The development of a classification system for construction industry clients

A literature review led to the hypothesis that there is a direct relationship between project factors and the procurement route chosen. Project factors are specific to an individual project, for example, speed, cost, quality. The initial review however hinted that 'other' factors seemed to influence procurement choice. A questionnaire supported by structured interviews provided a database of information relating to client procurement decisions. Further analysis led to a greater understanding of these 'other, factors', subsequently renamed 'organisational factors'. Organisational factors are those which are not project specific, but relate to the organisation's wider organisational objectives, for example, the organisation's attitudes towards procuring construction and the professional advisers used. The research concentrates on organisational factors since the literature gives no clear indication of the relationships which exist between them, and the procurement routes used. An exploratory statistical technique and classification tool called cluster analysis was used because it helps to explore relationships by generating hypotheses about the data. To validate the findings a series of 'check' measures were used in the analysis. The results of the analysis confirmed the importance of organisational factors in the procurement route decision making process and several new hypotheses were developed which in summary are: (i) The types of inhouse professionals employed by an organisation can have a considerable influence on the procurement route chosen. (ii) Attitude themes of involvement, trust/relationships and design/image are linked with specific procurement route choices. (iii) The type of procurement route chosen is not linked with either the level of customer expectation or construction programme. The findings also yielded a proposed classification system for construction industry clients which described six groups: 1. Public sector using traditional professions; 2. Developer investor using project managers and the traditional professions; 3. The 'average' client; 4. Developer/investor using newer professions; 5. Industrial customer constructing new build; and 6. Industrial customer working with their existing buildings.