Identification of construction subcontractor prequalification evaluation criteria and their impact on project success

Abstract

Nowadays, the construction industry shares about 7.5 trillion dollars in the business field that accounts around (13.4%) of the world output, [1]. Therefore, a massive number of the construction contractors prefer to outsource construction project activities to the subcontractors, and they only perform the managerial activates such as, project financing, contract administration with clients, procurement process of equipment and materials, and monitoring the project progress. Hence, the Prequalification process is one of the main essential processes, consequently, relying only on the “lowest price criteria” usually leads to project risks on its’ main objectives: time, cost and quality. So, the proposed research aims to identify, analyze, and prioritize the most important criteria that influence the subcontractor’s selection process using the statistical analysis approach. To achieve the research objectives, a random sample of (120) construction company were invited to participate in a pre-designed questionnaire with (58%) response rate, comprising 55 criteria, categorized under (7) groups: Cost; Quality; Technical Capability; Management Capability; Health & Safety; Reputation; and Time. Among the evaluated criteria, the subsequent five determined as the most influencing ones: On time delivery of materials; Failure to complete contract due to financial problems; Subcontractor’s difficulty in reimbursement; Reputation; and Tender price.