DETERMINANTS OF COST OVERRUNS IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN KENYA: A CASE OF MAKUENI COUNTY
Richard Kamami Musyoka
College of Human Resource and Development,
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
P. O. Box 62000, 00200 Nairobi, Kenya.
Corresponding Author email:
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Dr. Allan Kihara
College of Human Resource and Development,
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
P. O. Box 62000, 00200 Nairobi, Kenya
CITATION: Musyoka, R., K. & Kihara, A. (2017). Determinants Of Cost Overruns In Construction Projects In Kenya: A Case Of Makueni County. International Journal of Human Resources and Procurement. Vol. 5 (6) pp 231 – 250.
The problem of overruns in construction industry is an international phenomenon, although the situation varies from nations. The rate of variation is influenced by lots of factors based on general economy and construction environments in those nations. Overruns in construction project could be multi-faceted ranging from cost, time. Makueni County experiences cost overruns in most of the 296 construction projects being implemented by the year 2015. As a result, the study sought to establish the determinants of cost overruns in construction projects in Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were to establish the influence of materials procurement inflation, project planning, project risk analysis and project complexity on overruns in construction projects in Kenya. This study adopted a descriptive survey design. The target population of the study was 296 project managers in the construction projects that were ongoing in Makueni County by the year 2015. The descriptive, correlation and regression analysis were used to achieve the research objectives. The study findings indicated that all the investigated factors, that is materials procurement inflation, project planning, project risk analysis and project complexity significantly affect cost overruns. Project planning and project risk analysis negatively affected cost overruns while materials procurement inflation as well as project complexity positively affect cost overruns. The study recommends that the County government of Makueni should put in place measures to curb tendering maneuvers by contractors which leads to cost overruns in construction projects. Furthermore, e-procurement can be applied for procurement of materials so as to reduce cases of price inflation. The study also recommends that the project managers of construction projects in the County should implement project planning practices like pre-planning before execution of construction, planning during implementation stage of construction projects, ensuring enough material delivery on site before construction starts, proper scheduling before construction starts and contractors following project schedule during construction so as to reduce cost overruns in construction projects.
Key words: Materials procurement inflation, Project planning, Project risk analysis, Project complexity
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