Proposed Alternative Delivery System to Current Governmental Housing Program in Kuwait

Abstract

This paper presents an alternative project delivery system where there is a need for mass production of housing units while, at the same time, allowing recipients to finish the units in their own way to avoid the problem of them redoing the work if the units are not what they really need. Large numbers of the recipients of governmental houses in Kuwait tend to remodel their newly-awarded houses to fit their needs. When carried out on a large scale, this represents a waste of resources on public funding and imposes costs on the occupants of the government housing units. As a result, this paper suggests that the National Housing Authority (NHA) in Kuwait should consider delivering a “partially constructed houses system” to avoid the substantial rebuilding activities carried out by a large number of occupants. This study documents the effect of the partially constructed housing approach on reducing the waiting period and cost of construction, and on meeting recipients’ expectations. In addition, the study recommends different alternative options for when construction should be stopped by the NHA and then continued by the recipients to complete the houses to their own satisfaction.