The impact of client attitudes on the selection of contractors

This research is concerned with identifying prequalification criteria that both clients and contractors believe are good indicators of future construction performance. Criteria used in the past have been developed by clients in a largely idiosyncratic manner with little or no consultation with the contractors affected. The methodology chosen for the research was a survey which probed stakeholder attitudes to commonly used prequalification criteria. This was carried out via a postal questionnaire involving contactors and clients across Australia. The data was analysed using Discriminant Analysis, which is a multivariate statistical approach that determines the differences between groups. The research is structured around 39 criteria that were developed as part of a whole-of–government task force into best practice in procurement. The findings identified the most important criteria from both a client’s perspective, and a contractor’s perspective. The purpose was to discover if those differences reduce the effectiveness of the procurement process. This paper contributes to a more clarified understanding of the impact or contrasting views between the stakeholders involved in the prequalification process. This work is innovative because it is one of a few pieces of research that showed that clients and contractors do actually have divergent opinions on the importance of some criteria currently relied upon in the decision making process. The most important prequalification criteria are identified and possible reasons for these differences are discussed.