Assessment of Project Planning and Scheduling Practices of Ethiopian Contractors and Their Challenges: for Projects Owned by Era

Abstract

Planning & scheduling is one of the major project management tools that shall be used for project management purposes. Studies show that Ethiopian contractors working in federal road projects do not have enough firm and professional experience, in producing a detailed project plan that adequately guides the project execution. Most construction companies who practice planning and scheduling to some level also have difficulty in achieving the project objective and their company goals as the plan does not adequately guide the project executions. With the above as the background, this study aims to assess the construction project planning practices of the domestic road sector contractors and the challenges they experience in producing a detailed project plan that can adequately guide the project executions. A descriptive case study is used for this research by selecting 12 different cases from local contractors working in federal road projects to assess the contractors' planning and scheduling practice and related challenges. In addition to the case study, a descriptive survey is conducted to address the research objectives. The study has indicated that the project planning and schedule practice by Ethiopian contractors is poor and baseline work program has been prepared for contractual submissions only. Out of several challenges identified in the study, delay in the removal of obstruction, delivery of design document, absence of project information, poor knowledge, and attitude of contractors’ top management team are the most ranked challenging factors.