Exploring and assessing the utilization of best practices for achieving excellence in construction projects

Many construction projects face cost overruns and schedule delays. To improve the project efficiency and reduce the unintended outcomes of these challenges, Construction Industry Institute (CM) has developed several construction Best Practices (BPs). Although Implementing all Cil BPs would be beneficial for construction projects, it may not be a practical approach. Therefore, there is a need to develop a decision-making framework for the selection process of the most beneficial BPs. The aim of this paper Is to provide a constructive approach and develop a decision-making guideline to assist Project Managers (PMs) with the selection and implementation process of five Cil BPs (Team Building, Alignment, Change Management, Front End Planning and Partnering) which lead to the greatest cost savings and schedule reduction for the owner entities. For this reason, a structured survey was developed to collect information on project physical and managerial characteristics, the implementation level of the mentioned Cil BPs. Forty-four responses were collected. Through several statistical analysis including the two-sample f-Test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Chi-squared test, the researchers were able to determine the significant project characteristics, which are the main drivers of selecting and implementing construction BPs. The results of the analysis indicate that "interfaces among project participants", "project resources", and "scope definition" are the three primary determinants in the selection and implementation process of the five mentioned BPs. The findings of this research will help the owners and PMs to select and invest in BPs, which optimize the project development process and reduce the potential schedule delays and cost overruns significantly in the construction industry.