Emerging Project Procurement Trends in the Canadian Construction Industry

Construction procurement is recognized as a complex business process. Traditional procurement methodologies have received wide criticism although it remains popular with owners/clients, regardless of the published disadvantages and criticisms. This study assesses the future of traditional procurement and also evaluates the current popularity of traditional procurement against alternative approaches to construction procurement. To achieve research objectives, a questionnaire survey was conducted within British Columbia, Canada, to gauge the perspective of construction industry stakeholders. Respondents were asked to gauge 50 statements on a five-point Likert scale. A Web-based survey service was employed to ensure anonymity while providing a single point of contact for gathering results. As a majority of the interviewees were positioned professionally at management level or higher, a certain level of accuracy in the data collected was assured. Research findings revealed that the traditional procurement methods do not meet the need of the Canadian construction industry. Traditional procurement alone cannot support the unique needs of each and every project in Canada, thus the Canadian construction industry. The paper identifies alternative methods that offer similar value while maintaining competitive practices that permit contractors to compete equitably for work. Recommendations for further research include conducting case studies into traditional, partnering, and management specimens of procurement methods. Additionally, national level surveys of industry stakeholders would further benefit this research, thus providing an indication of the procurement status quo, as well as a better understanding of what the future may hold. The study is valuable for all the professionals involved with the construction industry in general.