Abstract:
The Sri Lankan construction industry’s impact on the environment, social and economy
is inevitable; emphasising the need to adopt sustainability. Sustainability is
distinguished in order to avoid depletion of natural resources as well as to maintain the
ecological balance. Sustainability could result in a corporate level, based on
construction business organisations further illustrating the concept of corporate social
responsibility (CSR). CSR focuses on impact by organisations concerning the triple
bottom line. CSR is identified as a path to achieve corporate sustainability.
Stakeholders’ participation is crucial to incorporate in a sustainable development plan
which facilitates the identification of the clients who play a prominent role. This research
followed a qualitative study by interviewing clients selected through snowball sampling
in the Sri Lankan construction industry. Phenomenology was the approach followed for
this research and bracketing was used as a method of analysis. Results of the research
identified categories to achieve sustainability through CSR in the perception of clients
as: cost constraint, government regulatory approach, consultants’ intervention, client’s
apprehension on sustainability and their attitude on social and environmental aspects,
thereby paving the path to develop recommendations.
