Current practices of sustainable procurement in the Sri Lankan construction industry

Abstract

Construction project procurement is a fundamental process in construction project management. The current conventional procurement practices have been widely criticised due to associated issues including disregarding sustainability. Even if, Sustainable Procurement (SP) has been emerged as one of the best solutions for such issues, current practice level of SP in Sri Lanka (SL) is unclear. Therefore, the aim of this study is to review SP practices in Sri Lankan construction industry. Concurrent triangulation mixed method was used in this study by combining both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. Data was collected through questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews and analysed using statistical analysis and content analysis respectively. Data triangulation was used to combine the results of all three research tools. The study proved that SP principles have been used in Sri Lankan construction industry at a moderate level. Limited sustainability initiatives were used in the project procurement, while economical sustainability criteria were given the prominence. Furthermore, SL is at a lower level of practicing SP when compared with most of developed countries like United Kingdom (UK) and Canada. Non-availability of policies, procedures and legislations in regional or national levels is the main factor that limit the SP practices. Further , the study identified drivers which influence the practice level of SP in SL.Thus, the study recommended that strengthening drivers and mitigating constrains are the appropriate strategies to increase the level of practice of SP in Sri Lankan construction industry.