Approach of standard design models in the Saudi Ministry of Interior projects

Construction is one of the major industrial sectors of the Saudi Arabian economy, accounting for 6.6 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2004. There has been a steady and rapid increase in both number and size of building construction projects during the past decade. However, there have been concerns regarding achievement of high performance and value for money from these projects. The Saudi Ministry of Interior (SMOI) is responsible for providing security for the lives and properties of the citizens. The Ministry has a 20-year strategic budget of £4,515,738,575 for constructing buildings such as police stations, civil defence, hospitals, etc. In order to improve projects performance, the SMOI has recently adopted the use of Standard Design Models (SDMs) which have the same specifications, materials and quality requirements. However, many of the projects currently under construction still suffer a range of performance failures such as, completion delays, breakdown of execution and dissatisfied clients. This paper summarises the initial findings of research that sets out to develop a dynamic framework for improving the performance of the SMOI’s SDM-based projects. The paper discusses the experience of SMOI in adopting SDMs, explores the process used to produce such models and the expected benefits of using these models. The main conclusion suggests that the SDMs used by the SMOI indeed have tangible benefits that are leading to improved project performance in the construction industry.