Mitigating Relational Conflicts in Sustainable Construction Project Delivery: A Stakeholders’ Perspective

Relational conflicts are a common challenge in sustainable construction projects. This often leads to delays, cost overruns, and strained stakeholder relationships. This study investigates strategies for mitigating such conflicts from a stakeholder perspective. An empirical survey of 150 construction professionals was conducted, and data were analysed using percentage, mean item score, standard deviation, and one-sample t-tests to determine the significance of different conflict management approaches. The results show that trust building, negotiation, and effective communication are the most highly ranked strategies, all with significant positive deviations from the neutral test value. Mediation, stakeholder collaboration, and arbitration were also significant, while litigation was viewed as less desirable due to its adversarial nature. Avoiding, smoothing, compromising, and confronting showed moderate adoption, whereas forcing and competing recorded no significant deviation. This reflects stakeholders’ reluctance toward adversarial approaches. The findings underscore the importance of collaborative, trust-based methods in managing conflicts and highlight a shift from traditional confrontational practices. The study contributes to practice and policy by providing evidence-based insights that can inform project governance frameworks and strengthen stakeholder engagement in sustainable construction.