Decision criteria and their subjectivity in construction procurement selection

Employing a suitable construction procurement system is crucial to project success. However, many clients select procurement systems in a cursory manner and some clients even use a specific procurement system by default without deliberate choice. A systematic method for procurement selection would help clients to arrive at more informed decisions. The first step towards a systematic procurement selection method is to identify decision criteria pertinent to assessing the alternatives. This paper identifies the commonly considered criteria for procurement selection through a qualitative survey in Australia. The subjectivity of the identified criteria is considered and the effects on procurement selection are examined. The results indicate that speed, complexity, flexibility, responsibility, quality level, risk allocation, and price competition cannot be easily gauged by objective means, and a misperception of the degree of fulfilment of any of these criteria could affect the outcome of procurement selection.