Assessments of the Application of Earned Value Management System for Construction Project Performance Measurement in Zanzibar

Abstract

Many construction projects in developing countries including in Zanzibar suffer from time and budget overruns. The Revolution Government of Zanzibar established different bodies such as Zanzibar Contractors Registration Board (ZCRB), Zanzibar Architects, Engineers and Quantity Surveyors Registration Board (ZAEQRB), Zanzibar Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Asset Authority (ZPPDA), among others with the aim of controlling the performance of project. Often scope creep, time and cost overruns are very common problems in construction projects. This study aims at addressing those problems by assessing the use of Earned Value Management (EVM) methodology in measuring construction industry performance in Zanzibar. The study used purposive sampling to select the sample. A self-administered questionnaire and round table discussions were deployed to architects, engineers, project managers, and quantity surveyors for data collection. Also, a case study design was employed whereby four ongoing construction projects were used as samples to collect data. The data were processed using Microsoft Excel where Chi- square, ANOVA, and Earned Value Analysis (EVA) were used to analyze the data. The study findings indicate that majority of key players of construction industry of Zanzibar were unaware of the EVA as a tool for monitoring the performance of the projects, although they practice EVMS to some extent. Also, all four cases used in this study, indicated underperformances in terms of scope, time and cost parameters.