An Examination of Causes and Management Strategies of Critical Conflicts between Public Clients and Contractors in building projects in Tanzania

Abstract

Construction industry is sensitive to conflicts which deter the development of the industry. The effects of conflicts in construction include abandoning and failure of finishing of private and public construction projects which later on require huge amount of money and time to be revived. Above other participants of building projects, clients and contractors have been subjected to frequently eruption of conflicts among themselves, hence devoted measures of resolving conflicts are needed for the wellbeing of the industry. Therefore, the primary focus of this study istoexamine causes of conflicts that occur between public clients and contractors in building projects with three research objectives which are to identify factors that lead to conflicts between public clients and contractors in building projects in Tanzania, to determine strategies used to resolve conflicts between public clients and contractors in building projects in Tanzania and to recommend how conflicts issues between public clients and contractors in building projects can be prevented and reduced in Tanzania. In order to attain its main objective, the study is organised into two main parts. The first part is empirical investigation that involved literature review, questionnaires and interviews and the second part is bystudying real contexts of building projects that involved studying of three case studies. It is found in questionnaires thatconflicts between public clients and contractors occur frequently due to improper planning and schedulingthan other factors. Likewise, conflicts in selected case studies building projects were caused byimproper planning and scheduling which led to delay in payment. In resolving conflict, it is found that most contractors and public clients use integrating and compromising approaches. It is recommended that public clients and contractors must have clear early negotiationsand should carry out accurate planning before embarking on actual construction activities.