Introducing Partnering Type Construction Contract in Northern Cyprus

ABSTRACT: The project owner and contractor are found to be two opposing parties due to the use of present contract types in Northern Cyprus. Lump-sum contracts and unit price contracts are two commonly used contract types which have been applied in construction project agreements for the past few decades. With the use of these contract types, relationships generally culminate as win-lose in which one party loses while the other wins. Win-lose situations mainly arise from the state of competition between parties. The project owner is seen in the lose position when the contractor does not fulfil the requirements as agreed upon. Conversely, the contractor is in a lose condition when the construction project is completed and delivered, however, does not receive the remaining payments from the project owner. Nowadays, a lot of problems are experienced in the construction sector. As a result, the contractor and project owner is affected negatively. Problems with materials, financial issues, the inadequacy in construction quality, the delay of work in the construction process and the problems faced with sub-contractors are all main examples of negative consequences parties encounter. As a prior study, civil engineers and experts were interviewed and conflicts were identified. A comprehensive questionnaire was developed based on the information collected from the interviews. The questionnaire was prepared according to contractors and project owners. The problems were stated explicitly based on the responses given by both parties. Moreover, actions taken to solve the problems as well as suggestions to prevent problems were specified. At the same time, perceptions of partnering type contract were ascertained. Consequently, the problems in Northern Cyprus were determined hence partnering type contract is suggested as a solution to these problems. The reason for this contract type selection is because partnering type contracts tend to improve quality of construction, safety and time scales, increase profits for both parties and reduce costs which are all the currently experienced problems in Northern Cyprus. According to the obtained results, it is observed that contractors and project owners have a positive perspective towards partnering type contract and the results have also shown that partnering type contract could be implemented in place of traditional contracts to solve the problems among parties in Northern Cyprus. Keywords: partnering type, contract, construction, problems, actions, suggestions questionnaire, Northern Cyprus. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………