Practice of Construction Planning in the Ethiopian Building Construction Industry: A Case Study on Selected Contractors in Addis Ababa

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Date

2020-11

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Addis Ababa University

Abstract

Planning is the process of thinking about activities required to achieve a desired goal. Construction planning is the process of determining appropriate strategy for the achievement of predefined project objectives. In construction projects, the objective of construction planning is the completion of prescribed amount of work within fixed time, at a previously estimated cost and to a specific standard of quality. In the Ethiopian construction industry however, construction planning effort usually fails to achieve its objectives. Even large construction companies who practice planning to some level, frequently have difficulty in achieving their predetermined goals. There is, therefore, a need to examine construction practices and develop strategies for improving construction planning effectiveness. With this in mind this research tries to identify the main factors that influence effective construction planning in Ethiopian construction industry. Thus, 19 factors were identified from comprehensive literature review and the industry overview. Using questionnaire survey their degree of impact on planning effectiveness were assessed by planning practitioners working in large construction companies. And their corresponding severity indices were used for ranking whereby the agreement among the practitioners in ranking the factors was conformed using coefficient of variance test. The findings indicate that lack of adequate investment of time and money on planning phase and inadequate qualification and experience of construction planners are found to be significantly influential to planning effectiveness. Furthermore it revealed inadequate information gathering and ineffective method for planned information dissemination shadowed the construction planning practice in construction companies. These necessitate the enhancement of construction companies’ commitment for construction planning phase and the need to keep construction planners qualified, updated with proper training and use of up-to-date planning techniques.

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Keywords

Construction planning, Ethiopian construction industry, planning techniques

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