An Investigation Of Problematic Issues Associated With Construction Material Management In Libyan Construction Projects – Tripoli as case study

الملخص

     Construction industry is largest economic expenditure and the second largest economic activity after oil industry in Libya. According to expertise’s’ expectation, the rapid growth of the Libyan’s construction sector, particular in the reconstruction phase, is expected to attract investments worth about 16 billion U.S. dollars over the next ten years (2012 – 2022). This growth is going to increase the consumption of building materials within large-scale projects that will be undertaken. Researches have shown that construction materials and equipment may constitute more than 70% of the total cost for a typical construction project. Therefore, the proper management of building materials can improve the productivity and cost efficiency of a project and help ensure its timely completion. Hence, there is a pressing need for investigating the problematic issues that impede the optimal application of Construction Materials Management (CMM) in the Libyan construction projects.

 This study thus aims to identify the problems facing the process of materials management in Libyan construction projects, and then evaluate the CMM problems in terms of the severity of their impact (their importance) and frequency of occurrence in those construction projects implemented in the municipality of Tripoli, which has the largest density in construction projects, and during the time period between 2000 to 2011, which is considered the boom period in the Libyan construction industry.

     The study adopts a mixed research methodological approach involving in depth literature review process and quantitative approach using questionnaire technique. For the analysis of the data collected by 35 questionnaires, the latest "statistical software packages (SPSS22)" was used, which raises the degree of reliability and validity of the results and therefore the entire study.

   The main findings of the study are to identify 36 problems facing the process of the CMM and classify them according to the functions included the CMM process. This was followed by an assessment of those CMM problems in terms of their importance and frequency of occurrence in Libyan construction projects in Tripoli.