The Impact of Client Involvement on Project Performance: Case of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The construction sector in Saudi Arabia is the largest and fastest growing market in the Gulf region. This strong economic position has encouraged the Saudi Government to take the opportunity to implement spending and launch many construction projects. However, a United Nations Development Programme Report indicated that Saudi Arabia was not progressing well in implementing effective management and achieving good organisational performance. This was clearly demonstrated by the number of projects suffering delay, which increased from 700 projects in 2009 to 3000 projects in 2013. The lack of client involvement in the construction of public projects has been identified as the main cause of many operational problems such as cost and time overruns, disputes, errors, uncertainties in plans and specifications, and increased maintenance costs. This paper investigates client's involvement in construction project delivery and its impact to project performances. A questionnaire survey was distributed to various government agencies of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Descriptive statistical analyses were used to assess the current practices of clients' involvement and its impact to project performances. The relatively low client involvement has a negative impact on the projects' ultimate outcomes. This condition has negatively affected the time completion of construction projects in Saudi. It was also indicated as the main cause of quality problems in Saudi's construction project.