Towards Improving Project Performance Indicators in South African Construction Sector

Despite myriad of research effort directed at improving the performance of construction projects, poor productivity, budget overruns, quality related issues, and schedule overruns have been recurring on most construction projects. As a consequence, time, cost and quality of construction, which are among the key project performance indicators (PPIs), have suffered poor performance in many construction project undertakings. While several studies have addressed these performance dependents parameters separately and collectively, the impact of political, environmental, social, technological, economical, and legal (PESTEL) related factors on the PPIs has however not been considered. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to identify PESTEL related factors, and further determine their impact on the PPIs in the South African construction industry. South African contractors, which are registered with the CIDB (Grades 5-9) were sampled and administered questionnaires to achieve the purpose of the study. The study determined that rework, poor planning, and inadequate training are most closely associated with poor performance of the PPIs. It is believed that addressing the areas of concern identified in this study would contribute to improved performance of the PPIs in South African construction, which would ultimately engender satisfaction of construction stakeholders.