Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs Habib Zein Al-Abideen said contractors need to take responsibility for delays in construction projects, which increase overhead costs and give rise to other conflicts. Speaking to Saudi Gazette on the sidelines of a three-day forum titled “The Management of Delayed Engineering Projects” held under the patronage of Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah region, the minister said there is a need to train Saudi engineering and consulting firms so they can meet the expectations of the market. Citing the successful model used in Makkah, the site of numerous mega engineering projects, in which a delay in a project can be grounds to hire a new firm at the expense of the original contractor, Zein Al-Abideen said delays in construction projects in Makkah are nonexistent. “There is no room for delays in Makkah. We do not let it happen. The threat of bringing in another contractor to finish the job has proved to be more effective than the 10 percent penalty these contractors are usually asked to pay if the project is delayed. Most contractors apply for projects while keeping in mind that they may have to pay a 10 percent penalty however, paying another contractor significantly cuts into their profits.” Dr. Hamid Harasani, a member of a contractors committee at the Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a member of the National Committee for Contractors at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, recently did a study on delayed projects and said in order to insure timely completion, big projects should be awarded to several contractors. Bassam Ghulman, head of the scientific committee of the forum and the vice dean for academic affairs at Umm Al-Qura University, said the main cause of all construction delays is due to the inability of contractors to handle the grand scale of some of the Kingdom's projects. Speaking on the lack of participation of women engineers in the forum, Ghulman said the Saudi Society for Civil Engineering had made it easy for women to register for the event yet none attended. “In order to encourage participation, we offered women free membership but we still didn't get a single application. “That is why we asked the Saudi Council of Engineers to send invitation letters on our behalf. I hope any engineers reading this will show more interest and attend future events.” __
