An exploration of Cambodian construction industry : a case study of contractors' problems

Abstract

Construction industry which plays a critical role in the development of the Cambodian economic is one of the most important industrial sectors. Cambodia is a developing country where the construction sector has just boosted in last decades. The contractors are the important organizations which have direct role in construction industry. By the preliminary survey, most contractors in Cambodia, including the local and foreign firms have faced a lot of problems in their construction projects. The main objectives of this research are to study contractors’ problems in Cambodia and compare with contractors’ problems in Thailand for determining the similar and different problems that were encountered the contractors in both countries. Surveys and interviews were conducted on major construction projects in Cambodia to explore the most significant problems causing construction problems. Factors related to owners, government, consultants, subcontractors, labors, engineers, material suppliers, and marketing were investigated. Contractors’ problems in Cambodia were categorized under 2 different levels, industry level and project level. Moreover, the literature review, questionnaires and interviews were conducted in order to survey contractors’ problems in Cambodia and then compare those in Thailand. The result of the study presented 55 contractors’ problems encountered in Cambodia in which 30 problems were industry level and 25 problems were project level. Furthermore, the result of comparisons showed the similar and different problems in both industry level and project level. At industry level, the main categories of differences were problems of construction regulations, problems by government, materials and machines, human resources and construction marketing, whereas, the main categories of similarities were mostly problems of financial, coordination and communication. In addition, at project level, the main category of different problems was found in the material resources. However, the main categories of similarities were found in many categories such as problems by owners, consultants, subcontractors, human resources and communication.