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Procurement is a key process in construction project management. The current construction procurement practices have been widely criticized for disregarding sustainability in the project life cycle. At present, there is a gap of knowledge on status-quo of sustainable procurement in Canada. Therefore, the objective of this study is to review sustainable procurement practices in the Canadian construction industry. A multi method research design was used in this study by combining both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Three research tools were used in the study; namely questionnaire surveys, review of documents, and semi-structured interviews. Data triangulation was used to combine the results of all three research tools. The study showed that sustainable procurement initiatives have rarely been used in the Canadian construction industry. Limited sustainability initiatives are used in the project procurement, while environmental sustainability criteria are given the prominence. Furthermore a significant deficiency is observed in bid evaluation involving triple bottom line of sustainability. A majority of construction industry respondents agreed that sustainable procurement is a long due necessity and highlighted government regulations as the main driver for sustainable procurement. This study may be the first step to promote the use of sustainable procurement in the Canadian construction sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disregard of triple bottom line (TBL) of sustainability is one of the major drawbacks of current construction procurement practices. Sustainable procurement is an emergent concept that can improve procurement practices and enhance the sustainability performance of the construction industry as a whole. Presently, sustainable procurement is still not fully utilized in the Canadian construction industry. A comprehensive literature review showed that the construction industry is still not fully aware about the benefits of using sustainable procurement or ways of implementing the same. This study evaluates challenges encountered in implementing sustainable procurement in the Canadian construction industry. In addition, this study investigates perceptions of construction professionals on the benefits of using sustainable procurement for construction projects. A country wide questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect required data. A statistical analysis was performed to rank the challenges and benefits of sustainable procurement. Findings from semi-structured interviews were used to validate the results observed in the statistical analysis. This study revealed that lack of funding is the main challenge for implementing sustainable procurement, while reducing harmful emissions and waste generation was identified as the main benefit. It was concluded that the leadership and commitment of the project owners is the key to fully establish sustainable procurement in the Canadian construction industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Procurement is a key process in a construction project that creates and manages contacts. Procurement activities span from identification of requirements to project closeout, making it a perfect mode for integrating organizational strategic directions. Lately, the strategic importance of procurement has been widely acknowledged by academics as well as industry professionals. Construction procurement is a complex process with a large number of available options and directions. Ad hoc statistics show that modern initiatives such as sustainability, life-cycle costing, and standardization are getting integrated with procurement. However, there is no unified view in the construction industry on procurement as a project process. This paper presents a comprehensive review of traditional and emerging procurement practices in the construction industry. The current procurement practices are analyzed by separating into three segments; processes, methods, and policies. Furthermore, strengths and weaknesses of the traditional procurement methods are reviewed in detail. As the final section, contemporary developments in construction procurement are investigated. This article consolidates detailed knowledge of construction procurement that is identified as a knowledge gap in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]