4.3.1. Reliability of Factor Analysis

It was calculated for the nine groups and the overall factors, as shown in Table 3. The results of Cronbach's alpha were all more than 0.8, thus indicating an acceptable level of reliability was achieved, as shown in Table 5.

#### 4.3.2. Agreement Analysis

As shown in Table 6, the results indicate positive agreement between the pairs of parties, with the highest level being between the client and consultant, at 82.8%, and 73.8% agreement between the consultant and contractor, and then 64.1% agreement between the client and contractor. The lowest degree of agreement appears to between client and contractor (43.3% with impact on project cost overruns and 34.1% with risk importance of cost overrun). The overall agreements between the parties in ranking the risk factors and other major findings in this study can be used for further research and analysis.


**Table 5.** Reliability analysis (Cronbach's alpha) for the risk factors.

**Table 6.** Spearman's rank correlation coefficient between parties \*\*.


\*\* Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Regarding the level of agreement amongst the different stakeholders, it is evident from Table 6 that client–consultant had the highest, while client–contractor had average levels of agreement, thus indicating the major issues relating to the clients–contractors' relationships and transactions. The low probability in client and contractor relationship can be understood in different perspectives and interests. The relationship between client and contractor can be influenced by various factors. For instance, commitments from the contractors and competence trust of the clients are very volatile, which can significantly affect the relationship between them [82]. While time, cost, and quality were considered as important client values, they were not considered as exclusive values for assessing contractors service, indicating the differences in the values, attitudes of both parties, and the relationships between them [83]. The major issues identified in this study and previous ones [68,76,77] have revealed that the majority of the risk factors of high priority pertain to client–contractor relationships. Hence, it can be concluded that the companies and consultants in Saudi Arabian construction industry should focus on improving the client/contractors' relationships, the tendering process, project planning and execution, and financing.

#### **5. Conclusions**

The construction industry in Saudi Arabia has suffered from completion delays and cost overruns, which have caused financial losses for all parties involved in such a competitive environment. The survey results revealed the seven risk factors that were the most significant risk factors contributing to the completion delays of building construction projects out of the eighty-three risk factors identified from literature review. These risk factors included contractors' financial difficulties, owners' delay in making progress payments for completed works, contracts awarded to the lowest bidder, change orders during construction, ineffective project planning and scheduling by contractor, shortage of manpower, and contractors' poor site management and supervision. Additionally, changing orders during construction and contracts awarded to the lowest bidder were the most significant risks that caused projects cost overrun, which were client-related risks. It revealed four risk groups as the most significant: client-related risks, contractor-related risks, labour-related risks, and design-related risks. Each group was found to have a notable impact on both cost and time overruns. The statistical analyses revealed an acceptable level of reliability of the identified risk factors and a positive agreement between the clients, consultants, and contractors.

The findings have revealed issues in the client/contractor relationship and tender allocation process, which may help industry experts and government agencies in future plans to mitigate the risks identified in this study. Furthermore, with uncertainty continuing due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the opening of the markets, future studies could focus on investigating the force majeure risks and the impact these have on the relationships between the stakeholders and supply chain systems in the Saudi Arabian construction industry. To achieve sustainable development, client-, contractor-, and labour-related risks must be effectively managed.

The novelty of contributions in this study can be reflected in the findings achieved in specific to government funded building construction projects in Saudi Arabia, which previous studies have not focused, although the difference in the risk factors with project types were highlighted in previous studies. Furthermore, the findings of this study are novel, due to the situations created by external factors such as COVID-19 pandemic, which has greatly affected resource management and continuity in construction. However, there are certain limitations that can be observed in this study. This study adapted snowball sampling methods and only considered government-funded building construction projects through SPWC processes, while there are also other project types. These limitations can be addressed in future research works. Future research can focus on another project types in the context of Saudi Arabia, such as roads, industrial projects, etc. However, various implications can be drawn from the findings in this study. Firstly, the results from this study aids decision makers to better understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the construction industry, based on which necessary policy-related decisions may be taken to strengthen the construction industry and better implement vision 2030 objectives. Secondly, the findings in this study contribute to the literature on the risk factors by project types, as this study focused only on government-aided building construction projects.

**Author Contributions:** S.A. was the primary researcher responsible for the designing the study and conducting the majority of the work. K.A.-G. was the principal supervisor who contributed to the research design and revised the paper on several occasions. A.A. contributed by revising the overall structure and content of the survey. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR), King Saud University (KSU).

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

**Acknowledgments:** The author would like to thank the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR), King Saud University (KSU), for supporting and funding this research.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.


**Table A1.** List of major risk factors identified from the literature review.




17

18

19

20

 G2R4

 Inaccurately estimated quantities (BOQ)

 G2R3

 Mistakes and deficiencies in design documents

 G2R2

 G2R1

quantities (BOQ)

Discrepancies

specifications,

 and drawings)

 between project documents (contract, BOQ,

0.724

0.647

 0.651

 0.680

 26 0.695

 51 0.764

 5 0.472

 40 0.519

 13 0.519

 28

 40 0.742

 33 0.727

 18 0.483

 34 0.473

 26 0.483

 38

 41 0.749

 31 0.738

 12 0.485

 32 0.478

 23 0.485

 36

 13 0.804

 12

4

11

5 0.582

 11





#### *Buildings* **2022** , *12*, 902

**Table A3.** Risk Importance

 (RI) for risk factors of building construction

 projects and ranking, according to the perspective

 of the three groups




