Impact of partnering on risk management within the construction industrial sector in Limpopo

Abstract

The construction industry sector is a very competitive high-risk area with many challenges such as little co-operation, lack of trust, and ineffective communication resulting in adversarial relationships between the contracting parties. Complexity and disputes are some of the inherent features of the construction sector. The study sought to establish the relationship between risk and partnering in projects and thus allow integration of project partnering and risk management models. This study adopted a descriptive design and used a questionnaire to collect data, which was analysed using cross tabulation, correlational, and multiple regression approaches. A total of 107 questionnaires was distributed to respondents, contractors and project owners. Results suggest that clients and contractors do not see the importance and benefits of project partnering and hence are not focused on this concept. Identification with critical stage process postulates that clients and contractors see partnering as another way of getting the project done, conventional methods are an alternative. Results show 15% variation in the risk and partnering between project owners and contractors. The statistical results indicate the general acceptance and importance of the hypothesis that service quality Intercept, Risk Identification, Risk planning, Risk assessment, Risk analysis and Risk response lead to the interpretation of the regression analysis since the researcher wants to identify the differences in the assessment of risk and partnering between project owners and contractors. Solutions such as proposing an effective risk management framework specific for Limpopo construction projects is still an outstanding area for research. Other areas for future research endeavours include evaluation of risk management effectiveness in donor-financed public projects and a risk management model for a competitive public infrastructure delivery.