Abstract
To ensure effective management and successful delivery of projects in the construction industry, there needs to be contractual agreements which are appropriate and effective in administering contractual matters. In the South African construction industry, there are four standard forms of contracts (JBCC, GCC, NEC and FIDIC) that can be adopted for projects and which have been developed by various bodies in the construction industry and, endorsed by the CIDB. It is important to note that while these standard contracts are readily available for use; each project is unique, and it requires consideration of its circumstances before adopting a form of contract. This ensures that projects are completed successfully, while minimising disputes and claims which may arise during construction. Hence in this study, these four standard forms of contract endorsed by the CIDB are assessed.
The approach used in this study is quantitative, and the data was collected using an online questionnaire survey tool which was distributed through emails to 140 participants. 102 of the questionnaires were completed. The survey focused on members of professional team in the construction industry, both female and male. For analysis of variables put under test, data analysis technique called descriptive was used, with the application of different statistical tools such frequency distribution, mean item score and, standard deviation.
The findings of this study reveal that JBCC is the most used standard forms of contract in the South African construction industry, while GCC is the least used. However, it should be noted that JBCC is suitable for use on building projects only. The findings suggest that factors such as risk allocation, familiarity of client with the standard form of contract, payment arrangements and procurement methods are influential when clients are selecting standard forms of contracts
The findings also indicated that amendments made to standard forms of contracts are driven by the desire to alter risk re-allocation as well as the need to insert additional obligation. However, care should be taken to ensure that these changes do not negatively affect the efficacy of administration of these contracts. Furthermore, it can be deduced from the findings that amendments to contracts as a result of the desire to re-allocate risks or add contractual obligations do not have any form of impact on the contract administration. Amendments should be effected
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with care to ensure that such changes do not inhibit successful delivery of project and contract administration.
Lastly, the findings suggest that NEC3 and JBCC are effective in respect of control of time, management of risk and programme, control of cost, contract administration, allocation of risk, control of quality and avoidance of disputes.