Assessing the impact of contract administration on the performance of road construction projects in Uganda

Abstract

Uganda‘s Road Construction industry has experienced growth overtime with a considerable portion of budget allocation. Although the industry has dramatically improved, projects are still experiencing performance challenges including but not limited to cost overruns, time overruns and shoddy work. This study sought to assess the impact of contract administration on the performance of road construction projects in Uganda. Contract Administration basically deals with daily project operations providing for the complete work scope composition, responsibilities of parties involved, requirements for executing the operations, work schedule, cost optimization, quality and safety considerations and grievance management. The study is limited to its objectives which were; to assess the performance of road construction projects in Uganda; to determine the extent of use of contract administration on road construction projects in Uganda; to determine whether there is an association between contract administration and project performance, and to develop a contracts administration assessment strategy to enhance road construction project performance in Uganda. The data for this study was collected from 36 running project sites and 72 stakeholders within the industry making a total of 108 samples. Based on the research questions and the study of the literature, a qualitative correlational research design method was used to investigate the relationship between the dependent variable (performance) i.e. cost, quality, time, and the independent variables (contract administration) i.e. project governance, project personnel, communication and relationship management, quality management, monitoring and control, financial management, change control management, claims and disputes resolution management, records management and contract risk management. The first finding indicated that the performance of road construction projects in Uganda is poor in regard to time, fair in regard to cost and very good in regard to quality. The second finding indicated that various contract administration practices have different extents of use with the highest being Monitoring and Control being used every time. Thirdly, the results from the regression analysis of this study indicated that the relationship between performance and contract administration is statistically significant, although based on the findings, some contract administration practices are more critical to performance compared to others. The study recommendations were to minimize time overruns or slippages through contract administrators taking on a wholistic approach in controlling project activities. Monitoring and Control of all project activities and elements on a daily basis is encouraged as this enables early identification of potential time slippage areas or gaps that can be filled with in time to prevent any major damage. Also, the study identified Early contract administrator project involvement, Project governance, Communication and relationship management, Claims and dispute management and Monitoring and control as elements that have significance in regard to project performance. It is recommended that contract administrators take these contract administration practices seriously during execution of projects. Finally, a contract administration assessment strategy tool was developed from this study. It is meant to evaluate a project‘s progress and plan its day-to-day activities so as to align it to its intended objectives. The strategy was developed based on the results of the literature review, survey results and best practices. The strategy will go a long way in ensuring proper projects implementation.