DAMPNESS IN FACILITIES

DAMPNESS IN FACILITIES

Dampness is a condition of excessive moisture occurrence, abnormal in building parts, unanticipated, and apparent to users therefore detrimental to the facilities in which it occurs. No material on earth is completely free of moisture.

The point in consideration is what dampness means, literally, dampness means a state of having some moisture or and moisture means all amount of water present in air and on or in every construction materials and component but not always referred to as dampness even though actually dam, it therefore implies that dampness as building term is when the moisture presence is noticeable to the user of the facility.

Dampness is significance only if it is apparent to the user of the facility and may be dangerous to the facility. Construction materials have moisture content in them, which are not harmful to them at particular percentage content. When the moisture content is still within the harmless limit, it is not significant and not termed dampness. At this limit, it is not apparent to the users. Naturally, air has moisture content of about 5 to 10gl kg. Likewise, all construction materials have percentage moisture content even when they are termed dry.

For instance, wood cpntains12-20% moisture, which do not cause any harm to it. 23% moisture now puts wood under the risk of decay as it becomes habitable to bacteria’s and wood borers. Plaster work, block work concrete work e.t.c.

All contains allowable percentage moisture, which this limit is exceeded; the moisture becomes detrimental and therefore termed as damped defects. It is important to know that as materials and facility parts can never be dried than air, and therefore air humility is important in the study of dampness in buildings. Dampness occurs on floors, walls, roofs, ceiling ground gutters, basement tanks, etceteras, with peculiar characteristics depending on the cause or sources.

There are conditions of wetness or actual dampness that are not termed technically as dampness in stutters. For instance, water spillage on building floors and walls caused by user activities are not dampness.

This is because; the water present at the time is superficial and will soon be gone. Rain wetness of readers, balconies, roofs, etc is also not dampness.

Foundations, which were constructed with the fore knowledge that they will last as long as the facility exist, remains in wet soil and be actually damp, are not termed damp also. The presence of green algae, wetness in lines on walls, rot in wood, small of decay, etc are all indications of dampness. More than these, dampness might not be noticed by users of the facility, but it takes skill to detect dampness before it harms the facilities.

It therefore holds that moisture or wetness in structure will be there dampness only if they occur where they not anticipated be supposing to be and resulting in disadvantage.

References

Olubanjo, A, (2005): Maintenance of Public Infrastructure Facilities,

A case study of Tertiary institution facility: A research Project, Building Tech. Department   Yabatech, Lagos.

Wai-Kiong and P. L. Sui, Assessment of defects at construction and occupancy stages,    Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, Vol 19(4), 2005, 283-289.

TYPES OF DAMP

INTRODUCTION

Damp (ness) is the presence of unwanted moisture in the structure of a building, either the result of intrusion from outside or condensation from within the structure.

TYPES OF DAMP

1. Penetrating Damps

When water penetrate become trapped in the structure .all structure

2. Rising Damps

This occurs when the structure sucks moisture out of the ground. Old structure without a damp proof course (DPC) and damp membrane are especially vulnerable AND BLOCK WALL also tends to become more porous age.

Hygroscopic Damp occurs when the structure absorb moisture from the atmosphere, it is rare than other types, but may be present at the same times as them.

 Symptoms

• Stained or peeling wall paper
• Salt deposit (efflorescence) on painted or bare plaster wall
• Swollen or blistered painted wood work
• Black mould in badly ventilated are or behind furniture

Effect

• Strength i.e. adhesion of finishes e.g. paint, wall covering are affected
• Size change-increased due to moisture content shrinkage drying
• Chemical action likely chemical attack on building material e.g. paint
• Biological action, exposure to weather likely to affect durability of material
• Decay i.e. Wet not require 40-5-% moisture content
• Metal corrosion-change in size
• Electric Shock-structural defect due to subsidence.

DEFECT ANALYSIS IN FACILITIES

DEFECT ANALYSIS IN FACILITIES

 

A defect in the construction of facilities is on the increase .This perhaps not surprising when one considers the growing shortage of skilled labor and the difficulties, which abound in the supervision of specialist sub-contractor trading in a market where their services are at premium. A defect is a shortfall in performance occurring at any time in the life of a product, element or dwelling which it occurs.

Established uniformly good standard of inspection, to widen technical knowledge and practical knowledge and practical experience particularly in the services trade, to improve the quality of spot deck inspection, s well as promote improvement in the construction standard generally, as well as fostering better communication .The inspection function is normally left to the individual responsible for continuing maintenance of the building and this seem a reasonable way to proceed. A clear cut procedure for reporting defect when they are encountered must be established this report must be directed to a member of the management at a sufficiently senior level to ensure that the action is taken at proper time.

Although defect may remain latent for many years sooner or later all exhibit signs and even where investigation of the defect may involve a complicated diagnostic process, valuable formation may be obtained from the correct observation and recording of the early evidence that problem exists .Such action will not only assist in the correction of problems but will be of value o the facilities owner in the event of a dispute with designers or the contractor. Frequent early evidence of problem is masked by the well intentioned but misguided effort of maintenance staff when makeshift repair are affected, adequate reporting will remove the risk of this. The conduct of any defects investigation, particularly litigation may ensue, is greatly simplified if the individual or organization entrusted with investigation and with the preparation of technical repot is introduced to the problem at any early stage. All too often the directed cost of a relatively minor facility defect is far exceeded by the consequential losses due to the lack of severability of all or part of the facility .Although defect may remain detect or many years sooner or later all exhibit sign and even where investigation of the defect may involve a complicated diagnosis process, valuable information may be obtained from the correct observation and recording of the early evidence that a problem exist.

In compelling and analyzing the survey findings, the engineer will produce a detached report describing the condition of each facilities and component.

As part of the narrative description, the report should include a list of recommended and timetable. For those system and component not requiring immediate corrective work, an estimated useful life expectancy should be provided. The report should include captioned photo to visually depict facility condition, especially for out –of-the-way are the residents don’t typically see. In addition, the report should include any active code violation, such as these issued by the Environmental control Board.

The building research establishment (1997) conducted a survey of structure failure pattern and their implication and the most common defect. In a in a sample of 510 Building, 58 percent of the defect originated from faulty design,35 percent from faulty execution,12 percent from faulty material ,component or property system,11 percent from unexpected user requirement ,but there was some overlap between these categories.

Bokinni (2006), states that faulty design account for over 50%, 35-40%, faulty workmanship, and 8-12% faulty material. Many organization do not seem to be able to denote the attached detention and the consequences of failure .The detached of an defect investigation, particularly where litigation may ensure is greatly simplified, if the indicated or organization entrusted with investigated and with the prepared of technical parts introduced to the problem at any stage. All too often the direct cost of a relative minor building defect is far exceeding by the consequential class due to the lack of sense ability of all or part of the building.

REFERENCES

Sterlka C.S. (2003) ‘Building Surveying Inspection Ckecklist’ ISBN 348-056-211-9

Seeley I (1976) Building Maintenance, macmillian Press Limited London.

289. Wai-Kiong and P. L. Sui, Assessment of defects at construction and occupancy stages,                         Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, Vol 19(4), 2005, 283-289.

METHOD FOR MAINTENANCE WORK

METHOD FOR MAINTENANCE WORK

Through careful investigation it was observed that the contracts of carrying out maintenance work in the institution is carried out mostly by the direct labour (maintenance team) of the institution. Through some works are awarded out to other contractors outside and when observed it was noticed that such works are those that demand highly technical expertise, that are carried out periodically.

It is imperative to note that the contractor is solely responsible for any liability incurred during the course of operation. Direct labor service is used in the institution mainly to carry out the daily routine work or emergency repairs.

Indirect labour service in an institution is quite expensive to operate and at times lead to poor workmanship.

Direct labour is more adopted in the institution because of the under listed advantages.

1) It allows staff control of activities of operatives

2) It ensures good standard of workmanship by craft operatives who enjoy continuity of employment.

3) Incentives schemes can be introduced by the maintenance management to motivate the operators.

4) There is standard compliment of labour available.

It is also of utmost importance to note that the above listed advantages have its disadvantage also

1) There is lack of specialization in terms of labour skill and plant.

2) The financial and other risks are borne solely by the organizations.

3) The operatives may be unemployed;

4) Material loss is always common in direct labour system as movement of materials cannot be accurately coordinated.

The tertiary institution organization only employ indirect labour system when professional expertise is required which the direct labour is lacking, but still the works are carried out under the supervision of the maintenance section of the building.

PROCEDURE FOR BUILDING CONDITION SURVEY

PROCEDURE FOR BUILDING CONDITION SURVEY

The building condition survey is carried out by the Building Technicians on the request of the technical services officer. (Jacqueline Kenny, 2009).

Upon inspection of a property, the building condition survey should be completed under the following areas:

• Roof
• Walls
• Windows
• Doors
• Floor covering
• External
• Electrical/wiring
• Water mains/plumbing
• Ceilings

ROOFING

• Roof
• Flashing
• Gutters
• Down pipes
• Fixing
• Fascia
• Soffit
• Internal members

WALLS

• External
• External plaster
• External paint
• Pointing
• Plinth
• Plaster (internal)
• Internal paint
• Rising damp

WINDOWS

• Doors
• Floor covering

EXTERNAL

• External walls
• External paths
• Gates

ELECTRICAL/WIRING

• Electrical
• Compliance
• Lighting
• Heating
• Intruder alarm
• Fire alarm

WATER MAINS/PLUMBING

• Water mains
• Radiators
• Pipe work
• Toilet (Number)
• Basins (Number)

ROOF:

The roof is a piece of construction that is complex, made up of different part. The support structure alone must be carefully engineered to enable it to support the weight of your chosen cladding material and any additions, as well as resist pressure from strong winds and storm. Roofs have originated over time to incorporate elements which help to protect your home from the weather.

Guttering transports water away from your walls and foundations. Eaves do double duty by keeping sun and rain at bay, and flashing and cladding stops rain from leaking through the roof.

Eaves:

Eaves are usually the lower parts of the roof that project out beyond a house’s walls. While not always built into modern houses, they provide crucial shading and protection from the elements.

Guttering:

Guttering is usually an important of most roofs.

Roof flashing:

Roof flashing refers to metal sheeting (or sheeting of another material) which is used to prevent water from seeping into joints and holes in roof.

Roof penetrations:

Roof penetrations as the name implies, are holes in the surface of the roof. Penetrations need to be carefully planned to make sure that they’re properly weather sealed.

Roof cladding:

Roof cladding refers to the materials used on the surface of the roof (like tiles or steel sheeting). As well as determining how the roof looks, cladding also determines how well it performs.

WALL:

A wall is a structure that defines an area, carries a load, or provides shelter or security. There are many kinds of walls such as defensive walls in fortification, walls of buildings which are a fundamental part of the super structure or which separate the spaces of building sections sometimes for the purpose of fire safety, walls which hold back earth called retaining walls, offer protection from oceans or river as a levee.

Building Walls:

The walls of buildings purposes are to support roofs, floors and ceilings, enclose a space as part of the building envelope, along with roof to give buildings form, and to provide shelter and security. Building walls most often have three or more separate components: the structural elements (such as 2 x 4 studs in a house wall), insulation, and finish elements or surfaces (such as dry wall or paneling). In addition, the wall may house types of utilities such as electrical wiring or plumbing.

Maintenance of External Walls of Buildings:

Future maintenance of the external walls of the buildings, and that permanent access facility should be installed including.

• Providing safe and suitable passageways and working platforms
• Installing permanent cast-in anchors such as “sheep eye bolts” and bolts on the external walls of buildings for workers to hang their safety belts.
• Installing suspended working platforms at safe and suitable locations and providing suitable passage ways and equipment.
• Installing equipment on the external walls to stabilize the position of suspended working platforms. So as to improve the safety standard of maintenance works for the external parts of buildings and ensure the occupational safety of workers.

WINDOWS:

Windows have long used in buildings for day lighting and ventilation. Many studies have shown that health, comfort, and productivity are improved due to well ventilated indoor environments and access to natural light. However, windows also represent a major source of unwanted heat loss, discomfort and condensation problems.

In recent years windows have undergone a technological revolution. High energy efficient window and glazing systems are now available that can dramatically cut energy consumption and pollution sources: they have lower heat loss, less air leakage, and warmer window surfaces that improve comfort and minimize condensation.

These high performance windows feature double or triple glazing, specialized transparent coatings, insulating gas sandwiched between panes, and improved frames. All of these features reduce heat transfer, thereby cutting the energy loss through windows.

Maintenance of Windows and Doors:

Windows do not have a specific life span. However, owners are urged to pay a special attention to the conditions of individual parts of the windows (e.g. bar hinges, screws and rivets, etc) and arrange for repair or replacement if needed. Through proper use, regular inspection and timely maintenance, the safety of windows can be assured.

Why do Windows Fail?

According to the from the previous incidents of falling window, one of the major reasons is the failure of rivets/screws of the hinge due to corrosion or the wear and tear over time. Besides, lack of proper maintenance and improper use of windows are also the contributing factors for windows falling.

ELECTRICAL/WIRING:

In general refers to insulated conductors used to carry electricity, and associated device. Electrical wiring is used to provide power in buildings and structures commonly referred to as building wiring.

• Electrical Maintenance:

Electrical maintenance is the up keep and preservation of equipment and systems that supply electricity to residential, industrial and commercial building. It may be performed by the owner or manager of the site or by an outside contractor. The work is commonly performed on a schedule based on the age of the building, and the complexity of the electrical system. The main areas of general maintenance commonly include the power outlets and surge protectors, generators and lighting systems. These supply sources are checked for structural integrity as well as internal stability. The maintenance plan normally includes the regular replacement of burned out fluorescent and incandescent lights.

WATER MAINS/PLUMBING:

Plumbing is the system of pipes, drains fittings, valves, valve assemblies, and devices installed in a building for the distribution of water for drinking, heating and washing, and the removal of water borne wastes, and the skilled trade of working with pipes, tubing and plumbing fixtures in such systems. Plumbing is usually distinguished from water supply and sewage systems, in that a plumbing system serves one building, while water and sewage systems serve a group of buildings.

Water Mains Maintenance and Service:

Water maintenance service is responsible for maintenance of the drinking water distribution system.

The water distribution system consists of water main pipes leaving the filtration pant. This includes over 890 miles of water main, 6000 valves and 8000 fire hydrants, the services from the main to the curb and the service valves that control individual properties.

Possible causes of rusty water in city water main:

• Water main breaks
• Fire fighting
• Construction

References

Adenuga O.A and Iyagba R.O. (2010), Best maintenance practice for public building Journal of  housing corporations, Vol 5, 10-4.

Mahmoud M.I (2007). Assessment of the factors influencing the maintenance programme of a    large University. Building in Riyadh Journal of College of Architecture and planning, Vol 5, 22-   28.

Bokinni, S.K. (2006) Building Aftercare, Tony Terry Prints Lagos.

Olubanjo, A, (2005): Maintenance of Public Infrastructure Facilities,

A case study of Tertiary institution facility: A research Project, Building Tech. Department Yabatech, Lagos.

Preventive maintenance

Preventive maintenance

Major forms of the preventive maintenance are the regular inspection and lubrication, adjustment is normally practiced on major items of equipment. It is to prevent future breakdown of facilities or equipment before its actual occurrence.

It is usually defined as a planned maintenance action that helps to prevent breakdowns and failures of facilities or equipment it is performed on an asset while the asset is still capable of functioning in a satisfactory manner for some time.

It is difficult to determine the correct level of preventive-maintenance to apply. Often, help can be obtained from the maintenance schedules proposed by equipment manufacturers, but a record of the frequency of unscheduled breakdown and their costs, is needed to institute and refine preventive maintenance programmes.

Preventive-maintenance should be considered when: the failure rate of the equipment starts to increase rapidly after a period during which it has been low; the cost of preventive maintenance attention should be less than the repair costs; equipment failure is likely to disrupt subsequent production operations or cause customer dissatisfaction and Injury could result from equipment breakdown.

Preventive maintenance assists to preserve and enhance equipment reliability. Equipment is inspected to determine whether further maintenance attention is required. The common costs are supplies and replacement parts; labour and equipment downtime.

These costs will increase as the frequency of preventive-maintenance increases. An increase in preventive maintenance cost will reduce the corrective maintenance cost. The benefits of preventive-maintenance are that it prolongs the life of the plant, increase the terminal salvage value of an organization’s asset, have a salutary effect on the quality of the goods and services produced and increases the safety of the operations involved (Iwarere, 2004).

TERTIARY INSTITUTION FACILITIES

TERTIARY INSTITUTION FACILITIES

Most tertiary institution facilities are faced by unique challenges that puts treat in its very own existence (Stoltenberg, 2004). The structure of the public facilities, by their own nature lacks the capacity to compete in a market – driven economy as the case may be. This problem is further found to begin in institutions inherent government structure. This structure usually promotes inflexibility, the imposition of bureaucratic impediments to operational effectiveness.

According to Shohet, (2003), the performance of tertiary institution facilities and their various components, depends upon a large degree on continuous and planned periodical maintenance.

Historically, in both public and private sectors, maintenance is usually seen as a task that cannot be avoidable that is a task which is perceived as adding little to the quality of the working environment as the case may be, and expending scarce resources which would be better utilized (Higher Education Backlog Maintenance Review, 1998).

The Built environment expresses in physical form, the complex, social and economic factors, which give structure and life to a community (Lee, 1995). According to Banful (2004) the financial consequences of neglecting maintenance is often not only seen in terms of reduced asset life and premature replacement but also in increased operating cost and waste of related and natural and financial resources. Maintenance is related to the background of any project. Unfortunately, development plans and approved recurrent and capital estimates in public facilities in Nigeria have revealed that thought have not be given to maintenance work (Onifade, 2003).
In Nigeria, according to Iyagba and Adenuga, (2005), tertiary institution buildings are in poor and deplorable conditions of structural and decorative disrepairs. In spite of millions of Naira spent to erect all these buildings, they are left as soon as commissioned to face premature but steady and rapid deterioration, decay and dilapidation.

Maintenance management in the public sector in Nigeria has suffered from lack of funds for a considerable time. While the requirements for good practice in maintenance management of tertiary institution facilities stock have been established over a considerable period, Maintenance of the built environment has a significant impacts on the whole nation. The conditions of the surroundings in which we live and learn, is a reflection of the nation’s well being. (Lee, 1987). Maintainability of tertiary institution facilities has been identified as one of the key areas in which the construction industry must achieve significant improvement (Nayantharas deSilva et al, 2004).
Many maintenance decisions require the evaluation of alternative solutions in terms of complex maintenance criteria such as:
• Cost
• Repairability
• Reliability and
• Availability requirements

BASIC PRINCIPLE OF TERTIARY INSTITUTION FACILITY MAINTENANCE

Maintenance is mostly defined in BS 3811:1984 as “the combination of all associated and technical administrative actions intended to maintain an item in or restore it to, a state in which it can perform its required function to be carried out.

To retain usually implies that defects are prevented from developing by carrying out work in anticipated of failure. To restore means that minor defects are allowed to occur before they are corrected.

In order that an item or facility can perform its required function, some degree of improvement is needed over the life of the building as standards of comfort and amenity rise

Where there are statutory requirements for maintenance, the acceptable standard must be no less than that necessary to meet the acceptable standard must to sustain the utility and value of the facility and this is found to include some degree of improvement over the life of a building

Maintenance is sub-divided according to B.S 3811 into

• Planned maintenance

(i) Preventive

(ii) Corrective

• Unplanned maintenance

Factors that Affect Project Completion Time

Major Factors that Affect Project Completion Time

For proper planning and good project management, the following three important factors have to be considered: time, cost and quality. Hughes and Williams (1991), considering these three factors just to reach the client’s aim of going into the project, these factors are the three point of a triangle interrelated failing to include one of these factor consequently have influence on the other two factors.

To affirm this Lansley (1993) agreed powerfully that the study of the behavioral part of management in project in attempting to solve the problems facing the construction industry, focusing on the issue of the ‘human factor’ involved in construction projects that requires quick attention.Rwelamila& Hall (1995) also agreed that these alighted factors ‘time, cost and quality’ affect project success were they are adequately used in managing quality and human activities in project site.

 Time

In today’s competitive business world, time management is a key factor to success. The organizations are required to reduce the time they spend responding to customers and developing new products. “Less time means faster response to customers ‘and market conditions changes Hilton et al., (2008) i.e. feasibility of operational efficiency.

Paying attention to the three dimensions of time including time of new product and service development, time of response to customer and time of product delivery may cause activities to have timely measurable goals and it may improve responses and determine and remove reasons for poor quality There is a close relationship between time of response to customers and product delivery and customers ‘satisfaction. It is generally realized that when project duration is compressed, the project will call for an increase in labor and more productive equipment and require more demanding procurement and construction management and then the cost will increase”.

“To solve the problems of optimizing investment projects, one should consider delivery time to customer that is the result of time of doing each level of project in turn. On the one hand, very short time may have negative effect on the quality and cost and on the other hand, very long time may also have negative effect on the cost and often doesn’t have much impact on quality. However, both cases, especially long time, may increase the risk of project. In the initial assessment of the project time is supposed to be the most important the present value and other time and any changes in the time may turn the investment project into a non-economic one. During various stages of project implementation, time is considered based on shift work. In the case used in this study, each shift work is known as a day. If a day is consisted of a morning and a night shift, the work time as two days, but if there is only one morning shift, time is regarded as one day; or if there is only one night shift, the time is also known as one day”.

Cost

Cost is traditionally known as price of or doing the services by which cost various approaches and in new paradigm; management accounting deploys knowledge of cost management. “There is a direct relationship between cost and organization efficiency. From this perspective efficiency means the ability to convert input to the output with the lowest cost (Hilton etal., 2008) .Cost management is an approach used to realize decisions made for planning controlling and developing competitive strategies and it is noteworthy to say that making balance between this factor and other dimensions of competition such as quality and time is required to apply management on it aiming to help maximize the profits and value creation of the organization in current activities and future (Rahnamayroodposhti, 2008).

Project costs include direct and indirect (overhead) costs of project. After revenue, cost is one of the main characteristics of any business. All organizations keeping and improving their quality, are seeking to reduce their cost to finally be able to optimize wealth of shareholders and to create value”

The cost of a given project is usually computed by enumerating its features. You can’t reduce the cost without sacrificing features or deadlines. You can’t increase features without incurring extra costs. Everyone likes to control the cost factor because it is the easiest one to see the effect on bottom-line profitability.

“Cost management is found to be a major tool to achieve strategic goals. Cost is the result of resource consumption and actually is regarded as those resources made sacrifice to gain value. To save resources and costs in the course of this process, it is necessary to remove those activities without value added and to strengthen and combine parallel activities seeking to create value. It should also be noted that those activities required to improve and complete the quality of services must beaded to the organization activities. In this study, the concept of cost is considered as both direct and indirect costs”.

Quality

“Improving quality is considered by many to be the best way to enhance customer satisfaction, to reduce manufacturing costs and to increase productivity. Any serious attempt to improve quality must take into account the costs associated with achieving quality, since nowadays it does not suffice to meet customer requirements, it must be done at the lowest possible cost as well. This can only happen by reducing the costs needed to achieve quality and the reduction of these costs is only possible if they are identified and measured (Schiffauerova & Thomson, 2006). Quality is said to be an ambiguous term understood differently by different people.

It is sometimes defined as activities designed to improve organization and its services and also known as achieving pre-defined standards. It is also believed that quality is the characteristics of a product or service that beacon its ability to affect customers’ buying decisions and satisfaction which is a determining factor influencing activities of entities (Rahnamayroodposhti & Fraydoon , 2008). It identifies four divisions of quality costs:

• prevention;
• Appraisal;
• Internal failure;
• External failure.

These divisions have been well known in the quality and accounting professions and have been included in worldwide.“However, in many industries quality costs are not evaluated explicitly but are simply calculated with over heads. In order to increase quality of any company account must be taken concerning cost influencing quality since the aim of uninterrupted improvement schedule is not just to attain client needs/customer requirement, but also to achieve it at a low cost. There is no general agreement on a single broad definition of quality costs. Cost of quality is usually understood as the sum of conformance plus non-conformance costs, where cost of conformance is the price paid for prevention of poor quality”.

“Quality is the degree of excellence or superiority is a combination of attributes, properties, or characteristics that give each commodity value in terms of its intended use or may mean beauty, function and performance. If a product fulfills the customer’s expectations, the customer will be pleased and consider that the product is of acceptable or even high quality. If his or her expectations are not fulfilled, the customer will consider that the product is of low quality. This means that the quality of a product may be defined as “its ability to fulfill the customer’s needs and expectations”. Quality needs to be defined firstly in terms of parameters or characteristics, which vary from product to product. For example, for a mechanical or electronic product these are performance, reliability, safety and appearance. For pharmaceutical products, parameters such as physical and chemical characteristics, medicinal effect, toxicity, taste and shelf life may be important. For a food product they will include taste, nutritional properties, texture and shelf life and UNIDOU (2006), and for investment plans and construction projects it should be defined”.

Customers seek for maximum quality and if they able to pay its price then it would tell that quality is free. Because of tradeoff between cost and quality to maximize the profit, this theory is not true everlasting (Hilton et al., 2008) “Sometimes quality is more important even though it costs more and takes more time. It was mentioned that the Project Quality Management includes the processes to ensure that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken (Refaatet al., 2010).

To solve the problems of optimizing investment projects, one should consider delivery time to customer that is the result of time of doing each level of project intern. On the one hand, very short time may have negative effect on the quality and cost and on the other hand, very long time may also have negative effect on the cost and often doesn’t have much impact on quality”.

“However, both cases, especially long time, may increase the risk of project. In the initial assessment of the project, time is supposed to be the most important factor calculating the present value and other time-based indicators and any changes in the time may turn the investment project into a non-economic one. During various stages of project implementation, time is considered based on shift work. In the case used in this study, each shift work is known as a day.”

Reference

Abdul Rahman, H., Thompson, P. A., and Whyte, I. L. (1996). Capturing the cost of non-conformance on construction sites- An application of the quality cost matrix. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 13, (1), 48-60.

Abdul Razak, B. I., Matthew, H. R., Ahmed, Z., and Ghaffar, I. (2010). An investigation of the status of the Malaysian construction industry, Benchmarking: An International Journal, 17(2), 294-308

Afridi.B.G. History in Baltistan ideal services, Peshawar Pakistan (1988)

Agundu P. U. C. Okwandu G. A. &Owuala E. A.Mba (2000) ‘Construction Project          Management in Nigeria: Challenges and the Way Forward’: Finance Finesse, Port     Harcourt: Outreach Publications.

Agundu, P. U. C. (2000): Finance Finesse, Port Harcourt: Outreach Publicatio

Ogunlana, S.O. Promkuntong,K. Jearkjirm. V. Construction delays in a fast growing economy, comparing Thailand with other economies. . International journal of project Management Vol. 14-1 (1996), P. 37-45

Rahnamayroodposhti and Fraydoon, 2008.Strategic Management Accounting: Creating ValueCost Management Emphasis: Science and ResearchBranch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

Rahnamayroodposhti, FraydoonandJalili, Mohammad, 2009. Target Costing, (first ed.),Terme Publication: Tehran.

Ramanathan, C. et al. (2012) ‘Construction delays causing risks on time and cost – a critical review’, Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building, 12 (1) 37-57

Refaat, H. Abd El Razek, Ahmed M. Diab,Sherif M. Hafez and Remon F. Aziz, 2010.Time-Cost-Quality Trade-off Software by usingSimplified Genetic Algorithm for Typical-repetitiveConstruction Projects, Journal of World Academyof Science, Engineering and Technology, pp: 61.

Rwelamila, P.D. and Hall, K.A. (1995) Total Systems Intervention: an integrated approach to time,

Challenges in Construction Projects

Challenges in Construction Projects

Construction project are been left undone in various part of the country even after huge monetary backup and mobilization and it has become a very crucial problem to be solved in the industry. Most of thesepublic projects that arein the construction firms are at times backup financially by government agencies. Different causes have been identified for these kick and stop syndrome, the most prominent factorwhich is poor project analysis and site management. Other thing noticed include fluctuation in prices, lack of health and safety practices on site during construction, locally made materials not accepted generally for construction and challenges in importation of foreign materials assubstitutes. The construction firm also has few absorptive capacity added to shortage of indigenous manpower required to plan, manage, and to execute contracts won.

Delay occurs in projects when project are extended (new operations are added to the previous works) or serious problems are encountered during construction process and hard to tackle which result in escalation of cost.To take care of these additional costs, it is normal to allow a percentage of project cost as variation or changes allowances priced in the bill of quantity and this allowance is usually based on judgment (Akinsola, 1996). Most times the contract parties agree upon the extra time and cost associated with delay, and in many cases there are always difficulty between the client and contractor as to either the contractor is granted the extra cost. Situations like the see vent in questioning facts, causal factors and contract interpretations

(Alkasset al., 1996). So now, delays experienced in construction projects causes’ dissatisfaction to all parties involved in the project hence the project manager makes sure these factors are dealt with and project are completed within stipulated time and within the calculated monetary finance. Various researches have been done on factors causing delays and cost overruns, and quality control, health and safety with productivity, etc. and special problems encountered in unique types of projects. These researches take note of specific aspects of project performance. Professionals need to acquire a great foresight to detect possible problems likely to face bothongoing and future projects. Identifying these factors and causes of project failure on previous projects is a good thing to do in the construction industry.(Long et al., 2004).

More importantly, factors listed above are meant to assist on time completion of projects. Sometimes the variations and changes made in construction projects could be very much when compared with the actual project fund in financial terms and this is prominent in Nigeria where inflation is on the increase every time. Identifying the main challenges in project management in the Nigerian construction firm could be traced to the client (promoters), the consultant (professionals), and the contractors (implementers) actions.

1. The promoters related challenges:
• Defining the project;
• Insufficient fund to finance the project; and
• Handling of the construction site to the implementer.

2. The consultant identified challenges:
• Flaws in designs and incorrect drawings.
• Error in preparation of documentation and referencing. (Document like the health and safety plans, bill of quantities etc.); and
• Lack of project organizing, coordinating and management skills.
• Bribery and corruption on the part of the consultant.
• Noticing and fulfilling changes.
• Ambiguous designs and build ability problems; and

3. The contractors identified challenges:
• In consistence in contractors;
• Inexperienced workmanship and quake on site;
• Low standard materials used on site; and
• Not compliance with standards and specifications
• Delay in completing the project on time.

In summary the promoters (clients) do some statics of odds and danger in executing his project. Competent, able and capable contractor takes care of the mentioned challenges through the experienced acquired in the past projects executed. This ability is measured in terms of logistics, high technology equipment, wealth of the contractor, and internal capital base (Lock, 1983; Vine-Lott, 1979; Matthew, 1976; Ikegwuru, 1986). Other important variables are rain disturbance and variation in weather condition, project changes, conflicts and contract disagreement, site habilitating problems, and complicated nature of projects.

Price Fluctuations

Time taken for award of contract causes delay in awarding contract causing a lot of setbacks in the completion of project in the list following. Price fluctuates and it goes on an increase level introducing a lot of uncertainty in construction, as the base bench mark is generally calculated 28 days before the bid submission if delay is experienced in awarding the contract on the first month after commencements of the work there is a fluctuation of price accounted. If the cost of materials changes suddenly, the cost of procuring a project goes up. e.g. Steel price in the recent past has gone up very rapidly due to short supply of steel in the world market, The reason been that for the above was China has purchased bulk quantity of steel from the world market which is required for the infrastructure development.Strict environmental restriction imposed by the government has caused many problems in the construction industry including increase in cost as a result of high price of sand, strict warning in blasting of rocks for aggregate, sand harvesting also has caused cost overruns.

Shortage of skilled labour in construction industry is a big problem to be overcome, so the contractor involved in construction should only involve skill labour from faraway places if necessary than involve quack around construction projects. They could be paid high salaries provided with other facilities to produced quality job, which put an increase to labour rate.Price increase in imported materialsfluctuate price where materials have to be imported, prices of materials goes up for site of use. Cost have to be incurred for shipping those materials into the country likewise cost of transportation to the place of use (site of construction). When the value of the local currency comes down, large cost is incurred to procure foreign materials which aid price fluctuations in construction projects.

Poor Workmanship

Poor workmanship is very common and known damage in construction sites in the world. Workers on construction site with no doubt have challenges and dispute when carrying out their function. According to Baiden and Tuuli (2004), deviation from standards in terms of materials and products produced is a consistent problem experienced in construction industry in Ghana. Kazaz and Birgonul (2005) also said that quality level has not been achieved in construction projects in Turkey and it has generated a serious problem over there. Abdul Razak et al. (2010) noted that some certain projects constructed in Malaysia have not meet satisfaction of their clients and owners. Factors influencing poor construction work in construction industry according to Abdul Rahmanet al. (1996), workmanship was grouped as one of the most frequent non-conformance on construction site. Through literatures reviews, eight variables were selected relating to causes of poor quality in construction projects. The variables are:

• Inexperience labours and incompetent workers
• Poor communication as a result of language barrier.
• Lack of skills in project management
• Limited time in construction projects
• Complicated role of subcontractor
• Limited cost available for project work
• Unsuitable construction equipment
• Rain disturbance and Poor weather condition

Ways of reducing quality/ poor workmanship problems. Six measures have been identified by researchers in order to minimize workmanship quality problem. The six measures are:

• Proper supervision of works
• Training and education of workers
• Improved communication between professional and parties involved.
• Good construction and project management
• Good workforce management
• Workable design

Accident during Construction

The highest risk and hazards are recorded in the construction firm compared to other industry. “Improper use of equipment and machine on site makes construction site unsafe, hazardous and risky to workers on site and these factors are hard to manage because of changes made every time in the handling of hand and heavy equipment, modification and dismantling of scaffoldings, digging (of manholes, trenches and septic tanks) and use of climbing equipment. Construction accidents which are prominent resulted as a result of methods of construction, site topography and land shape, worker failure to yield to health and safety plan through the use of protective clothing’s and equipment, and improper briefing and training of workers involved on site. Injuries and deaths commonly recorded are falls from height, explosions of explosive materials stored on site, acid burns, exposure to toxic material. The construction firm has to adhere to the law of federal government governing health and safety in workplace, primarily the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 reprimanded occupational health and safety administration. Many states have received the health and safetyplans in some ways, and these plans affects all the work activities on site. Rules and regulations, drawings and specifications, testing and inspection requirements, and contract safety plans are all tools used to avoid accidents on construction site and to inculcate safety into construction projects”.

In all cases, if it is ascertained that the Health and Safety regulation was violated and people were injured as a resulted, then the law reprimand the defendant for negligent and liable for the injuries or death recorded. In some cases further evidence are made to find a defendant legally responsible for the accident. Some contractors that own property and companies also have their own laid down rule for safety on site, if violated by affected workers its evidence can be used to protect or support court suit against accident occurred on site.

“Several individuals or organizations may work at a construction site, and therefore be liable for injuries that occur, including the construction site owner, architects and engineering professionals, contractors, construction managers, and manufacturers of construction machinery or equipment. Many construction projects are based on a general contract relationship, where a general contractor, hired by the site owner, enters into agreements with sub-contractors to perform specific portions of the job, such as electrical or plumbing work. Larger construction projects usually involve delegation of both work and legal responsibility, including from site owner to general contractor and general contractor to “prime” or “sub”-contractor. Courts will weigh the extent of control over the premises on which the work is being done and the degree of control over the work itself in determining who is legally at fault for the injuries sustained by an employee or passersby”.

“Both the general and sub-contractor have a legal obligation to provide workers with a construction site that is reasonably safe, and they have a legal duty to warn workers of any hazards at the site and hazards inherent in the work being performed that they are aware of. Generally, a contractor will have a duty to make sure work is being performed safely, and this legal responsibility includes hiring reasonably competent employees and ensuring safety regulations are followed on site. The general contractor is always responsible for job safety on the entire site and for ensuring compliance with all Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations, because the general contractor coordinates and supervises the entire construction project, and often provides equipment used by subcontractors and employees. Any subcontractors brought on site by the general contractor are also responsible for ensuring job safety and following Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules that apply to their part of the project, but the general contractor is still responsible” (Construction Accidents Resources, 2013).

Construction Delay

The construction delay is for real everywhere in the world not only in Nigeria which means all nations face construction delay (Assaf, & Al-Hejji, 2006). “Construction delay can be explained as prolong time in completion of project than stipulated time, or for an extended period of time professionals in construction industry agreed upon.(Chan & Kumaraswamy, 1995).Delay in project is known to be a wide known challenges in construction sites.(Sullivan, Harris, 1986). On large level there is no suspicion that the development of country depends upon its achievement of its advance plain with elevated construction contents (Afridi 1988). There is a French dictum “when the construction industry prospers everything prospers”. Escalation of construction industry is of imperative for all regions of national and international economy, as well as everyone involved in the industry like contractors, workers, financiers, architects, engineers etc. (Ogunlanaet al., 1996). The project’s success depends on meeting objectives within time and budget limits (Akinsola, 1996) Tools and techniques play important role in project management (Buratiet al., 1994). The major factor of construction problems is project’s delay (Odeh&Battaineh, 2002).Delay means loss of income according to and for the owner or client. In case of contractor, delay refers to the higher costs due to longer work time, labor cost increase and higher fabrication costs. On time completion of project is an indicator of efficiency”. But there are many unpredictable factors and variables resulting from various sources affecting construction projects. Some main sources are the involvement and performance of parties, contractual relations, environmental and site conditions, resources availability etc. (Al-Kasset al., 1996; Odeh&Battaineh, 2002) It is very rare to see that a construction project is completed on time. (Oglesby et al., 1989; Vidogah&Ndekugri 1997).

STRAW BALE CONSTRUCTION PROCESS

STRAW BALE CONSTRUCTION PROCESS

There are basically two ways of straw bale construction, the load bearing in which the straw bale wall is used as structural load bearing wall to support the roof and withstand the lateral load; and the post and beam straw bale construction in which bales are used as in-fill panels between and around structural frame of any structural material. Although straw bale construction is still very much a developing technology and a little detail explanation of the construction process will be discussed.

FOOTINGS
A straws bale wall requires footings with a similar load – carrying capacity to that required for a masonry wall, although a straw wall is lighter (one mud brick weights about the same as a straw bale.). The footings usually used are concrete strips or slabs. There have been successful experiments with rubble trench and rubber tyre footings and there are several straw bale buildings built on piers, beam and joist. (Paul Downton, 2003).

The California straw bale code (2001) has it that support for bale walls shall extend to an elevation of at least six inches above adjacent ground at all points, and at least one – inch above floor surfaces.

King (2001) opines that the bottom of the bale wall must be well separated from the foundation and at the very moisture water- proof barrier should be laid over moisture below. Additionally, many builders are placing a layer of pea gravel between wood sill plates along the inside and the outside faces so that bales will never be sitting in water.
BALES STACK UP

Typically, the bales are stacked in running or stack bond on top one another; early experiments with adding cement mortar between courses created thermal bridges while giving no clear benefits. In load bearing building, the bales are laid flat, that is with the longest dimension parallel to the wall and the shortest vertical. In other application, the bales can be stacked on edge that is with the shortest dimension horizontal. This saves interior space with slimmer wall, and, interestingly appears to offer the same net insulation value due to the slightly different orientation of the fibres (Bruce king, 2001).

In the same vein, the California straw code holds the view that in load bearing walls of bale, bale should be laid flat and be stacked in a running bond, where possible with each bale overlapping the two bales beneath it. Overlaps shall be a minimum of 12 inches.

STRAW BALE WALL HEIGHT

Australia straw bale expert’s recommends a maximum wall height of 2.5 meters when using standard sized bales in load bearing construction. The California straw bale code (2001) has it that building with load bearing bale walls shall not exceed one story height without substantiating calculations and design by a California civil engineer, and the bale portion of the load bearing walls shall not exceeds a height to width ratio of 5.6:1 (for example the maximum height for a wall that is 23 inches thick would be 10 feet 8 inches or 3.27 meters).

Whereas, the harvest homes (2003) holds the view that “ given that straw bale walls have been shown to be at least 4 times stronger than a conventional 2×6 frame wall there are no special limitation to the heights of a building.

PLASTER

The California straw code (2001) has it that minimum bale thickness shall be 13inches. Also plaster can be lime-gypsum, lime – cement plaster.

Bruce king (2001) held the view that it is essential that, once plaster is applied directly to either or both of the straw bale surfaces, the completed wall assembly is now a hybrid of straw and plaster, in other words a sandwich panel. Plaster is used generically to includetraditional earthen plasters, lime and gypsum plasters shot Crete or gucite,

Also, Paul Downton, (2003) said “that three layers of render should be progressively ‘weaker’ to reduce the potential for cracking caused by having too brittle an external layer.

PINNING

Straws bales are comparatively soft and do not behave like bricks. Except when surrounded by a sturdy frame of post and beam the bales must be braced or pinned during stacking for stability and alignment. Internal pinned of the walls (with bamboo or dowels) has been prescribed in early

Straws bale codes, but it has falling out of favour, for it is under whether internal pins contribute appreciably to the strength of the finished wall assembly. Bruce king (2001).

Likewise, Downton(2003) said ‘the vertical and horizontal stability of straws bale walls generally needs to be guaranteed by tying bales to structural frames or pinning between bales and structural elements, however there is a growing consensus that the extensive use of reinforce steel bars and excessive pinning that characterized early straw bale construction is not necessary.

 

STRAW BALE

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ON STRAW BALE

Straw the stalks remaining after the harvest of grains such as rice, barley, and wheat. Is one of the finest renewable resources which can be used as a building material grown annually each year, found around the world in abundance (Kings, 2003).
According to Matt’s (1994), a straw bale expert, “Each year 200 million tons of straw are underutilized or just wasted in most countries, so also, from the harvest of the united states major grains could be used to construct five million 2,000 square foot houses every year.
Just like trees, straws are chemically composed of primary cellulose. When composed together into a bale, it forms solid block that are resistant to decomposition, and when covered with plaster skin, it creation is beautiful, strong, stable, moisture resistant and above all, energy efficient (Adedeji, 2003).
People have built homes using straw grasses, even early settlers of the grasslands of Nebraska discovered the beauty of straw bale homes over 100 years ago, According to Roger (1994), “it was inevitable that some settlers, desperate for a cheap, available building material, would eventually see the big, solid, hay blocks as a possibility.
These settlers of Nebraska, Confronted with cold winter, a lack of trees and a need for a quickly built out building, straws became a solution. These bales were put on roofs and used as insulation against the cold was found and exceeded any wood building.
Straw bale structures have consistently withstood severe weather and earthquakes. The earthquake was in the 1970s and it was either 5.3 or 5.8”. Chuck Bruner, a resident of one of the houses told the mother earth news after the earthquake, “there wasn’t a single crack in the house”.
With every year, around the world the benefit of building with the straw bales cannot be over emphasized (Harvest Homes, 2003).

STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES

The primary requirement of straw bale buildings unlike any order form of building being constructed today is to withstand the dead, live, and imposed loads thereby transferring load to the foundation and then distributing them to the ground. (Walker, 2004).

MATERIAL PROPERTIES

When picking a material for building purposes, the properties of the material is first put into consideration, so also is the choice of the builder and the actual material he has in mind to accomplish the project. This is no different when choosing a straw bale as a building material.

MOISTURE EFFECT / RESISTANCE

Straw bale walls should be highly protected from moisture as moisture could cause damage and provide room for pest’s invasion. In some cases, rocks are used to decorate the bottom exterior of the home to prevent raise of moisture, so also well maintained guttering, purches and verandas and suitable render materials are applied to straw bale buildings to avoid direct rain exposure. The moisture content in a straw bale wall should not go beyond 15% (Mohamed, 2003).
The California straw bale code (2001) came up with the statement that the water content in a bale during installation must not exceed 20% of the whole weight of the bale.

AFFORDABILITY AND AVAILABILITY

Straws, as they are known to be waste after the harvest of grains like rice, wheat, and oats, are low cost materials found around us. Sometimes it can be gotten free as some farmers prefer to burn them, (Harvest Homes, 2003).

RESISTANCE TO PESTS

Plastered straw bale provides little or no room for pests, straw bale also provides fewer havens for pests like termites than conventional wood framing (Harvest Homes, 2003).

ACOUSTIC PROPERTIES

Noise has been defined as unwanted sound which can be detrimental to health, could cause damage to the ear or loss of concentration. These sound should be controlled especially in buildings like churches and cinema houses, sound transmits less in medium which are air tight, which is the reason for the high sound insulating property of straw bale buildings (Adedeji and Bello, 2011).

Several acoustic data’s were lined out by some anthologies.

According to Minke and Mahlke, (2005), depending on the frequency, a 45cm thick straw bale wall, plastered on both sides, provides a noise level difference of 43 to 55 dB.
So also, King(2006) who measured the sound transmission of a 20 inch thick stuccoed wall and came up with a noise level of 59.8 dB.

FIRE RESISTANCE

Combustion only takes place in presence of oxygen.Air is the power force behind any fire outbreak. Straw bale blocks are tightly packed and compressed together to form the block which provides no chance for pores or holes, thereby stopping any chance of air or oxygen coming into it. Since these straws are densely packed, without any space for air, the fire resistance of the material is superb (Downton, 2003).

According to the national research council of Canada (NRCC), plastered straw bale was tested for fire safety and was found to be of better fire resistance to most conventional building materials. After the test, it was found that the plastered straw bale withstood heat up to 1,850 F for two hours before it started showing cracks.

So also according to the Canada Mortgage and housing corporation, the straw bale / mortar structure wall has proven to be exceptionally resistant to fire. The firmly compactness of the straw, in addition to the plaster coating makes it impossible to accommodate air to support combustion (King, 2003).

REFERENCES

Abdullahi, M. (2006). Properties of some fine Aggregates in Minna, Nigeria and Environs, Leonard Journal of Sciences, 8, 1-6

Adedeji A.A (2007). Introduction and design of straw bale masonry, Olad publishers ENT.

Ilorin.

Anderson , Leaver, Alexander and Rawlings, Material Science, Nelson publishers.

Baiden, B.K and Tuuli, M. (2004). Impact of quality control practices in Sandcrete Blocks Production, Journal of Architectural Engineering, 10(2), 55-60

British Standard (BS) 12-Specification for Portland cement BS1, London

British Standard Institution (BS) 1968 – Precast concrete B. London: BS1

British Standard Institution: Specification for Aggregates from natural sources for concrete. BS 88.2 Park Street, London, 1983

California straw bale building code(2001). HS18944

Case and Chilver (1989). Strength of materials and structures, Edward Arnold publishers.

Cazaud, R., Fatigue of Materials (1953). Chapman Hall.

C.H. Ryder (1969). Strength of Materials, English language book society and Macmillan   publisher.

Downtown (2003), Australia straw bales. Australia.

Fenner,A,J ,Mechanical Testing of Materials(1965). Newnes.

Harvest Homes company (2003). Canada, www.harvesthomes.com

King, B. (2003). Load – bearing straw bale structures, U.S.A

Lee, F.(2001), Straw bale construction, U.S.A

Lacinski, P., and Bergeron. (2000) serious straw bale; a home construction guide for all     climates. Chelsea Green publishing co. U.S.A.

The Last Straw: Back issues No 53 & 56

Myhrmam, M, MacDonald, S, (1997) Build it with bales

The nine myths about straw bale-PacquaioYavis, Craysons publishers (2001).

Todd, Structural theory and analysis, Macmillian publishers (2003).

Challenges in Managing Multiple Project

Challenges in Managing Multiple Project

Research into MPEs has been very focused on the challenges within multiple-project management. The confusing character of the result says more about the achievement factor within researching this difficult subject than about the factors influencing the challenges in MPEs (Patanakul & Milosevic, 2009, Dietrich & Lehtonen, 2005, Cooke-Davies, 2002).

The studies have maintained a conclusion with general sense which assumed the understanding of challenges. Conversely, the research proof to date has relied deeply on difficulty in managing multiple-projects that cause challenges in management (Caniëls & Bakens, 2011, Aritua et al., 2009).Complication is not of necessity a new challenge, but an old challenge that is being increasingly acknowledged and recognized as a key to improving performance and understanding of management (Aritua et al., 2009).

Multiple projects management is look with more challenges than single project management due to the difficulty of the surroundings and organizations associated to processes and project lifecycle. The difficulty arises from interdependence and uncertainty in management which is the primarily serious features of environment in developing effectiveness in organizational management (Griffin et al., 2007).

Interdependence means that a preference or action by any individual or system may be affected by having dissimilar impacts related to other individuals or systems (Mitleton-Kelly, 2003). It is by having many aspects or phases that this preference or action is interconnected. Example of the forms of interdependence are task interdependence in which one job serves as input or output to another job and also interdependence between jobs or roles, team or organizations (Morgeson & Humphrey, 2008).

Conversely, there has been slight proof based on the interdependency in management. In addition, partial research thought has focused on the uncertainty that occurs in managing the multiple projects environment. Uncertainty in management reflects the irregularity in the inputs, processes and outputs of work systems (Wall et al., 2002).

By undertaking activities with lack of plan on complete action in projects, unfamiliarity of local resources and environment and lack of consistency will therefore bring about an irregular environment (de Orue et al., 2009). The organization will be forced by these factors in meeting project deadlines to achieve high organizational performance (Laslo & Goldberg, 2008). Hence creating challenges for project managers liable for the generally success of delivering projects (Martyn James et al., 2008).

So far the border between the difficulty challenge and effectiveness in delivering projects contained by MPEs within the construction industry is not principally discussed (Shehu & Akintoye, 2010), although the acknowledgement on this issue is acknowledged in practice within the construction industry (Chinowsky et al., 2011, Görög, 2011, Bankvall et al., 2010, Dubois and Gadde, 2002).

Conversely, the broad research on this connection is subjected by the broader management environment. Researchers (Grant & Parker, 2009, Morgeson & Hump hrey, 2008, Griffin et al., 2007, Wall et al., 2002) suppose that difficulty from interdependence will establish the degree of work roles that are surrounded in a broader social system and determine whether an individual is effective by managing their responsibilities individually within an organization or wants support from broader social context of the organization. Also, complexity from uncertainty will determine may be an individual is effective by meeting the terms with the requirements of a work role or by adapting to and commencing change. Therefore, as both interdependence and uncertainty are growing in the management of most organizations, it is mainly important to pursue and put together perspectives in managing multiple projects around the construction industry.

Single-Project Manager vs. Multiple-Project Managers

Single-Project Manager vs. Multiple-Project Managers

To lead a project to profitably, a project manager ought to have knowledge and skills in project management (Pinto & Slevin, 1988, Pinto & Slevin, 1989, Brown & Eisenhardt, 1995). Although, those studies were carried out on the cause of a traditional single-project management environment where a single project manager handles one project at a time. In realism, a difference in management tasks exists amongst these two groups of project managers. In the case of single-project managers, their obligation is to lead one project at a time on the way to its general objective. With only one project, they can be paying concentration and use as much time as they want on it. This is also right even in the case of managing a single large project that is broken down to smaller parts.

Alternatively, since multiple-project managers has to manage multiple concurrent projects and each of the project can be entirely dissimilar and each of them has its own goals, multiple project managers’ duty is to lead each project separately and to manage interdependencies among projects so that each project can accomplish its goal (Ireland, 1997 & Milosevic & Patanakul, 2002). Even though, the projects tend to be smaller than the one of single-project managers, having totally different types of projects, focusing on different project goals, and leading multiple-project teams generate high complication in management. Furthermore, multiple-project managers have to be effective in the use of their time because time has to be shared among dissimilar projects

CAPITAL MARKET - Definition, Importance, Classification, and Roles

CAPITAL MARKET – Definition, Importance, Classification, and Roles

INTRODUCTION

The capital market has been identified as an institution that contributes to the socio-economic growth and development of emerging and developed countries (economies). This is made possible through it vital role in intermediate process in those economies. Osaze (2000) sees the capital market as the driver of any economy to growth and development because it is essential for the long term growth capital formation.

The Nigeria capital market provides the necessary lubricant that keeps turning the wheel of the economy. The functioning of the capital market affects liquidity acquisition of information about firms, risk diversification, savings mobilization and corporate control (Anyanwu, 1998). Therefore, by a tiring the quality of these services, he functioning of stock market can alter the rate or pace of economic growth (Equakan, 2005). Okereke-Onyuike (2000) posite that the cheap source of funds from the capital remain a critical element in the sustainable development of the economy.

IMPORTANCE OF CAPITAL MARKET

The capital market plays an important role in mobilization saving and channeling them with productive investments for capital formation and economic growth of the country rational allocation of resources. They do so by converting financial asset into productive physical through the private and public sectors, thereby, including economic growth. In under developed country that capital is scarce the absence of developed capital market is a great hindrance to capital formation and economic growth, even though the people are poor, they do not have any inducement to save, and others who save invest their savings in wasteful and unproductive channel. Nigeria can induce people to save money by establishing banking and non-banking financial institutions for the existence of the capital market.

CLASSIFICATION OF CAPITAL MARKETS

Capital market is categorized into two:

Primary Markets: This is new issues market, it is a mechanism in which new securities are traded on. The operation in the market is the issuing houses, such as stock brokers, commercial and government.

Secondary Market: On the other hand secondary market is concerned with the sales and stock. The center of activities for the secondary market is the stock exchange, which provides a market in which holders of existing quoted share wishes to sell such shares can make contact with individuals and institutions that are interested in buying them. Hence, the secondary market is dominated by stock exchange, which provides a forum for trading securities, such forum is necessary since many of the buyers of new securities will eventually resell them.

THE ROLE OF CAPITAL MARKETS

Capital market include not only the infrastructure to buy and sell securities, the stock exchange and electronic trading system, but they also include the applicable rules (formal and informal) and the market participating that buy and sell or own such instrument and advise on corporate control transaction (Spur, offs, take over, management buyout mergers, acquisition and so on).

Most capital market activity in Nigeria is secondary market transactions, that is transfer of ownership of existing shares.

Primary market activity, the mobilization of investment finance through the sale of new shares or other securities is likely to remain comparatively small. While the opening of stock exchange has much attention, these efforts were largely symbolic.

The most important steps towards creating capital markets lie elsewhere. These include:

(i) Adoption of legal infrastructure for private sector activity; this including a company law that out standard contractual arrangement for limited liability companies owned by many small investors.

(ii) Incorporate of state enterprises as joint stock companies.

(iii) Transfer of ownership to private individuals most important step is the removal of government from commercial activities, that is the transfer of all state enterprise to private owners, since most state enterprises are large joint stock corporation or public limited liability companies owned by individual shareholders remain the most promising vehicles for fostering rapid economic growth in Nigeria.

References

Alile, H.J. D.G, NSE, (1985): The Nigeria Capital Market Work Presented for Nigeria Economy.

Alile, H.J (1997): Making the Capital Market Investing Friendly, Business Times, September , 1996 (P5).

Anyanwu, J.C. (1993) Monetary Economy Theory, Policy and Institutions. Uyo: Hybrid Publishers Limited.

Gerhard, P.G. etal (1989): Creating Capital Market in Central and Eastern Europe Published in Embrown House, 195 Palm Groove Lagos.

Loynes, J.B (1957): The Role of Central Bank in the Development of a Local Money and Capital Market.

Mbat, D.O. (2001). Financial Management Uyo: Domes Associates Publishers.
Nwankwo, G.O. (1988): The Nigeria Financial System. Macmillan Publisher.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF NIGERIA STOCK EXCHANGE

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF NIGERIA STOCK EXCHANGE

The Nigeria Stock Exchange was founded in 1960 as the Lagos stock exchange. It started operations in Lagos in 1961 with 19 securities listed for trading. In December 2nd 1977 it became known as the Nigeria Stock Exchange, with branches established in some of the major commercial cities of the country.

The beginning in 1960 the Lagos Stock Exchange opened in Lagos Nigeria. In 1977 the name had been changed to the current Nigeria Stock Exchange. The branches: the exchange has the following branches in the major cities of the Federation, Kaduna (1978) Port Harcourt (1980), Kano (1989), Onitsha (Feb, 1990), Ibadan (August, 1990), Abuja (October 1999) and Yola (April 2002). As at inception in 1961 the NSE started trading in Lagos with 19 securities. At the end of the 20th century there were over 262 securities trading there.

Within the past 30 years the Nigeria Stock Exchange has grown rapidly to match other exchanges in the world. It along with the Russian Exchange are the newest and fastest growing exchanges. The Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE or the Exchange) was founded in 1960 and today services the second largest financial center in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The NSE, a registered company limited by guarantee, is licensed under the investments and securities Act (ISA) and is regulated by the securities and exchange commission (SEC) of Nigeria. The exchange is a founding member and executive committee member of the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA), an affiliate member of the world federation of exchanges (WFE) and an affiliate member of the international organization of securities commissions (IOSCO).

The Nigeria Stock Exchange is an automated exchange and provides listing and trading services, as well as electronic clearing, settlement and delivery (CSD services through central securities clearing system (CSCS) plc, an associate company to the NSE, which also offers custodian services. Along with securities listing and trading services, the exchange offers market data dissemination services, market indices and much more. The NSE continues to evolve to meet the needs of its valued customers, and to achieve the highest level of competitiveness. With about 256 listed securities, the exchange operates fair, orderly and transparent markets that bring together the best of African enterprises and the local and global investors communities. The Nigeria Stock Exchange is porsed to champion the acceleration of Africa’s economic development and to become “the gateway to African market”.

The problems facing corporate planning

The problems facing corporate planning

Corporate planning is been faced with the following problems discussed below;

Shortage of raw material: this one of the major problem been encountered by most of the production organization in our environment, the question of what to produce arises when the production organization are trying to set out a good strategic planning on how to win the taste of the consumer and at the same times how the organization to be able to evaluate resources at hand as well as the people within the environment.

The problem of what to do a particular time such as what to produce often occur on the basis of the availability of raw material because in a situation that the production department starts to experience shortage of raw material on their process , it can easily lead to expenditure and can even stop whole activities of the organization.

High cost of implementation: capital means the amount of money set aside to start up a production process or to carryout all that have been planned. Most organization through friends, banks or from financial institution due to the lowers cost are not best suit the implementation of corporate plans, planning and control over such funds.

Social, Cultural Norms and values: Generally, life style of the society often have great effects in corporate planning of an organization in corporate planning of an organization. The mode of living for example, a brewery industry producing alcohol drinks may likely not attract customers in the northern part of the country because of their social cultural background and mostly that it goes against their religion (Islam). As a result of this belief of people, corporate planning cannot carryout easily because when a company fails to recognize such area before her corporate plans. In view of this most organization finds it difficult to plan wide as result of this problem.

Undecided policies of the organization: another problem that may face corporate planning in organization is that manager’s fails clearly spell out the policies to embark on, during decision making process. Their essence is defined discretion making in an area where discretion that is they give structures and direction to.

Today, most of the organization in Nigeria that make use of foreign technologies are making losses as greater proportion of the profit earned goes on the other of the technology and equipment. Hence, if Nigeria is to improve their corporate planning so as to have good output, manager should start operation new and simply tools to help them with the work of planning and execution.

EFFECT OF CORPORATE PLANNING IN AN ORGANISATION

EFFECT OF CORPORATE PLANNING IN AN ORGANISATION

The value of corporate planning to a given organization depends on its objectives, needs and circumstances, corporate planning has sufficient value so that whatever situation on an organization, it is always beneficial.

One of the effect of corporate planning process is that it enable management to make rational. When corporate planning process is followed, manager is presented with alternatives to choose from projects that have undergone through analysis reflecting available fact. This minimizes the use of emotional intuition and guess work.

Corporate planning enables the management to define relationship within the organization. This definition alone constitutes one of the major benefits of corporate planning process definition who is responsible for each organization function, this is to ensure that each functional areas in the organization has some one saddled with the responsibility in addition, management can determine whether each functions is properly placed and whether the responsibility of an individual has the authority to execute the requires action.

A good corporate planning allows all level of management to participate and build confidence in an organization, for its gives a long term perspective, it shows that management has a direction that decision making, is under control.

Corporate planning increase profit of an organization because it enables the organization to know what do produced when to produce and where to produce; it has target market there is a need to produce in large quantity.

Corporate Planning - Definition, Types and Advantages

Corporate Planning

Corporate planning is a term denoting a line of approach or style of an attitude which uses a systematic and integrated approach to all aspect of firms activities. The idea is a treat the organization as a corporate whole rather than a collection of department and on a long term basis. The whole of the industry of which the organization is part of, should be examined nothing nature trends of supply and factor possible future trend and lost opportunity and threat are problem to organization.

In general, corporate planning is the primary responsibility of top managers who are responsible for approaching corporate and functional plan so as to ensure that they consistent with the corporate planning is not made in a vacuum other manager do have input to corporate level planning divisional and functional manager are encourage in many organization to submit proposal for business venture to the chief executive officer or top manager who evaluate the proposal decides whether to found them thus both the top manager and lower level manager can usually given the opportunity to become involved in the process.

The basic role of corporate planning is the conscious choice of pattern of influence on decision makers with the objective of coordinating decision for some span of time in the future and influencing them towards particular board goal.

Many management scholars have given various definitions to corporate planning. According to Peter Drunker “corporate planning is a continuous process of making entrepreneur decision systematically and with the best possible knowledge of their featuring, organization systematically the effort needed to carry out these decision and measuring the result against expectations through organized system feedback.

John Argenti (1968) defines corporate planning as a systematic and disciplined study designed to help identify the objectives of any organization or corporate body determining an appropriate target decided upon suitable constraint and device a practical plan by which the objective may be achieved “its approach emphasis on the joint establishment objective between manager and supervisor.

Shafira and Reingart (1981) there own view defines corporate planning as” making decision about the future oriented decision process involves setting objectives gathering and organizing information determine feasible course of action and choosing among them, implement the action and monitoring the result to ensure compliance with the objectives with the definition given by the various authors above it is important to note that in order to accomplish any goal activities must be group logically and authority should be granted so that conflict do not occur. Hence corporate planning bridge the gab from where we are to where the want to be in future.

It is the most important activities of management because it determined the means of attaining them therefore it is choosing from among the alternatives course of action and this provides a rational approach to achieving pro-selected objectives, corporate planning as a planning process at it most sophisticated stage of development process make use of the total information and communication resources of an organization and relate this decision making process which implies the willingness of some manger and department to subjugate their own particular plan to overall requirement for the organization a central unit is set up to central and monitor the developing situation in an organization so as to achieve success.

Due to the effectiveness of corporate planning it as been introduce by most top manager and other level managers in to their organization for the following reasons:

Many organization need to think out their objective and identify gaps that exist between their current supply goods and services and what the market actually needs.

The large the organization the more likely there is to be competing needs of scare resources. To achieve maximum benefit this implies the need for central planning and control as proposal to planning by individual department or manager.

The space to change is quickening and organizations have to adopt and react to changes corporately, rather on individual departmental basis.
Modern computer based information system provides an overall planning to a degree that was hither to impossible.

In all these corporate planning involves times and money as well as availability of information. It therefore, behooves on all concerned to ensure that these essential resources are provided to make it work since corporate is simply a formal and logical method of running a business which is comprehensive and embracing all the activities of an organization. It is also a tool of management to guide the business towards its agreed goals.

Therefore, corporate planning is a strategic plan which involves primary managerial function which logically precede all other function since without planning a manager would not have activities to organize, would not requires staffers have on one to direct and also would have no need to control the objective of the organization.

IMPORTANCE OF CORPORATE PLANNING

Essentially, planning is ascertaining where an organization is at the present tie and deciding where it should be in the future and how to move it forward the future and forecast what may happen in order to take actions in the present and mobilize organizational and threat. Due to the uncertain and complex nature of the external environment managers must typically deals with incomplete information and bounded rationality.

Almost at top and low-level managers are engaged in planning and should and participate because they must try to predict future opportunities and threats. The absences of a plan often result in hesitation that can certain organization or even lead to disaster.

There are four important of corporate planning

Corporate planning is a useful way of getting managers to participate goals and strategies for an organization. Effective corporate planning gives all managers the opportunity to participate in decision making, for example, top managers as part of their annual planning process regularly request inputs from lower level managers to determine what organization goals and strategies should be.

Corporate planning help managers to co-ordinate the different function and division to ensure that they all full in the same directions without a good plan, it is possible that the members of the manufacturing functions will produce more products than the members of the sales function can sell resulting in mass of unsold inventory.

A good corporate plans can be used as a device for controlling manager within an organization. A good corporate plan specifies not only which goals and strategies the organization is committed to but also who is responsible for putting the strategies into action to attaining a goal, they are motivated to do their best to make such the goals are achieved.

Corporate planning is necessary to give their organization a sense of direction and purpose. A corporate planning state what goes in an organization is trying to achieve and what strategies it intends to use t achieve them without a sense of direction and purpose that a formal corporate plan provides managers may interpret their own task and role in the ways that is best to suit themselves. The result will be an organization that best suit themselves. The result will be an organization that is pursuing multiple and often conflicting goals and a set of managers who do not corporate together. Corporate plan keeps managers on track by stating which organizational goals and strategies are importance so as to use the resources under their control effectively.

Henry Fayol, the originator of model management says that effective corporate plans should have four qualities.

• Unity
• Continuity
• Accuracy
• Flexibility

Unity: Means that at any time only one central guiding plan is put into operation achieve an organizational goal, more than one corporate plan to achieve a goal in an organization.

Continuity: according to Henry Fayol means that planning is an ongoing process in which managers both top and lower level build and refine previous and continually modify plan at all level corporate business and functional so they fit together into one board frame work.

Accuracy: Is that which manger need to make attempt to collect and utilize all available information at their disposal in the corporate planning. Process manager of course most recognize the fact uncertainty exists and that information is almost always incomplete.

Despite the need for continual accuracy however Henry Fayol emphasized that corporate planning process should be flexible enough so that corporate planning can be altered and changed if the situation change, manager most not bound to static corporate planner.

TYPES OF CORPORATE PLANNING

The essence of corporate planning is to make sure that risk are reduced to the barest minimum in an organization. There are basically two types of corporate planning, they are;

Operational planning: This is the type of planning that involves the day today activities of an organization, it contains details for carryout corporate plan. It also include sales profit and cash flow projection by product line market share and capitals requirements.

Operating planning can further be sub divided into

• Standing plan
• Single use plan

Standing plan are flows that can be used over again. That is, it can repeatedly use. Examples of standing plan are policies procedure and rules while single use plan is subset of operational plan that than only is use for single in the organization. Example are programmes budget and project.

Strategies planning: this is the type of planning that is concerned with long term basis for new product that are important to the development of an organization both from within or acquired outside such factors, strategies planning involve a longer period and rely on more unreliable long term forecasts and occur at more serial level in an organization. It helps decide upon the major goals of the organization and what policies will be use to achieved them

REFERENCES

Garett, R. Jones et al (2003): Contemporary Management (3rd edition) Britain, Mc Graw Hill company’s Inc.

Image E.U.I (2005): Business Policy in a Godly society (1st edition) Enugu, Royce Kerek Printers.

Truckland, Thompson (1996): Strategic Management Concept and cases (9th edition) Britain Mc Graw Hill companies.

Druncker, F. Peter (1984): The Practice of Management New York, Heneiman ltd.

Appelby C. Robert (1994): Modern Business Administration on (6th edition) Britain, Pitman Publishing Ltd.

Koontex, H. (1976) Making Strategic Planning New York, Macmillan Press Ltd.

Steiner, G.A (1969): Top Management Planning Toronto Macmillan Publishing Co.
Yalokwu, P.O (2002) Fundamentals of Management Lagos Panat Press Ltd.

Brech, E.F. etal (1972): The Principles and Practice of Management Longman group Ltd.