Critical success factors for sustainable procurement in construction projects

Sustainable procurement offers a significant pathway to advance sustainable construction practices. While promising, research exploring the critical success factors (CSFs) for sustainable procurement in construction remains limited. This study addresses this gap by investigating 16 CSFs based on comparing the perspectives of the public and private sectors. Data collected from construction professionals in Vietnam were analysed by using various statistical techniques, including reliability testing, the Mann–Whitney U test, and the relative importance index. The results revealed significant differences in how the public and private sectors perceive the importance of certain CSFs. Furthermore, while both sectors agreed on the importance of strong government commitment and enhancing the market capacity for green building materials, the public sector prioritised the integration of advanced sustainable technologies in construction, whereas the private sector placed greater emphasis on comprehensive education and training programmes for sustainable procurement practices. This study enriches the existing knowledge of sustainable procurement by comparing CSFs in the public and private sectors in the construction industry context. It also offers practical recommendations for improving sustainable procurement in construction projects in Vietnam and similar countries.