A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats, Ignoring Risks Can Sink Them: The Peril of Rework in Large-Scale Transport Projects

Rework can be a significant and costly problem during the construction of large-scale transport (>$500 million) projects. There is, however, limited understanding and knowledge about the underlying dynamics and causal mechanisms of rework. Both the public and private sector organisations tend to ignore the costs of rework and thus have been unable to contain and manage its risks. This article takes a look at the wicked and inter-organizational problem of rework and invites the public and private sectors to work in unison to thwart this risk. The paper makes a twofold contribution: (1) it calls on the public and private sectors to consider the likelihood of rework as a part of their risk management strategy; and (2) suggests that there is need use a smart data approach to ‘anticipate what might go’ wrong in terms of rework so as to deliver large-scale transport projects successfully.