Research On Contract Management Of Sherritt Housing Complex Project In Madagascar

Contract management is the core of international construction project management, and is the common view among domestic academic circles and practitioners, and is the hotspot research subject in foreign construction project contracting field in China. However, the current situation of incompetent management of international construction contract by Chinese contractors is still not radically changed, which has become the major bottleneck in restricting our country’s foreign construction project contracting business development, therefore, it needs to be further researched and resolved urgently.This paper, by means of all-round sorting and reviewing of contract management process of SHERRITT Housing Complex Project in Madagascar contracted by a Chinese contractor, concludes specific contract management problems in terms of signing of the agreement, contract execution as well as claim with the aid of relevant international construction contract management theory. And then, such contributing factors as project delivery system, standard conditions of contract, document management and information system, schedule control technology, variation and claim management as well as history of development and language & culture etc. are proposed and surrmarized, at the same time, the effects of these factors on contract management are analysed. Meanwhile, based on study of plenty of relevant document literature and integrating with the author’s practical experiences, the new viewpoints about international construction contract management are put forward.Based on the above analysis and viewpoints, and established in practical application, the systematic framework of a solution to contract management problems in SHERRITT Housing Complex Project in Madagascar is structured. Specific contents and practices of the solution are proposed: ⅰ Contract risk sharing mechanism is identified through project delivery system; ⅱ FIDIC conditions of contract should be continuously and deeply studied; ⅲ Document management and information system should be improved; ⅳ Positive interaction between contract management and construction management should be promoted; ⅴ Variation and claim management should be enhanced; ⅵ International construction contract management should be planned on a whole-process basis etc., besides, organization and personnel supporting measures are put forward, with a view of solving, avoiding or improving series of contract management problems existing in SHERRITT Housing Complex Project in Madagascar. The solution provides a strong practice guidance and direction effect, and contributes to lifting of the contractor’s contract management level who has carried out SHERRITT Housing Complex Project in Madagascar. On the other hand, the solution has a certain reference significance in terms of contract management for other Chinese contractors who has engaged in foreign construction project contracting business.