Identification of main contractors' selection criteria for construction project in Malaysia

Construction projects in Malaysia, especially public projects, often suffer from delays, budgetary and low-quality problems. These are highly affected by contractors who appear to exploit the tender prices. The number of public projects experiencing delay in the 11th Malaysian Plan is significantly increasing. The selection of a contractor as the main participant in a construction project is the most important and challenging decision process for a client. Appropriate selection of a contractor is crucial in determining the future performance of a project. Therefore, this research attempts to identify the criteria for selecting main contractors for public construction projects in Malaysia. The current criteria used by the Public Work Department in selecting the main contractors and the important criteria were investigated. An interview protocol is used to solicit opinions and experience from five Quantity Surveyors working at the PWD headquarters of Malaysia. Semi-structured interview questions are used during the virtual interview with the participants. The findings were further analysed using thematic analysis to extract the code, followed by the production of themes. Financial capacity, technical capacity and the criteria outlined in the Malaysian Treasury Circular (PK 2.1) were the important criteria suggested by the participants. In the end, four criteria were recommended by the participants as the best criteria for selecting the main contractors, which are the criteria outlined in PK 2.1, financial capacity, technical capacity and working experience.