Factors Affecting the Performance of Small Indigenous Contractors in Papau New Guinea

Contractors’ performance, amongst other things, has been associated with the high costof public housing in Papua New Guinea. Given that small indigenous contractorsundertake construction of all public housing, this paper investigates the performance ofsmall indigenous contractors.Eight likely factors that affect small indigenous contractors' performance are identifiedfrom the literature. An empirical study is then described aimed at determining how80Page (iv) The Australian Journal of Construction Economics and Buildingthese factors affect project cost, time and quality. This comprised a survey conducted inPort Moresby by personally administered questionnaires to a sample of smallindigenous contractors to assess the level of factors associated with the problem of lackof performance. Additionally, the view of each firm concerning the effect of each factoron performance was also obtained. The results show that, with the exception of culture,all the factors are perceived to have an effect of construction performance. It is alsoshown that the incidence of these factors, within the firms surveyed, are quite low. Ofparticular concern is the level of cash flow.

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