Identification of key competences of design‐builders in the construction market of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)

Design‐builders play a vital role in the success of DB projects. In the construction market of the People’s Republic of China, most of the design‐builders, however, lack adequate competences to conduct the DB projects successfully. The objective of this study is, therefore, to identify the key competences that design‐builders should possess to not only ensure the success of DB projects but also acquire the competitive advantages in the DB market. Five semi‐structured face‐to‐face interviews and two rounds of Delphi questionnaire survey were conducted to identify the key competences of design‐builders. Rankings have been assigned to these key competences on the basis of their relative importance. Six ranked key competences of design‐builders have been identified, namely: (1) experience with similar DB projects; (2) capability of corporate management; (3) combination of building techniques and design expertise; (4) financial capability for DB projects; (5) enterprise qualification and scale; and (6) credit records and reputation in the industry. The design‐builders can make use of the research findings as guidelines to improve their DB competence. These research findings will also be useful to clients during the selection of design‐builders.