Influence of contractor related factors on quality of road construction projects in Machakos town sub-county, Kenya

Abstract

The National Transport and Safety Authority website records over 57,171 cases of RTA. Adopting the root cause analysis (RCA) technique, it is crucial to determine and to solve the cause of a problem in order to have a permanent solution for it. This study focuses on road construction projects since this is the actual onset of roads and RTA is dependent on various factors arising from the ideology of road construction projects to the operation of a sound or unsound vehicle on the road. Numerous studies have been done to research on the factors influencing quality of road construction projects but little has been done on how contractors related factors affect quality of construction projects. Due to the research gap in the pool of knowledge, this study is aimed at identifying and analyzing how contractor related factors influences the quality of road construction projects. The study area that will be analyzed in this project will be Machakos Town Sub-county situated in the Lower Eastern region of Kenya. The study will be guided by four objectives: To determine the influence of contractor’s skills and knowledge on quality of road construction projects, to establish influence of contractor’s exposure to technology on quality of road construction projects, to examine influence of contractors’ duties as stakeholders on quality of road construction projects and to investigate influence of contractor’s financial resources on quality of road construction projects. Theories that will be applied in this study are Wrecker’s financial distress theory and Sustainability Theory. This study will employ a descriptive survey research design and a cross-sectional approach will be used to collect quantitative data by use of close-ended questionnaires. The total target population will be 414 and the Krejcie & Morgan formula will be applied to calculate the sample size that will be adopted in the survey research to get a sample size of 199 respondents. Stratified random sampling technique will be applied on the sample size of 199 respondents to classify them into homogenous groups. Questionnaires will be used as the main data collection instruments and will be issued to the sample size. A pilot study will be undertaken on an identical group of respondents in Malava sub-county, Kakamega County to pre-test the questionnaires for validity and reliability. The gathered data will be analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the data being presented descriptively using frequencies and percentages. Pearson’s product moment correlation procedure method will be used to analyze the inferential statistic data and the results presented.