Appraisal of Criteria for Prequalification of Subcontractor in Construction Projects in Nigeria

The dependence of general contractor on subcontractors to execute specialized portion of construction work makes the success of construction projects highly susceptible to the performance of sub-contracting organizations. The purpose of this paper is to appraise the criteria for prequalifying subcontractors in construction project and evaluate the level of application of these criteria by the consultants during the subcontractors evaluation with a view to determining the effects of subcontractors selection and quality. Data were obtained with the aid of well-structured questionnaire and were administered to clients, contractors and consultants in Ondo and Ekiti state. A total of 100 questionnaires were administered in Ondo and Ekiti State out of which 74 were recovered and 73 were suitable for analysis. The data were analyzed using statistical method namely descriptive statistic. Mean item score and severity index was used for analysis. Historical data was analyzed using correlation and regression. The result indicates that technical capability and ability to deliver project within schedule time are mostly important amongst other criteria for pre-qualifying subcontractors. Result also indicate that ability to deliver projects within scheduled time and ability to deliver projects within scheduled budget are mostly important amongst others for the application of pre-qualifying criteria. The result also indicates there is a great correlation in completion time and cost of project in the delivery of sub-contractors jobs at the level of significance of less than 0.00. Conclusively prequalification of sub-contractor should not be neglected or be seen as a waste of time as this will help the construction projects a great deal in good and prompt subcontract jobs.