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The purpose of this paper is to identify the obstacles to the availability of suitable housing units for various socioeconomic segments of society with an emphasis on single-family homes, which is the most preferred housing type in the Saudi society.

To achieve the aim of this paper, the Delphi method was used to explore the experts’ opinions on the most important obstacles.

The findings of the study underline 17 different obstacles affecting the availability of suitable housing units for various segments of the Saudi society. The most critical obstacle is the high cost of land followed by the low income of the families, high cost of construction, high interest rate of mortgages and shortage of suitable residential lands.

The study concludes with a number of proposed recommendations that can contribute to address the current shortage of suitable housing units.

The purpose of this paper is to present an assessment of the challenges to the implementation of building management systems (BMS) in Saudi Arabia, during the life cycle of building projects.

Review of literature and interviews were conducted with professionals to identify and synthesize the challenges to the implementation of BMS in Saudi Arabia. This formed the basis of three questionnaire surveys that were designed utilizing a five-point Likert scale, and consisted of 32 challenges. The surveys were assessed by representatives of architectural/engineering (A/E) firms, BMS installation sub-contractors and facilities managers to calculate the effect index of each challenge.

The top influential challenges pertaining to the briefing and design phase includes “inappropriate selection of the BMS,” “inappropriate selection of the A/E team”; installation and final acceptance phase includes “inappropriate selection of sub-contractors to install the BMS” and “inappropriate selection of the BMS suppliers,” operation and maintenance phase includes “inadequate initial training for the BMS facility personnel,” “poor operation and maintenance activities.”

The paper is of practical benefit to stakeholders in the building industry, as it allows for the development of an effective BMS implementation plan.

The study increases the level of awareness in the building industry about the challenges that influence the implementation of BMS.

The purpose of this study is to identify the preferred characteristics of buyers of single-family homes in Saudi Arabia with an emphasis on the city of Dammam.

Data were collected using face-to-face structured interviews conducted from November 2016 to May 2017 with 177 owners of single-family homes that were purchased between 2010 and the first quarter of 2017.

The findings indicate that homes can be divided into three types: villas, detached duplexes and semi-detached duplexes. Also, more than three-quarters of the respondents purchased their homes through mortgages from either lenders or the government. It seems we find that the advantages of the detached duplex, particularly its privacy level, over other types of single-family homes induce homebuyers to choose this home type.

In this study, the authors analyze housing preferences among various segments of the Saudi society, in the city of Dammam, to understand the housing supply in Saudi Arabia. Only a few studies have investigated the preferences of homebuyers in Saudi Arabia. Below the authors provide a literature review, discuss data and methods and results, as well as provide concluding remarks.