Learning on rework management of construction projects : a case study

Effective rework management (RM) not only increases profitability but also enhances management competence of contractors. However, little research has been conducted to explore the learning nature of RM from the perspective of contractors. Based on a longitudinal case study of three construction projects, this paper aims to present a holistic analysis on the RM learning process from the experience of a small-to-medium (SM) general contractor (GC) in China to explore the underlying facts determining the effectiveness of RM practices. It was found that a variety of causes led to rework in the three projects, which highlighted the importance to enhance GC's learning capacity to effectively reduce rework. A conceptual RM learning framework (CRMLF), which consists of people, approach, process, tool and project environment, was developed based on the analysis of influential factors of successful learning within the RM domain. This paper is valuable for practitioners and academics to understand the inherent nature of RM to continuously improve the project performance.