Int. J. Project Organisation and Management, Vol. 7, No. 2, 2015 151 Copyright © 2015 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. A performance evaluation framework of construction projects: insights from literature Christopher Ngacho* and Debadyuti Das Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi, Delhi – 110 007, India Email: cngacho@yahoo.com Email: ddas@fms.edu *Corresponding author Abstract: The present work attempts to develop a theoretical framework of the performance evaluation of construction projects based on six key performance indicators (KPIs) namely time, cost, quality, safety, minimum site disputes and environmental impact. These KPIs were identified through literature review and discussions with project management professionals. For evaluating the performance on the above KPIs, several characteristic features pertaining to the project, project environment and the stakeholders associated with the project have been identified through an extensive literature review. These characteristic features, termed as critical success factors (CSFs), have been suitably classified under six broad heads based on their commonalities and unique features. The six CSFs are named as project-related, client-related, consultant-related, contractor-related, supply chain-related and external environment-related factors. We have demonstrated the relationship between CSFs and overall project performance with the help of a conceptual diagram. The diagram reveals how the factors influence the performance of a construction project and also how the factors themselves are related to each other. In addition, it also shows how the overall performance leads to community satisfaction. This has been discussed through a set of nine propositions. We have concluded by highlighting the contributions of the paper to the existing body of project management literature. Keywords: construction project; project performance; key performance indicators; KPIs; critical success factors; CSFs; propositions. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Ngacho, C. and Das, D. (2015) ‘A performance evaluation framework of construction projects: insights from literature’, Int. J. Project Organisation and Management, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp.151–173. Biographical notes: Christopher Ngacho is a doctoral research scholar in the Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi, Delhi. He is doing his doctoral research on developing a performance evaluation framework of construction projects based on constituency development fund (CDF) construction projects in Kenya. He obtained his MBA from the University of Nairobi. His research interests include project management, application of operations research techniques in management and contemporary issues in operations management. Debadyuti Das is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi, Delhi. His current research interests include reverse supply chain management, sustainable supply chain management,