The importance of clients' responsibilities in the construction process, as perceived by both clients and consultants, was assessed through a structured questionnaire survey. Using the relative index ranking technique, clients' fundamental needs and responsibilities in the construction process were analysed and ranked. Results indicate that the four most important needs are: functionality of the building, safety of the building, quality of the building, and completion time. The four most important clients' responsibilities identified by clients themselves are: planning/design, project finance, project implementation/management, and project definition/formulation. The four most important clients' responsibilities to project consultants are: project finance, project definition/formulation, planning/design, and project implementation/management. If both consultants and clients understand the fundamental needs of construction clients and if clients themselves are prepared to take an active role in the construction process, the chances of producing more successful projects will improve.
Clients' needs are inadequately evaluated in project schemes. Without a precise establishment of clients' preferences, the essential criteria for project implementation and especially contractor evaluation cannot be appreciated fully. It is not surprising therefore that subjective decisions have prevailed in tender evaluations and clients' needs have not been satisfied completely. Objective contractor evaluation will be realized only when clients' needs and contractors' capabilities can be quantified and matched reliably. The methodology described herein rests on identifying clients' needs preferences as comprehensively as possible at project inception and progressing to identifying contractors who can satisfy them optimally; relying on 'multidimensional scaling' and 'cluster analysis' techniques. The investigations suggest that clients' project needs are not along the traditional classifications of private, public and developer clients; a reclassification of clients into five needs-based groups is proposed. A new contractor evaluation methodology matching client satisfaction to attainment of established needs in project schemes has been developed for bidding purposes.Classification, Clients, Tender Evaluation, Scaling, Briefing,
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