INVESTIGATION OF FACTORS ENHANCING CLIENTS SATISFACTION IN CONSTRUCTION

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1          BACKGROUND OF STUDY

Quality has become a very popular subject in recent years due to conceptual transmutations in the industry. Quality and quality systems are topics which have been receiving tremendous attention ecumenical. The products and services in any industry should be manufactured and offered to a required standard, one that provides clients gratification and value for money. The desideratum for achieving quality of the culminated product in the building construction is very important. The high cost of buildings makes it indispensable to ascertain quality of the finished product (Teena, 2014).

For clients, there are many benefits that can be achieved than contractors having formal quality management protocols.

The maintenance of quality management creates a high-performance personnel atmosphere and a culture of continuous improvement, making it unlikely to work toward a zero rework environment.

This will be a key component of any organization move towards achieving best practice in order to overcome the quality performance problem in the construction projects.

In the construction management, the schedule, cost and quality achievement is also declared to as the iron triangle.

For a client, quality is nothing but satisfaction with the appearance, performance, and reliability of the project for a given price range.

Private clients are consisting of either local or sole traders who need support with the construction, alteration, or maintenance of their private properties. It is common for such a client to enter into a private agreement with just a builder (design and build) to undertake the construction work. In the circumstance of extensive work being required, the private client might have to source the skills of an architect to pass planning and building regulations aforehand.

Public clients are comprised of Commercial, Public Limited Companies and Governments that needs to carry out construction to aid their business processes or the production of products. They would similarly have to follow environmental and safety regulations regarding planning and building. They could also consist of any company listed on the stock exchange, i.e. banks, retailers, etc. Considering the ability of these companies with public shares, it creates sense that any construction company functioning with this type of client would have to apply for either estimates or rigid contracts before work can commence. Government built projects can be issued at three different levels:

Level 1: Local council

Level 2: State and territory government

Level 3: Central (Federal) government

Local councils have the obligation of building and maintaining services; state governments may initiate major capital works, such as new public buildings or major infrastructural changes. The highest level is central government departments which manages massive building and infrastructural projects.

While this is just a broad look at the typical clients found in the construction industry, it is obvious that construction clients are unique, thus their projects require the implementation of a tailored approach regarding planning and execution.

Assessment will be made based on the contractors’ performance in relation to three comparisons, all of which impact clients’ satisfaction

1. Comparison – among the quality of the building, the clients’ outlooks and the adjusted goals for the building.
2. Comparison – among the quality of the construction process and the experiences, which have emerged during the process.
3. Comparison – between the client’s outlook and experiences (Teena, 2014).

1.2 JUSTIFICATION

Being clients focused nowadays has to be accepted as a bare necessity to conduct business. Globalization and value-driven business imperatives would therefore mean that error are not standard to be tolerated; substandard intersection and services will guarantee that the weak are not working to continue competing; and fragile practices and poorly defined and managed methods will not be accepted. Apart from anything else, true competitive advantage will only be established through excellence in clients’ value and the ensuing relentless guardianship and attention provided.  (Zairi, 2010). This informed decision provided the base for the need to embark on this study.

1.3 STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS

The problems of this study include:

1. Delay of completion.
2. Over running project cost

iii.            Inferior quality

1. Incompetent service providers

1.4 AIM AND OBJECTIVES

The objective of this study is to investigate the factors that enhanceclient’s satisfaction in construction which includes ways to:

1. Improve the quality performance of construction projects.
2. Test for significant differences, using statistical methods.

The aim of this study is to:

1. Identify and determine the degree of influence these factors exert on clients.
2. Access the satisfaction level of clients based on the RALA feedback mechanism.

1.4  SCOPE OF STUDY

The scope of this study includes:

1. Review of quality performance of construction.
2. Reconnaissance visit to construction sites for quality assessment.

iii.            Prepare questionnaires on quality performance assessment.

1. Analyze the questionnaires using Regression statistic method.

1.5 LIMITATION OF STUDY

1. Distribution and collection of Questionnaire
2. Difficulties in selecting Construction industry and client’s to issue out questionnaire.

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