Factors Affecting Design Documents Quality And Their Impact on The Construction Industry in Gaza Strip: (Contractors' Perspective)

Evidence of a continuing decline in the quality of project documentation in the building and construction industry has been documented over the past years. It is acknowledges that design deficiencies is the most important risk for the success of a project, therefore paying attention to the quality of its design documents is a fundamental issue. The aim of this paper is to identify and rank the main factors affecting design documents quality and their impact in Gaza Strip construction industry. A questionnaire surveys was conducted to elicit contractors view regarding the importance of factors affecting design documents quality and their degree of severity in the construction industry. The study revealed that the problems of defective designs caused delay and cost overrun in projects. The design documents quality are influenced by several factors related to both consultants and owners. The most severe and occurred factors are those which were related to owners. The factors affecting the design documents quality in Gaza strip industry include last minute design changes by owner, inadequate detailing and non-clarity of design documents. In order to minimize the influences and occurrences of these factors, design time should be realistic and sufficient, effective coordination between project parties is required. Consultants should review design documents very carefully. Training programs should be organized for contractors’ staff by contracting association concerning design documents quality