Effective strategy for construction materials procurement during construction towards the enhancement of sustainable building production in Western Cape, South Africa

Abstract

Sustainable buildings are structures produced to meet the present housing needs of a society without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their future needs. Based on the findings derived from the reviewed literature, the production process and the operational lifecycle of sustainable buildings promote a healthy well-being for the inhabitants and environmental balance through the effective management of energy, water, land and materials resources at every stage of construction. However, ineffective construction materials procurement strategy was found in literature as a major factor that constrains the production of sustainable buildings; leading to project failures or production cost and time overrun. Thus, the production cost of sustainable buildings is influenced by the total cost of construction materials acquisition, which amounts to about 65% of the total cost of building production. This factor on cost has over the years been a significant barrier to the adoption of sustainable building principles in the construction industry. This prompted the need to establish an effective strategy for construction materials procurement towards the enhancement of sustainable building production in Western Cape, South Africa. The research study adopted a mixed methodological approach, which involved the use of semi-structured qualitative interviews and closed-ended quantitative questionnaires administered to construction stakeholders (contractors and consultants) in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. SPSS version 23 software was used to analyse the quantitative data collected and ‘content analysis’ method was used to analyse the information collected through qualitative interview conducted.