Abstract:
Contract administration issues are almost always unavoidable in the Ethiopian construction
industry due to the country's conventional project procurement procedure. Furthermore, the
bulk of local construction companies handle their projects by hiring engineers with little or
no experience managing building projects. As a result, contract administration is a huge
problem in the sector. With financing help from MDG, the Federal Democratic Republic o f
Ethiopia began implementing a number of projects to improve the country's health care
facilities and services. These MDG supported projects are no exception but faced with
construction contract administration challenges. The goal of this research is to a ssess the
major challenges in healthcare facility construction contract administration in the Amhara
region, which is supported through the Millennium Development Goals budget. The goal of
this research is to assess the major challenges in healthcare facil ity construction contract
administration in the Amhara region, which is supported through the Millennium
Development Goals budget. A cross-sectional survey method was used to assess the problem.
The sampling procedure was multi -stage purposive sampling. The sample included all key
parties (9 clients from Amhara Health Bureau), (13 consultants), and (10 contractors) in
health care facility construction in the region. Both quantitative and qualitative data was
collected from primary and secondary sources. SPSS statistical software was used for
analyzing the quantitative data. Qualitative and quantitative data collected was analyzed
using triangulation method. Descriptive statistical analysis method was used to explain the
situation. Secondary data were also c ollected to enrich the study. The findings of the study
showed that Amhara National Regional state received its share from MDG implementation
budget of the country which amounts 17,883,800,000 birr for the budget to health, school,
road, water and others constructions. From 2012 to 2016, the Amhara regional state
allocated 3,111,199,569.4 birr for healthcare facility construction of which only
2,614,808,026.56 birr utilized for construction of 58 new primary hospitals, 2 old hospital
expansion, 55 new health center and 4 health colleges. Due to many reasons significant
number of the projects didn’t accomplish on time and with intended budge allocated for each
project. Survey participants, who were divided into five groups, defined and prioritized the
key factors that cause conflicts amongst stakeholders in health facility construction in the
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Amhara region. Insufficient working drawing details, delay in progress payment by the
owner, evaluation of completed works, and a poorly written contract were the most
frequently claimed causes of conflict among the top five factors of contract dispute. All
stakeholder groups agreed that contract and specification dispute problems group was the
most severe dispute problems, which affected health facility construction perfo rmance in the
region. Financial dispute problems were considered the second most severe dispute problem
group in construction projects followed by other dispute problems in the sector.
Key Words: Health facility construction, Contract administration, MDG, Dispute