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Abstract

Coping with the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, Saudi Arabian construction sector has witnessed a major qualitative leap in recent decades, and is considered one of the highest performer in the construction markets in the Middle East with a value of about $37 Billion. Despite the numerous efforts made by the project authorities in the Kingdom to support this sector to finalize construction projects in accordance with the approved scope, budget, and time schedule, and to avoid the causes of delay or stumbling, the reality of construction projects in The Kingdom shows that the rate of delayed and stumbled projects is high, which necessarily means that a percentage of such projects suffer from contractual disputes. The literature review revealed a limited application of smart technologies in construction Management and in dispute resolution, and a gap of the studies related to documenting the reality of dispute resolution of such delayed projects, which represents the problem and incentive of this study, which aims to participate in bridging this gap by shedding light on the trends and challenges of smart technologies that could support dispute resolution activities in construction projects and to survey the reality of its application in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. To achieve this goal, the study adopted the descriptive approach in two parts: the first, depended on a literature review to explore, study and analyse the trends and challenges of the smart technologies related to dispute resolution, while a filed survey was done to document the reality of the availability and application of these technologies. Four trends of smart technologies to support contractual dispute resolution in construction projects and three of its related challenges were concluded. The reality of its availability, application and relative importance were explored in the field survey. The study results and conclusions are expected to contribute in reducing the rate of contractual disputes in construction projects, encouraging future research in this direction. Moreover, it is considered as one of the initiatives to achieve the goals of the digital transformation program for the Kingdom's Vision 2030.

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