Impact of Rework in Construction Cost

Course Summary:

This is a brief course on the impacts of rework in construction cost performance.

Construction projects often experience cost and schedule overruns and rework is a significant factor that directly contributes to these overruns. Research by the Construction Industry Institute (CII) reveals that direct costs caused by rework average 5% of total construction costs (CII 2005). Considering that the U.S. construction industry expended $1,502 billion in 2004 for total installed costs (Bureau of Economic Analysis 2006), almost $75 billion was wasted on direct costs caused by rework in that year alone. Therefore, rework must be considered a significant factor affecting cost performance in the construction industry.

Learning Objective:

Rework continues to affect both cost and schedule performance throughout the construction industry. The direct costs alone often tally to 5% of the total construction costs. Using the data obtained from 359 construction projects in the Construction Industry Institute database, this paper assesses the impacts of rework on construction cost performance for projects in various categories. In addition, it identifies the sources of this rework, permitting further analyses and the development of rework reduction initiatives. The results of this study establish that the impacts of rework differ according to project characteristics and that the sources of rework having the greatest impact are not significantly different among project categories. By recognizing the impacts of rework and its sources, the construction industry can reduce rework and ultimately improve project cost performance.

By the end of the course the participant should be able to understand how rework impacts the construction cost, performance, what is total field rework factor, conclusions and recommendations.

Review the quiz before studying the course.

Course Content

Course Author: Franco F. Davati, P.E.