Programmatic approaches to address corruption in the construction sector

Construction is a USD 1.7 trillion industry worldwide, much of which linked to publicly financed projects. The nature of the projects make the sector very vulnerable to corruption. This expert answer examines the various entry points in the construction project cycle when corruption is most likely to occur. It then describes some programmatic approaches to preventing corruption in construction projects, such as implementing codes of conduct, inclusion of contractual provisions that specifically guard against corruption, disclosure of contractual information, raising awareness of corruption issues among all stakeholders and ensuring compliance and effective reporting mechanisms. An interesting approach to collectively raise the transparency standards across the sector is pursued by a new multi-stakeholder initiative.