Contractors’ performance, amongst other things, has been associated with the high cost

of public housing in Papua New Guinea. Given that small indigenous contractors

undertake construction of all public housing, this paper investigates the performance of

small indigenous contractors.

Eight likely factors that affect small indigenous contractors' performance are identified

from the literature. An empirical study is then described aimed at determining how

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Page (iv) The Australian Journal of Construction Economics and Building

these factors affect project cost, time and quality. This comprised a survey conducted in

Port Moresby by personally administered questionnaires to a sample of small

indigenous contractors to assess the level of factors associated with the problem of lack

of performance. Additionally, the view of each firm concerning the effect of each factor

on performance was also obtained. The results show that, with the exception of culture,

all the factors are perceived to have an effect of construction performance. It is also

shown that the incidence of these factors, within the firms surveyed, are quite low. Of

particular concern is the level of cash flow.