Construction Procurement Research Group
About the Research Group
Construction procurement is the process through which contracts are created, managed and fulfilled (ISO 10845: 2010). This is an area of practice that is constantly evolving in the construction industry and research is needed to examine and analyse such developments to create procurement systems of the future.
The recently launched World Bank Regional Strategy for Africa indicates that one of the factors militating against Africa’s competitiveness is the adoption of dysfunctional procurement practices, which has contributed immensely to the deficit in fixed infrastructure provision. As the countries in Africa aspire to achieve accelerated economic growth and infrastructure development, there is a need for efficiency and reform when it comes to the way that infrastructure is procured and delivered to help in achieving value for money. This requires systematic examination of construction procurement practices and analysis of supply chain management practices in infrastructure delivery to develop alternative approaches designed to facilitate the socio-economic development aspirations in specific relation to construction procurement and infrastructure development.
The Construction Procurement Research Group at the School of Economics and Construction Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg has been established to conduct high quality research into the issues affecting the procurement of construction work locally within an international context.