Assessing Barriers to Sustainable Public-Works Procurement Compliance at the Tender Evaluation Stage in Ghana

Existing studies indicate that the construction sector is critical to the integration of sustainable public-works procurement towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals 12.7 (SDGs). However, significant impediments to effective and efficient compliance with sustainable public-works procurement exist. The focus of this study is to identify the specific barriers to compliance with Sustainable Public-works Procurement. Through a scientific literature review and questionnaire survey, seventeen (17) barriers were identified and analyzed using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) variant of factor analysis to assess the significant barriers to sustainable public-works procurement. Four clusters of factors were concluded as critical barriers to compliance with sustainable public-works procurement at the tender evaluation stage. (1) sustainable adaptability cluster; (2) managerial challenges cluster; (3) knowledge incapacity cluster; and (4) legal, policy, and evaluation cluster. The study presents a basis for experts along with researchers to appreciate the barriers to compliance and the need to improve compliance with sustainable public-works procurement in Ghana. The study adds to the pool of knowledge and provides the first survey on the specific barriers that inhibit compliance with sustainable public works procurement at the tender evaluation stage in Ghana.