Abstract

Notably, the idea of partnering has attracted a lot of attention in construction practices and is proposed as one of the best solutions to address the availability of limited projects in the construction industry. The objectives of this paper are to ascertain the practice of partnering and identify the problems faced and effects of partnering among Class “F” contractors in the Malaysian construction industry. Questionnaires were sent to 250 Class “F” contractors, from which 40 valid questionnaires were generated and analysed. It was found that partnering among Class “F” contractors had beneficial effects such as knowledge sharing, technical know-how sharing, profit and losses sharing, efficient management, higher decision making skills and exchange of ideas from different thinking processes. Some of the strategies proposed for enhancing partnering include providing more courses and seminars among Class “F” contractors, giving clear explanations of the partnering concept to Class “F” contractors who are highly committed to its implementation, applying partnering in certain areas of specialization according to the situation of works undertaken, undertaking more comprehensive research in the area of implementation and forming a distribution centre for project distribution. The findings of this research add valuable information to any organization in Malaysia and worldwide, whether public or private, in their quest to successfully procure partnering projects.

Key words: Partnering, small medium, contractor, construction industry, Malaysia.