Abstract

Correct procurement of construction materials is linked to the success of projects by preventing additional costs, late arrival of materials, backlogs of materials in warehouses, unfair consumption of natural resources, and others. Many construction projects in Iraq suffer from the lack of a specific strategy for managing procurement operations, which leads to many challenges during project implementation. This paper aims to develop a strategy based on providing a free administrative database for the planning stage during construction materials management, in addition to diagnosing weaknesses and the extent of development needed by each step. Through literary reviews, the most important practices of construction materials were identified. 102 questionnaires were distributed to a group of stakeholders in the field of construction materials management from the government and private sectors, where only 93 completed forms were obtained and valid for analysis, and through a field survey, the degree of application was identified, and by comparing them with the approved degree of conformity to identify the gap between real performance and optimal performance. The field survey included sample selection, questionnaire items, data collection and analysis, and results evaluation. The results of the study showed that there is a clear weakness in planning practices that require necessary corrective measures through the provision of courses and workshops for engineers, in addition to weakness and insufficient understanding of the documentation process and its importance for the rest of the stages of purchasing construction materials.