Abstract
The South African construction industry, like most construction industries worldwide, is
facing several problems and challenges that directly affect the performance of construction
projects undertaken in the country. Project performance can be measured and evaluated
using a large number of performance indicators that could be related to various dimensions
(groups) such as time cost, quality, client satisfaction, client changes, business
performance, health and safety. However the abovementioned factors are not the only
factors that affect the performance of construction projects; therefore this paper aims to
establish the most critical factors affecting the performance of construction projects in
South Africa, a case study of the Gauteng Province. The data for this paper was collected
from both primary and secondary sources. The primary data was acquired through the
administration of structured questionnaires. The questionnaire was distributed to
construction professionals. The questionnaire was designed based on information
emanating from an extant review of literature. Out of the 160 distributed questionnaires,
131 were received back which represented 82% response rate. Findings from the
questionnaire analysis revealed that the key factors affecting the performance of
construction projects in Gauteng are: cash flow, dispute management (Client and
professionals), leadership skills of project manager, speedy and reliability of service to
client, dispute management (labour and supervisor), learning from best practice and
experience of others, review of failures and solving them and Availability of personnel
with high experience and qualification. The study contributes to the body of knowledge on
the subject of factors affecting the performance of construction projects in Gauteng, South
Africa.