Types, causes and effects of variations in residential building projects in the UAE

![CDATA[Variations are expected to occur in any construction project. They are inevitable in nature and result in both positive and negative impacts on a construction project in terms of project’s time, cost and quality. This research aims to identify the types, causes and effects of variations in residential building projects in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) procured through traditional procurement route. Upon identifying the types, causes and effects, this research proposed a model for effective variation management, contributing to successful project delivery. Mixed research approach with closed ended questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data. The sample size was 96 with a response rate of 70% and 5 industry experts were interviewed. Three types of variations are identified namely; unavoidable, avoidable, and beneficial variations. The most common variation type is unavoidable variations. The main source to variations arises due to the practices of Consultants and the most frequent causes are created by the Owner. According to the findings, variations significantly affect the project time frame.]]