Construction projects across the Middle East are becoming larger, more ambitious, and more complex year by year, while tolerance for cost overruns and delivery risk diminishes. Recent Ipsos research, published in Versatile International’s Construction Pulse whitepaper, shows that rising costs and increasing project complexity are now some of the most significant challenges facing developers across the UAE and Saudi Arabia, cited by more than half of industry professionals surveyed. As developers redefine success, it becomes clear that speed and scale are no longer differentiators. True achievement lies in the ability to convert vision into reality, one way to do this is through optimized supply chain management, by controlling risk, cost, and long-term asset performance.
In our work across destination-scale developments, one pattern has become clear: the developers gaining ground today are those engaging specialist expertise early in the project lifecycle to prevent common pitfalls. Through our unique business model, we call it ‘getting it right from the start’.
This shift is particularly evident in projects that rely heavily on natural stone. Across the Middle East, stone remains a defining material for large-scale developments, with the Middle East Natural Stone Market valued at USD 7 billion and expected to reach USD 10 billion, growing at a CAGR of around 9.4% from 2025 to 2031. Its appeal lies in its sustainability, authenticity, diversity and longevity but stone is also a highly variable natural material. When critical decisions around material selection, sourcing, volume planning, and installation methodology are made too late, that variability can have significant consequences. 30 percent of construction work is rework, driven by factors such as materials being unfit for purpose, insufficient volumes arriving on time, installation errors, and poor coordination across contractors. At scale, these issues can translate into significant programme disruptions, cost overruns, and compromised asset quality.
To address this, developers are moving away from traditional procurement models that push risk down the value chain and instead prioritising early technical expertise. Defining feasibility and quality parameters upfront creates alignment across designers, contractors, and suppliers before construction begins, reducing downstream risk and protecting outcomes.
This is why specialist consultancies are increasingly embedded as integrated members of asset development teams. Engaged by the developer rather than suppliers or contractors, these experts remove conflicts of interest, introduce transparency across the supply chain, and apply governance that allows complexity to be managed proactively. At Versatile International, we operate this way, providing stone project management consultancy from early design through to final installation.
For developers navigating increasing complexity, the focus is clear: not to fix problems faster, but to prevent them altogether. ‘Getting it right from the start’ is the path to certainty of outcome.
