Key influences on project identification in building projects in Uganda

The construction project is characterized by sequential phases, each of which contributes to the final attributes of the project. The efficient management of a construction project must therefore start with its first phase, the project identification phase. Effective management of the phase requires that the importance of factors associated with the inputs, interaction process and outputs, be known. These factors and their relative importance are environment specific. This paper introduces a methodology of identifying and arriving at consensus about the importance of key factors associated with inputs, interaction process and outputs of the project identification phase. The method involves initiating a search, and systematically extracting the data, from a carefully selected source. A Delphi technique procedure is then used to ensure convergence of opinion based on the participants' successive interaction with information from their environment. The paper demonstrates the employment of the methodology with a sample of one hundred building projects in Uganda. This specific example paves the way for the design of better and effective management procedures in a bid to optimize operation at organizational and industry level in Uganda. The paper identifies the influential factors during the project identification to allow for better decision-making.