Impact of COVID-19 on the Construction Industry Performance: A Case of Contractors in Kenya

Abstract

COVID-19 created an unprecedented crisis for the construction industry in Kenya, with some activities getting halted, postponed, or delayed. This study adopted a cross-sectional survey design employed on a sample of 245 contractors identified through stratified random sampling. An interview schedule was used to collect data; thereafter, exploratory factor analysis was done to identify underlying components that could explain the pattern of correlations between the 23 impacts of COVID-19 identified in the literature. The study noted the highest impact on the supply chain (59.40), followed by finance (52.42) and workforce (39.58), and recommends the institutionalization of detailed business continuity plans in line with these three major factors as a priority to cushion industry players from similar occurrences.