Project governance in developing countries

Project governance in construction is critical to ensuring successful project delivery, mitigating risks, and achieving the desired outcomes. Etymologically, according to Pluto, ‘governance’ in Greek literally means “How to design a system to rule”. The construction industry plays an important role in every economy; however, the impact of poor project delivery on developing countries is significantly high. This requires streamlining governance processes to foster collaboration among stakeholders to provide accountability, effective decision making, and appropriate delivery systems which enable the attainment of successful project outcomes. In this chapter, project governance in construction in developing countries is considered. The concepts, structures, and control processes are examined. The principles of governance are outlined. A modification of the conventional set of principles is suggested. Consequently, the Structure, Information, People, Policies, Practices and Performance (SI-4Ps) principles of project governance is developed, and the process of applying it on construction projects explained. Some topics for further research are suggested.