Thesis
Adoption of preassembled building services components in Saudi Arabia: consultants' and contractors' influence
- Creator
- Rights statement
- Awarding institution
- University of Strathclyde
- Date of award
- 2019
- Thesis identifier
- T15249
- Person Identifier (Local)
- 201659500
- Qualification Level
- Qualification Name
- Department, School or Faculty
- Abstract
- In general, the applications of preassembled building services components (PBSC) are limited. These applications provide several advantages for stakeholders, including project delivery. Project delivery has been highlighted as a difficulty in project construction within several contexts, including that of Saudi Arabia. Such PBSC are deemed new technologies that require consideration by practitioners and users; therefore, the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) is employed in this research. This study explores consultant and contractor influence on using PBSC in complex office developments within Saudi Arabia. Methodologically, an exploratory mixed-methods approach is employed as a research design. By applying the TPB, this research explores consultant and contractor perceptions, stakeholder influence on the decision (subjective norms (SN)), and the external contextual control on the decision (perceived behavioural control (PBC)). This exploration predicts the behaviour of consultants and contractors regarding using PBSC in complex office developments. Semi-structured interviews (N=15) were developed based on the TPB to explore the context. Then, the transcriptions of these interviews were analysed using grounded theory to build propositions that assisted in constructing a questionnaire instrument. A self-administered survey questionnaire was developed as a primary research method, including a sample of 338 consultants and 323 contractors who were randomly selected (response rate ≈ 38%). Descriptive analysis, ordinal regression, and t-Tests were used for the quantitative data analysis. The results reveal that respondents have a significant intention to use PBSC in complex office development. The majority of these applications include prefabricated vertical and horizontal distribution and terminal unit preassembly. Three case studies were site-visited to confirm the validity of the final adopted model of this research. Consequently, the results reveal that the top three benefits identified are as follows: the quality of the products, the speed of the project, and the reduction in the construction cost. It is worth noting that PBSC applications include certain challenges, such as the reduction of design flexibility, the limitation of making changes onsite, and the need for extra preparatory work. The stakeholder influence on decisions includes those of the client, consultants, and regulators. Moreover, the external contextual behaviour that controls decision-making includes financial support, government regulations, and manufacturing capacity. The reasons that prevent non-practitioners from using PBSC include the increase of the overall project cost, the increase in risk, and the limitation of design flexibility. Consequently, several recommendations are proposed, including the need for further research to assess strategies to promote the adoption of PBSC in complex office developments, as well as the enhancement of the role of subcontractors through these strategies to professionally assist the PBSC marketplace. This study provides client guidance to help practitioners to better understand the key factors that affect consultant and contractor use of PBSC in complex office developments.
- Advisor / supervisor
- Agapiou, Andrew
- Resource Type
- Note
- This thesis was previously held under moratorium from 20th August 2019 until 20th August 2024.
- DOI
- Date Created
- 2019
- Former identifier
- 9912708093502996
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