Purpose The study aimed to identify and assess cost-related compensation events from the perspective of consultants, clients, and contractors. It measured the views of the tripartite on cost compensation events encountered during construction works and its subsequent effect on their project delivery. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative research approach was utilised, employing purposive sampling to select respondents. Twenty-five compensation events were identified in the literature, enumerated, and rigorously tested. The events were prioritised based on their significance, using the relative importance index. Factor analysis was employed to identify the common underlying factors among the variables. Findings The identified compensation events include inexperience, insufficient communication, and clients lacking a technical background. These are considered the most significant. The key common factors of compensation events discovered in the reduction study were Cost-Benefit to Stakeholders, Additional Works, and Technical Errors. Originality/value This paper makes a unique contribution to construction management literature by presenting an empirical and context-specific analysis of the impact of cost compensation events on overall project delivery costs. The study also provides significant insights for project stakeholders by emphasising the importance of proactive cost event identification, prompt notification, and comprehensive documentation in alleviating cost shocks.
Ako-Adjei et al. (Fri,) studied this question.