A Study on Limitations in Material Procurement Practice for Construction in Public Sector

Abstract

Due to the high accountability of public construction projects, several rules and regulations are being adopted in material procurement practice in public sector. These rules and regulations are practiced as per the framework provided by Procurement Guideline 2006 - Goods and Works and the Manual. Procurement Guideline 2006 is published by National Procurement Agency, Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. This procurement guideline is applicable for any Procurement Action financed in whole or in part by Government of Sri Lanka or a Foreign Funding Agency. While these guidelines are being implemented, there are several limitations found by the practitioners. Hence this research was aimed to study the practical issues in implementing procedures stated in the Procurement Guideline 2006 - Goods and Works and the Manual. This study was done by collecting data from semi structured interviews with the industrial professionals who involve in public sector construction material procurement such as Architects, Contract Administrators, Procurement Officers, Project Managers, Quantity Surveyors, Contractors and Site Engineers. Findings of this study revealed that there are limitations existing in public sector construction procurement practice and that create cost and time overrun and quality issues.