Purpose The poor quality of design documentation has been identified as a significant contributor to delays, rework and cost overruns on construction projects in South Africa. Despite this, limited research has been undertaken to specifically investigate the quality of design documentation. This in turn hampers efforts aimed at improving the quality of the design documents. The aim of this study is to identify the key quality attributes of design documentation and determine the extent to which the design documents issued on South African construction projects are perceived to incorporate the quality attributes. Design/methodology/approach A survey questionnaire was distributed among civil engineering design consultants and contractors in the South African construction industry. Responses to a total of 120 completed questionnaires were statistically analysed. The relative importance and extent of incorporation of the quality attributes was determined based on the mean scores. Findings It emerged from the study that the two key quality attributes of design documentation were legibility and coordinated design documentation. Attributes with the least importance were relevancy and certainty. Regarding the incorporation of the quality attributes, the design documents were rated highly with respect to their legibility and clarity. The quality of the documentation was deemed inadequate in terms of accuracy and certainty. Practical implications The findings provide valuable insight to stakeholders involved in developing initiatives aimed at improving the quality of design documentation and as a result construction project performance. Originality/value The study provides empirical evidence and extends the literature on design documentation quality especially from the perspective of South Africa, a developing country.
EMMANUEL AKAMPURIRA (PrEng, MSAICE) works as a civil engineer and is an Executive Associate at Kantey and Templer Consulting Engineers. He holds a Master's degree (Construction Economics and Management) from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and a Bachelor's degree (Civil Engineering) from Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. He is the chairperson of the SAICE Western Cape Branch Committee and is passionate about research in the area of construction management. He is currently pursuing a PhD (Construction Economics and Management) at UCT.
Amidst increasingly constrained public budgets and inadequate service delivery, private sector participation through public private partnerships is increasingly being used as a means for delivering physical infrastructure. The government of Uganda, which is currently grappling with a crippling electricity power deficit, has over the years, pursued a number of strategies to encourage private sector participation in the electricity sector, but with limited success. This paper presents the findings of research into the relative importance as perceived by sector stakeholders, of factors that hamstring private sector participation in the development of hydropower generation facilities through public private partnerships in Uganda. The stakeholders considered in this paper are those representing the government and private sector entities in the development of the partnerships. A review of literature and project documents enabled the identification of relevant factors. Data was collected from the respondents by means of a self administered structured questionnaire and quantitative methods used for data analysis. Key findings from the research indicate that the respondents regarded the regulatory and legal frameworks as being attractive for private sector participation and this business environment is further enhanced by their confidence in the government’s commitment to honour its contractual obligations. In contrast, difficulties in structuring and obtaining finance together with issues over the cumbersome approval process and resistance from environmental groups were identified as the most significant constraints to the development and implementation of public private partnerships in the Ugandan electricity sector. Recognizing the importance of an adequate and reliable supply of power in Uganda, as in so many other sub-Saharan countries, it is anticipated that the identification of the relative importance of the constraints as perceived by stakeholders, will inform the process of developing measures and strategies to mitigate the constraints thus facilitating the speedy implementation and deal closure of public private partnership initiatives with the ensuing benefits.
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