Track: Project Management

Abstract

Construction is a process which involves numerous parties having their own goals and objectives towards achieving a desired goal. Thus, formation of conflicts amongst different parties are common in construction projects as each party is working for its own benefit. Conflicts should be avoided at the first instance, as it may consume huge sum of money and time to resolve. Therefore it is beneficial if the conflicts can be avoided at the pre contract stage which is the foremost stage of a construction project. Hence the aim of this research is to develop a pre contract practice which would avoid conflicts at the construction stage.

A preliminary interview was initially conducted amongst three industrial experts in construction field to identify the activities in the pre contract practice to eliminate the causes of conflicts. Then a questionnaire survey was followed to identify the significant activities in pre contract practice.  Preliminary interview findings identified 105 activities which can be followed in pre contract practice to avoid conflicts.  Further, 97 activities were identified as significant in the questionnaire survey. Thus, this paper solely address the causes of conflicts by suggesting activities in pre contract stage to eliminate the conflict in the construction industry.