Abstract:
The Ethiopian government has been struggling to meet the demand of the population in terms of
potable water supply by implementing various water supply construction projects for the last
consecutive periods. However; the construction sector in Ethiopia including the Urban Water
Supply and Sanitation construction projects have a serious problem with the construction
management and administration as well as limitation of budget, time and resources in general.
Some of the main recurrent problems are a failure to complete the projects on schedule and budget
due to several factors. Thus, this study aimed to assess the performance of water supply
construction projects in Jimma zone. To achieve this objective descriptive survey was used as a
research design and purposive sampling as sampling technique and both Qualitative and
quantitative data were used. Primary and secondary data source was used. The research used
five levels Likert scale type questionnaire for the primary data and document reviews for the
secondary data. Seven recent completed projects and 54 respondents involved in this research.
The primary data gathered through the questionnaire were analyzed using the Relative importance
index and statistical package for social science (SPSS-26.1) and the results were presented using
tables and charts. By deep review of different literature, associated with a title, identifying factors
affecting performance of water supply construction projects was done; finally, a total of 50 factors
affecting water supply construction project performance were, identified. The identified factors
were organized and summarized in question incorporate respondent to rate on the factors. From
the research finding the major influential factors affecting performance of water supply
construction project were; Inflation (materials price fluctuation); Poor contract and project
management; insufficient scheduling of a project by a contractor, high cost of machineries,
bureaucracy in bidding method, progress payment delay, financial difficulties of the contractor,
poor supervision on the site, low speed decision making process and high transportation cost. In
addition the average rate of cost overrun was 1.216% to 23.955% of the original cost and that of
schedule overrun was 40% to 100% of the original duration. In conclusion, poor cost and time
management were the significant factors for the performance problem of water supply
construction projects in Jimma zone
