A causal path model to measure the effects of professional training upon time overruns in Saudi construction industry

Time overruns are a major issue affecting the construction industry today. The delay in project completion consequently increases the overall cost of the project. Researchers have identified a number of cases of time overruns in construction projects; lack of professional training is one of them. This research studies the effects of professional training upon time overruns in Saudi construction projects. The research explores the nature of the problem in depth and examines the organisation structure of Saudi Construction Industry, emphasising the role of client's representative in the construction process. The responsibilities of the client's representative are then cross-examined with the causes of time overruns through a number of case studies. After conducting exploratory research, it was hypothesised that a lack of professional training is one of the key causes of time delays in Saudi construction projects. Using causal path techniques developed by Wright, a model is developed to measure the effects of professional training of client's representatives upon time overruns in Saudi construction projects. The results of path analysis show that the professional training of client's representatives has an inversely proportional relationship with time overruns in Saudi construction projects. The effects of professional training upon time overruns are measured to be -24.76 percent against each unit (of professional training). Thus for each unit increase in the level of professional training of client's representatives a 24.76 percent reduction in the extent of any time delay must be expected subject to the limitations associated with the model. The exploratory work carried out in this research suggests that, subject to the inherent limitations of the path analysis and known weakness in model formulation, an investment of an extra 284 to 326 training hours may be expected to produce the affect of a single unit training level, provided all other things remain equal. As a possible solution to the problem, the study presents a short term (for the client representatives), and an integrated national training program to improve the performance of Saudi Construction Industry.