Factors for the success of a construction project: empirical study

Construction is the second largest industry in India. The performance of Indian construction projects, though improving steadily, it is still to catch up with the best in the world. Also, there are not many research studies in the area of construction management in India that could help in understanding the causes of such slow improvement in performance. This study has been an exploratory work in India and has attempted to identify and evaluate the success and failure attributes that would form a guideline for further study and to some extent help professionals to understand some critical factors having impact on the project performance. A total of 55 attributes affecting the performance of a construction project are analysed for their criticality in influencing the four performance criteria: schedule, cost, quality, and no-dispute through a two-stage questionnaire survey. These attributes on application of factor analysis have revealed a set of 11 success factors and 9 failure factors. Some of the critical factors derived from the study are: commitment of the project participants; owner's competence: coordination among project participants: favorable working condition; project manager’s competence; top management support; conflict among project participants; and interaction between project participants. The extent of contribution of these critical factors is found to vary with the current level performance ratings of the project. The impact of unit improvement in critical factors on the achievement of the project performance criteria has also been evaluated. The study besides supporting the intuition of past researchers in recognizing 'coordination' as a key success factor, has revealed that coordination is not an isolated and independent activity, but is a typical management function having its inherent role m all the major management activities that are broadly represented by the four factors, viz. planning; resource handling: contract implementation; and team building. Subsequently in the later part of the study, various coordination activities and their relative impact in achieving day-to-day coordination have been evaluated. Key elements affecting coordination have also been identified and their influence on coordination effort has been studied. Besides, the present study has also identified the three broad skill group: team building skill; contract implementation skill; and project organization skill required of an effective project coordinator. The results are validated through case studies of live projects and structured interviews of experts in the field of construction management.