A Study of Procurement Selection for Bridge Construction

Abstract

Construction industry is pivotal part of any countries economy. Hence, the construction procurement selection is paramount important. This affects the successful and satisfactory completion and delivery of projects. In Sri Lanka, bridge construction is a key sector which contributes to the betterment of the construction industry and lends support to the growth of the economy. In addition, wrong selection of construction procurement approach usually leads to project failure, it is therefore very important to select the most suitable procurement system for bridge projects. The aim of this research is to address the selection of suitable construction procurement for bridge construction in Sri Lanka. The attempts were made through identifying and analyzing the factors which are highly influencing in the selection of a procurement system for bridge construction projects. Through the comprehensive literature review and preliminary survey, twenty six factors were identified as factors influencing the selection of procurement system for bridge construction projects. A Survey research approach was adopted to investigate the research phenomena. The first round questionnaire survey was conducted with a view to identify the most significant factors affecting the selection of procurement system. From the first round of questionnaire survey, eleven factors were identified as most significant factors influencing the selection of procurement system by ranking the factors using Relative Important Index (RII) tool. The research found that accountability and transparency were the top most important factors which influencing the selection of procurement system for bridge construction. Utility factors of available construction procurement systems for bridge sector against identified most significant factors were identified through the questionnaire survey round two by using RII tool. The importance and interrelationships of identified significant factors and utility factors provide a solid background for development of procurement selection criteria. The research recommended that the measure and pay system is the most appropriate procurement systems to procure the bridge construction projects through the developed utility model.