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Subject Area

Architectural Engineering

Article Type

Original Study

Abstract

The construction industry constitutes a critical pillar of Egypt’s national economic growth and sustainable development. Despite its strategic importance, the sector continues to face persistent challenges, including chronic cost overruns, schedule delays, and inadequate coordination among stakeholders. These inefficiencies are largely attributed to the dominance of the traditional Design–Bid–Build (DBB) system, which enforces a rigid separation between design and construction, fostering adversarial relationships and project disputes, which highlights the need for alternative procurement approaches. This research investigates the impact of Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) as a collaborative procurement alternative to enhance project performance. Case studies show that ECI improves early-stage coordination, risk identification, constructability, value engineering, and communication among stakeholders, reducing design changes and enhancing overall project outcomes. The study’s statistical analysis reveals a strong professional consensus regarding the benefits of ECI, with 90% of respondents confirming its ability to reduce total project expenditures and 80% supporting its role in accelerating delivery timelines. Furthermore, 85% of participants noted that ECI leads to superior design quality and constructability, while 90% agreed that early involvement significantly mitigates financial and schedule-related risks. However, despite this high level of theoretical support, the practical application of ECI in Egypt remains limited. The findings identify a complex set of barriers hindering ECI localisation, most notably a lack of supportive legal frameworks under Law No. 182/2018, which continues to favour price-based competition over value-based integration. Additionally, the sector is constrained by an adversarial culture, a shortage of design-oriented technical expertise among contractors, and the underutilization of digital collaboration tools such as Building Information Modelling (BIM). This research concludes by offering context-specific recommendations, including the adoption of Pre-Construction Service Agreements (PCSA) and legislative reforms. By transitioning from fragmented procurement toward a partnership-oriented culture, the Egyptian construction industry can align stakeholder objectives to ensure enhanced cost certainty, superior schedule performance, and overall project success.

Keywords

Early Contractor Involvement; Construction Projects’ Performance; Traditional and Collaborative Procurement Systems; Egyptian Construction Industry; Constructability and Risk Mitigation.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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