Managing client-contractors' working relationship in construction projects: A holistic approach

Purpose – The client-contractor relationship is pivotal in construction projects, as the contractor is responsible for executing the client's vision while managing the operational aspects of construction. A successful client-contractor relationship can facilitate resource allocation, streamline decision-making, and enhance project performance. However, clients typically aim for projects to be completed on time, within budget and at a high quality, while contractors often focus on minimising risks and maximising profit. This divergence in priorities can lead to disputes over issues such as cost overruns, delays, and variations in project scope. This fundamental misalignment often results in adversarial relationships rather than collaborative partnerships, ultimately impeding project efficiency and sometimes leading to prolonged legal disputes. This paper, therefore, aims to address these specific practical issues by focusing on the relationship between client and contractor and provides recommendations to manage this relationship effectively. Design/methodology/approach – Along with a thorough review of the literature, semi-structured interviews were conducted with experienced practitioners in the Norwegian construction industry. A total of 22 interviews were carried out with key professionals, including project managers and contract specialists, representing diverse organisational roles from the client side, consultants and contractors. This diverse participant pool was intentionally selected to gain a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder perspective on industry practices and challenges. The interviews were conducted either in-person or via video conferencing, each lasting roughly one hour, and followed a standardised interview guide while allowing flexibility for open-ended discussion. The majority of participants had over 10 years of professional experience in project-based environments, while three individuals had between 5 and 10 years of experience as project managers. Participants were selected using purposive sampling to ensure relevance and depth of insight, and all interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis to identify recurring patterns and viewpoints. Findings – The findings of this study underscore the importance of structured and multifaceted relationship management practices between clients and contractors in achieving successful project outcomes within the construction industry. Relationship management strategies at both the organisational and project team levels are essential to fostering collaboration, communication, and effective resource use among diverse stakeholders. The emphasis on communication management is shown to be instrumental in establishing trust and facilitating transparency across project teams. Similarly, information-sharing protocols and risk management frameworks allow for collaborative handling of risks, ultimately enhancing resilience and accountability in project delivery. Research limitations/implications – Participants in this study, both the clients and contractors, were all within Norwegian organisations. Although they had several experiences working on construction projects locally and internationally, their response was mainly influenced by their culture, mindsets and Norwegian construction norms and standards. Further research is recommended to explore the perceptions of experts in the construction industry from different countries with diverse cultures and standards. Practical implications – This study makes theoretical and practical contributions to the construction engineering and management body of knowledge by classifying relationship management practices at both the organisational and project team levels. This study offers a structured framework that provides practitioners and researchers with actionable insights into enhancing collaboration and communication in complex environments. Additionally, this paper adds depth to existing literature by highlighting the role of behavioural and interpersonal factors. These insi hts contribute to a more holistic understanding of relationship management in construction projects and set a foundation for further research into how these strategies can be tailored to different project contexts. Originality/value – To bring a better perspective on the relationship between clients and contractors, a holistic approach is utilised in this study to ensure that factors from all relevant perspectives are considered, understood and dealt with. The holistic approach enabled the development of a conceptual model, which provides a method to yield more insightful and relevant findings, given the complexity of managing the relationship between client and contractor.