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Persisting construction performance shortcomings in the Saudi Arabian construction industry requires engendering project management competencies in construction professionals’ roles and responsibilities. The purpose of this study was to determine significant construction project management competencies for Saudi Arabian construction professionals.

A cross-sectional questionnaire survey used project managers’ competencies from the literature. Construction professionals participated in the survey. Normalisation was used to determine the critical individual competencies. Statistically significant differences due to designations and organisations were analysed. Factor analysis revealed the relationships among significant competencies.

The most critical individual competencies included communication, team building and leadership skills. However, Project managers and all other construction professionals had statistically significant differences in insights on some of the critical competencies. The results revealed seven components: behaviour and attitude-related competencies; fundamental project management-related competencies; pro-active, knowledge and creativity-related competencies; political and organisational-related competencies; stakeholder management and experience-related competencies; management-related competencies; and confidence, commitment and negotiation-related competencies.

Evidently, inculcating project management competencies is essential for construction professionals to enhance project performance. The failure to get insights from the National Project Management Office officials was a limitation; however, views from construction professionals were sufficient as they are the most affected stakeholders.

The study determined project management competencies necessary for Saudi Arabian construction professionals to improve their project delivery performance.

Increased construction risk due to the complexity and numerous construction performance challenges requires improved construction project managers’ competence. However, contextual interrogation of these competencies is limited. This paper aims to report on a study that sought to determine the expected competencies of construction project managers and assesses the existence of statistically significant differences due to gender, designation and educational levels of respondents.

A quantitative research design was instituted through the administration of a questionnaire survey on Project Managers, Architects, Engineers and Quantity surveyors working for consultants and contractors’ organizations. Descriptive and inferential statistics analysed significant differences due to demographic variables. Factor analysis was also used to reveal interrelated significant sets of competencies expected of construction project managers.

Factor analysis determined 11 significant components with the highest-ranked components comprising organizational savvy and experience in managing project constraints. The univariate analysis determining effective communication, leadership and good team-building skills as being the three most critical expected competencies. Significant differences due to educational levels were established, with shortcomings existing in those with Diplomas.

The higher education institutions need to establish curricula designs that align with the competency expectations. Mentorship programmes within construction organizations can also be significant in bridging the existing competence gap. However, due to the exploratory nature of the study, the insights of clients were not considered.

The study determined competencies for construction project managers and demographic-specific interventions.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of construction professionals relative to factors that affect the delivery of optimum health and safety (H&S) on construction projects during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study adopted a quantitative design which entailed the distribution of a web-based questionnaire among construction professionals, namely, architects, construction/project managers, engineers, H&S managers and quantity surveyors working for contractors and construction consultants in Zimbabwe. The data were analysed with descriptive and inferential statistics. Factor analysis was used to reveal interrelated significant sets of factors affecting the delivery of optimum H&S.

Factor analysis revealed nine components/factors: change and innovation-related, monitoring and enforcement-related, production-related, access to information and health service-related, on-site facilities and welfare-related, risk assessment and mitigation-related, job security and funding-related, cost-related and COVID-19 risk perception-related factors as the significant factors affecting the delivery of optimum H&S during the COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe.

The results highlighted the need for social dialogue among construction stakeholders to support initiatives that will enhance the delivery of H&S on construction projects. Construction stakeholders may find the results useful in highlighting the areas that need improvement to protect workers’ H&S during the pandemic. However, the small sample limits the generalisability of the results to construction sectors in other regions.

The study investigated factors affecting the delivery of optimum H&S during the COVID-19 to inform interventions to enhance H&S.

Achieving sustainable construction is immensely challenging in developing economies due to their inadequate technical support system(s) (TSS). Hence, this article develops a TSS framework for sustainable construction indicators for Zimbabwe, a developing country.

A post-positivist philosophical stance and deductive reasoning were adopted to test pertinent theory. Construction professionals in consultancy, construction companies, government bodies and academic institutions participated in an online questionnaire survey. Primary data was analysed using a reliability test, Shapiro Wilks test, Kruskal–Wallis H test, mean score ranking, normalisation value, factor analysis and fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE).

FSE revealed a framework with six critical technical support subgroups, in order of importance viz: innovation for construction sustainability; adequate sustainability expenditure and skills training support; adequate project economic assessment and governance support; adequate circularity and environmental technical support; climate change literacy and supplier assessment support; and adequate decent work support. Existing sustainable construction initiatives can be buttressed by strengthening the six identified TSS through related policy initiatives.

The framework developed constitutes an innovative TSS for Zimbabwe to achieve sustainable construction.

Increased waste during projects execution has led to time and cost overruns within the Zimbabwean construction projects industry. However, contextual barriers to lean construction implementation are yet to be established for derivation of effective remedies. The purpose of this paper is to report on a study that sought to determine barriers to lean construction implementation and assess the existence of statistically significant differences because of gender, designation and educational levels of respondents.

A questionnaire survey was administered on construction professionals for the collection of quantitative data. Factor analysis was used to reveal interrelated significant sets of barriers to lean construction implementation. Non-parametric statistical methods were also used to determine significant differences because of demographic variables.

Integration- and performance-related, human capital management–related, quality management–related barriers were determined as the highest-ranked of the nine significant components. Significant differences because of gender, designation and educational levels were non-existent for aggregated barriers, generally indicating consensus on the barriers. However, individual barriers showed inadequacies in management requirements for lean construction implementation from architects and those with diplomas and degrees.

The determination of barriers establishes the knowledge for construction policy evaluation for enhanced performance of the construction industry. However, because of the exploratory nature of this study, the insights of clients were not considered.

Context-specific barriers to lean construction implementation were determined for consequent construction policy improvements in the construction industry.

Sustainable construction deficits are common in developing economies, and resolutions are constrained by the failure to prioritise the plethora of available indicators. This study aims to report on overlapping indicators for benchmarking sustainable construction for construction organisations.

Online survey data were collected from construction professionals, academics and senior managers in government bodies. Pearson chi-squared tests and overlapping analysis were used to determine significant indicators. Kruskal–Wallis tests were used to determine statistically significant differences among the dimensions.

Overlapping analysis determined indicators significant for economic, environmental and social performance. Environmental protection and reporting (pollution and emissions) were significant for all three performance dimensions. The most significant indicators are economic performance (adequate competence of key project staff), environmental performance (environmental protection and reporting – pollution and emissions) and social performance (adequate sustainability expenditure by construction organisations). Significant differences due to dimensions existed for adequate competence of key project staff, sustainable construction and eco-design, adequate governance and organisational excellence of construction projects and satisfactory workers’ morale.

Determining overlapping indicators enables prioritised implementation that ensures sustainable construction. Excluding construction workers was a significant limitation for a holistic interrogation.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to determine overlapping indicators for sustainable construction performance in Zimbabwe.