Criteria for Project Success

Criteria for Project Success
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
How to judge a construction project to enable its classification as either a success or failure has
proven elusive to many researchers. The reason for that difficulty can be traced to the inability
by the experts to agree on the standard criteria used to gauge the performance of a project.
In spite of all those challenges planning has stood out to be one of the strongest cornerstones on
which a successful construction project can be built on. It may be proven practically that the
chances for a project to succeed are magnified manifold if plans for its implementation are laid
before its launch.
Planning guides every activity and helps to ensure costs and time is kept within set limits. Other
criteria which have been identified to be useful in gauging the performance of a project include
cost, time, safety, quality, clients’ satisfaction, profitability, cash flow management, employee
satisfaction, profitability, learning and development, and environmental performance.
INTRODUCTION
The definition of project success in the construction industry has been marred by ambiguity due
to the abstract nature of the concept itself. The final determination whether a project has some
measure of success has been surrounded by high complexity and subjectivity and there seems to
be no general agreement among many experts on principles which could be classified as rules for
measuring project success.
Construction Tuts (2018) underscores the important role which planning and monitoring of
expenses play in keeping costs within the budget, and it on this premise that this discussion
stands.
The discussion which follows is not based on any particular project but it is a hypothetical
presentation of general situations of concern to construction developments.
The measuring parameters used on a construction project to gauge its success ought not to be put
in place later but at the very beginning of the construction since the success of a project is
founded on proper management and control, and it is measured from the inception of the project
to its post-construction period. According to Pn-Management (2018) project is a failure if it is
completed late or over its budget. The handling of current projects in terms of management and
control has a bearing on how future projects are planned and oriented.

ROLE OF PLANNING IN THE SUCCESS OF PROJECTS
Planning how to tame costs leads to the financial success of building projects and it is
highly recommended with Career Trend (2019) stating that it is a key due diligence
action necessary during construction preparation. It guides construction participants to
know the estimated final costs of a project and its construction period. According to
Trend Global (2016), cost planning provides the criteria for gauging performance and
takes care of finances because it does not give room for reckless spending.
From the foregoing, it is evidently clear that cost planning contributes very immensely to
the successful completion of construction work without financial hiccups. According to
Construction Review Online (2015), success is almost a certainty if different personnel
involved in the construction process participate in planning to ensure teamwork during
implementation. Planning enables budgets to be made, and once a budget is in place it
serves as a tool for monitoring and evaluating a project’s financial performance.
CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING SUCCESS OF A PROJECT
Criteria 1: Time and Cost
Time and cost are regarded as traditional parameters for determining how successful a
construction project is, and almost invariably, they have been lumped together under
project dimension and efficiency. Time is measured in terms of speed of the construction,
the period it takes and time overrun. A schedule performance index can be used to
indicate the time efficiency of a project. It should be noted that if the construction of a
project drags beyond its estimated time costs will correspondingly shoot up because
salaries of workers must be paid during the extended period and prices of perishable
building materials could also rise. HLG Associates (2015) blames cost overrun for the
stagnation of most construction projects.
Cost generally refers to the resources expended during the execution of the construction. Systech
International (2015) recommends cost tracking mechanisms to be put in place to identify reasons for
deviations in costs from what was planned. A project is rated a success in terms of costs when the
expenditures must fall within the estimated budget. However, estimates are not always accurate.
Many factors, including errors which happen during the estimating procedure, affect an
estimate's accuracy Chron (2018).

Criteria 3: Safety
A successful project meets nationally and internationally accepted safety standards. In every
country, there are regulatory agencies which do safety assessments to measure the level of safety
in project sites. A project which is completed and continues to operate without major accidents
or injuries on workers, employees or visitors is a success. The onus of this task falls on the
workers who play an important role to ensure health and safety risks are managed, Health and Safety
Executive (2015).
.Criteria 4: Employee Satisfaction
The satisfaction of employees has not received much attention because practitioners and
management researchers have been focusing mainly on the client and user satisfaction. This has
been a grave oversight because employees are one of the main participants in a construction
project. One of the building project’s successes is the availability of a skilled workforce, staff,
and professionals. It is therefore imperative that employee satisfaction is measured at the launch
of the project and at its completion.
Criteria 5: Learning and Development
Like employee satisfaction, learning and development have received little attention. The aspect’s
importance cannot be underrated because it affects the construction industry. When a
construction project is developing there must be very important lessons learned whether the
project is a success or not. The lessons learned could be of important use and benefit in future
construction endeavors.
Criteria 6: Profitability
Profitability is an indicator of how successful in terms of finances, a project is. Profit is realized
when the revenues collected are more than the expenses incurred in the process. For profitability
to be achieved strong cost and schedule control measures, according to the International Journal
of Science, Engineering and Technology, (2015) need to be put in place. In brief, profit is a
factor of revenues and expenses and it is calculated by subtracting total costs from net revenues.
Gauging of the profitability of a project is a post-construction activity done as a final transaction.
Criteria 7: Environment Performance
This one also is a critical aspect in measuring how successful a project is. There are ways an
establishment can impact on its environment and create ripples which affect the success of the
business and the well being of the residents in the long term. In many countries, there are
regulatory agencies which carry out assessments on how a proposed project would impact on the