Selection of Suitable Procurement Systems in Construction: a Multi-criteria Decision Support Model

The use and development of appropriate procurement systems helps to avoid problems and is the key to the attainment of project specific goals. A systematic and consistent approach for procurement selection is essential to achieve the project success and ensure value for the client’s money. This paper presents a decision support model developed, based on Multi Attribute Utility Technique. Four rounds of Delphi survey were conducted to investigate the most significant factors and their level of influence on various procurement systems. The synthesis of the survey outcome revealed that client requirements, project characteristics together with factors from external environment are significantly influencing the procurement selection in Sri Lanka. The special feature of the developed model is the inclusion of a set of exclusive selection criteria at macro level and abundant procurement options. The outcome of the model was tested for its applicability and efficiency with the use of multiple case studies. The model has the potential to assist clients/their consultants and seeks to overcome any inconsistency in the effective decision making process on procurement selection.