Development of a decision support tool for certification of road contracts in Uganda: a case study of the Central Region

Abstract

This dissertation entails information about a Master’s Research work in Construction Management on Development of a Decision Support Tool (DST) for Certification of Road contracts in Uganda. The researcher undertook an analysis of the contract deficiencies in five Central districts and to design a DST emphasizing a knowledge management perspective to facilitate decision making in certification practices and hence improve on the effectiveness in contract administration and management. The five districts selected at random were Kampala, Luwero, Mpigi, Mukono and Wakiso. They were investigated and data on contract deficiencies on roads was collected to find out the response rate on each of the deficiency. This data was supplemented by interviews and focused discussions with some key district personnel. The research was done in two phases which included desk research and field objective research. The desk research involved publications, Journals and Magazines on Contract management.

The descriptive technique was adopted to develop a management system for the certification practices in Uganda. The developed system was configured into a computer program using a php scripting language and with MySQL Database at the back end. The developed model was tested on real world data and test results showed that the system output is consistent with what would be achieved if the decisions were taken from a personnal judgment. However, the system showed that a better accurate and timely solution would be given. Therefore, the developed DST would go along way in addressing the need for an automated certification practice not only in the central region but it can also be adopted for other regions in the country.