A Study on the Relationship between Performance of Contractors in Kenya and the Performance Determinants
Monicah Wairimu Chonge

Monicah Wairimu Chonge, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Juja Kenya.
Manuscript received on 12 March 2017 | Revised Manuscript received on 21 March 2017 | Manuscript Published on 30 March 2017 | PP: 12-18 | Volume-6 Issue-8, March 2017 | Retrieval Number: C8893019320/17©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Abstract: The performance of a contractor is very critical as it means a lot to both the contractor and the various stakeholders in the industry. Even though the performance of contractors is considered as a very critical measure of either the success or failure of contractors, most of the contractors and most especially of the developing countries do not perform as expected. This has led to a number of studies in a bid to find out the factors affecting the performance of contractors. The factors affecting the performance of contractors as found out in the studies can be summarized into the following eight performance determinants: financial factors, construction management factors, construction technology factors, design factors, project management factors, materials factors, labour factors and external factors. This study therefore sought to find out the relationship between the performance of contractors and these performance determinants. The study employed the quantitative strategy as well as the crosssectional research design. Quantitative data was collected through the use of structured questionnaires which were administered to local contractors of category NCA 1, 2 and 3. The contractors were sampled using the stratified random sampling and the systematic random sampling techniques. The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS for windows version 20). The method used for data analysis was correlation and multiple regression analysis. The analysis yielded a negative relationship between the performance of contractors and the following performance determinants: financial factors rho=-.448, construction technology factors rho=-.117, design factors rho=-.311, project management factors rho=-.250, materials factors rho=-.235, labour factors rho=-.261 and external factors rho=-.389. Contrary to the conceptual framework, the construction management factors yielded a positive relationship with performance with a rho=0.167. This study therefore concluded that financial factors, construction technology factors, design factors, project management factors, materials factors, labour factors and external factors have an adverse effect on the performance of contractors in Kenya whereas the construction management factors did not have adverse effect on the performance of contractors in the country.
Keywords: Contractors Performance, Performance Determinants, Construction Industry.

Scope of the Article: Construction Engineering