Development of a Conceptual Benchmarking Framework for the Construction Industry

Existing benchmarking frameworks and performance measurement tools are not suitable for the construction industry due to the industry’s peculiarities. This paper explores the development of a dedicated benchmarking framework for the construction industry which can be used by construction firms to benchmark their performance against the performance of global leaders. Existing benchmarking frameworks and global performance ranking models identified from literature were reviewed. The strengths and weaknesses of the frameworks and models were identified and have been adapted in developing the benchmarking framework dedicated to the construction industry. The framework was tested using validation interviews with four international construction industry experts and later through an online survey of construction professionals. The benchmarking framework in this paper is the first such framework dedicated to the construction industry. It provides a simple, cost-effective approach to benchmarking that construction firms, including those with little to no benchmarking experience can use.