Promoting Health and Safety in Construction through the Procurement Process

This study explored the impact of considering health and safety (H&S) in the construction procurement process based on the extent of H&S implementation on projects. Underpinned by information integration and rational decision-making theories, the study evaluated how the integration of H&S objectives into the overall project objectives, and the subsequent consideration of H&S matters in procurement decisions, influence H&S implementation on projects. Data were collected using questionnaire surveys from 287 respondents in Ghana who had direct involvement in the project procurement process. The survey explored the extent of H&S integration into the procurement process and its subsequent impact on H&S implementation. Path analysis was carried out to determine the causal relationships between the various procurement processes and H&S implementation. The results demonstrate that setting H&S objectives and integrating H&S into the planning stage decisions have a significant impact on the extent to which H&S matters are considered in the tendering and tender evaluation stages, as well as the H&S provisions in conditions of contracts. It also showed that adequate H&S consideration in these procurement stages subsequently influences H&S consideration in contract administration and monitoring and ultimately influences the extent of H&S implementation. These findings demonstrate the importance of integrating H&S in all aspects of construction procurement to promote H&S implementation on projects.

Influence of selection criteria on clients’ satisfaction with construction consultancy services in Nigeria

Purpose To receive a satisfactory consultancy service, a construction client must first select suitable consultants. While numerous criteria for the selection of construction consultants have been suggested in the literature, their influence on client satisfaction has hardly been statistically established. This study aimed to reduce the criteria for the selection of construction consultants into a more manageable set of fewer factors and ascertain the influence of the factors on client satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach Data were gathered through a purposively administered cross-sectional survey of public sector clients in Nigeria. Analyzes were done using relative importance index, factor analysis and multiple regression analysis. Findings The results proved that the criteria for the selection of consultants can, in the order of decreasing influence on client satisfaction, be grouped into service delivery approach (SDA), relationship with the client, the caliber of personnel, firm reputation and firm certification. However, SDA is more influential on client satisfaction. All the factors were found to have significant statistical effects on clients’ overall satisfaction with consultancy services. Originality/value The study demonstrates the extent to which construction consultant selection criteria are relevant to client satisfaction. It shows that SDA is the most important predictor of clients’ satisfaction with consultancy services. The results are helpful for grouping consultant selection criteria in future studies, and in guiding clients on the weights to assign to consultant selection criteria during tender evaluation.

Predicting Cost Performance of Construction Projects from Projects Procurement Procedure

The purpose of this paper is to show by multivariate regression model if a defective procurement procedure leading to a contract award affects the smooth execution of a project in terms of its cost performance on the strength of the significance of the model. This investigation was conducted with a quantitative method of research by administering questionnaires to key industry players (clients, consultants, and contractors) engaged in construction projects (both civil and building works) in assessing contract award procedures, conditions for contract award after tender evaluation and criteria for contractors’ prequalification. Data from their field survey was analysed with mean item score to show hierarchal importance of factors and critical evaluation using multivariate analysis of variance. Findings showed that a poor and inappropriate contract award procedure has divergence from efficient project cost management based on the corollary of mean score values of contract award procedures, conditions for the award and prequalification test. The practical implication of this, is that an unbiased contract award procedure will apparently lead to a lesser strenuous project management effort towards mitigating cost spills and overruns for a lesser project abandonment if the right contractor with the right capabilities is awarded the contract. These implications stem from the originality of the investigation arising from F-value statistics (7.406), t-value statistics (3.046), and p-value of 0.003.

Investigation of Innovation during Bid Evaluation Process in the Road Construction Industry

Tender evaluation is the procedure of choosing the best contractor for a particular project from many applicants. Although rational and logical methods can be used for bidding strategies, bid evaluation remains a skill for which an engineer’s verdict is crucial. Contractors commonly witness that tender selection is not an easy job, and the lowest bid does not necessarily win the contract. The tender decision mainly depends on quantifiable measures such as financial costs and paybacks, and qualitative or invisible factors like administrative security accountability, aptitude, and the proficiency of the contractors. Moreover, Bid evaluation is a decision-making procedure that incorporates an extensive criteria range for which the information is not accordingly. Hence, ambiguity linked to such information is not appropriate for this study. This paper aims to evaluate innovation during the bid evaluation process in the road industry. The research results indicate that the private and public sectors in Australia offer innovative products and work methods, given the chance. Therefore, innovation during the bid evaluation process is welcomed and sometimes strongly encouraged. Further, it is important to have strong research in to how to effectively determine value for money in the context of developing suitable and quality roads. Therefore, this research is useful in the context of evaluating factors that help to understand value for money in the road sector in context of bid evaluation process. Doi: 10.28991/cej-2021-03091676 Full Text: PDF

Ethical misconducts within the invitation to tender and tender evaluation and award stages of construction contracts in Ghana

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the views of construction practitioners on the prevalence of ethical misconduct within the invitation to tender and tender evaluation and award stages of construction contracts in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach Following a critical comparative review of literature resulting in the identification of 18 potential misconducts within the invitation to tender and 11 potential misconducts within the tender evaluation and award stages of construction contracts, a questionnaire survey was conducted among 65 construction professionals. Data obtained from the survey were analysed using both descriptive (i.e. frequencies, mean scores and standard deviations) and inferential statistics (paired t-test), followed by gap analysis. Findings The findings revealed that corrupt, fraudulent, collusive or coercive practices, client divulging more information to the preferred bidder and inflating tender prices by tenderers in return for kickbacks are key unethical practices prevalent at the invitation to tender stage. Following these key unethical practices, the findings further suggested through gap analysis that submission of bids on non-working days and inadequate time for preparation and submission of tenders were the top two unethical practices that needed serious interventions at this stage. At the tender evaluation and award stage, the findings revealed that interference by influential people in political positions, fake tendering and bid shopping are prevalent. Again, from the gap analysis, interference by influential people in political positions and poor definition of selection criteria were identified to be the two key unethical practices that need urgent intervention at this stage of construction contracts. Practical implications This study holds a significant practical implication in the sense that key unethical practices at the invitation to tender and tender evaluation and award stages of construction contracts have been identified, and this provides a suitable basis for stakeholders that spearhead such activities to offer suitable interventions to control such practices. Originality/value This study contributes to the body of knowledge as it uncovers ethical misconducts within two important phases of construction contracts in a developing country setting. As there is a continuous effort by the international community towards finding lasting solutions to such misconducts, the findings from this study can be used as a starting point for appropriate policies to be put in place in Ghana to control such misconducts.

A risk-oriented tender evaluation system for construction projects in Malaysia

PurposeThis paper presents results of an empirical investigation involving private construction clients in Malaysia, which seeks to establish appropriate tender evaluation criteria and weightings for a risk-oriented tender evaluation system.Design/methodology/approachAt the initial stage of this study, a list of significant risks is identified and gathered through literature review. These risks are then mapped onto tender evaluation criteria. Following this, the identified risks and their mappings are validated through a questionnaire survey to determine appropriate criteria for tender evaluation. Weightings for the selected evaluation criteria are established through an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) group decision-making (GDM) method.FindingsIn practice, different lists of criteria, covering tender's technical capability and financial performance, are often used by different client organisations. However, there is a paucity of research behind the selection of these criteria and the weighting being attributed to different criteria.Originality/valueThis study provides an important and a valuable insight into the actual criteria used during tender evaluation practice based on an analysis of documentary evidence. Both current practice and existing tender evaluation studies failed to address the risk element adequately. There is a lack of an explicit link between evaluation criteria and project risks. This study fills this knowledge gap by identifying tender evaluation criteria through reviewing criteria used in practice and examining their links to risk factors.

Evaluating E-Procurement Impact In The Public Sector

Despite the several benefits gained as a result of e-procurement, the actual potential of it in the public sector in Ghana has not been realized. Studies has further suggested that little is known of e-procurement in most organizations. This demonstrates that the area is under-researched and hence, there is a gap that needs to be filled in literature on the aspect of e-procurement and its impacts in the public sector in Ghana. Therefore the study was to assess the impact of e-procurement in the Ghanaian public sector. The research design was descriptive. Both primary and secondary data was used. Purposive sample method was used to select 15 public sector organisations in Ghana for the study. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the data. Findings revealed that, e-procurement leads to an effective E-tender evaluation (ETE), improves transparency in supply selection, improve procurement record management and effective supply relationships can be made easy. Based on the finding the study recommended that, Developing countries governments must invest heavily in e-procurement infrastructure to enable its usage in all sectors. And also procurement officers must also be trained well to enable its usage. And lastly e- procurement should be mandatory in all public sector procurements in the country.