Consequences of construction conflict: A Hong Kong perspective

Abstract

While conflict is inevitable on construction projects, it is necessary for management to differentiate destructive from constructive conflict, and to anticipate and minimize the former, while carefully controlling the latter. Unresolved construction claims are found to be a major source of destructive disputes. A literature survey of common categories and causes of claims in other contractual regimes is supplemented by the results from an opinion survey of 88 respondents from the Hong Kong industry. A further focus on the more frequently occurring and higher-value claims categories is suggested, and facilitated by the identification of such significant categories through an analysis of the data collected from 61 construction projects in Hong Kong. The identification of such significant categories and common causes of claims is presented as the first phase of a strategy to address the root causes of avoidable claims and to minimize the adverse consequences of destructive conflict.