Time of Involvement and Dispute Occurrence in Public Highway Projects

Disputes are common in the construction industry and lead to unnecessary costs and schedule overruns in projects. While many believe that project stakeholders' early involvement in projects impact performance metrics such as the frequency and severity of disputes over a project, no previous study has empirically tested this hypothesis. Therefore, this study empirically tested the following two null hypotheses as they relate to public highway projects: (1) project stakeholders' time-of-involvement in the pre-design, conceptual design, schematic design, design development, construction document, and bidding phases do not yield significant differences in project performance metrics; and (2) there are no significant differences in project performance metrics between projects that feature project stakeholders' involvement before the project bidding and those that involve project stakeholders after bidding. To test these hypotheses, this study developed and distributed a survey instrument to procurement personnel in state departments of transportation (DOTs) across the United States. Data on 60 projects from 22 DOTs were received. The data obtained were analyzed to find any statistically significant difference between dispute frequency and severity, relevant performance metrics, and the time-of-involvement of project stakeholders (such as contractors and subcontractors). The general trend in most project dispute performance metrics indicated that as the time-of-involvement moved from the pre-design to the bidding phase, the frequency and severity of disputes increased. While the differences between construction satisfaction and overall success were minor, projects in which stakeholders were involved earlier in the project had lower schedule and cost growth and significantly different design satisfaction level. The findings of this study contribute to theory by expanding knowledge about the role of early involvement of contractors and subcontractors on projects' performance. Concurrently, the results provide empirical evidence for decision makers in DOTs to make better-informed decisions regarding the selection of projects' organization.