Strategies Used by the Sri Lankan Construction Industry to Overcome the Challenges Posed by the Covid-19

Abstract

The global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown the world's political, social, economic, religious, and financial structures into disarray. COVID-19 has a broad range of effects on numerous industries, including construction. Sri Lanka as a developing country is also affected by the pandemic and many sectors of the Sri Lankan economy such as construction, education, tourism, imports and exports, agriculture, and health etc are experiencing negative consequences of the pandemic, Construction industry as one of the key sectors of the economy was also severely affected by the COVID-19 global pandemic in various ways. Construction companies and government institutes are taking action to face these challenges. This study describes how COVID-19 impacts the local construction industry throughout the construction process. Furthermore, the impact was evaluated with regard to several aspects namely, financial, human resources, supply chain and logistics, legal, and completion and handover of the project. The strategies which are used by the construction industry participants to face the challenges of the pandemic are also discussed. A mixed research approach was used in the study and questionnaires which comprised of both qualitative and quantitative questions were used as a data collection tool. This research revealed new knowledge about the construction industry in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study's most important finding was that the spread of the virus influenced the entire construction process. The pandemic had a major impact on the construction stage as well as the human resources aspect of the industry.