AN ASSESSMENT OF THE FACTORS INFLUENCING SUCCESS RATE OF CONTRACTORS IN COMPETITIVE BIDDING FOR CONSTRUCTION WORKS IN NIGERIA; A CASE STUDY OF AFIKPO, EBONYI STATE

Construction industry players are feced with the delimma of bidding under competitive environment where the bid must be low enough to atain the expected margin to win the contract & high enough attain the expected profit margin. The aim of this research is to assess the factors influencing success rate of contractors in competitive bidding for construction works in Nigeria with a view to reduce the rate of failure in bidding, enhance effect and efficient bidding for effective project delivery and the growth of contractors in Nigeria through with the following objectives as to identity the challenges faced by contractors when bidding for contracts in Nigeria, to access the factors that affect contractors when on construction works. The researcher consulted some authors through the literature survey whose aims is to make a basis for future studies for development of skills for the assessment of factors needed by contractors for a successful bidding of construction works to be adopted by prospective contractors in Nigeria. The study adopted descriptive research design; primary information was collected form professionals in construction industry through interviews, interactions and questionnaires, and the information collected was analysed with statistical tools of simple percentage method. The findings implies 74.48 at significant level of 0.05 and DF of 12, 13 greater than the critical value x2=12.03 reveals that all the construction perofessionals are of the opinion that level of profit, material availability and contract type are the most significant factors that highly influence tender price of construction works. When considering tenders for construction projects, building contractors should give primary attention the level of profit, material availability and contract type known amongst other factors percuilar to the project. It was recommended that contractors should increase their reputation in the construction industry by acquiring technical competencies and capabilities as these have become important considerations in assessing contractors’ competitiveness, and key indicators of successful tendering in construction projects. Finally, contractors should not rely solely on their relationship with the project stakeholders in order to get construction contracts as this may not be sufficient to guarantee their chance of winning tenders, but should rather build reputation, performance, technical competence and managerial capabilities.