Effect of procurement systems on the performance of construction projects

Abstract

Project procurement has been described as an organized methods or process and procedure for clients to obtain or acquire construction products. Apart from the traditional approach, there are now other “fast-tracking” or innovative procurement systems used by the construction industry world wide. The different procurement systems differ from each other in term of allocation of responsibilities, activities sequencing, process and procedure and organizational approach in project delivery. These differences have invariably affected the project performance. Project performance has been defined as “the degree of achievement of certain effort or undertaking” which relates to the prescribed goals or objectives that form the project parameters. There are many other elements that determine project success, but the focus of this paper is on the three critical parameters or project performance i.e. time, cost and quality. The aim of this paper is to look into the effect of the different procurement systems on the project performance. Since there are many different project procurement systems, it is appropriate for the purpose of this presentation to limit to the common ones i.e. traditional system, design and build and management contracting.