Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

International Journal of Project Management 28 (2010) 275–284

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijproman

Centralized bid evaluation for awarding of construction

projects – A case of India government
Sidhartha S. Padhi *, Pratap K.J. Mohapatra 1
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, IIT Kharagpur, West Bengal – 721 302, India

Received 30 October 2008; received in revised form 5 June 2009; accepted 9 June 2009

Abstract

Reviewing the procedures of contractor selection in government departments in various countries and in the Rural Development
Department (RDD) in India, this paper brings out several weaknesses of the current contractor selection procedure. It suggests a cen-
tralized contractor evaluation process with the inclusion of three new selection attributes along bid price. The suggested attributes are: (1)
time quoted to complete the project, (2) warranty period quoted, and (3) past performance score of the contractor. To solve the resulting
multi-objective decision-making problem, the paper proposes a binary goal programming model. When tested with the existing contrac-
tor selection procedure for six past projects in RDD, the model yields the same results as those taken by RDD in the past, confirming the
credibility of the model. When tested with the suggested procedure, the model yields much superior results.
Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Goal programming; Contractor selection; Project management

1. Introduction www.tender.gov.in, access date: 3rd April 2008). Judicious

The government is the largest of the organizations that
spends millions of rupees in construction projects such as
those related to buildings, port works, roads, and water-
works. Government departments outsource their required
works and services through various methods such as open
cry auctions, competitive bidding through Request for
Quotation (RFQ), and agreement through negotiation.
Of these, competitive bidding through RFQ is the most fre-
quently used method. This is also the only method used by
government departments in India to select contractors to
award construction projects (related to roads, buildings,
etc.) (CPWD works manual, 2003). Furthermore, expendi-
ture is the highest in the construction head among all the
heads of expenditure in government departments (http://
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 9333277971.
E-mail addresses: drpadhi@gmail.com (S.S. Padhi), pratap_moha@
yahoo.co.in (P.K.J. Mohapatra).
1
Tel.: +91 9434020437.
selection of contractors is, thus, a major issue in
government.
Government departments in India follow a well-laid out
procedure for competitive bidding through RFQ. While
seeking bids from the potential contractors in an auction,
a government department brings out a tender notice and
publicizes, among other things, the design (drawing), tech-
nical specifications, completion time, and warranty period
for each project. It also specifies its requirements with
regard to financial self-sufficiency of the contractor (the
minimum liquid assets that a contractor must have with
him), adequacy of relevant experience (the minimum
amount of work on similar projects– one-third of the
reserve price) that a contractor must have had done satis-
factorily in the past, and the required physical resources
(such as manpower, equipment, etc.) to accomplish the
project (http://www.tender.gov.in, access date: 12th May
2008).
A government department follows a three-stage proce-
dure to award a work contract. In the first stage, the appli-
cants are evaluated on the basis of their registration details,

0263-7863/$36.00 Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved.

doi:10.1016/j.ijproman.2009.06.001
276 S.S. Padhi, P.K.J. Mohapatra / International Journal of Project Management 28 (2010) 275–284
lawsuits filed, and complaints raised against them. Regis-
tration details indicate the class to which a contractor
belongs. Normally, a contractor is registered with the gov-
ernment as B-, A-, special-, or super-class contractor on the
basis of physical resources, qualified manpower, and past
experiences available. A B-class contractor is eligible to
bid for small projects costing less than or equal to Indian
rupees of five million, whereas a super-class contractor
can bid for projects of all sizes. Filing lawsuits can result,
for example, from tender fixing, bribing government offi-
cials, unfilled demand by the contractors for raising project
cost due to hike in raw-material price. Complaints against
a contractor range from poor workmanship to difference of
opinion on volume of work completed and from environ-
mental pollution to delay in project completion.
In the second stage, the department evaluates the appli-
cants and scores them with respect to three main pre-qual-
ification attributes of their technical bids (called here as the
present status of the contractor): (1) Quantum of similar
work done in the past, (2) Availability of physical
resources, and (3) Financial status (liquid assets) of the
contractor. The department shortlists the three highest-
scoring bid participants for the second stage of evaluation.
In the third stage, the contractor, quoting the lowest bid
price, is declared as the winner.
The use of the criterion of the lowest bid to finally select
a contractor has been criticized by many (e.g., Hatush and
Skitmore, 1998; Stein et al., 2003; Al-Reshaid and Kartam,
2005). According to them, a contractor, quoting a very low
bid price and ultimately winning the auction, may find the
quoted amount totally untenable. Such a contractor often
resorts to various cost-cutting measures, which lead to seri-
ous time and cost overruns, serious quality problems, and
to increased litigation. Furthermore, the lowest bid con-
tractor may have got the lowest pre-qualification score
among the shortlisted ones. The selection procedure, thus,
does not distinguish a technically vastly superior contrac-
tor from other marginally qualified ones.
The contractor selection procedure also suffers from two
other deficiencies. First, the selection process does not
attach any importance to the past work performance of
contractors. Having won a contract, a contractor, with a
poor record of past work performance, is very likely to deli-
ver work with poor standard. Holt et al. (1995) and El-Saw-
alhi et al. (2007), for example, found the contractors to be
unreliable when their past work performance was not con-
sidered in the selection process. Second, a contractor can
bid for any number of projects at the same time. Because
procurement auctions take place in a decentralized manner
in government departments, it is quite possible that a con-
tractor wins the award of multiple projects. Such a contrac-
tor often fails to handle all the projects satisfactorily due to
his limited resources and exceeds the planned schedule and
cost and, consequently, compromises on quality.
In this paper, we propose that the contractor selection
procedure should be changed to include the past perfor-
mance of contractors and their bids for multiple projects.
2. Literature review of construction contractor selection
process
Many studies have recognized the importance of, and
the associated difficulties in, multi-attribute scoring of con-
tractors. Consideration of multiple attributes in procure-
ment auction is important, but setting their priority in a
bid evaluation process is difficult (David et al., 2006; Shyur
and Shih, 2006; Gallien and Wein, 2005; Dobler and Burt,
1996; Patil, 2006; Beil and Wein, 2003; Arslan et al., 2006).
To overcome these weaknesses and evaluate construction
contractors in a multi-attribute procurement scenario in
government sectors, a number of modeling approaches
have been proposed in the literature. Table 1 shows a few
selected modeling approaches and the contractor selection
attributes used in these approaches.
Kumaraswamy (1996) used a performance-based scoring
technique for rating each attribute on an interval scale and
summing the individual scores to compute the final score
for a contractor. The technique is simple to use, but
depends on the subjective decisions of the experts. Further,
it cannot accommodate attributes with dissimilar scales of
measurement. The technique also fails to guarantee consis-
tency in determining the attribute weights. Holt (1998) used
cluster analysis to group the contractors having similar
characteristics. The technique can handle the attributes
with dissimilar scales of measurement, but it is not suitable
to identify the most favorable contractor.
Hatush and Skitmore (1998) and Lambropoulos (2007)
have used multi-attribute utility technique to score the con-
tractors. In this technique, the utility score of a contractor
is determined by comparing the desired value of each attri-
bute (set by the government) with its actual value as
achieved by the contractor. The sum of the individual util-
ity scores reflects the total utility score of the contractor.
Thus, the technique has the ability to consider multiple
attributes and past work performance. However, it cannot
handle fuzzy data and does not work properly for group
decision-making problems (El-Sawalhi et al., 2007). Lai
et al. (2004) used multi-attribute analysis technique to score
the contractors. A simple scoring technique in which the
contractors are rated on an ordinal scale, it cannot capture
the uncertainty of preference ratings of decision makers.
Also, it does not check the consistency of scores for the
attributes by decision makers (El-Sawalhi et al., 2007). Fur-
ther, Lai et al. (2004) did not consider the attributes that
were quantitative in nature.
Deng (1999) and Padhi and Mohapatra (2009) used
Fuzzy-AHP and Fuzzy AHP-SMART and Al-Harbi
(2001) and Topcu (2004) used AHP to score the contrac-
tors. Both Fuzzy-AHP and AHP techniques check the
consistency of export judgments. Using these techniques,
the qualitative scores of attributes are converted into
numerical values. The techniques can also handle scores
assessed by a group. The contractors are rated subjec-
tively by the decision makers who use the Satty scale
(1980) to convert the scores into crisp numbers and make
 S.S. Padhi, P.K.J. Mohapatra / International Journal of Project Management 28 (2010) 275–284 277

Table 1
Modeling approaches to the problem of construction contractor selection.
Author Country Selection attributes used Modeling
approach
Kumaraswamy Hong Financial status, technology offered, and experience in handling similar types of projects. Performance-based
(1996) Kong scoring
Holt (1998) UK Quoted cost, quality of work, and completion time Cluster analysis
Hatush and UK Quoted bid price, financial soundness, technical ability, management capabilities, safety Multi-attribute
Skitmore (1998) performance, and reputation. utility theory
Deng (1999) Australia Quoted cost, technical capability, services and references of the government officials. Fuzzy-AHP
Al-Harbi (2001) UAE Experience in handling similar types of projects, financial stability, quality performance, AHP
manpower resources, equipment resources, and current workload.
Topcu (2004) Turkey Quoted cost, quality of work, and completion time AHP
Lai et al. (2004) China Contractor organization structure, firm honor and competence, quoted bid price, and amount Multi-attribute
of materials used. analysis
Missbauer and Austria Bid price Integer
Hauber (2006) programming
Lambropoulos Greece Quoted cost, quality of work, and completion time Multi-attribute
(2007) utility theory
Wang et al. (2006) Taiwan Conversion of all the attributes to price Unit-price based
Padhi and India Quoted bid price, financial status, available physical resources, amount of work done, service Fuzzy-AHP-
Mohapatra during warranty period, co-operation and coordination offered, meeting of completion time, SMART
(2009) value of work done in each of the past projects, and pollution control measures.

pair-wise comparison among the attributes as well as the
contractors. This technique, however, cannot capture the
uncertainty of the preference ratings for scoring the
contractors. The fuzzy scale, used in Fuzzy-AHP, gets
over this problem by allowing the experts to give their
opinions in terms of a range of values in the scale.
Both AHP and Fuzzy-AHP suffer, however, from the
rank reversal problem (Wang and Triantaphyllou, 2008).
Such a problem is said to occur when the relative
ranks of contractors change whenever one or more
contractors are either added or deleted from
consideration.
Missbauer and Hauber (2006) used a single-objective
(bid price) integer programming model to select the win-
ning contractor. However, they did not consider other
important non-price attributes, such as quality, time of
completion, physical resources, and past performance of
the contractor. Wang et al. (2006) used the unit-price
based selection method, where all the selection attributes
were converted into a single attribute, price to select the
most favorable contractor. However, mapping various
attributes to price is difficult (Teich et al., 2005) and
debatable.
In summary, we highlight the following features of pro-
curement auction used different countries of the world
1. Procurement auction in government of India consider
the attributes that other government follow.
2. Barring Taiwan (Wang et al., 2006), all the countries,
considered above, follow a multi-stage procedure to
pre-qualify and filter the bid participants and to select
the winner in the final stage – a procedure that govern-
ment departments in India follows.
3. Like other countries, India also carryout competitive
bidding for single projects.
In our paper, we argue that
1. Explicit consideration of multiple attributes be made, like
unit-price based auction (Wang et al., 2006), not just to
disqualify bidders but to use them in the final selection
of the winner (Topcu, 2004; Lai et al., 2004; Wang et al.,
2006).
2. Models for procurement auction of construction pro-
jects have considered single projects only (Holt et al.,
1994a; Holt et al., 1994b; Holt, 1998; Deng, 1999; Zav-
adskas and Vilutiene, 2006; Lambropoulos, 2007; Padhi
and Mohapatra, 2009). Models for awarding multiple
construction projects have not been reported in the liter-
ature. The procurement auctions should be held for mul-
tiple projects to assess the bidders’ viability with regard
to his financial and physical resources.
In the present paper, we consider the case of any contrac-
tor making bids for multiple projects that can be either
homogeneous, heterogeneous, or both. We propose a bin-
ary goal programming model to solve the above-stated
problem of contractor selection. Further, we consider the
adequacy of physical and monetary resources available with
a contractor for all the projects that he may have bid for.
3. Contractor selection attributes considered in the proposed
model
Selection of contractors for construction projects in gov-
ernment departments (including those in India) is usually
based on the consideration of a number of attributes. They
are listed below.
1. Bid price quoted by a contractor: It is the price quoted
by a contractor to get the project work. And the
278 S.S. Padhi, P.K.J. Mohapatra / International Journal of Project Management 28 (2010) 275–284
government prefers the contractor who quotes the low-
est bid.
2. Financial status of the contractor: It is the minimum
liquid assets that a contractor must have with him
(30% of reserve price) to get the project work.
3. Total amount of similar work done by the contractor: The
criterion of total amount of similar work done by the
bidding contractors is important because it gives an idea
to the government department about the contractor’s
experience in handling work of similar quality specifica-
tions and costs.
4. Physical resources available with the contractor: The gov-
ernment department asks the bid participants to submit
the details of available physical resources that they can
expend for the project.
Government departments consider all the four attri-
butes, mentioned above, in the three-stage auction process.
In view of the shortcomings of this process, discussed in
Section 1, we propose three additional attributes to be con-
sidered explicitly in the auction process. The first two of
these attributes – time quoted to complete the project
and Post construction warranty period quoted by the con-
tractor – are usually fixed by the departments and pub-
lished in the tender notice. The winning contractors are
supposed to conform to these requirements. We advocate
that the contractors be asked to quote on these attributes
as also on the bid price.
1. Time quoted to complete the project
2. Post construction warranty period quoted by the
contractor
3. Past performance score of the contractorPast perfor-
mance of a contractor is a measure of the quantum of
similar work done satisfactorily by him in the past. Such
an attribute is often used in the first stage of evaluation.
We propose the following five components of the past
performance of a contractor:
(a) Delay in completing the project: This is the difference
in time between the due date stipulated by the gov-
ernment department and the actual date of comple-
tion of a project by the winning contractor.
(b) Quality of service during warranty: This indicates the
quality of maintenance work done by the contractor
on a completed project.
(c) Value of work done by the contractor in each project
assigned to him in the past: A winning contractor
may indulge in substandard quality of work to make
supernatural profit. To guard against such an even-
tuality, the government department checks the dif-
ference between the desired and the actual quality
of work done and assesses the value of work done
before releasing the assessed amount to the
contractor.
(d) Co-operation and coordination offered: A govern-
ment department often modifies construction design
and/or specifications. In such cases it expects all the
bidding contractors to co-operate and coordinate.
Government officials can subjectively assess the
extent of co-operation and coordination extended
by a contractor by recalling their past experiences
with the bidding contactors during their winning
stints.
(e) Pollution control measure: In all spheres of the soci-
ety, a growing concern for pollution control and
environmental safety has forced the government
departments to include pollution control measures
to be taken as another criterion for selecting the
most favorable contractor.
In this paper, we have used the aggregated past perfor-
mance score of contractors, against each past performance
attributes, following the approach of Kumaraswamy (1996).
4. The winner selection problem
Contractor selection is a multi-attribute decision-mak-
ing problem. Where individual contractors perform differ-
ently on different attributes and projects are not divisible
among the contractors, finding the most favorable contrac-
tor among a set of contractors makes the problem challeng-
ing. Additionally, when a contractor bids for more than
one project, the contractor selection problem can be baf-
fling. To solve this problem, we propose a binary goal pro-
gramming approach.
Goal programming is a very widely used technique for
multi-objective decision-making. There have been a num-
ber of extensions of the basic goal programming approach.
In the framework of a goal programming approach, the
decision makers set some acceptable aspiration levels to
achieve a set of goals as closely as possible with preset
goals. Of relevance to this paper is the binary goal pro-
gramming (Chen and Tsai, 2001; Chang, 2004). In this
approach, decision variables are binary in nature, each
reflecting whether a specific contract is assigned to a spe-
cific contractor or not. We discus below the details of the
proposed binary goal programming model to select the
most eligible contractors for work contracts.
Assumptions
(i) Work contract for a single project is not divisible
among the contractors, i.e., subcontracting is not
allowed.
(ii) A contractor can submit only one bid for a project;
however, he can submit bids for more than one
project.
(iii) All the physical resources are of equal priority.
Symbols
i index for the project, where i = 1, 2, . . ., I
j index for the contractor, where j = 1, 2, . . ., J
k index for the type of physical resource, where
k = 1, 2, . . ., K
Gi Set of contractors who quote for the ith project
 S.S. Padhi, P.K.J. Mohapatra / International Journal of Project Management 28 (2010) 275–284 279

Bj Set of projects that the jth contractor quotes for The warranty period for the ith project by the jth winning
d+ Over-achievement of a goal contractor, wij, should be higher than the period of main-
d Under-achievement of a goal tance warranty, Wi, asked for by the government for the
ith project (Goal 3)
Auctioneer (Government department) X
wij X ij þ d  þ
i3  d i3 ¼ W i ; 8i ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; I ð3Þ
Pi Reserve price fixed for the ith project
j2Gi
Ti Desired completion time of the ith project
Wi Warranty period fixed for the ith project The past performance of the contractor is a major indicator
Si Desired past performance score for the ith project of his dependability. So the government wants to select a
type contractor ‘j’, from the set of contractor Gi, who scores
Cij Minimum amount of work (in rupees), similar to higher than that fixed by the government for past perfor-
the ith project, required to have been done satis- mance (Goal 4)
factorily by the jth contractor in the past X
sTij X ij þ d  þ
i4  d i4 ¼ S i ; 8i ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; I ð4Þ
Rkij Amount of kth type resource the jth contractor j2Gi
must deploy for the ith project
Lij Liquid assets with the jth contractor, considered as Constraints
a minimum, for the ith project The kth resource to be deployed by a contractor j 2 Gi,
for all the awarded projects is limited to the amount avail-
Contractor able with him ðrkj Þ
pij Price quoted by the jth contractor for the ith pro- X
Rkij X ij 6 rkj ; 8j ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; J and 8k
ject i2Bj
tij Time quoted by the jth contractor to complete the
ith project ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; K ð5Þ
wij Warranty period quoted by the jth contractor for The liquid assets (lj), held by the jth contractor, limits the
the ith project total liquid assets that he can spend on all the projects
sij Past performance score secured by the jth contrac- awarded to him
tor for having completed the ith type project in the X
past Lij X ij 6 lj ; 8j ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; J ð6Þ
i2Bj
cj Amount of work (in rupees) completed by the jth
contractor in the past The amount of work (in rupees), similar to the ith project,
rkj Amount of kth type of physical resource available that a contractor j 2 Gi, had done satisfactorily in the past
with the jth contractor (cj) should be more than the amount set by the government
lj Liquid assets available with the jth contractor X
C ij X ij 6 cj ; 8j ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; J ð7Þ
i2Bj
Decision Variables
 The total number of awards to be given at the end of the
1 If ith project is awarded to the jth contractor
X ij ¼ auction should not exceed the number of projects, N, for
0 If ith project is not awarded to the jth contractor
which tender notices have come out
XX
for all i = 1, 2, . . ., I and j = 1, 2, . . ., J X ij 6 N ð8Þ
Goals i2Bj j2Gi
The contractor selection model considers four goals.
A project can be awarded to only one contractor; it may
They are discussed below.
not be awarded to anyone if no contractor satisfies the min-
The total bid price of the winning contractors should
imum requirement
approximately equal the total sanctioned budget for all X
the projects included in the tender notice (Goal 1) X ij 6 1; 8i ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; I ð9Þ
XX X j2Gi
pij X ij þ d 
1  d þ
1 ¼ Pi ð1Þ
the under- and over-achievements are non-negative:
i2Bj j2Gi i2Bj

d
1 P 0; dþ
1 P 0 8i ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; I ð10Þ
where d  þ
1 and d 1 are the under-achievement and over-
achievement of the goal (the total sanctioned budget). d
i2 P 0; dþ
i2 P 0 8i ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; I ð11Þ
The time quoted for the ith project by the jth winning d
i3 P 0; dþ
i3 P 0 8i ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; I ð12Þ
contractor, tij, must not exceed the schedule date Ti (Goal d P 0; dþ P0 8i ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; I ð13Þ
i4 i4
2)
X The decision variables have to be either 0 or 1:
tij X ij þ d  þ
i2  d i2 ¼ T i ; 8i ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; I ð2Þ
j2Gi X ij ¼ 0 or 1; 8i ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; I and j ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; J ð14Þ
280 S.S. Padhi, P.K.J. Mohapatra / International Journal of Project Management 28 (2010) 275–284

The goal programming formulation of the contractor selec- Case 1

tion problem requires defining goals and the deviations of
the achievements from the goals for a particular solution.
The objective function is set as:
X
I X
I X
I
Minimize z ¼ d þ
1 þ dþ
i2 þ d
i3 þ d
i4
i¼1 i¼1 i¼1
The problem, thus, is to find optimal value of Xij = 0 or 1,
for all i = 1, 2, . . ., I and j = 1, 2, . . ., J, so as to minimize
(15) subject to constraints specified in (5)–(13).
5. A case study
We took the following three steps to get acquainted with
the current procurement process and in the government
departments to collect auction related data: (1) Browsing
the website of the government of India departments
(www.India.gov.in, accessed on 1st march 2008); (2) Study-
ing the relevant publications by the government of India,
attending seminars and workshops organized by govern-
ment departments, and reviewing the published research
papers on procurement of works and services; and (3)
Studying the details regarding the award of work contracts
in the Rural Development Department (RDD) of Orissa, a
state in the Republic of India (the department spends the
highest in road construction projects in the Orissa) and
gathering information on the details of the work con-
tract-awarding process and contractor evaluation attri-
butes, by interviewing the officials of the RDD.
We consider the problem of contractor selection for two
cases each involving three roadwork projects that were car-
ried out by the RDD of Orissa.
The tender notice for three projects was put up on Octo-
ber 9, 2006, by the RDD. In this case the projects were
finally awarded to contractors 2, 3, and 4, respectively.
Thus the case under consideration focuses on awarding
of three roadwork projects (I = 3) to four contractors
ð15Þ
(J = 4) where projects are not divisible among the contrac-
tors and where a contractor who is likely to win more than
one contract may lose one of them if his available
resources, liquid assets, and the quantum of work (in
rupees) done by him in the past fall short of the require-
ments of these projects. Three contractors (contractor 1,
contractor 2, and contractor 3) have quoted for project 1,
while all the four contractors have placed their bids for
projects 2 and 3.
Table 2 (Case 1) gives the quotations submitted by the
contractors. Column 2 of Table 2 gives nij the quotation
(containing a set of values of the selection attributes) made
for the ith project by the jth contractor. Each row of Table
2 (Case 1) gives the details of the corresponding contrac-
tor’s quotation for different attributes.
The present practice of contractor selection does not
require a contractor to quote the time to complete a pro-
ject; instead it directs all the participating contractors to
complete the project within a stipulated time. Therefore
data on the quoted times to complete a project were not
available. Also, because the present practice of contractor
selection does not consider warranty period promised by
the contractor, data on warranty were also not available.
To apply our contractor selection model (given in Section
4), we have used surrogate measures of these two attri-
butes, instead. We have used the average time taken by a
contractor to do the ith type of projects in the past, in place

Table 2
Contractor quoted for the works contracts.
Case Quotation for Bid price Total amount of Avg. time taken for Warranty Physical resources Liquid asset Past performance
project i by in million work done in completion of project provided available in numbers in million Rs. score
contractor j Rs. million Rs. in months in years
Case 1 n11 2.826 1.633 12 3 54 2.847 8.05
n21 2.700
n31 2.593
n12 2.691 2.001 9 3.5 52 2.435 6.58
n22 2.705
n32 2.589
n13 2.782 2.691 6 4 58 2.182 8.13
n23 2.602
n33 2.485
n24 2.697 2.081 10 4 41 1.305 7.56
n34 2.391
Case 2 n11 3.323 2.522 8 3.5 47 1.197 7.68
n21 2.112
n31 3.153
n12 3.192 2.385 9 3.2 42 1.252 7.19
n22 2.231
n32 3.173
n13 3.426 2.239 6 4 40 1.453 8.21
n23 2.341
n33 3.248
 S.S. Padhi, P.K.J. Mohapatra / International Journal of Project Management 28 (2010) 275–284 281

Table 3
Requirement set by the government.
Case Reserve price Required quantum of Required time for Required physical Required Required liquid asset Required past
in million Rs. work in million Rs. completion of project resources in warranty in million Rs. performance score
in months numbers period
Case 1 2.943 0.971 8 28 4 0.883 8.00
2.710 0.894 8 24 4 0.813 7.50
2.625 0.866 6 21 4 0.788 7.50
Case 2 3.531 1.165 8 28 4 1.059 8.00
2.410 0.795 6 24 4 0.723 7.50
3.313 1.093 8 28 4 0.994 8.00

of the time quoted by the jth contractor to complete the ith ject separately by ignoring the suggested selection
project. Similarly, we have used the average warranty per- attributes of quoted time to complete a project, quoted
iod provided by the contractor in the past for the ith type warranty period, and past performance (i.e. by ignoring
of projects, in place of the warranty period promised by the constraints (2)–(4) in the model given in Section 4) so as
jth contractor for the ith project. to reflect the present practice of contractor selection, and
Table 3 (Case 1) gives the values of different attributes, (2) the results obtained for the case when the model was
published by the RDD in the tender notice. solved by considering all the selection attributes suggested
This problem has been formulated as a binary goal pro- in the paper (column 4).
gramming model (mentioned in Section 4), the formulation The last row of the Table 4 (Case 1) shows the value of
is given in the Appendix. We have used the LINDO 6.1 the objective function as obtained for the two cases. We
software package to solve the problem (LINDO 6.1, a observe that when the three new selection attributes are
product of LINDO systems Inc. (Schrage, 1999), is a soft- considered in addition to those already used by RDD,
ware package dedicated to design and solve linear and inte- the optimal results (given in column 3) are entirely different
ger optimization models). The optimal solution is obtained from those for the present selection process. Contractor 2
as Z* = 2.000, and the optimal values of the decision vari- lost the project 1 in the proposed model because of poor
ables are obtained as follows: (X11, X12, X13, X21, X22, past performance score (6.58) and low warranty period
X23, X24, X31, X32, X33, X34) are (0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0). quoted (3.5) compared to those of contractor 3 (with value
The results imply that the first and third projects should of 8.13). In fact, contractor 2 failed to get any project
be awarded to contractors 3 and the second project should because of the same reasons. Further, contractor 3, who
be awarded to contractor 4. The over-achievement and quoted the least completion time and the highest warranty
under-achievement values of each goal are the following: period, also won the award of project 3. Contractor 4, who
d  þ þ þ þ
1 ¼ 0:314; d 12 ¼ 2; d 22 ¼ 2; d 14 ¼ 0:130; d 24 ¼ 0:060; d 34 ¼ had reasonably high amount of work done in the past and
0:63, and d 1 ¼ d 12 ¼ d 22 ¼ d 22 ¼ d 32 ¼ d 13 ¼ d 23 ¼ d 
þ þ þ  þ  
33 ¼ quoted reasonably low bid price and the highest value of
d14 ¼ d 
24 ¼ d 
34 ¼ d þ
13 ¼ d þ
23 ¼ d þ
33 ¼ 0: The optimal solu- the warranty period, won the award of the project 2.
tion meets all the ten goals set by the government Case 2
department. The tender notice for three projects was put up on April
Table 4 (Case 1) gives the following: (1) the RDD’s 29, 2007, by the RDD. In this case the projects were finally
actual decision with regard to awarding the projects to awarded to contractors 2, 1, and 1, respectively.
the contractors for the present case (column 3). The results Thus the case under consideration focuses on awarding
obtained for the present case when the binary goal pro- of three roadwork projects (I = 3) to three contractors
gramming model was formulated and solved for each pro- (J = 3). Three contractors (contractor 1, contractor 2,
and contractor 3) have quoted for all the three projects.
Table 4 Table 2 (Case 2) gives the quotations that were submit-
Comparison of outputs between present practice and proposed method.
ted by the contractors. Column 2 of Table 2 gives nij the
Case Project Contractor who was quotation (containing a set of values of the selection attri-
awarded the project
butes) made for the ith project by the jth contractor. Each
RDD’s present Proposed row of Table 2 (Case 2) gives the details of the correspond-
practice model
ing contractor’s quotation for different attributes.
Case 1 1 2 3 Table 3 (Case 2) gives the values of different attributes,
2 3 4
3 4 3
published by the RDD in the tender notice.
Value of the objective 0.592 2.000 Solving this problem (mentioned in Section 4) using the
Case 2 1 2 2 LINDO 6.1 software package. The optimal solution is
2 1 3 obtained as Z* = 3.430, and the optimal values of the deci-
3 1 1 sion variables are obtained as follows: (X11, X12, X13, X21,
Value of the objective 0.797 3.430
X22, X23, X31, X32, X33) are (0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0). The results
282 S.S. Padhi, P.K.J. Mohapatra / International Journal of Project Management 28 (2010) 275–284

imply that the first, second, and third projects should be
awarded to contractors 2, 3, and 1, respectively. The
over-achievement and under-achievement values of each
goal are the following: d þ  
12 ¼ 1; d 13 ¼ 0:8; d 33 ¼ 0:5; d 14 ¼
0:81; d 34 ¼ 0:32; d 1 ¼ 0:568, d 24 ¼ 0:071 and d 1 ¼ d 
  þ þ
dþ þ  þ þ   þ þ
14 ¼ d 22 ¼ d 22 ¼ d 22 ¼ d 32 ¼ d 23 ¼ d 24 ¼ d 13 ¼ d 23 ¼ d 32 ¼
dþ þ
33 ¼ d 34 ¼ 0. The optimal solution meets all the ten goals
set by the government department.
Table 4 (Case 2) gives the following: (1) Column 3 gives
the RDD’s actual decision by solving binary goal program-
ming model for each project separately and ignoring the
suggested three selection attributes and (2) Column 4 gives
the results obtained for the case when the model was solved
by considering all the selection attributes suggested in the
paper.
The last row of the Table 4 (Case 2) gives the values of
the objective function when selection attributes are not
considered (RDD’s present practice) and when they are
considered. We observe that in the proposed model results
in different project allocation decision and in a higher value
of objective function compared to the present practice.
Contractor-1 lost the project-2 in the proposed model
because of non-availability of adequate physical resources
and liquid asset required to take up two projects simulta-
neously. This is also the reason for other two contractors
for getting one project each.
selection procedure is tested. When solved with the
consideration of past work performance and resource con-
straints due to bidding for multiple projects, the model

yields superior results compared to the current government
12 ¼ practice.

The proposed method can be used to evaluate contrac-
tors not only in any government department but also in
private enterprises. Using this method, an online decision
support system can be developed to award the work con-
tracts electronically. Data must be stored for monitoring
ongoing projects and evaluating completed projects. An
online data base can be developed to store the past perfor-
mance of the contractors and can be used as pre-qualifying
criteria for evaluating the contractor.
Acknowledgements
We thank full to the Ministry of Human Resource
Development and Rural Development Department of the
India government for their financial and moral support
to do this project. We would also like to thank the editor
and anonymous reviewers of JPMA for their suggestions
to improvement this article. Any mistakes are, of course,
our responsibility.
Appendix

6. Conclusions Mathematical formulation of the binary goal program-

ming model using the data of Tables 2 and 3.
Contractor selection is a multi-attribute decision-making
Minimize ¼ d þ þ þ þ    
1 þ d 12 þ d 22 þ d 32 þ d 13 þ d 23 þ d 33 þ d 14
problem. The current practice of selecting a contractor to
award a project in a government department in India is typ- þ d 
24 þ d 34
ically multi-stage in nature with the first two stages devoted Goals
to filtering out contractors with dubious background and Quoted Bid Price by the contractors for all the tendered
unacceptable technical bid and with the last stage to select projects (Goal 1)
the contractor based on bid price alone. This practice is defi-
cient in many respects. It ignores the past performance of a 2:826X 11 þ 2:691X 12 þ 2:782X 13 þ 2:700X 21 þ 2:705X 22
contractor and his competitiveness in terms of the quoted
time of completion and the quoted warranty period. Fur- þ 2:602X 23 þ 2:697X 24 þ 2:593X 31 þ 2:589X 32
ther, such a department follows a decentralized project- þ 2:485X 33 þ 2:391X 34 þ d  þ
1  d1
awarding procedure where a contractor is evaluated for a
¼ 8:278
project without any regard to his bid for other projects.
Thus, the procedure may result in a situation where a con- Quoted project completion time for three projects by each
tractor may be awarded more than one project while his contractor (Goal 2)
liquid assets and other resources may fall far short of the
requirements for implementing all the awarded projects. 12X 11 þ 9X 12 þ 6X 13 þ d  þ
12  d 12 ¼ 8
In this paper, we propose that (1) the contractor selec-
12X 21 þ 9X 22 þ 6X 23 þ 10X 24 þ d  þ
22  d 22 ¼ 8
tion may be done in one stage only, (2) the set of selection
attributes should be enlarged to include (i) quoted time to 12X 31 þ 9X 32 þ 6X 33 þ 10X 34 þ d  þ
32  d 32 ¼ 6

complete a project, (ii) quoted warranty period, and (iii)

Quoted warranty period for three projects by each contrac-
past performance of the contractor, and (3) the competitive
tor (Goal 3)
bidding process should be centralized so as to judge the
financial and physical resource position and experience of 3X 11 þ 3:5X 12 þ 4X 13 þ d  þ
13  d 13 ¼ 4
a contractor in consideration of award of multiple projects.
We have proposed a binary goal programming model to 3X 21 þ 3:5X 22 þ 4X 23 þ 4X 24 þ d  þ
23  d 23 ¼ 4
select the contractor. We consider the model credible 3X 31 þ 3:5X 32 þ 4X 33 þ 4X 34 þ d  þ
33  d 33 ¼ 4
because it replicates the results when the present contractor
 S.S. Padhi, P.K.J. Mohapatra / International Journal of Project Management 28 (2010) 275–284 283

Past performance score secured by each contractor (Goal Arslan, G., Tuncan, M., Birgonul, M.T., Dikmen, I., 2006. E-bidding
4) proposal preparation system for construction projects. Building and
Environment 41 (10), 1406–1413.
8:05X 11 þ 6:58X 12 þ 8:13X 13 þ d  þ
14  d 14 ¼ 8
Beil, D.R., Wein, L.M., 2003. An Inverse optimization-based auction
mechanism to support a multi-attribute RFQ process. Management
8:05X 21 þ 6:58X 22 þ 8:13X 23 þ 7:56X 24 þ d  þ
24  d 24 ¼ 7:5 Science 49 (11), 1529–1545.
8:05X 31 þ 6:58X 32 þ 8:13X 33 þ 7:56X 34 þ d  þ
34  d 34 ¼ 7:5
Chang, C-T., 2004. On the mixed binary goal programming problems.
Applied Mathematics and Computation 159, 759–768.
Chen, L-H., Tsai, F-C., 2001. Fuzzy goal programming with different
Constrains
importance and priorities. European Journal of Operational Research
Physical resources 133 (3), 548–556.
28X 11 þ 24X 21 þ 21X 31 6 54 Central Public Works Department Works Manual-2003, 2003. Director
General (works), J.M. Jaina & Brothers, Delhi, India.
28X 12 þ 24X 22 þ 21X 32 6 52 David, E., Azoulay-Schwartz, R., Kraus, S., 2006. Bidding in sealed-bid
and English multi-attribute auctions. Decision Support Systems 42 (2),
28X 13 þ 24X 23 þ 21X 33 6 58 527–556.
Deng, H., 1999. Multicriteria analysis with fuzzy pairwise comparison.
24X 24 þ 21X 34 6 41
International Journal of Approximate Reasoning 21, 215–231.
Total amount of work done Dobler, D.W., Burt, D.N., 1996. Purchasing and Supply Management,
sixth ed. McGraw-Hill, New York.
0:971X 11 þ 0:894X 21 þ 0:767X 31 6 1:633 El-Sawalhi, N., Eaton, D., Rustom, R., 2007. Contractor pre-qualification
model: state-of-the-art. International Journal of Project Management
0:971X 12 þ 0:894X 22 þ 0:767X 32 6 2:001 25, 465–474.
Gallien, J., Wein, L.M., 2005. Design and analysis of a smart market for
0:971X 13 þ 0:894X 23 þ 0:767X 33 6 2:691
industrial procurement. Management Science 51 (1), 76–91.
0:894X 24 þ 0:767X 34 6 2:081 Hatush, Z., Skitmore, M., 1998. Contractor selection using multicriteria
utility theory: an additive model. Building and Environment 33 (2–3),
Liquid asset 105–115.
Holt, G.D., 1998. Which contractor selection methodology? International
0:883X 11 þ 0:813X 21 þ 0:698X 31 6 2:847 Journal of Project Management 16 (3), 153–164.
Holt, G.D., Olomolaiye, P.O., Harris, F.C., 1994a. Applying multi-
0:883X 12 þ 0:813X 22 þ 0:698X 32 6 2:435
attribute analysis to contractor selection decisions. European Journal
0:883X 13 þ 0:813X 23 þ 0:698X 33 6 2:182 of Purchasing and Supply Management 1 (3), 139–148.
Holt, G.D., Olomolaiye, P.O., Harris, F.C., 1994b. Factors influencing
0:813X 24 þ 0:698X 34 6 1:305 UK construction clients’ choice of contractor. Building and Environ-
ment 29 (2), 241–248.
Total number of projects to be awarded in the competitive Holt, G.D., Olomolaiye, P.O., Harris, F.C., 1995. A review of contractor
bidding selection practice in the U.K. construction industry. Building and
Environment 30 (4), 553–561.
X 11 þ X 12 þ X 13 þ X 21 þ X 22 þ X 23 þ X 24 þ X 31 þ X 32 Kumaraswamy, M.M., 1996. Contractor evaluation and selection: a Hong
þ X 33 þ X 34 6 3 Kong perspective. Building and Environment 31 (3), 273–282.
Lai, K.K., Liu, S.L., Wang, S.Y., 2004. A method used for evaluating bids
A project can be awarded to only one contractor or it may in the Chinese construction industry. International Journal of Project
not be awarded to anyone if no one satisfies the minimum Management 22, 193–201.
Lambropoulos, S., 2007. The use of time and cost utility for construction
requirement
contract award under European union legislation. Building and
Environment 42 (1), 452–463.
X 11 þ X 12 þ X 13 6 1 Missbauer, H., Hauber, W., 2006. Bid calculation for construction
X 21 þ X 22 þ X 23 þ X 24 6 1 projects: regulations and incentive effects of unit price contracts.
European Journal of Operational Research 171, 1005–1019.
X 31 þ X 32 þ X 33 þ X 34 6 1 Padhi, S.S., Mohapatra, P.K.J., 2009. Contractor selection in government
procurement auctions: a case study. European Journal of Industrial
d
1 P 0; dþ
1 P 0 8i ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; I Engineering 3 (2), 170–186.
d
i2 P 0; dþ
i2 P0 8i ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; I Patil, B.S., 2006. Civil Engineering Contracts and Estimates, third ed.
University press, New Delhi, India.
d
i3 P 0; dþ
i3 P0 8i ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; I Satty, T.L., 1980. The Analytic Hierarchy Process. McGraw-Hill, New
d
i4 P 0; dþ
i4 P0 8i ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; I York.
Schrage, L., 1999. LINGO Release 6.0, LINDO System Inc., USA.
X ij ¼ 0 or 1 8i ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; I and j ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; J Shyur, H., Shih, H.A., 2006. Hybrid MCDM model for strategic vendor
selection. Mathematical and Computer Modeling 44, 749–761.
Stein, A., Hawking, P., Wyld, D.C., 2003. The 20% solution?: a case study
References on the efficiency of reverse auctions. Management Research News 26
(5), 1–20.
Al-Harbi, K.M., 2001. Application of the AHP in project management. Teich, J.E., Wallenius, H., Wallenius, J., Koppius, O.R., 2005. Emerging
International Journal of Project Management 19 (1), 19–27. multiple issue e-auctions. European Journal of Operational Research
Al-Reshaid, K., Kartam, N., 2005. Design–build pre-qualification and 159, 1–16.
tendering approach for public projects. International Journal of Topcu, Y.I., 2004. A decision model proposal for construction contractor
Project Management 23 (4), 309–320. selection in Turkey. Building and Environment 39, 469–481.
284 S.S. Padhi, P.K.J. Mohapatra / International Journal of Project Management 28 (2010) 275–284

Wang, X., Triantaphyllou, E., 2008. Ranking irregularities when evalu-
ating alternatives by using some ELECTRE methods. Omega 36 (1),
45–63.
Wang, W., Wang, H., Lai, Y., Li, J.C., 2006. Unit-price-based model for
evaluating competitive bids. International Journal of Project Manage-
ment 24, 156–166.
Zavadskas, E.K., Vilutiene, T.A., 2006. Multiple criteria evaluation of
multi-family apartment block’s maintenance contractors: I – model for
maintenance contractor evaluation and the determination of its
selection criteria. Building and Environment 41, 621–632.
 Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

International Journal of Project Management 28 (2010) 68–78

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijproman

Analysis of cost and schedule performance of international

development projects
Kamrul Ahsan a,*, Indra Gunawan b
a
Department of Management, Faculty of Business, Auckland University of Technology, Private Bag 92006, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
b
Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Auckland University of Technology, Private Bag 92006, Auckland 1142, New Zealand

Received 19 June 2008; received in revised form 20 January 2009; accepted 10 March 2009

Abstract

This study focuses on cost and schedule issues of international development (ID) projects. Through empirical analysis we examine ID
project cost and schedule performance and the main reasons for poor project outcome. We look at 100 projects that are sponsored by the
Asian Development Bank and hosted by several Asian countries. The study identifies that most late projects experience cost underrun –
an unusual cost and schedule variation relation in projects. Further we identify the root causes of project delay and cost underrun.
Research findings will benefit ID project professionals, organizations and the ID project body of knowledge. The study can be extended
to analyse other developing country projects sponsored by different donors.
Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved.

Keywords: International development project; Project performance analysis; Cost and schedule; Causes of delay

1. Introduction
Public sector development projects or programs specifi-
cally designed for economic and social needs of developing
countries, usually financed by a donor are known as inter-
national development (ID) projects. These projects are
either implemented by recipient governments under a bilat-
eral agreement with the donor country, or through an
‘implementing partner’ of the donor – frequently a non-
governmental organization or professional contractor [1].
ID projects differ from industrial or commercial pro-
jects. The objectives of ID projects by definition, concern
poverty alleviation and improvement of living standards,
environment and basic human rights protection, assistance
for victims of natural or people caused disasters, capacity
building and development of basic physical and social
infrastructures [2, p. 74]. Although there are some hard ele-
ments within ID projects, these projects are frequently con-
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +64 9 921 9999x5477.
E-mail addresses: kamrul.ahsan@aut.ac.nz (K. Ahsan), indra.gunawa-
n@aut.ac.nz (I. Gunawan).
cerned with soft issues like social or human development [1,
p. 364]. The soft objectives of ID projects are usually much
less visible and measurable compared to industrial or com-
mercial projects. The intangibility of ID project objectives
and deliverables raise a special challenge in managing and
evaluating projects that require adaptation of the existing
project management body of knowledge [2, p. 74].
One important characteristic of most ID projects is the
complex web of the many stakeholders involved [3]. Indus-
trial and commercial projects usually have two key stake-
holders, the client, who pays for the project and as a
result benefits from its deliverables, and the contractor or
implementing unit, who is paid for managing the project
to achieve the desired results. ID projects, in contrast, com-
monly involve three separate key stakeholders, namely the
funding agency that pays for but does not directly use pro-
ject output, the implementing unit, and the target beneficia-
ries who benefit from project output but usually do not pay
for the project. Most ID projects are not concerned with
profitability and do not have a business focus. The operat-
ing environment and culture of the host country also make
ID projects different from traditional business projects and

0263-7863/$36.00 Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved.

doi:10.1016/j.ijproman.2009.03.005
 K. Ahsan, I. Gunawan / International Journal of Project Management 28 (2010) 68–78
make traditional project management tools in the devel-
oped world less appropriate [4].
Foreign loans from donor institutions, development
banks and host country organizations play a dominant role
in financing ID projects. Most ID projects are financed by
the five major multilateral development banks (MDBs),
which are the World Bank Group, the Inter American
Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank
(ADB), the African Development Bank and the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the 21
member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-
operation and Development. According to the UNDP’s
Human Development Report 2004, the 49 Least Developed
Countries (LDC’s) in the world received US$55.15 billion
in official development assistance in 2004 [2, p. 72]. This
amounts to 8.9% of the LDC’s total GDP, which is mostly
allocated for ID projects. The main lenders and the donor
countries have over $200 billion in outstanding commit-
ments allocated for economic and social development pro-
jects in over 120 countries. The largest lender among the
five MDBs is the World Bank, which had 60% in outstand-
ing commitments, earmarked for 1508 projects in 1998/99,
while the four other MDBs together accounted for an esti-
mated 40% of the $200 billions in outstanding commit-
ments [5, p. 4]. For Asia-Pacific countries, the ADB
contributed US$123.2 billion for 2002 projects during the
period 1966–2006 [6].
There are variations in project management knowledge
and practices between industries, countries and application
areas [7]. Within project management literature the most
frequently addressed industry is construction [8–10].
Recently, ID projects are gaining more importance among
project professionals due to their nature and contribution
to developing countries. The Project Management Institu-
tion (www.PMI.org) identifies that most ID projects face
time and cost overrun and require major costly re-engineer-
ing. Within the PMI there is no body of knowledge, spe-
cialized global standards or certification, nor is there any
training available for ID projects. Robert Youker, in his
presentation to the first Global Project Management
Forum in 1995 in New Orleans, discussed seven areas of
ID project management and concluded that in almost every
area, current project management standards and certifica-
tions need to be extended to cover ID project management
[5]. The International Development Special Interest Group
of PMI shares this vision which has already been included
within their 5-year strategy.
Many research articles have been published for con-
struction and manufacturing sector projects, but the inter-
national development and aid sector is less represented in
project management literature [11]. From the perspective
of African countries, Diallo and Thuillier [12] highlight
the unique characteristics of ID projects and identify the
influence of interpersonal relationships, trust and commu-
nication on project success. Muriithi and Crawford [13]
discuss approaches to project management in Africa with
implications for ID projects. It is argued that project man-
69
agement concepts are not universally valid because they are
based on certain assumptions about what governs human
behaviour and these assumptions are not valid in some cul-
tures. The tools and techniques of themselves will not deli-
ver successful projects if they run counter to cultural and
work values. Palmer [14] points out that in developing
countries, projects run down much faster due to general
absence of routine maintenance. Quartey [15] explores
and discusses the issues of infrastructure development pro-
jects for developing countries. The main emphasis is on
implementing the build-operate scheme in these countries.
Kwak [16] identifies some ID project risk factors and
emphasises risk management strategies during the project
initiation and planning stage for project success. Youker
[3] identifies ID project lessons learned in managing and
implementing World Bank Group sponsored projects.
Youker [17] further suggests that ID projects go through
a typical lifecycle with relatively distinct stages of concep-
tualization, planning, implementation and closing. Kwak
[18] identifies several critical success factors of ID projects
that cover political, legal, cultural, technical, managerial,
economical, environmental, social, and corruption issues.
Recently, Khang and Moe [2] identify sets of ID project
success criteria and factors in phases of the project life
cycle. Existing research [3,11,13,14,16,18,19] points to lack
of empirical research in identifying current practices and
performance of ID projects.
Project completion within time, cost and scope, and
maintaining quality throughout are very common dimen-
sions of success factors mentioned by project management
professional bodies and the research community. It is
encouraging that research focus on project evaluation is
increasing [9] and research interest in the areas of perfor-
mance/earned value management increased more than
100% in 2000s [20]. Time and cost performance studies
have been conducted for several developing countries and
for different types of projects. Literature identifies develop-
ment projects as well-known for over-running cost and
schedule budgets [21–23]. Bromilow [24], Kaka and Price
[25], Kumaraswamy and Chan [26], and Chan [27] attempt
to build an empirical relationship between time and cost
performance and predict construction time is a function
of cost. Raftery [28] pointed out that construction projects
tend to have a poor reputation for excessive time and cost
overruns. Bromilow [29] found from 309 Australian build-
ing projects conducted over the years 1964–1967, only 37
projects (12%) met their estimated completion times. For
transport projects, Flyvbjerg et al. [21] found that cost
escalation was strongly dependent on the length of the
implementation phase. Odeck [31] identified mean cost
overrun for Norwegian road construction projects at
7.88% and overrun predominant among the smaller pro-
jects (costing less than 15 m NOK) compared to the larger
ones. Kaming et al. [30] identified the root causes of time
and cost overrun for Indonesian high-rise construction
projects and concluded the problems were relevant to other
developing countries. For Nigeria, research conducted by
70 K. Ahsan, I. Gunawan / International Journal of Project Management 28 (2010) 68–78
Mansfield et al. [32] investigated the causes of construction
project delays and cost overrun. For Ghana, Frimpong
et al. [33] investigated the causes of time and cost overrun
on ground water construction projects. Recently Kaliba
et al. [34] identified the causes of schedule delay in road
construction projects of Zambia as follows: financial pro-
cesses and difficulties on the part of contractors and clients,
contract modification, economic problems, materials pro-
curement, changes in drawings, staffing problems, equip-
ment unavailability, poor supervision, construction
mistakes, poor coordination on site, changes in specifica-
tions and labour disputes and strikes .
ID project performance is not well studied in project
management literature. The performance evaluation of
ID projects is as important as for other projects. However
the evaluation criteria are slightly different from other pro-
jects. Diallo and Thuilleir [35] first outlined a comprehen-
sive set of evaluation criteria that includes satisfaction of
beneficiaries, conformation of goods and services pro-
duced, achievement of project objectives, completion of
the project in time and within budget, receiving a high
national profile and receiving a good reputation among
principal donors. Although the study is based on African
countries, the findings can be of use to ID projects of other
continents. Morris and Hough [36] found 63% of 1778 dif-
ferent type of projects funded by the World Bank between
1974 and 1988, experienced significant cost overruns.
The literature mentioned regarding project performance
evaluation, focuses on time and cost performance of partic-
ular local or international development projects. To our
knowledge there is no research that has evaluated ID pro-
jects for several countries in terms of time and cost perfor-
mance. The purpose of this study is to explicate unexplored
issues in ID project time and cost performance through
empirical research. The basis of the study is published
post-project reports of the ADB. By analyzing the post-
project reports we investigate project size in terms of bud-
get and duration, project performance in terms of time and
cost, and root causes of poor performance. The outline of
the paper is as follows. In the next section we give a formal
description of ID projects with emphasis on project pro-
cess, life cycle and classifications. In Section 3, we analyse
research methods and project performance. Finally, the
conclusion provides a summary of our study and recom-
mendations for future research.
2. Formal analysis of ID projects
International development is conducted or sponsored by
international organizations for an emerging, developing or
least developed country. Usually, projects that are gener-
ated for international development are known as ID pro-
jects. ID projects are also known as aid projects and are
a sub-sector of project management like other areas such
as information technology, education, construction and
engineering, telecommunications, manufacturing, and the
service industries, e.g., legal, insurance, and finance [5].
The success of an ID project which is its long-term impact
on the prosperity and development of the local population
depends on how well it is prepared, and the policies behind
its design [12].
2.1. ID project process
The process of the ID project is complex because there
are many parties involved. Typically this includes the len-
der or donor, the Ministry of Finance of the host country,
the client, stakeholders, a project management or coordina-
tion unit and a multitude of contractors who carry out
physical implementation of most components and activities
of the project. Overall performance of the ID project
depends largely on these parties which are from different
cultures and have different objectives within the project.
The client is a sectoral ministry or institution of the host
country. They are the official representative of all beneficia-
ries, participate in the project assessment phase, and need
to closely monitor the project implementation process.
Considering several stockholders and project development
and implementation processes, and literature from Rondi-
nelli [19, p. 580] we construct an ID project network model
in Fig. 1. The solid arrows represent usual communication
between involved parties and the dotted arrows represent
likely communication between parties. The donor is often
solely involved in the process of project identification and
development, resulting in local stakeholders feeling left
out [3]. Confirmation of donor funding is vital in ID pro-
jects, and after funding approval the project implementa-
tion unit starts work with a project manager.
2.2. ID project life cycle
Like other projects, ID projects have a project life cycle.
ID project cycle is the preferred vehicle for the delivery of
foreign aid to developing or newly emerging economies
[37]. Youker [17] identified two generic project life cycles
for ID projects; one from the point of view of the host
country and the other from the point of view of the donors.
The key difference of the life cycles is the ‘financing’ phase
from the host countries’ point of view. The host country
needs to attract project financing from donor agencies.
According to Youker’s generic project life cycle models,
both parties (donor and host country) have a project iden-
tification phase which should be undertaken together. It is
frustrating for the host country that project identification is
often dominated by donor choice rather than host country
priority [17]. Rondinelli [19, p. 580] emphasises ‘an inte-
grated project cycle’ and suggests 10 steps that a well
planned project should proceed through. These are (1)
identification and definition; (2) formulation, preparation
and design; (3) appraisal; (4) selection, negotiation and
approval; (5) activation and organization; (6) implementa-
tion and operation; (7) supervision, coordination and con-
trol; (8) termination and completion; (9) dissemination of
 K. Ahsan, I. Gunawan / International Journal of Project Management 28 (2010) 68–78
Donor
The
client
Host country
Ministry of
Finance
Other
beneficiaries
Fig. 1. ID project network model.
output and transition to normal administration; and (10)
post-evaluation and follow-up.
We examine project life cycle steps of five different inter-
national organizations: the World Bank, United Nations
Development Programme, Food and Agricultural Organi-
zations, ADB and Islamic Development Bank. We ascer-
tain that donor organizations follow their own style of
project phases to explain the ID project life cycle. However,
it is apparent that most organizations have five common
stages in the life cycle which are project identification, prep-
aration, appraisal and approval, implementation and eval-
uation. Realizing the existing phases of project life cycles
this study suggests a project life cycle (Fig. 2) that will fit
both donor and host country.
In the proposed cycle there are five basic phases. For
donor and host country, the first three phases are quite
similar in name; however the purpose and activity of the
phases depend largely on the parties. During these three
phases, in many instances it is necessary to co-ordinate
activities between donor and host. Donors have their
own specific country strategy and host country project
objectives should match with donor strategy. With the help
of donors, host country sector ministry, planning unit or
the Ministry of Finance, project profile and initial design
is prepared. In the approval phase, the host country usually
seeks approval from donors, and donors assess the project
plan and provide feedback about possible funding or sup-
For donor or sponsor
Identification Preparation Appraisal and
approval
Co-ordination
Identification Preparation Approval
and design
For host country government
Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3
Fig. 2. Proposed ID project life cycle.
71
Contractor/
Supplier
ID
Projects
Project implementation
unit
Supporting firms or
individuals
port. These three phases are basically the ID project plan-
ning stage and take about half of total project duration
[17]. Many projects disappear at this phase. After approval,
the project work begins in the activation phase. At this
stage, a project manager is usually appointed and work
commences through a project implementation unit. The
last phase of the cycle is evaluation which is a never-ending
process; however there are standard post-project evalua-
tions that are generally conducted by donors. For success-
ful completion of a project it is important to focus on all
stages from identification through to evaluation.
2.3. ID project classification
Identifying project type can be valuable in deciding how
best to manage the project. Typical characteristics of pro-
jects are product projects, service projects and continuous
improvement projects [38]. The feature areas of project
classification are based on size, application area, priority,
degree of risk, cash flow, technology, business experiences,
and deliverables. According to Turner and Cochrane [39]
there are four types of project: type 1 projects where the
goals and methods are well defined such as in large engi-
neering projects. Type 2 projects where the goals are well
defined but the methods of achieving them are not such
as in product development projects. Type 3 projects where
the goals are not well defined but the methods are such as
Implementation
and operation Evaluation
Activation
Both for donor /sponsor and host
country government
Phase 4 Phase 5
72 K. Ahsan, I. Gunawan / International Journal of Project Management 28 (2010) 68–78
in software development projects. Type 4 projects where
neither the goals nor the methods of achieving them are
well defined such as in organizational development pro-
jects. Since ID projects have definite objectives but the
methods of achieving them are not well defined, the
authors think these projects can be classified as type 2 pro-
jects. Crawford and Pollack [40] provided a framework for
analyzing project hardness and softness in response to a
perceived need for more informed use of the terms hard
and soft in relation to project management. Seven dimen-
sions have been identified as the key issues: goal/objective
clarity, goal/objective tangibility, success measures, project
permeability, number of solution options, degree of partic-
ipation and practitioner role, and stakeholder expectations.
Based on these dimensions, we consider that ID projects
possess hard and soft aspects of projects.
ID projects have a goal of reducing poverty and cover
many sectors in both soft and hard areas. Hard projects
include agricultural, infrastructure development, water
supply and sanitation and examples of soft projects are
resettlement, basic health care, education, social welfare
and capacity building [2,3,5,16]. Even for projects involv-
ing development of physical infrastructure and facilities,
the ultimate soft goals of serving sustainable social and
economic development always have a priority in the project
evaluation by key stakeholders [2, p. 74]. According to
Youker [3], ID projects are medium to large size projects
or programs. In terms of size, this means the dimension
of the project in dollar value, duration, number of people
on the project, or a combination. Sometimes ID projects
are classified based on priority. Priorities are in terms of
humanitarian need, emergency situation, or socio-eco-
nomic need. ID project deliverables are goods and services.
Most ID projects are initiated for infrastructure and social
development, and are design-develop-build-deliver projects
where monetary benefit is not the prime objective [15].
3. Research procedure and data analysis
Our research is based on secondary data from ADB
post-project appraisal reports which have been archived
by the ADB as a knowledge base of ID projects.
Research based on secondary data offers great opportu-
nities for new studies in operations and supply chain man-
agement [41–44]. Within the project management area
research based on archival or secondary data is promising.
Sun and Meng [45], identify that for construction projects
out of 101 reviewed journal articles, research method using
documentation and records of completed projects is 49.
There are several advantages to using this kind of data in
project management and for ID projects. Firstly, because
of the temporary nature of projects it is difficult to obtain
necessary past project data from primary sources. Sec-
ondly, this data is widely available from a source and less
expensive to analyse [41]. Thirdly, data sourced from
archives is even more objective than primary survey data
since it is free from contamination by respondent percep-
tions and/or memories of the phenomenon of interest
[46]. On the other hand, of the major limitations data from
computers or reports are not always accurate, and results
depend on quality and comprehensiveness of project
reports. Many data (e.g., financial reports) are quite noisy,
making statistical significance of hypothesized relation-
ships hard to establish [41, p. 342]. Considering the above
benefits and limitations we consider ADB project comple-
tion archival data as a good source for credible research.
A project is a temporary endeavour and usually after
completion project team members and key personnel leave
the project. Furthermore, many projects do not conduct
post-project appraisal and for those projects it is very hard
to find historical project data. However, if projects system-
atically write and store a project appraisal report, it will be
beneficial to learn about project process and management
throughout the life cycle and for use in future projects.
The ADB plays an important role of donor for develop-
ment projects. Usually, the ADB carefully and systemati-
cally prepares implementation manuals and detailed post-
project evaluation reports for public and private sector
projects and programs. The post-project appraisal report
is prepared at the end of the project to record project
related practices, learned lessons, and performance in
regards to ‘triple constraints’ – scope, time and cost prac-
tices. Individuals or organizations use these project records
for future project planning and research. The results of the
project appraisal are published every year and are available
to the public. The report is prepared under the direction of
the project manager, incorporating information provided
by the consultant and contractor as appropriate. Gener-
ally, upon completing the project, the executing agency
submits its own completion report to the ADB and within
12–24 months ADB operations staff visit project site and
prepare the project completion report [47].
As the ADB deals with Asian country projects, our
focus is on Asia. Among the countries studied two are
emerging economies: China and India; one is a developing
economy: Thailand and one is a least developed economy:
Bangladesh. These countries represent almost 50% of the
world population where development is an ongoing pro-
cess through ID projects. As of July 2007, for these four
countries we found 100 project reports from the ADB
website. The percentage of data representation among
the countries is China 30%, India 20%, Thailand 19%
and Bangladesh 31%. The studied projects were completed
between 1986 and 2007 and are from different areas of
development such as agriculture, infrastructure (road con-
struction, electricity generation, and telecommunication),
public health, financial sector, social welfare, environment
and education. We gather project duration, cost, and per-
formance data from project budget, schedule and perfor-
mance related tables, charts and figures. We analyse
numerical data in the form of descriptive statistics and
causes of delay in the form of charts, tables and discus-
sion. Other descriptive information has been collected
from the project reports.
 K. Ahsan, I. Gunawan / International Journal of Project Management 28 (2010) 68–78
3.1. ID project performance analysis
3.1.1. Project duration and cost
This study addresses performance issues of ID projects
in terms of the project elements of time and cost. To
describe the project time parameter we consider project
planned duration and actual duration. There are also two
common parameters to check budget performance, which
are planned budget and actual cost. For data of each coun-
try we determine the mean and standard deviation of these
parameters. In general, we find that most of the studied
projects are lengthy in terms of duration and take more
time than expected to complete. Further details are illus-
trated in Table 1.
It can be seen from time performance data in Table 1
that for all countries the average estimated project duration
is 55 months and standard deviation is 17.5 months. On the
other hand, actual average project duration is 72 months
and standard deviation is 28 months. Compared to
planned project duration, average project delay is
17 months and project duration overrun is 31.4%.
Table 1 also shows that ID projects are large in terms
of budget. For the studied projects, planned budget per
project varies from US$126–418 million, while the average
budget per project is US$303 million and standard devia-
tion is US$253 million. Conversely, the average actual
cost per project varies from US$115–308 million with an
average cost of US$255 million and standard deviation
of US$222 million. It is significant to mention that actual
cost of the ID projects is less than planned cost and cost
underrun per project is on average 14.5% from planned
budget. If we compare ID project performance with other
project management areas, from the Chaos Chronicles
report [48, cited in 49] it can be seen that software project
cost overruns were 189% of the original estimate which in
general is worse than the performance of ID projects. For
Indonesian construction projects Kaming et al. [30] found
that project managers completed 54.5% of projects on
time. For groundwater construction projects of Ghana,
Frimpong et al. [33, p. 322] identified that 75% of the pro-
jects exceeded the original project schedule and cost
whereas only 25% were completed within budget and on
time.
The above comparisons of cost and schedule perfor-
mance show how ID projects are executed in terms of time
Table 1
ID project cost and time performance.
Country Planned duration Actual duration
(months) (months)
Bangladesh 59.91 80.53
China 59.40 67.50
India 51.03 79.45
Thailand 46.03 61.09
Average 54.09 72.14
*
Variation is negative compared to planned duration.
**
Variation is positive compared to planned cost.
73
and cost. In the next sub-section we analyse the degree of
schedule and cost variance of ID projects.
3.1.2. Cost and schedule variation
We determine schedule variation (SV) to be the differ-
ence between planned and estimated duration. A negative
SV means the project is late while a positive SV means
the project has been completed before scheduled time. Sim-
ilarly, cost variation (CV) is measured as the difference
between planned cost and actual cost. A negative CV
means over budget or overspent project and a positive
CV means an under budget project. We also determine
the SV and CV percentage for a group of projects; SV per-
centage is the ratio between average SV and average
planned duration of all the projects (i.e. average SV for a
group/average planned schedule). Similarly CV percentage
is the ratio between average CV and average planned cost
of all the projects.
In Fig. 3, we compare countrywise performance of ID
projects in terms of average schedule and cost variations.
We find average countrywise SV is negative and CV is posi-
tive for all the countries. Comparing project SV and CV
data, it can be seen that in India average schedule overrun
is the highest (55% of actual schedule) compared to other
studied nations. In China the variation is around 8.1%
which is not that significant. Conversely, the cost data gives
an interesting scenario for India. Even though projects in
India take more time than planned, in the end the amount
of cost underrun is around 26% of planned cost. For
China, cost underrun is not as significant compared to
India. Overall, most projects experience schedule overrun
and cost underrun.
Fig. 4 shows performance of the different groups of pro-
jects according to the following four categories: schedule
overrun, schedule underrrun, cost overrun and cost under-
run. Among the projects, overall the percentage of schedule
overrun and cost underrun projects is higher compared to
cost overrun and schedule underrun projects. The group
of scheduled overrun projects (first group from the bottom,
Fig. 4) show most ID projects experience schedule overrun
problems and have some cost underrun. On average 86% of
projects are late, time overrun is almost 2 years, and pro-
jects take approximately 39% more time than planned aver-
age. On average, a late project experiences cost underrun
by US$42 million, i.e., 13% of average planned project
Time variation* Planned cost (US$ Actual cost (US$ Cost variation**
(%) million) million) (%)
34.41 126.55 115.86 8.44
13.63 486.67 460.33 5.41
55.69 418.29 308.92 26.14
32.71 305.84 229.53 24.95
33.37 334.34 278.66 14.55
74 K. Ahsan, I. Gunawan / International Journal of Project Management 28 (2010) 68–78

SV (%) Bangladesh
CV (%)
China

India

Thailand

-60.00 -50.00 -40.00 -30.00 -20.00 -10.00 0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00
Variation (%)

Fig. 3. Countrywise comparison of cost and schedule variations.

% of projects
Cost underrun 86 16 29 58 18

SV (month)

Cost overrun 14 28 51 73 22 SV (%)

CV($million)
Schedule underrun 14 8 14 79 19
CV (%)

Schedule overrun 86 21 39 42 13

0 50 100 150 200 250

Fig. 4. Comparisons of project performance.

cost. Although projects with schedule underrun (second
group from the bottom, Fig. 4) are few they have large cost
underrun. A schedule underrun project on average has
US$79 million cost underrun which is 19% of project aver-
age planned cost.
On the other hand, of the cost underrun projects 86% of
projects were completed within or under budget, these pro-
jects were behind schedule by 16 months with about 29%
SV (first group from the top, Fig. 4). Projects with cost
overrun (second group from the top, Fig. 4) are few
(14%) and the average amount of overspending is US$73
million, i.e., 22% of average planned project cost.
Analyzing the time and cost performance for all ID pro-
jects, it can be seen that only a few projects (13%) are com-
pleted both within schedule (schedule underrun) and
budgeted cost (cost underrun). In contrast, most projects
(73%) are late (schedule overrun) and operate with less
budgeted cost (cost underrun 20%) i.e., most late projects
experience cost underrun. We find this to be an exceptional
nature of ID projects. Comparing time and cost perfor-
mance of ID projects with other projects from literature
[21–23,29–31,36], we can conclude that our finding is
unique and that no previous research has identified this
unusual performance relation.
3.1.3. Overall project performance
The performance of an ADB project is measured by
overall performance rating. The rating is calculated based
on the weighted average (WA) of the criteria: relevancy
(with host country and ADB strategy), effectiveness (in
achieving objectives), efficiency (in achieving outcome
and output), and sustainability [47, p. 7, 9] with weights
20%, 30%, 30% and 20%, respectively. The ADB ranks
project performance as highly successful (WA P 2.7),
successful (WA: 1.6–2.7), partially successful (WA: 0.8–
1.6), and unsuccessful (WA < 0.8). To simplify project
outcome, our study groups performance rates as success-
ful for successful and highly successful projects and
unsuccessful for partially successful and unsuccessful pro-
jects. The project outcome varies amongst the countries.
The data indicates that most ID projects (83%) are recog-
nized as successful. The failure rate for Bangladesh is
quite high (nine projects) whereas for Thailand it is quite
low (one project).
Further comparison of schedule and cost variance in
relation to project success rate shows the effect of project
success differs depending on whether schedule and cost var-
iance is positive or negative. For cost variance, the more
cost underrun, the higher the project success rate. For sche-
dule variance, the later the schedule, the higher the project
success rate. The difference between the marginal means of
positive and negative schedule and cost variations repre-
sents an interaction between SV and CV, i.e., these factors
are not independent. Further, a two-factor ANOVA-anal-
ysis without replication shows interaction between SV and
CV means are not significant.
 K. Ahsan, I. Gunawan / International Journal of Project Management 28 (2010) 68–78 75

Table 2
Causes of ID project delay.
Causes of delay Identified number of cases
Bangladesh China India Thailand Total
Lengthy procedure for contract evaluation and award 21 10 11 5 47
Procurement delay 13 7 12 9 41
Civil works and land acquisition delay 15 13 5 3 40
Consultant recruitment delay 20 3 1 1 25
Natural calamities 12 2 2 5 21
Government procedural delay 4 7 7 1 19
Local politics and economic problem 2 2 2 10 16
Loan approval and disbursement delay 1 4 2 8 15
Project staff hiring delay 6 0 0 3 9
New scope addition 0 4 4 0 8
Frequent change of project staff (manager, director) 6 1 0 0 7

3.2. Causes of time overrun and cost underrun
From analysis, it is apparent that most of the ID pro-
jects are late and require less budgeted cost. We identify
and explain the reasons for lengthy project duration and
large amount of cost underrun.
3.2.1. Causes of time overrun
Project time overrun indicates an extension of project
completion time from the planned duration. Ex post eval-
uation and completion reports demonstrate the various
reasons for delay. Summarizing the reasons of schedule
delay, we prepare a comparative list of causes and their fre-
quency in Table 2. Our analysis shows the major causes of
delay are related to lengthy contract and procurement, civil
works and land acquisition, consultant recruitment, natu-
ral calamities, and host country government procedures.
Procurement is one of the biggest challenges of ID pro-
jects. Delays in procurement are often caused by long bid
evaluation time, operational delays of implementing orga-
nizations, and inexperience of local authorities in interna-
tional procurement. ID projects can often take longer
due to protracted land acquisition problems which occur
as a result of local politics, land law and religious issues.
The influence of local government is another factor con-
tributing to project delay.
Consultant recruitment also leads to delay in many ID
projects. Usually, consultants are recruited to help in a
wide range of activities such as policy advice, management,
engineering services, construction supervision, financial
services, procurement services, social and environmental
studies, and identification, preparation and implementa-
tion of projects [50, p. 2]. Sometimes causes of delay are
beyond control such as natural calamities. The conse-
quence of floods, landslides, and rivers changing course,
tsunami or inaccessibility of work location often leads to
project delay.
In the countries studied, governmental bureaucratic
problems include a slow decision making process and insti-
tutional or other border issues, and cause frequent policy
changes leading to project schedule delay. Delays in financ-
ing approval from donor and host country sources and
occasional unavailability of funds also result in late pro-
jects. The tendency to frequently widen or change project
scope by the sponsor or host country can create a change
of tasks and resource scheduling which may lead to a
missed delivery date.
A summary of the causes of delay and a countrywise
breakdown of the data are presented in Table 2. It can
be seen that most projects (47 of 73) identify ‘contract eval-
uation and award’ as the main cause of delay. The contract
process is managed by the host country with the help of
donors. The process is lengthy and there is often dispute,
bias and inconsistency in the contract. ‘Lengthy procure-
ment process’ is found to be the second most important
cause of delay for 41 projects. Combining the two main
causes, we can see that 26 projects experience both contract
and procurement related delay.
If we look at causes of delay for late and cost underrun
projects according to country, we can see that for Bangla-
desh out of 24 projects, 21 experience delay due to lengthy
‘contract evaluation and award’ and 20 experience delay
because of lengthy ‘consultant recruitment’. For China,
out of 17 projects, 13 projects are late due to lengthy ‘civil
works and land acquisition’; the next major cause of delay
found in 10 projects is due to ‘contract evaluation and
award’. Out of 20 projects in India, 12 projects experience
delay due to prolonged ‘procurement of goods and ser-
vices’; and 11 projects experience ‘contract evaluation’
delay. In the case of Thailand, due to the Asian financial
crisis of 1997, the scenario alters. Projects implemented
during the period experienced governmental procurement
and financial restriction on borrowing and spending. Out
of 12 projects, 10 faced finance related restrictions that
caused delay in loan disbursement and procurement of
goods and services.
Other important causes of delay are related to project
staff hiring, finance approval and disbursement, frequent
transfer of key project staff, project scope addition, and
influence of local politics. From Table 2 we can see that
some causes of delay are locally dominant. In the case of
both Bangladesh and Thailand, floods, and hiring and fre-
quent change of key project staff are a recurring setback.
According to the ADB: ‘Change of project directors is a
76 K. Ahsan, I. Gunawan / International Journal of Project Management 28 (2010) 68–78
Table 3
Causes of ID project cost underrun.
Causes of cost underrun
Depreciation/devaluation of local currency
Lower than estimated price for procurement of goods, services, and contracts
Competitive international bidding
Less use of contingency funds
Project scope cut
Project design change
Local taxes and interest policy change
persistent problem in Bangladesh’ [6: PCR BAN: 19192].
In Thailand, delays in loan approval and disbursement
are prominent.
In conclusion we can say most causes of ID project
delay are related to the host country and the project pro-
curement and contracting process.
3.2.2. Causes of cost underrun
Usually, projects taking more time cost more money.
However, for ID projects the picture is different. Cost
underrun implies the project is completed under budgeted
cost, in other words allocated money is unused and
accounted for as a loan surplus. At closing of the loan
account, with agreement of both parties, the unused loan
is usually cancelled. We find that most schedule overrun
ID projects experience cost underrun. Because of this unu-
sual nature of cost and schedule variation relations it is of
immense interest for this study to identify some central
causes of schedule delay and cost underrun.
We identify major causes behind cost underrun for over-
time projects and summarize the results in Table 3. We find
the most frequently identified causes of cost underrun to be
depreciation or devaluation of local currency, lower than
estimated bid price, international competitive bidding,
and less use of contingency funds. Other important causes
of cost underrun are project scope cut, design change, local
taxes, and interest policy changes.
Usually ADB project appraisal costs are determined in
USD. The budget contains two elements: ‘foreign exchange
costs’ and ‘local currency costs’ [47]. ‘Foreign exchange
costs’ represent the sum of direct payments made in curren-
cies other than the currency of the borrowing country for
equipment and materials and consulting services; and ‘local
currency costs’ represent the local currency value of all
goods and services that are procured for the project within
the country. If a project spends more in local currency and
reduces expenditure in foreign currency then the project
will have a loan surplus. Inflation of local currency will
result in a surplus of appraisal cost and a considerable
amount of unused loan.
The case of currency devaluation is serious for all the
countries and is identified as a cause of cost underrun
in 40 projects. In Bangladesh, out of 24 projects 16 con-
sidered inflation as a cause of cost underrun; and on aver-
age a cost underrun project has 41% inflation. For India,
Identified number of cases
Bangladesh China India Thailand Total
16 6 10 8 40
9 8 9 6 32
6 9 6 4 25
6 6 1 1 14
10 1 1 1 13
8 1 2 2 13
5 2 3 2 12
the number is quite high and out of 20 projects, 10 iden-
tified inflation as an issue. On average an Indian cost
underrun project has 80% inflation. In Thailand, devalua-
tion of local currency by 46% during the Asian financial
crisis resulted in significant cost underrun for 8 of 12
projects.
A total of 32 projects experienced lower than estimated
price for procurement of goods, services, and turnkey con-
tracts. The main reasons for this significant cost reduction
are vigorous competition in the bidding process of equip-
ment and materials, changes in market conditions, and
substantial reduction in cost interest due to policy changes
for taxes and interest rates. While the latter is difficult to
predict, other factors could have been given greater weight
in estimating project costs at appraisal.
Competitive bidding of imported goods and services is
the third most common cause of cost underrun. Out of
73 projects, 25 identified this issue. Amongst all countries,
ID projects from China experienced the greatest
advantage.
Less use of contingency funds is another important rea-
son for cost underrun in ID projects. Fourteen projects
recognised the unused portion of contingency funds as an
important cause of cost underrun. To avoid a possible
funding crisis caused by fluctuations in the price of goods
and services there is a tendency to keep a high contingency
in the ID project budget. From data we found on average
an ID project reserves 15% contingency within the bud-
geted cost. Among the countries the highest contingency
funds are kept in Bangladesh, i.e., 16% of planned cost
and the lowest are found in China, i.e., 12% of planned
cost.
Overall, our study finds late and cost underrun ID pro-
jects experience 20% less budgeted cost and the main causes
are established as local currency devaluation and competi-
tive bidding of imported goods and services.
4. Conclusion
This study can be considered as a unique empirical
research that analyses performance of ID projects. We ana-
lyse ADB funded projects of four countries in Asia. The
studied projects are categorized as large and medium size
projects in terms of duration and total budget, as soft
and hard projects in terms of application area, and as emer-
 K. Ahsan, I. Gunawan / International Journal of Project Management 28 (2010) 68–78
gency and non-emergency projects in terms of execution
approach.
From the literature, we find the model for ID projects is
complex and different to other projects. Many stakeholders
are involved to carry out physical implementation of com-
ponents and activities of the project. The stakeholders
include lenders or donors, the Ministry of Finance of the
host country, the client, a project management unit, a mul-
titude of contractors, firms and individuals, and others.
Analyzing the project life cycle steps of five international
organizations, we establish that most ID projects have five
stages in the life cycle, which are identification, prepara-
tion, appraisal and approval, implementation, and evalua-
tion. We stress the importance of developing this ID
project cycle and further emphasise that both donor and
host country must work together to plan and implement
the project for success. We believe the development of a
standard ID project life cycle with appropriate phases will
contribute to the ID project body of knowledge.
The study carries out an in-depth performance examina-
tion of various ID projects in terms of time and cost. A
countrywise comparison of cost and schedule performance
shows that most projects experience schedule delay and
cost underrun. The study identifies an unusual nature of
cost and schedule variation relation in ID projects. Gener-
ally, projects taking more time cost more money. However,
we find that most scheduled overrun ID projects experience
cost underrun.
The major causes of project delay are recognized as long
duration of contract, procurement, civil works and land
acquisition, and consultant recruitment. Further critical
causes of project delay can be attributed to natural calam-
ities and host country bureaucracy. The main reasons of
cost underrun are categorized as devaluation of local cur-
rency, competitive bidding price, lower then estimated
bid, and large contingency budgets.
Overall, this study identifies unique performance of ID
projects and causes of schedule overrun and cost underrun.
We consider the identified nature of ID projects will assist
planners and professionals to better plan future projects.
We also believe our findings will stimulate further research
interest in ID projects.
The scope of the study covers projects from emerging,
developing and least developed countries of Asia. Research
findings and conclusions however are relevant to ID pro-
jects of other continents. In future, this study can be
extended to incorporate impressions of the host country
as they are the ultimate customer of the ID project. Cul-
tural issues of the host country can also be considered as
there are differences from country to country and continent
to continent.
References
[1] Crawford L, Bryce P. Project monitoring and evaluation: a method
for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of aid project imple-
mentation. Int J Project Manage 2003;21:363–73.
77
[2] Khang DB, Moe TL. Success criteria and factors for international
development projects: a lifecycle-based framework. Project Manage J
2008;39(1):72–84.
[3] Youker R. Managing international development projects-lessons
learned. Project Manage J 1999;30(2):6–7.
[4] Blunt P, Jones ML. Managing organisations in Africa. Berlin: Walter
de Gruyter; 1992.
[5] Austin M. International development program. In global project
management forum #9, London, England; May 2000.
[6] ADB Annual Report 2006. The record. Available online at: http://
www.adb.org/Documents/Reports/Annual_Report/2006/record.asp;
2007 [accessed 15.03.07].
[7] Crawford LH. Project management standards: the value of standards
(DBA thesis) Henley-on-Thames: Henley Management College,
Brunel University; 2001.
[8] Betts M, Lansley P. International Journal of Project Management: a
review of the first ten years. Int J Project Manage 1995;13(4):
207–217.
[9] Crawford L, Pollack J, England D. Uncovering the trends in project
management: journal emphasis over the last 10 years. Int J Project
Manage 2006;24:175–84.
[10] Evaristo JR, van Fenema P. A typology of project management:
emergence and evolution of new forms. Int J Project Manage
1999;17(5):275–81.
[11] Themistocleous G, Wearne Sh. Project management topic coverage in
journals. Int J Project Manage 2000;18:7–11.
[12] Diallo A, Thuillier D. The success of international development
projects, trust and communication: an African perspective. Int J
Project Manage 2005;23:237–52.
[13] Muriithi N, Crawford L. Approaches to project management in
Africa: implications for international development projects. Int J
Project Manage 2003;21:309–19.
[14] Palmer CF. Introduction of special public works projects to Sudan.
Int J Project Manage 1986;4:223–9.
[15] Quartey Jr EL. Development projects through build-operate schemes:
their role and place in developing countries. Int J Project Manage
1996;14:47–52.
[16] Kwak YH. Risk management in international development projects.
In Proceedings of the project management institute annual seminars
and symposium. Nashville, Tennessee, USA; November 1–10, 2001.
[17] Youker R. The nature of international development projects. In: PMI
Conference, Baltimore, MD; September 21, 2003.
[18] Kwak YH. Critical success factors in international development
project management. In: CIB 10th international symposium con-
struction innovation and global competitiveness. Cincinnati, OH,
USA; September 9–13, 2002.
[19] Rondinelli D. International assistance policy and development
project administration: the impact of imperious rationality. Int Organ
1976;30(4):573–605.
[20] Kwak YH, Anbari FT. Analyzing project management research:
perspectives from top management journals. Int J Project Manage
2009;28:435–46.
[21] Flyvbjerg B, Holm MKS, Buhl SL. What causes cost overrun in
transport infrastructure projects. Transp Rev 2003;24(1):3–18.
[22] Matta F, Ashkenas R. Why good projects fail anyway. Harvard Bus
Rev 2003;81(9):109–14.
[23] Evans M. Overdue and over budget, over and over again; project
management. Economist 2005;375(8430):66.
[24] Bromilow FJ. Measurement and scheduling of construction time and
cost performance in the building industry. Charter Build 1974:10.
[25] Kaka A, Price ADF. Relationship between value and duration of
construction projects. Constr Manage Econ 1991;9:383–400.
[26] Kumaraswamy MM, Chan DWM. Determinants of construction
duration. Constr Manage Econ 1995;13:209–17.
[27] Chan APC. Time-cost relationship of public sector projects in
Malaysia. Int J Project Manage 2001;19:223–9.
[28] Raftery J. Risk analysis in project management. E and FN Spon:
London; 1994.
78 K. Ahsan, I. Gunawan / International Journal of Project Management 28 (2010) 68–78
[29] Bromilow FJ. Contract time performance expectations and the
reality. Build Forum 1969;1(3):70–80.
[30] Kaming PF, Olomolaiye PO, Holt GD, Harris FC. Factors influenc-
ing construction time and cost overruns on high-rise projects in
Indonesia. Constr Manage Econ 1997;15:83–94.
[31] Odek J. Cost overrun in road construction-what are their sizes and
determinants? Transp Policy 2004;11:43–53.
[32] Mansfield NR, Ugwu OO, Doran T. Causes of delay and cost
overruns in Nigeria construction projects. Int J Project Manage
1994;12(4):254–60.
[33] Frimpong Y, Oluwoye J, Crawford L. Causes of delay and cost
overruns in construction of groundwater projects in developing
countries: Ghana as a case study. Int J Project Manage 2003;21:321–6.
[34] Kaliba C, Muya M, Mumba K. Cost escalation and schedule delays
in road construction projects in Zambia. Int J Project Manage
2009;28:522–31.
[35] Diallo A, Thuillier D. The success dimensions of international
development projects: the perceptions of African project coordina-
tors. Int J Project Manage 2004;22:19–31.
[36] Morris P, Hough G. The anatomy of major projects. New York: John
Wiley; 1987.
[37] Broughton B. Project planning, monitoring and evaluation training
course: session guides and notes. In: ACFOA, Canberra; 1996.
[38] Cleland DI, Ireland LR. Project management: strategic design and
implementation. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional; 2006.
[39] Turner JR, Cochrane RA. Goals-and-methods matrix: coping with
projects with ill defined gaols and/or methods of achieving them. Int J
Project Manage 1993;11(2):93–101.
[40] Crawford L, Pollack J. Hard and soft projects: a framework for
analysis. Int J Project Manage 2004;22:645–53.
[41] Boyer KK, Swink ML. Empirical elephants-why multiple methods
are essential to quality research in operations and supply chain
management. J Oper Manage 2008;26(3):338–44.
[42] Roth AV. Applications if empirical science in manufacturing and
service operations. Manuf Serv Oper Manage 2007;9(4):353–67.
[43] Singhal V, Flynn BB, Ward PT, Roth AV, Gaur V. Editorial:
empirical elephants-why multiple methods are essential to quality
research in operations and supply chain management. J Oper Manage
2008;26(3):345–8.
[44] Fisher M. Strengthening the empirical base of operations manage-
ment. Manuf Serv Oper Manage 2007;9(4):368–82.
[45] Sun M, Meng X. Taxonomy for change causes and effects in
construction projects. Int J Project Manage 2009;28:560–72.
[46] Calantone R, Vickery SK. Special topic forum on using archival and
secondary data sources in supply chain management research. J
Supply Chain Manage 2009;45(1):53–4.
[47] ADB Project Performance Manual. Guidelines for preparing perfor-
mance evaluation reports for public sector operations, guidelines,
handbooks, manuals. February 2006-a.
[48] Standish Group. Chaos (Application project failure and success), The
Standish Group International, January. Available online at: http://
www.standishgroup.com/chaos.html.
[49] Whittaker B. What went wrong? Unsuccessful information technol-
ogy projects. Inf Manage Comput Secur 1999;7:23–30.
[50] ADB, Guidelines on the use of consultants by Asian Development
Bank and its borrowers. February 2007.
Citation: Perera, Srinath, Pearson, John and Dodds, Lyn (2010) Alignment of professional,
academic and industrial development needs for quantity surveyors. In: RICS COBRA
Research Conference, 2-3 September 2010, Dauphine Université, Paris.

URL:

This version was downloaded from Northumbria Research Link:

http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/13011/

Northumbria University has developed Northumbria Research Link (NRL) to enable users to
access the University’s research output. Copyright © and moral rights for items on NRL are
retained by the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners. Single copies of full items
can be reproduced, displayed or performed, and given to third parties in any format or
medium for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior
permission or charge, provided the authors, title and full bibliographic details are given, as
well as a hyperlink and/or URL to the original metadata page. The content must not be
changed in any way. Full items must not be sold commercially in any format or medium
without formal permission of the copyright holder. The full policy is available online:
http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/policies.html

This document may differ from the final, published version of the research and has been
made available online in accordance with publisher policies. To read and/or cite from the
published version of the research, please visit the publisher’s website (a subscription may be
required.)
Alignment of Professional, Academic and Industrial Development
Needs for Quantity Surveyors
Srinath Perera
School of the Built Environment, Northumbria University
srinath.perera@northumbria.ac.uk

John Pearson
School of the Built Environment, Northumbria University
john.pearson@northumbria.ac.uk

Lyn Dodds
Sustainable Cities Research Institute, School of the Built Environment, Northumbria University
lyn.dodds@northumbria.ac.uk

Keywords
Quantity surveying competencies, academic, industrial, professional body, RICS, graduate quantity
surveyors

Abstract:
The academic, professional and training needs of Quantity Surveyors are pulled by different

stakeholders in different directions. Academics are interested in producing a rounded graduate with the

basic foundation in knowledge for further development whereas professional bodies are interested in

graduates capable of progression to full professional status through the achievement of the required

core competencies (RICS, 2009). The industry is looking for a graduate who can straight away

contribute to the growth and daily functions of business activity. Hence, there is a three directional

pull on the development needs of the Quantity Surveyor (QS). The present education system of the QS

does not recognise these multi-directional needs and hence often produces a graduate whom the

industry sees as not fulfilling their requirements. This leads to many problems with greater levels of

employer and graduate dissatisfaction and obstacles to early career development of the QS graduate.

This research aims at investigating the changing development needs of Quantity Surveyors within a

post recession industrial environment that satisfies the aspirations of industrial, professional and

academic stakeholders. The paper will present the initial findings of the research based on a series of

stakeholder interviews examining RICS competencies and academic curricular.

1 Introduction

The role of the Quantity Surveyor (QS) has evolved over the years since its origins in the mid 19th
century (Thompson, 1968) and more recently through a series of reviews under the auspices of the
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). The RICS report published in 1971 defined the role
of the QS in a succinct and clear manner (RICS, 1971). It sought to establish the profession as
specialists in measurement and valuation of construction work. This was then followed by the report
on the Future Role of the Chartered QS in 1983 (RICS, 1983) which identified the skills and
knowledge base of the QS while identifying the scope for expansion and diversification of services. A
greater level of detail and definition to the role of the QS was brought about by the by the RICS report
on “The Core Skills and Knowledge Base of the Quantity Surveyor” (RICS, 1992). These provided
the basis for the development of the RICS QS competencies (RICS, 2009).

The direction and the development of the role of the QS were highly influenced in the early 90’s by
the report published by Davis Langdon and Everest (DLE, 1991). This report entitled “Quantity
Surveying 2000” identified threats and opportunities for quantity surveying approaching the 21st
century. Brandon (1992) documented the changes in the role of the QS and provided a detailed
account of the services offered by modern quantity surveying practices. Powell (1998) warned the
profession of imminent changes in the light of changing attitudes of clients, pressures in the business
world, formulation and execution of projects, development of skills base and the effect of Information
Communication Technologies (ICT). The effect of ICT on the profession is something that is
continuing and growing. It will have a profound effect on the profession, the way it operates and
function. Cartlidge (2002), attempts to capture these multi-directional developments and effects
providing an insight in to the future of the practice of quantity surveying.

Today, the training needs of QS are pulled by three different stakeholders in three different directions.
Academics are interested in producing a rounded graduate with the basic foundation in knowledge for
further development whereas professional bodies are interested in graduates who can be progressed to
full professional status through the achievement of the required core competencies (RICS, 2009). The
industry is looking for a graduate who can immediately contribute to the growth and daily functions of
business activity. The present education system of the QS does not recognise these multi-directional
needs of the QS and hence often produces a graduate whom the industry sees as not fulfilling their
requirements. This leads to many problems with greater levels of employer and graduate
dissatisfaction and obstacles to early career development of the QS graduate. This research aims at
investigating and identifying the different views of the three stakeholders while providing a platform
for constructive alignment of these views. This paper describes the research undertaken and provides
an account of the initial findings of the research.
2 Quantity Surveying Education

The roots and the development profile of QS education is well documented in both Ashworth (1994)
and Ashworth & Hogg (2007). Ashworth (1994) describes the traditional development of the QS
through an articled pupil scheme where a senior or principal surveyor trains new QS. The QS
education system has evolved over the years from the early 60’s to date with the predominant method
of producing a surveyor today being through a graduate entry scheme via an RICS accredited degree.
The process is currently undergoing another change with the introduction of the Associate RICS and
Senior Professional routes for membership. It is too early to predict the effect these schemes will have
on the profession although this research aims to identify trends and opinions of both industry and
academia in this respect.

The conflicting concerns of academia, industry (both consulting and contracting sectors) and the
professional body have long fuelled the “education versus training” debate and some conflict between
Educators and Employers through which the RICS steers a sometimes difficult path. On the one hand
it sends messages to the universities that it wishes to see programmes which lean more towards the
“academic” rather than the “technical”, whilst on the other hand it sends messages to employers that
they should accept graduates issuing from its accredited degree programmes as being appropriately
qualified to take positions at higher than technician grade (for which the RICS itself has a specific
training route via the HND / Foundation Degree and now ,through Associate membership). The debate
of the need for a technical grade or otherwise is yet to be fully resolved.

The RICS has created the Competencies referred to above which require active cooperation between
the academic sector (providers of basic subject knowledge and certain academic skills) and the
industrial sector (providers of practical skills training) through the operation of their business.

Both the RICS and the educational sector show similarities in their lack of appreciation of the specific
requirements industry may have of its newly graduated student members. At the same time the
industry does not seem to appreciate that a graduate is a person with higher intellectual capacity to
rapidly further develop their professional skills and technical knowledge. This conflict and lack of
alignment of industry, academic and professional perspectives create a barrier for the development of
the profession as well as the career development of the graduate QS.

Added to this is a more fundamental failure on the part of all parties to appreciate the dynamics of the
market sector. The majority of new graduates appear to be entering more non-traditional QS routes. It
has been shown both through research (Perera, 2006) and through records of 1st destination surveys
(UNN Returns, 2001 – 2008) that a large majority of new graduates find employment not in Private
Consultancy Practice or the Public Sector, as was the case until the mid 1980’s, but with Main
Contracting and specialised subcontracting organisations. Perera (2006) shows that in University of
Ulster more than 80% of graduates either seek employment or prefer to be employed in the non- PQS
sectors of the industry. The situation is very similar in Northumbria University and in many other
universities in the UK. Feedback from Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) workshops has
noted a certain Private Practice bias within the presentation of advice and, indeed there is feedback at
university level suggesting this. Both much of the academic content and the structure of the RICS
would seem directed at the PQS and Government Sector, paying less attention to the skills inherent in
the role of the Contractor’s Surveyor. For their part, those engaged in developing Quantity Surveying
within the construction sector may see this as another barrier to cooperating with the RICS when
required. This is evident by the fact that RICS membership does not grow in the same proportion of
the growth in QS student numbers (Perera, 2006). The emergence of Commercial Management (Lowe
and Leiringer, 2006; Walker and Wilkie, 2002) as a distinct discipline encompassing the role of the
contractor’s QS is a fact that RICS would need to consider in detail in its development of career paths
for the QS.

Leading QS professional bodies worldwide have begun to recognise these developments and trends.
For example, recently the Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (AIQS) established a separate
pathway for contractors’ QS for completing professional qualification.

In summary, it is suggested that the present education system of the QS does not recognise their multi-
directional needs and hence often produces a graduate whom the industry sees as not fulfilling its
requirements. A further factor in the willingness or otherwise on the part of the Industry to accept and
train new graduates must be born of the financial insecurity being experienced by existing members
who might otherwise be more willing to accept the risk of employing and training new recruits. The
problem is compounded and exacerbated by resource constraints caused by the economic recession
being experienced particularly severely by the construction industry.

3 Research Methodology

The RICS Competencies (RICS, 2009) provides a comprehensive list of mandatory, core and optional
competencies for Quantity Surveyors. This research examines these competencies in the light of
current practice and future needs identifying where further improvements are needed. It is very crucial
to identify how these competencies relate to QS curricular used within UK university education
system. There are 43 RICS accredited QS programmes conducted within UK. These different
programmes use different curricular, approaches and fall within university quality assurance systems.
Their professional relevance is governed through RICS partnership agreements. However, there is no
detailed mapping of how RICS QS competencies are dealt within course delivery, and no requirement
to achieve particular levels of competency through undergraduate education. This research examines
these issues in detail in order to make recommendations. Four RICS accredited QS programmes were
taken as case studies to analyse the extent of mapping of these programmes to the RICS competencies.
The results of this analysis are presented in this paper.

Two detailed surveys are currently carried out, one to obtain views of the industry and the other
targeting academia. These will identify the views of each with respect to RICS QS competencies, and
the debate of “training vs education”. The web-based surveys will seek views from the academia
representing all universities delivering RICS accredited quantity surveying degree programmes. The
employer survey targets organisations from the private consultancy sector, public sector and
construction contractors. This research process enables to gather a reasonable amount of data even at a
lower response rate sufficient to carryout detailed statistical analysis.
A forum consisting of ten specialists were identified. These consisted of three academics, three
consulting QS , three contracting QS and one RICS official. A series of interviews were carried firstly
to identify key issues and subsequently these are used to verify the findings of the surveys. The
Content Analysis technique (Berelson, 1952) was used to extract key factors from the interviews while
Delphi technique (Rowe and Wright, 2001) will be utilised to harmonise the views from the interviews
and the findings of the surveys. The initial findings of the interviews are presented in this paper.

4 RICS Quantity Surveying Competencies

4.1 Development of Competencies

Ever since the move away from a series of Professional Examinations, Stages 1 to 3, into graduate
entry to the profession, the RICS has assessed the standard of its applicants through administering tests
of one form or another to determine candidates’ levels of professional competence as explained below:
a. In the 1970’s this took the form of a rigorous Test of Professional Competence (TPC) a 48
hour previously unseen practical multi-faceted simulated real time exercise set and issued by
the RICS but carried out by the candidate in their own workplace. No candidates were
interviewed except for borderline cases. This was very much a “hands-on” practical test of the
would-be surveyor’s skills in the workplace. The disadvantage for many candidates,
particularly those employed by contracting organisations, was that the Test, in all its parts,
tended to mirror the duties of a Client’s surveyor, rather than those of the Contractor’s.
b. In the early 1990’s the above gave way to the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC)
a test administered in a regional Test Centre. Here candidates were required to write an essay
of their choice from a set of previously unseen titles. They would have a set time to produce
their response, after which they would be questioned on this and other matters at an interview
 by a Panel of Assessors. Again, the essay scenarios tended, in the main, to reflect the world of
Private Practice, rather than that of Contracting.
c. In the latest manifestation of the APC, instituted in the mid to late 90’s, the candidate must
now prepare a Critical Analysis – a written report centred on a particular project upon which
they have worked in practice and for which they have had responsibility during their
employment since graduating. At interview, at a Test Centre, candidates are required to
present a summary of this report and are also asked questions on it by a panel of Assessors.
The Panel goes on to question the candidate, to verify their attainment, or otherwise, of a
series of Professional Competencies set out in the RICS (2009) publication Requirements and
Competencies (latest edition July 2009).The type and level of experience required should be
driven more by the candidate’s work situation than by universal norms as used to be the case.
Whilst Professional Competencies only emerged during the 1990’s in the prescriptive and detailed
form for all three stages of the development of the Graduate Route. It required maintenance of a Diary
and Log Book by candidates. Candidates had to make diary entries against specific coded professional
skills, forerunners of today’s competencies. One element of their TPC/APC assessment would be the
Assessors’ judgement as to the degree of experience which candidates had picked up in these areas.
An even spread was required across the majority of areas and formulae were created, and issued to
Assessors, indicating acceptable degrees of attainment, chiefly in terms of the balance of time spent
across the range of required skills.
The current Professional Competencies forming the subjects of this research have grown out of the
above. They define a training which “seeks to assess that [the candidate is] competent to carry out the
work of a professionally qualified surveyor”. They are a mix of Mandatory, Core and Optional
competencies (RICS, 2009).
Mandatory Competencies: personal, interpersonal and business transferable skills common to all
routes and compulsory for all candidates. There are ten of these, thirteen for those seeking entry to the
profession via the senior professional route.
Core Competencies: primary skills of the candidates chosen faculty (in this case, QS and
Construction). These must be attained to maximum specified minimum levels. There are seven of
these.
Optional Competencies: selected by the candidate, additional skills relating to candidates chosen
specific route to qualification. This will usually be governed by the nature of the candidate’s
employment. A choice of two must be made from twelve possibilities.

4.2 Interpretation of Competencies

Each competence is expressed in between one and three levels, defined by the RICS as follows:
Level 1; demonstrating knowledge and understanding
Level 2; demonstrating the capacity to apply the above knowledge and understanding
Level 3; demonstrating the capacity to reasoned advice

There is variation between the level which must be achieved by candidates, depending upon whether
the competence in question is classified as Mandatory, Core or Option to complete APC. Mandatory
competencies must be achieved to at least level One, some higher. Core competencies, as one might
expect, must be achieved at level 3while Optional competencies must be achieved to at least level Two.

It is generally recognised that students undertaking the Graduate Route to qualification will achieve
Level 1 capability in areas on which they are engaged during their period of formal university-based
studies, as this consists of acquiring basic knowledge and some basic skills. These will, in most cases,
be possible during the first two years of a Full Time or Sandwich degree.
Capacity to apply the above, as suggested by Level 2, can be acquired, to a certain extent, through
work in class and involvement in university-based Project work during later years of a taught course.
It will more easily be acquired by Part Time students in appropriate employment and those in
Sandwich programmes fortunate enough to undergo an Industrial Placement.
It is unusual for a student on Industrial Placement to be put in positions of leadership or responsibility
in which they would be called upon to give conclusive advice, to clients. It may be that a Part Time
student, dependent upon age and length of time with a certain employer, may be in such a position.
This is not common however.
The research to date appears to bear out the above pattern, both in the type and level of university-
based study and the type and level of attainment expected by Employers. However, whether these are
explicitly considered at the time of design of courses is questionable. Furthermore, the understanding
by industry or academia of the level of competencies required of a new graduate is another factor in
doubt. This research aims to explore these aspects in the case studies analysed in the following section
and the interviews analysed in the section 6.

5 Competency Mapping Case Studies

QS programme curricular from 4 leading universities in QS education were obtained to carry out an
analysis mapping curricular to RICS competencies. These are presented as case studies A, B, C and D
in Table 1 below. In each case, the syllabus for each module was studied and a judgement formed as to
the mapping of competencies to curricular and to the degree of satisfaction of competencies. These
were applied to each module and to each of the respective three levels of competencies. The “scoring”
system used a scale of 0 to 1 indicating non satisfaction to full satisfaction. The scoring was applied as
follows: 0.25 where addressed at a partial level, progressing by 0.25 intervals until 1.00. For each
competence and at each level a total amassed, based on a number of scores relating to coverage by a
number of modules. Hence, if 6 modules on a degree programme each attracted a score of 0.5 at level
2 in respect of any one competence then the total for that competence would be 3 (Table 1). This is a
somewhat crude measure of satisfaction of competencies but does provide a tool for making
comparative analysis of different QS degree programmes as well as identifying levels of concentration
of competencies. The satisfaction ratings produced in Table 3 are still provisional as these have not yet
been verified through the individual programme coordinators as to the validity of rankings attached.
This approach will bring a consensus view of the satisfaction ratings and provide a reasonable degree
of cross programme comparison.
Table 1 Competency Mapping of QS Honours Degree programmes

LEVEL ONE LEVEL TWO LEVEL THREE

Competency Code Name A B C D A B C D A B C D

Mandatory M001 Accounting principles and

procedures 0.00 0.00 0.50 0.25 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Mandatory M002 Business planning
0.00 2.25 0.75 0.75 1 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Mandatory M003 Client care
1 0.75 1.25 1.00 0.00 0.0 0.50 0.25 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Mandatory M004 Communication and negotiation
1 0.25 1.00 4.25 3.5 1.0 1.50 0.75 1 1.00 1.00 0.00
Mandatory M005 Conduct rules, ethics and
professional practice 0.75 1.50 1.00 2.00 0.00 0.00 0.50 0.25 0.00 0.00 1.00 0.00
Mandatory M006 Conflict avoidance, management
and dispute resolution procedures 0.00 0.00 4.00 1.00 0.00 1.00 2.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Mandatory M007 Data management

4.75 0.50 3 2.75 2 2.50 1.00 1.75 0.00 0.00 0.50 0.25
Mandatory M008 Health and safety
0.5 0.00 0.25 2.25 1 0.00 0.00 0.50 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Mandatory M009 Sustainability
1 0.25 1.25 1.75 0.00 2.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Mandatory M010 Team working
1.50 1.00 1.25 4.75 2.75 2.50 1.50 0.75 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Core T010 Commercial management of
construction 0.25 1.00 1.50 2.25 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.25 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Core T013 Construction technology and
environmental services 3.5 2.25 1.25 2.25 3 0.00 1.50 0.25 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Competency Code Name A B C D A B C D A B C D

Core T017 Contract practice

0.75 1.75 0.75 2.75 1 0.00 2.00 0.25 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Core T022 Design economics and cost
planning 1.25 1.25 2.50 1.50 1 0.75 1.25 0.75 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Core T062 Procurement tendering
0.5 0.50 0.50 1.75 1 1.00 2.50 0.25 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Core T067 Project financial control and
reporting 2 0.50 1.25 1.00 0.00 1.00 1.00 0.50 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Core T074 Quantification and costing of
construction works 0.5 1.00 1.75 3.00 2 0.00 2.50 0.75 0.00 0.00 0.50 0.00
Optional T008 Capital Allowances
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Optional T016 Contract administration
1.25 1.50 2.00 1.75 1 0.75 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Optional T020 Corporate recovery and
insolvency 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.50 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Optional T025 Due diligence
0.00 1.00 0.00 0.00 3 1.75 1.50 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Optional T045 Insurance
0.00 0.00 0.25 0.50 0.00 0.00 0.50 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Optional T063 Programming and planning
0.5 0.75 1.00 1.00 1 2.25 1.00 0.25 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Optional T066 Project Evaluation
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Optional T077 Risk management
0.00 0.50 0.00 0.75 0.00 1.75 1.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Generally, in terms of curricula and thus syllabi and learning outcomes, Modules of similar or related
nature appear evenly across all years developing each competence over time. Thus, successive
modules move the student onwards from modules in years 1 or 2 which impart basic knowledge and
certain core skills (as per Level 1 Competencies) through to modules in years 3 or 4 whose learning
objectives demonstrate the student (and thus the graduate’s) capacity for carrying out tasks
independently (as per Level 2 Competencies). Exceptionally, a student who undertakes an Industrial
Placement year may enhance their experience in certain skill areas. Such students may be thought to
have attained Level 2. The mapping provided in Table 1 does not consider placement as the level of
attainment of a competence at placement is variable upon the level of experience gained by the
individual than that of the nature of the programme the student is enrolled.

As noted, the progression to Level 2 is not uncommon, where Level 2 can be defined as demonstrating
the capacity to apply the knowledge and understanding (See Section 4.2). Perhaps this is not surprising
for, as was noted in Section 4, there is a general acceptance within the industry that a new graduate
will have achieved Level 2 or something near to this by the time that student leaves university (see
section 6.2.1. below).

Understandably Level 3 is unattainable in the majority of Competencies, given its definition in most
cases, involves demonstrating the capacity to give reasoned advice [to Clients] (See Section 4.2),
notwithstanding the possible exception of certain more mature and experienced students on
placements and similar individuals on Part Time modes. There are examples where students appear to
attain the higher level of competence, specifically in data collection and management, communication
and team-related skills areas. This is mainly due to the fact that it is possible for students to display
these competencies through Dissertation and Project work areas, especially in their Final Year.

Analysis of the satisfaction ratings (Table 1) indicates a significant variance between the extent(s) to
which different academic institutions meet the requirements of Option, Mandatory and even Core
Competencies. It can be seen that some institutions may not even cover all of the competencies.
Specifically in the case of Mandatory Competences, some are seen as too workplace-specific. For
example, mandatory competencies such as Client Care, Negotiation, Conduct Rules and ethics, are
difficult to simulate within a classroom environment. However, some institutions attempt to address
some of these issues through the adoption of a project-based delivery strategy. This may still surprise
the RICS, as they have recently laid increasing emphasis on universities teaching transferable skills
and enhancing employability.
Where gaps appear, perhaps schools are dependent on the staff strengths in particular professional
specialism and are thus selective in what they can/will offer. Data from the academic survey should
clarify the position. If certain universities are knowingly delivering a QS education that falls short, in
certain respects, of what the RICS might expect then this should be considered in the light of the
expectations of Partnerships agreements between such Institutions and the RICS.

Once the above data is verified by the respective programme leaders and the results from the
academics survey have been analysed it will be interesting to see how closely these initial impressions
are mirrored by what is actually happening out there.

6 Analysis of Views of the Expert Forum

The content analysis of the 10 interviews carried out is presented in this section. The interviews
comprised of 3 academics, 3 Private practice QS (PQS), 3 Commercial QS (CQS) and 1 RICS
representative.

6.1 Role of Quantity Surveyor

The interviewees were requested to provide views on the present and future role of the QS. With
respect to the present role of the QS they generally agreed that the role centred on cost advice,
estimating, and measurement. One academic noted that it differed from a contractor’s surveyor to
consultant’s surveyors though others did not stress the difference. There was some disagreement as to
the development of the role of the QS. One PQS noted the role had not changed much whereas one
CQS noted it had changed a lot. There was a strong feeling that the role would become more complex,
taking more concepts such as sustainability and whole life costing into account. 1 PQS stated “We are
looking at the whole life cycle (WLC) of the facility and its use in a wider context”. The importance of
WLC was noted by 2 respondents, 1 CQS and 1 PQS. Two respondents (PQS & CQS) suggested that
the name QS should change to reflect the function more accurately on the lines of Cost Manager or
Cost Engineer. The name change is indicative of observations by other respondents that the difference
between PQS and CQS is narrowing and the two roles are merging. The respondents in general
indicated the need to up skill the QS knowledge base in use of ICT and its impact on the profession.
They also agreed that collaboration and team working should be a more important skill to develop.
Sustainability and project management skills were seen as areas for further development while civil
engineering construction, infrastructure development and mechanical and electrical (energy related)
projects were seen as growth sectors for the future.
One PQS was of the view that there is potential for procurement to revert back to more traditional
methods due to economic pressures. This could be seen as an important possibility that further
enhances the cost control role of the QS.

6.2 Quantity Surveying Competencies

The RICS QS competencies provide the basis on which a quantity surveyor will be judged capable to
act as an independent professionally qualified chartered surveyor. The respondents were first asked to
consider the competencies in general. The RICS representative noted that there are more prescribed
core competencies for QS than for any other pathway. This was however to be combined with the
understanding that not every competence need be met by the universities and that the RICS welcomed
diversity to reflect the individual strengths of each. Industry CQS respondents noted that the
competencies were relevant and “do adequately describe what we want”.

6.2.1 Expected level of competency for graduate quantity surveyors

Most respondents agree that a Level 1 competence relates to attaining knowledge which could be
expected from graduate QS. Some academics foresee students progressing beyond Level 1 to attain a
portion of Level 2 competencies through practical experience gained from project based work while
part time students and placement students will also be able to progress beyond Level 1. However, one
PQS stated that they would expect graduates to have attained Level 2 in both Mandatory and Core
competencies. This indicates that there is differing interpretation of competencies and the graduate’s
likely level of attainment.

One PQS expressed the view that “contracts are now more important as this forces cost control, it is a
rapidly developing area and students are not up to speed”. This indicates a tension between trying to
cover all the competencies to a particular level and placing certain emphases on areas that are
considered more important. This tension is seen later on in other parts of the discussion and shows that
with different expectations from various sections of the industry that universities cannot be all things
to all people. The RICS representative echoes this, stating that when a course is considered RICS will
be looking at how it maps onto the technical competencies they will be looking more at the core
competencies.

Three respondents (1 academic, 1 PQS, 1 RICS) commenting on the mandatory skills agreed that these
were general competencies covering transferable or softer skills.. One academic noted that they did not
have a specific module to cover these skills but that the student picks these up as they progress through
the course. Three respondents (2 academics, 1 PQS) stated that core competencies largely define the
primary role of the QS With respect to Optional Competencies, one academic noted that these should
allow for flexibility or to pick up on diversification and one PQS noted that candidates should
understand what the competencies cover but they should not bend their experience to fit the
competency, a practice he purported as wide-spread.

When queried about possible additional competencies, three respondents (1PQS, 1RICS and 1CQS)
identified sustainability, business management and planning, accounting, communication (language,
report writing and team working), new building technologies, pre-fabrication, civil and infrastructure
engineering, life cycle costing as possible additional competencies. Some of these are already covered
in some competencies. Since competencies do not give lengthy descriptions of content, these are open
for interpretation.

4 respondents (3CQS, 1PQS) noted that there were areas that were not given enough attention or that
the students had poor knowledge of; valuation (1), measurement (1), building contracts (1),
construction technology (2), M and E services (1), environmental services (1), team working (1), and
data management (1).

3 respondents (2 academic, 1 CQS) were happy with the coverage and felt that there should be no new
additions to the competencies/skills. One PQS stated that contract administration is listed as optional
but felt that it should be core. No respondents felt that there was any obsolete content taught.

One PQS felt that some courses do not deliver what employers want and one academic stated
“students are going out without the necessary skills to undertake their basic job and that is where
employees feel that the universities are letting the system down”. This being said the general view was
that it is not easy to generalise and some courses are better than others and also it is down to other
factors such as the student, mode of study, and employer.

6.3 QS Education System

Six respondents shared their views on the present nature QS education (1 RICS, 2 academic, 2 PQS, 3
CQS). As class sizes get bigger to make courses more economically viable the ability of tutors to
spend more contact time and give more feedback will be compromised by the numbers of students
they have to work with.

One PQS expressed the view that there was too much mass teaching, with a mismatch where the
learning outcome does not map to the industry requirement and also felt that some lecturers need to
update their knowledge so that the graduates should be the ones with the knowledge on the latest
techniques. The respondent did however note that it was not possible to make generalisations and there
were differences between universities and individual lecturers. One PQS also felt that RICS had less
than adequate involvement in regulating curricular while another CQS felt that although there are so
many RICS accredited programmes they were not comparable in most respects.

The academic curricular content was commented on by 5 respondents (1 academic, 1PQS, 3 CQS).
The academic noted that they were able to cover a lot of the core competencies in a 4 year degree and
that they could map modules that they teach to the core competencies. 2 respondents (1PQS, 1CQS)
stated that the coverage was pretty good in general terms. However, the industry respondents felt that
it was difficult to map modules taught at universities to RICS competencies.

On the aspects of curricular development 5 interviewees responded. Two identified measurement as an

area that needs greater attention (1 CQS, 1 PQS). Other areas identified include taxation (CQS),
understanding building technology and construction (CQS), bill of quantities (PQS), cost planning,
preconstruction estimating (CQS) while there was an overemphasis on management of projects
(1PQS, 1CQS).The aspect that caused most concern for one PQS was that graduates had a poor
understanding about construction technology and no real understanding of on-site conditions.
Reflecting on these views it is clear that there is greater attention needed on some core areas of
quantity surveying. But if so, the academics will be faced with the dilemma of identifying which areas
to forego in lieu of areas of expansion.

Two respondents (1PQS, 1CQS) commented that there is a reasonable level of employer engagement
with the universities. However, the level and extent of engagement is one aspect that requires further
exploration.

All 10 interviewees had contributions to make concerning their views on placement. This was
unanimously seen as a positive, if not crucial thing for a student to have. The experience the student
gains from having practical experience cannot be replicated in any other way. The current economic
situation is having a negative impact on the availability of placements.

The majority of respondents (9) stated that Part time students were far better and rounded than full
time students, though this was usually in respect of their dedication to work and approach to the job.

6.4 RICS-Industry-Academic Institution communication

The level of communication and the respondents’ perception was analysed with respect to RICS
Partnerships for programme accreditation, RICS and Universities, RICS and Industry communication,
Industry and universities communication.

The RICS partnership process was seen as facilitating greater discussion but that most
communications still came down to personal relationships. One academic saw the accreditation
partnership as a way to understand how the course is being assessed “so that students come out with
the ability to be Quantity Surveyors”. These indicate the primary role of the RICS partnership
agreement as regulating RICS accredited programmes. However, the level and detail of regulation
was criticised. One PQS felt that there was a conflict of interest in the RICS education board if there
were academics on the board and this led to them influencing the decisions. But, this is questionable as
the role of education board is not necessarily to project the view of industry alone. A balanced
representation perhaps might be useful. Lack of consultation with the professional group was also
noted adding that RICS communication with industry was not good. One CQS did not know about the
partnership arrangements. Another felt that there was a real inertia around working out solutions to
problems that were identified. There was recognition of the difficulty involved in getting all three
parties around the table and keeping the lines of communication open.

With specific reference to the communication between RICS and universities 4 respondents (2
academic, 1 CQS, 1 PQS) made contributions. The 2 academics noted that they had a good rapport
with the RICS. The CQS did not know about this while the PQS thought that some had good
communication with RICS and others did not.

The general consensus with respect to communications between RICS and industry was that it is in
need of much improvement, although it is beginning to move in the right direction. There is a need for
increase in regional and local level of involvement (2 academic), fees scales need to be more realistic
(1PQS), and RICS needs to be more in touch with leading edge work (1PQS). Three respondents (1
PQS, 2 CQS) did not really have any contact with RICS through their role in the company with one
commenting that RICS has lost its focus on members and become a business instead of an institution
(CQS).

The communication between universities and industry were generally seen to be reasonable although it
was added that universities try the hardest and industry needs to be better at communication. The state
of the economy was seen as a factor that influences level of communication (1 academic). Greater
involvement of the industry as a stakeholder in the development of programmes, face to face industry
consultation and industry taking programme development and contributions as part of their corporate
social responsibility were seen as steps that can be used to improve the situation.

6.5 RICS Membership path ways

The RICS recently revised their membership pathways. Accordingly, two interviewees (1PQS, 1CQS)
stated that they are not familiar with the new routes of membership other than the graduate route. A
total of seven (1 RICS, 2 academic, 2 PQS, 2 CQS) expressed that they are happy with the graduate
route of membership. One CQS did note that it was sometimes hard to push graduates into becoming
chartered, suggesting that this was due to a combination of fees and not seeing any advantage in
becoming chartered. Another problem that exists is that more specialised contractors did not give the
graduate a wide enough experience in some competencies (1 academic, 1 RICS).
The new associate pathway was stressed as not being a shortcut to becoming chartered surveyor by the
RICS representative. One academic said that it was a nice idea but did not see its relevance and felt
that it was not clear enough where the cut off point was between the two levels while another
expressed some reservations. One PQS felt that it may lead to people aiming for a minimum standard
and that ASSOC RICS is not good enough to be recognised. 1 CQS noted that it was helpful to people
who don’t have degrees but to then progress to MRICS or FRICS was a very convoluted route.
Another CQS said their company had looked at this route but gone back to the graduate route. These
sentiments suggest there is lack of understanding about the new route as well as some doubt as for the
need for this new route.

There was a mixed response to the new senior professional route. 3 respondents stated that they were
not happy with this route. 1 academic viewed it as a rubber stamping exercise. One CQS said “my
main problem with that route is that it doesn’t test technical competence”. One PQS did not think that
people should just be given MRICS for their long experience and although it provides an opportunity
to get practitioners into mainstream RICS, they should still fit the APC model and competencies. One
academic warned that the RICS have to be careful not to be seen as an institution desperate to get new
members in. On the positive side 1 PQS noted that it was good and had worked well for them, adding
that the CIOB are doing the same thing.

The RICS representative noted that unless the company has signed up to the structured training
programme they should not take on a graduate for APC. Three respondents (2 CQS, 1 PQS) stated that
they did have a structured training programme. One PQS noted that there were very low completion
rates for the APC and felt that this was due to very poor levels of basic knowledge and that there were
big gaps between what is learnt at university and what is needed to get chartered. The possible reasons
for this were seen as employers not seeing it as important and that they lack a structured training
programme. It was also noted that it is difficult to provide all the training in three years. Smaller
companies often struggle as they do not have the volume or frequency of work types to enable them to
have a smooth training process. One PQS was highly critical of the APC process itself, stating that it is
a daunting process that makes candidates unduly nervous. The RICS process compares with the CIOB
less favourably as the CIOB process is friendlier and they help you to get through it.

6.6 Education Vs Training

All 10 respondents considered what a university should provide with regards to QS education. They
were requested to respond to:
 a. Provide an overall academic knowledge and a good foundation in Quantity Surveying, or
b. Concentrate on training students for direct QS employment.

6 respondents agreed with statement a (2 PQS, 1 CQS, 1 RICS, 2 academics). 2 respondents agreed
with statement b (1 PQS, 1CQS). 1 CQS felt that it should be a bit of both, a balance of academia with
vocational on a 50/50 basis. One academic was undecided. One CQS stated that over the last 30 years
they have seen the quality of technical Quantity Surveying become diluted and warned that if the trend
continues we would lose technical standards forever.

In overall terms most wished to see a sound academic background for the graduate quantity surveyors
but did not want to see any compromise on the level of knowledge. They also seem to expect
improved technical competence in graduates going to the industry.

7 Conclusions

This paper provides an account of the development of quantity surveying education from its roots to
present day university based education. The paper presents a set of interim findings of a detailed
research project that aims at developing a frame work for constructive alignment of industry, academia
and professional body in quantity surveying education. The graduate route is the main pathway to
become a chartered quantity surveyor in the RICS. However, there is an increasing discontent from
industry at the level of competence of graduates. This research investigates this issue by first analysing
the quantity surveying programme curricular of four leading QS programmes spread across UK. It
maps the curricular to RICS competencies and attempts to provide a level of satisfaction ranking to
indicate relative levels of satisfaction of competencies through the programme content. Subject to the
limitations of this analysis (discussed in section 5) it can be concluded that some programmes do not
meet some RICS core competencies at even Level 1. The analysis and the interpretation of
competencies also reveal that there is no clear prescribed level of expectation of level of achievement
of competencies by graduates. This is at present open to interpretation as both academia and industry
interpret completely different expected levels of satisfaction of competencies. This in itself is a source
of friction and dissatisfaction both on the part of industry and academia. It begs the question that if
there is no bench mark to say that graduate quantity surveyor should have achieved different
competencies at a certain level then it is open for interpretation and one would naturally have to expect
different standards.

The research also involved a detailed structured interview of a forum established as experts. The
forum consisting of industry practitioners, academics and RICS representatives provided vital
information and perceptions as to the different angles of this problem. The issue of non availability of
a benchmark standard to interpret the level of satisfaction of competencies by graduates was further
confirmed by the interviewees. There was discontent with the role of RICS in QS education as well as
their communication and engagement strategies. There was also a good deal of satisfaction expressed
(specifically by academics) on the RICS partnership process in accreditation of programmes.
However, this is not to say that there is no scope to improve.

The research is not conclusive as there are two ongoing surveys that will provide a vital insight in to
the views of both industry and academia. Further ongoing research will produce an overview of the
perceptions related to QS education and provide a platform for re-direction and re-shape of the QS
education system.

Acknowledgments

Authors wish to acknowledge programme leaders who provided detailed programme information for
case studies and RICS officials who helped in numerous ways. A special acknowledgement for both
Mr Keith Hogg and Professor David Greenwood of Northumbria University for their continued
support for the project.

References

Ashworth, A (1994) Education and Training of Quantity Surveyors. Chartered Institute of Building
Ashworth, A and Hogg, K (2007) Willis’s Practice and Procedure for Quantity Surveyors Blackwell
Berelson, B (1952) Content Analysis in Communication Research. New York: Free Press
Brandon, P S (1992) Quantity Surveying Techniques, New Directions. Blackwell Science
Cartlidge, D (2002) New Aspects of Quantity Surveying Practice. Butterworth Heinemann
DLE (1991) Davis Langdon and Everest QS 2000 RICS
Lowe, D and Leiringer,R (2006) Commercial Management of Projects: Defining the Discipline.
Blackwell
Perera R S, (2006), Views of Prospective Graduate Surveyors on their Professional Career Plans,
Final Report, RICS NI,
Powell,C (1998) The Challenge of Change. Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
RICS (1971) The Future Role of the Quantity Surveyor. Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
RICS (1983) The Future Role of the Chartered Quantity Surveyor Royal Institution of Chartered
Surveyors
RICS (1992) The Core Skills and Knowledge Base of the Quantity Surveyor. Royal Institution of
Chartered Surveyors
RICS (2009) Assessment Of Professional Competencies, Assessment of Technical Competencies.
Requirements and Competencies Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
Rowe, G and Wright, G (2001) Expert Opinions in Forecasting – The Role of Delphi Techniques in
Forecasting. In Principles of Forecasting. A handbook for researchers and practitioners, Ed J.Scott
Armstrong. Springer Science and Business Media Inc.
Thompson (1968) Chartered Surveyors. The growth of a Profession. Routledge and Kegan Paul
UNN Returns (2001 – 2008) Annual Statistical Partnership Returns from School of Built Environment,
Northumbria University, to RICS Northumbria University
Walker and Wilkie (2002) Commercial Management in Construction. Blackwell Science