Factors influencing implementation of commercial housing projects in Kisumu County, Kenya

Abstract

The process of project implementation involves the successful expansion and introduction of projects in an organization, presents an ongoing challenge for urban and rural development of housing Projects. Most of the development projects experience major hurdles in their life cycle and barely realise the set objectives, this point to problem in project implementation. The major factors contributing to this trend require more examination. This study sought to identify factors influencing implementation of commercial Housing projects in Kisumu County, Kenya. The research objectives were to: assess how contractor selection criteria, investigate how cost of materials and determine how project activity scheduling influenced implementation of commercial Housing projects in Kisumu county. The study was informed by agency and project implementation theories. The research design was descriptive survey. A survey questionnaire was applied in the study. The target population included contractors (215), National Construction Authority (NCA) officers (7) and county government building inspectors (7), from which a sample of 193 contractors and 14 NCA and county government officials was developed. Simple random and purposive sampling techniques were used in this study. Questionnaire (for contractors) and interview schedule (for NCA and county government officers) were the instruments of data collection for this research. The study adopted both qualitative and quantitative data analysis approaches. Qualitative data was analysed by content analysis while Quantitative Data for this study was analyzed descriptively (frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviation) and inferentially (Multiple Linear Regression). The findings are presented in the form of tables, charts and frequencies. Results showed that contractor selection criteria, budgeting and project scheduling significantly (p<0.05) affected the implementation of commercial housing projects in Kisumu County. The Multiple Linear Regression statistics showed that about 40.0% of change in implementation of commercial housing projects was explained by the factors studied. The beta coefficients for the equation was; cost of materials =0.442, project activity scheduling ( =0.390) and lastly contractor selection criteria =0.298. The study recommends that there is need for build-up of effective coordination and communication during project implementation. There is also need for consideration of previous contracts undertaken by a particular contractor before engaging them to implement a new project. The findings of the study are important to NCA, county governments, contractors, developers and other stakeholders in the construction industry.