Abstract:
This study was conducted in the Ministry of Urban Development and Construction and
was about the technical competency of construction managers in the Ethiopian
construction industry. The unique nature of the construction industry, coupled with the
challenges of global competitiveness and changing regulatory requirements, has created
an excessive demand for highly knowledgeable and competent construction managers.
Technical competencies are professional knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) and refer
to the attributes required to perform a job properly. This study aimed to evaluate the
technical competence of construction managers in the Ethiopian construction industry.
This research was mixed quantitative and qualitative approaches and used descriptive
research methods and purposive sampling techniques. The aim of this research was to
evaluate the technical competence of construction managers in the Ethiopian
construction industry. Population of this research was grade one contractors who are
working in the construction industry of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa because of their
exposure in different types of projects are expected have better construction management
competency concept and practice. All possible efforts was exerted to make the data
collection instruments easily understandable by the respondents so that the intended
information was collected, thereby increasing the trustworthiness of the ultimate findings.
The internal consistency of items, which is the scale's level of homogeneity, was measured
to be checked using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient on SPSS. The questionnaire and
interviewees' data were organized in a suitable way to analyze with the Likert scale form
using the relative importance index (RII) to weigh the technical competence of
construction managers in the Ethiopian construction industry. Therefore, the technical
competency of construction managers was essential for construction managers to succeed
in the construction industry. It enables them to comprehend and apply technical
knowledge, performance, and personal attributes in their role; they can deal with the
latest trends in construction techniques and technology, ensuring the construction meets
or exceeds the expected standards. Overall, construction managers with high levels of
technical competency contribute to the efficient and successful construction projects.
