequent’’, and 11 responded as ‘‘very frequent’’. A weighted average was calculated using Eq. (1) for each cause of claims and the importance index percentage was then calculated using Eq. (2), as shown in Table 4. The results of this analysis indicate that ‘‘change orders’’ are the most frequent cause of claims with an importance index of 55% while ‘‘delay caused by owner’’ was ranked second with an importance index of 52.5%. ‘‘Planning errors’’ cause of claims was ranked last with an importance index of 32.7%. The ranks of all causes of claims are listed in Table 4.
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