| The traditional design-bid-build procurement method is considered by many construction clients to be significantly flawed with problems, such as delays in construction work and poor quality standards. To cater for the increasing complexity of projects and the growing emphasis on client's requirements, alternative procurement systems have evolved and Design-Build (D&B) has been increasing in popularity worldwide for better project performance.; This research provides an evaluation of the current practice of the D&B method in the Hong Kong context with a view to developing a conceptual model of success of D&B projects. The main reasons for a wider adoption of the D&B method in the public sector were found to be related to the expertise and responsibilities of the contractor. While major problems concern time pressure, stress by the client and frequent changes by end-users, the choice of the D&B method in Hong Kong is negatively impacted by the additional efforts demanded by the contractor and the client. In addition, a project success equation has been formulated from the principal components analysis so that the success level of a D&B project can be expressed by an index composed of the scores in the performance of time, cost, quality and functionality of the D&B project. Factor Analysis has re-grouped the success variables into twelve factor categories, which are independent variables generating multiple linear equations with the five dependent variables. The strongest predictor of D&B project success is the effectiveness of project management action. Other predictors of success include the client's input in the project, working relationships among project team members, project attractiveness and application of innovative management approaches. A further test of five samples provided evidence that the regression models are good predictors of D&B project success and D&B project participants have shown agreement on the results. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
