ASSESSING THE REGULATORY TOOLS RELATED FACTORS AFFECTING THE PERFORMANCE OF BUILDING CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS: A CASE OF ADDIS ABABA CITY

Abstract

The present state of the construction industry falls short of meeting domestic and international quality standards and the different performance parameters expected from the sector in Ethiopia. Ineffective regulatory system of the industry and low level of regulatory enforcement has its own share in this low performance. Effectiveness and efficiency of regulatory system is primarily dependent on capacity of the regulatory body and the regulatory tools. The regulatory body designates the government and tools include the registration system, the building permit and the procurement system. This study focuses on assessing the major factors related to these regulatory tools affecting the performance of building construction projects in Addis Ababa. A mixed method research was adopted and structured questionnaire, semi structured interview and document analysis were used for data collection. In the questionnaire survey, totally 150 professionals were involved from client, contractor, academics and consultant. The statistical analyses of mean, standard deviation, one sample T-test, factor analysis and regression analysis were conducted using SPSS to summarize, interpret the data and to find the implications of the responses given by the respondents. The findings indicate that the applicable regulatory system needs improvement in terms of attaining the intended objectives. From the findings the top three registrations related factors are poor project inspection, inadequate evaluation and measuring mechanism in upgrading professionals and firms and inadequate monitoring of professionals and firms performance. The top three building permit related factors are bureaucratic delay, low level of using information technology for keeping and retrieving land records and weak building regulations enforcement. The top three procurement system related factors are poor procurement plan, inadequate assessment of bidders and poor communication in procurement process. It is recommended that there should be appropriate evaluation and measuring mechanisms in upgrading the class of firms and professionals so as to enhance the competency of the developers. Building permits should be issuing on time so as to prevent delay in building construction project and appropriate procurement plan shall be exist before the commencement of any activity so as to prevent the conflict of the requirements in building construction projects.