Influence of Project Management Practices on Construction Projects in Rwanda

Abstract—The construction industry is among the leading sectors in economic growth of Rwanda. Most of construction projects failed to maintain their schedules, and remain within budgetary costs; this despite there being knowledge of project management practices introduced in construction project. Generally this study aimed to investigate influence of project management practices on construction project in Rwanda. 99 survey questionnaires were administered to 99 active contractors and consultants registered in RPPA. It was found that 91.9 % of respondents confirmed that they applied project management practices in their daily assignments however 74.7 % got skills from experience, therefore majority in industry are not professional managers. Construction planning like risk plan, communication plan are not done satisfactory, 77.7% confirmed that risk plan analysis is less applied; few analysis done the top management involvement is not satisfactory, uncertainties contribute a lot in time and cost overruns. Other researches revealed that the best organization structure is project-based and matrix while it was found that in Rwanda 85.8 % confirmed the functional structure, the later was proved not suitable in multidisplinary projects. The study concluded that industry has not professionals in management therefore less application of management practices. The contractors and consultants are recommended to encourage their engineers to go ahead management classes or profession trainings (PMI, PRINCE 2, AGILE….) to save the construction industry