The relationship between the designer and contractor in Saudi Arabia

The relationship between the designer and the contractor in the Saudi Arabian construction industry has always been poor due to the application of the traditional method of procurement that separates between the design and construction phases. The thesis analyses the efficiency of the industry under the application of this method and its effect on the people that are involved in it. The thesis in Chapter 1 defines the problem through the study of the UK and USA construction industries and comparing them to the Saudi Arabian construction industry. The thesis in Chapter 2 studies the general economic conditions that have led to the domination of the Lump Sum method of contracting. Chapters 4, 5 and 6 analyse the efficiency of the design phase, construction phase and the design / construction Interface through obtaining and studying the attitudes of the design firms and contracting firms that are involved in the Saudi Arabian construction industry. Chapter 7 confirms the application of other procurement systems in spite of the domination of the Lump Sum system in Saudi Arabia based on the experience of the design firms that are involved. A series of cases are studied in Chapter 8 and resulted in showing that the Professional Construction Management contract type has to be applied in Saudi Arabia to improve the efficiency of the construction industry. Finally, the thesis concludes in Chapter 9 with a suggested method for implementing PCM in Saudi Arabia in a way that satisfies clients, designers and contractors.