Trust in construction partnering: views from parties of the partnering dance

Abstract Previous researches in partnering have highlighted the importance of developing trust among construction partners to facilitate project success. This paper seeks to investigate the relative importance of the trust factors contributing to partnering success in Hong Kong. To compare the views from parties of a partnering dance, data was collected from two groups of respondents: Clients and Consultants and Contractors. From the results of the Clients and Consultants group, `System-based trust' is ranked as the most important trust factor among others. This indicates that they rely strongly on satisfactory contract terms to enhance trust. Despite `System-based trust' is also ranked first in the Contractors group of results, its factor score is found to be very close to its second important trust factor namely `Partners' Performance and Permeability'. This suggests that the contractors' trust level is more sensitive towards a wider range of action/behaviour of their counter part than vice versa. The reliability of the findings was augmented by a confirmatory study with interviews with industry experts in Hong Kong.

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