The issue of communication in the construction industry: A case of South Africa

Abstract: Communication within construction presented exceptional problems. This is particularly evident within the construction sector, where interactions have the tendency to be characterised by unacquainted classes of people coming together for brief periods before dispersing to work on other ventures. Owing to its specific characteristics, the construction industry creates a complex communication environment. This paper sought to improve communication in construction. In order to define the problem in more detail and to achieve the purpose of the study, an exhaustive literature review on communication in construction was conducted, a total of ten experts on the practice of communication in construction in Gauteng (South Africa) were interviewed, through semi-structured, in-depth interviews. Findings revealed that the majority of issues regarding communication in construction were reported to be between demand and supply-side stakeholders. The robust interaction in construction projects between stakeholders seems to make construction projects very exposed to communication problems. Furthermore, a waste of time was revealed as a result of poor communication, a discrepancy in stakeholders ‘power and about poor consensus particularly in the public sector, and a lack of stakeholders’ ability to sympathise with the other parties involved