Proactive prevention of cost disputes in Chinese construction: integrating text mining and social network analysis

The purpose of this paper is to address the prominent cost disputes in the construction industry amid project scale expansion, an industry projected to maintain a 7.4% compound annual growth rate. This empirical study focuses on China, a context with frequent cost disputes, and integrates real-world cases to identify the root causes of such conflicts. The methods adopted involve text mining and social network analysis of cost dispute cases in China from 2014 to 2023, with the aim of uncovering the key contributing factors through comprehensive analysis. The results identify ten key factors leading to construction cost disputes in China. The novel contribution of this paper lies in its focus on actual construction cost dispute cases in China, enabling a deeper understanding of the specific problems and challenges faced by the local construction industry. By identifying these ten key factors, this study contributes to the existing knowledge system and offers practical implications for the industry.