The paper aims to determine the criteria and sub-criteria for evaluating the contractor’s performance and finalize a master list of the criteria and sub-criteria to be used for evaluating contractor’s performance with their respective weights. The method is incorporated in the framework proposed for the evaluation of the contractor’s performance during the execution phase. An exploratory study has been opted, using a structured, close-ended multiple-choice questionnaire survey approach. The questionnaire survey was conducted in two phases, i.e. validation survey, and reliability survey. Fifteen experts responded to the validation survey, and thirty experts to the reliability survey. The experts were from Government and public sectors in India, working at various senior levels. The weights of criteria and sub-criteria were calculated from data collected in the survey, relative importance was calculated through the relative importance index and criteria were ranked. The paper provides criteria and subcriteria which were finalized through a questionnaire survey by classification of criteria identified in literature and tender review. The respective weights were finalized, which can be measured while evaluating contractors’ performance. The weights assigned to criteria through the survey are; health and safety is 13.19%, followed by finance 11.93%, time 11.93%, quality 13.38%, client satisfaction 12.42%, environmental safety 12.32%, productivity 12.51% and regulation 12.32%. The paper provides the criteria and sub-criteria with their weights needed for evaluating the performance of contractors during the project execution phase. This research can lead to a culture of continuous measurement of performance for the satisfactory completion of projects.