Evaluating Sustainability in Construction Contracts Benchmarking and Future Recommendations

Abstract

Sustainability is essential for long-term health of our planet and well-being of future generations'. Unfortunately, construction industry lacks sustainability practices due to nonexistence of specific rules and regulations to ensure sustainability. Construction contracts outline project specifications and legally bind all stakeholders to meet their obligations therefore can provide an excellent platform to implement sustainability. However, there is a lack of comprehensive research on enforcing sustainability in construction contracts, particularly concerning sustainability clauses from the perspectives of contractors and consultants. To address this gap, this study aims to benchmark sustainability within existing contracts and recommend tailored sustainability clauses for both contractors and consultants. Through a literature review, this study identified thirty-five sustainability factors based on three pillars of sustainability: social, environmental, and economic. A five-point Likert Scale questionnaire was used to investigate factors already addressed in existing contracts to benchmark sustainability practices and corresponding contractual clauses. The data was received from 202 respondents and subsequently, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test was applied to evaluate the null hypothesis regarding the factors covered in current construction contracts or not. The findings indicated that 14 factors were insufficiently addressed in existing contract documents of various contract-formulating agencies like FIDIC and Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC). Based on above 14 factors, nineteen sustainability clauses were developed (five clauses for contractor & nine clauses for consultants) and later finalized through three rounds of Delphi technique, achieving over 90% expert consensus. The proposed clauses will provide a framework for integrating and enforcing sustainability practices into every construction contract and holding stakeholders accountable for its non- implementation, thereby paving the way for a more sustainable future.