Case-based insights to the rework costs of residential buildings - A China perspective

Rework is a pervasive problem worldwide and a major cause to the increase in the cost of residential buildings. The pursual for cost reduction of building construction projects requires careful study on rework and rework cost. Based on the details of six residential buildings in China, this paper presents insights to the rework costs within the Chinese construction context. The analysis result reveals that average rework cost for building projects is about 4.95% of the total project cost. The top three factors contributing to rework cost are contractor field management, design management and client management. And the top three sub-causes are poor communication between client and project users, overdesigned assignment and limited time leading to design weakness or mistakes, and erroneous order. It has been further found that the main liability bearers (client, contractor and designer) for rework costs do not commit corresponding responsibility. These findings lead to a proposal of initiative rework approach for reducing overall rework cost and increasing project value at the same time. This paper provides valuable reference to help project managers understand the major rework causes and adopt proper measures to improve rework management performance in implementing residential buildings. Other building industries can also learn from these findings in controlling rework costs and adopt initiative rework approach for increasing project value under specific circumstances.