INVESTIGATING THE FACTORS IMPACTING THE PERFORMANCE OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-SCALE IRRIGATION CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN EASTERN AMHARA

Abstract

Understanding the factors impacting the performance of construction projects is vital for achieving successful project outcomes and mitigating potential challenges in the construction industry. The water sector, in particular, faces distinct challenges related to its complex and critical nature. Recently due to their economic value, there has been a rapid increment of water work construction projects in Ethiopia. However, there is a problems regarding their performance, like cost overrun, time overrun, low productivity & low quality. The same is true for water work projects that are constructed by Amhara Water Works Construction Enterprise. This research work aims to identify and evaluate the main factors affecting the performance of small & medium-scale irrigation construction projects in eastern Amhara region-Ethiopia. To achieve the objectives of this research study, five irrigation construction projects were targeted as the population of the study and both qualitative & quantitative data were collected by desk study, questioner survey, and interviews. Total 75 questionnaires were distributed to the respondents and out of these 75 distributed questionnaires, 70 (93.33%) questionnaires were returned. The data collected were analysed using SPSS version 25 and the significance factors were ranked by using their Relative Importance Index (RII). The results show that the top ten critical factors affecting the performance were an escalation of material prices, unavailability of resources, number of disputes between owner and project parties, quality of equipment or machinery and raw materials, unavailability of competent staff, financial constraints, material and equipment cost, local climate conditions cost of variation orders and leadership skills for project manager. This study contributes to the construction industry by identifying major bottlenecks and providing actionable measures that help improve the performance.