Project Planning and Control in a Developing Economy: Implementation and Realisation

In the competitive and uncertain environment of the construction industry, the ability to deliver end products with the required quality, schedule and budget is vital to the survival of any construction-related firm. Before embarking on any project, realistic planning and, consequently, a control procedure must be in place to enable the parties to manage the project with sufficient degree of authority and certainty. This paper addresses issues associated with the implementation of project planning and control, identificati on of impacts in the implementation of project planning and the critical success factors of project planning. A questionnaire survey was conducted on construction professionals and contractors involved in the running of construction projects. The survey results showed that common problems associated with the project planning and control are the lack of experienced staff and poor coordination by the contractor. During site operation, a delay in decision making aggravates the effect of poor planning and control and much of the effect of project planning rests on the pro-activeness of experienced staff. The positive impact associated with proper planning and control is the high probability of finishing the project on time while the negative impact is that it is a time-consuming and costly process. The critical success factors identified from the survey are Excellent Teamwork and Experienced Team.