The role of trust in project-stakeholder relationships: a study of a construction project

Abstract

In construction projects, it is vital to build good relationships with the stakeholders who are identified as being the most crucial for the end results. One issue that is highlighted as particularly important for building good project-stakeholder relationships is trust. The purpose of this paper is to address the role of trust in the relationship between a construction project and its stakeholders. This paper presents an empirical study that is based on in-depth interviews that follow a semistructured approach. A Norwegian project, the New Opera House, is studied. The New Opera House is a major public construction project with a great deal of attention from the media and the public in Norway. Our results clearly show that trust plays an important role in building well-functioning relationships in a construction project. The responses from the interviews emphasise that trust has a positive impact on the interactions and communications in the relationship.