Establishing a Link between Contractor Selection Strategy and Project Outcomes: Simulation Study
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 145, Issue 10
Abstract
Perceived benefits of the best-value strategy and the problems the lowest-price strategy have caused in the construction industry have led to an increase in the use of the best-value strategy for selecting contractors. Although some research has tried to establish a direct relationship between a contractor selection strategy and project outcomes, there is hardly any empirical research that tries to establish this relationship. This paper presents a quantifiable method of assessing the risk of selecting different contractor selection strategies using educational facilities projects in the United Kingdom. A Monte Carlo–simulation study was conducted to assess how the lowest-priced contractor would have fared against the best-value contractor had the former been awarded the contract instead. It was concluded that selecting the best-value contractor in educational facilities projects is not necessary in terms of cost. Furthermore, although the results are limited to educational facilities project, the method can be adapted to other sectors.
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Data Availability Statement
Data generated or analyzed during the study are available from the corresponding author by request.
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Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 145 • Issue 10 • October 2019
Copyright
©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 17, 2018
Accepted: Mar 7, 2019
Published online: Aug 15, 2019
Published in print: Oct 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Jan 15, 2020
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