Impact of Sustainable Construction Management on Selected Claims’ Reduction

Abstract

Claims and disputes are practically inevitable in any construction project, and managing them is consequently considered critical in order to ensure a successful project delivery. The construction literature review has extensively explored the diverse types and causes of claims along with corresponding mitigation strategies, however, there has not been any investigation of the impact of adopting sustainable management practices on claims’ reduction. This research develops an adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system model to analyze and determine the optimal combination of sustainable management strategies in reducing three most frequently cited types of claims namely, suspension of work, design error and change in scope, and extension of time claims. For each of the aforementioned types of claims, this study presents an optimal and economically feasible combination of sustainable strategies that have the potential to decrease the frequency of such claims. Research findings showed that hiring an experienced green building certified professional and setting clear sustainability requirements in the early design phase of the project proves to be instrumental in reducing all three types of construction claims.