Critical Factors Affecting the Quality Performance of Construction Projects in Palestine: Case Study of Governmental Infrastructure Projects in West Bank Local Councils رسالة ماجستير

Abstract

This study aims to identify the critical factors affecting the quality performance of construction projects in Palestine and governmental infrastructure projects in West Bank local councils as a case study. The study employed a quantitative research methodology, and a structured questionnaire has been developed to collect the primary data. The study sample consists of 323 respondents from the large population of engineers from several parts, such as ministries, local councils, engineering offices, and contractors. The study's findings show that four of the chosen factors are significantly related and had a positive effect on the quality of performance, and two of the factors are not significant and didn’t have any effect. Moreover, the findings indicate that the owner’s factor had the most effect on the quality performance, then the supervision factor, followed by the planning and design factor, and the construction factor had the least effect as per multilinear regression model analysis; while material and external factors didn’t have any effect or relation with quality performance as per multilinear regression model analysis. According to the study, ministries should pay the differences in currency transfer, material costs between the bidding and construction phases, and financial payments according to contract conditions. Furthermore, they should create an effective and efficient technical evaluation during the bidding phase, place emphasis on having a permanent supervision team on site construction, and use existing skilled labor as needed. The major limitations of the study are the lack of cooperation from government agencies and the unavailability of sufficient documented research or studies in Palestine about the quality of governmental infrastructure projects.