Assessment on causes of construction dispute in South Western district of Ethiopian Road Authority Projects

Abstract

Construction Industry plays a considerable role in socio-economic development of any nation, largely for developing countries. like many developing countries Ethiopia is also facing various management problems among which construction of disputes are quite well-known .South Western part of Ethiopia is experiencing the largest improve in road infrastructure. In this district Roads Authority has planned and executed a number of road projects and some of them are in progress. Disputes are one of the problems that construction project may face. They are common in the construction industry. Disputes might cause some effects such as delayed and cancelled Projects, Reduced Numbers of Bidders, Higher Project costs, conflict among Parties and Technical failure due to poor construction if they are not determined in a proper manner. Hence the main objective of this research was assessment of the causes of construction Dispute in South Western District of ERA Projects by: identifying problems of construction Dispute and its adjustment in South Western district of ERA Projects. The data analyzed was calculated using relative importance index (RII) and the numerical formula to determine causes of construction Dispute. Questionnaire survey was distributed to the client, consultants, and contractors. They were and still are engaged in road construction projects within the city and also as data sources and population in South Western district of ERA Projects. In order to identify causes of construction Disputes that occur in South Western District of ERA Projects out of 50 questionnaires, 11 were distributed to client, 19 for contractors and 20 were consultant to identify Dispute causes that occurred in. 88% of the questionnaires were received from respondents. The quantitative data were analyzed to identify the main factors of Dispute development. While qualitative was analyzed by content analysis. The main factors of cause of construction Dispute in study area were identified. These reasons further categorized into four groups as; client related, contract document related, contractor related and consultant related factors and technical failure due to poor construction, budget based on incomplete data and quality concerns were identified as major exposure for loss on ERA construction project of the study area. Finally types of delays, knowing the strength and weakness of the project (project complexity) and conditions of the contract were identified as the factor to be consider in the selection of appropriate methodology for assessment of cause of construction Dispute. Therefore, this study recommended that in order to minimize cause of construction Dispute on road projects were practicing good construction management, using proper work schedules practicing on time payment and knowing the strength and weakness of the projects.