Public Procurement System and its Influence on the Building Contract Performance during Project Implementation: The Case of Nairobi-County

Abstract

Public procurement system account for significant percentage of GDP and has a direct impact on Kenya economy. Indeed, the Kenya government has used public procurement system to meet development objectives such as the provision of infrastructure for instance public building projects. Public procurement system is regulated by Public Procurement Act which specifies the rules under which the public procurement system can be performed and set conditions of award procedures of public contracts. Moreover, the law aims at strengthening the procurement process in order to achieve: trasparency, cost effectiveness, competitiveness, fairness and equity with primary focus to support contract performance. Therefore, the quality of performance is affected by the irregularities in the selection process of contractor thereby influencing the contract performance. Acompanying the foregoing, cost effectiveness(budget) allocation, time, quality, and client satisfaction must show success of the project. However, despite the enactment of the law, various studies have found that contract management of projects was weak providing multiple opportunities for transgression in contract implementation. The study aimed at coming up with applicable works manual for procurement of public building works in Kenya. Towards the realization of this objective, a descriptive research based study using a cross-sectional survey design on 48 randomly sampled projects in Nairobi. This research is a survey of knowledge and information through semi-structured questionnaires and interview schedules where primary data was collected from procurement officers, project supervisors, and contractors. Data was analysed for reliability, descriptive statistics, correlation and multiple linear regression. The study recommends that cost effectiveness and transparency procurement related factors should be addressed so as to improve building contracts performance. The study findings will not only contribute to body of knowledge and the improved works manual will also be simulated in the current PPOA Works Manual as a way of enhancing procurement procedures. The study concluded that, all the identified public procurement-related factors are significant in predicting contract performance at early stages of project procurement as well as at implementation.