AN
EVALUATION OF CHALLENGES IN ON-GOING CONSTRUCTIONS PROJECTS IN NIGERIA: A CASE
STUDY OF ABUJA CITY.
ABSTRACT
A major challenge to the
construction practice in construction project in Nigeria is the apparent lack
of knowledge on factors posing threat to construction processes. This
knowledge-gap hinders construction experts to finish construction designs on
time, completion of works and inflate price at the end of projects. This
research was done evaluating the challenges of ongoing construction projects
produce a result of challenges encountered in the construction projects, factor
causing these challenges, the remedial/preventive measures to the challenges
and also ranked the remedial/preventive measures in accordance to the degree of
their importance. This research also determine how these challenges affect
completion time and price of projects. The results of the descriptive research
confirmed project conflict among professionals; poor purchasing management;
poor leading and controlling skills; weather and climate changes; lack of
health and safety practices; cost of material and labour; changes made by
client; cost of purchasing equipment; poor organising skills; lack of proper
supervision; changes in client brief as threat in construction projects. It was
recommended that professionals in construction projects should inculcate the
following in their construction programme: Resolving conflict that might spring
up to improve communication and make sure that reliable and effective suppliers
are involved in the construction stage; proper supervision of each construction
stages and good working environment for workers on site; Improved health and
safety plans making sure this plan are in use and improve quality
control/market survey before and during construction; Complete and certified
design and drawings should be provided and provision of incentive to impress
faithful workers; Challenges faced on construction projects should be well
managed to avoid inflation in project price and time over run.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The construction industry in Nigeria
is a huge money industry and every year they meet up with the expectation of
well to do contractors who bid for construction projects. Years back
construction industry has possesses increasing regular purchasing power and
excessive income for most construction companies in Nigeria. This is noticed
with some public companies like Dantata, Julius Berger Plc., which have good
success in terms of profits. Many others which are not publicly noted are
increasingly expanding their operation to challenge these publicly noted
construction companies. This growing construction companies have the chance of
handling big projects like the road construction, and lot more. Not long ago
some development projects by government and private companies have created
opportunities for construction companies to yield enough profit and revenues.
For example, most states of Nigeria infrastructural projects like road
reconstruction, housing projects, bridges, building, construction of drainage,
dams, rural electrification, city expansion and beautification projects among
others have been on the increase in Abuja city and other city around, which
help to generate huge amount of money in the labour market.
According to Hill & Bowen
(1997), the social attributes of sustainable construction involves the issue of
poverty and inequality. The idea in social sustainability is to increase
standard of living by ensuring secure and adequate consumption of basic needs,
which are food, clothing, shelter, health, and beyond that by ensuring comfort,
identity and choice in built environment. Some characteristics of the
construction industry pose challenges to its management and organization of
personality trait. The industry is broken in pieces, often with a highly mobile
workforce. The products are fixed while the process is flowing. The arrangement
of participants to execute the project often involves grouping together of
disparate and different organizations, professional and commercial entities
into what is termed temporary multi-organizations (Zhang & Hu 2011). The
industry is also faced with the challenges of addressing both company and
project levels of management, especially in construction contracting. The
participants in the construction industry include clients, consultants and contractors.
Each of these participants may be organizations with differing loyalties and
goals. The construction project, however, brings them together. The
backwardness and harshness of the construction industry in relation to other
industries have been acknowledged (Tazelaar&Snijders 2010; Zhang & Hu
2011).
Ramanathan, et al. (2012)
evaluated some of the challenges facing ongoing construction projects which
include; price fluctuations, poor workmanship, slow and late delivery, much
time taken in paying contractors for completed works, less professional project
team, poor planning, constrain in subcontractors’ job and over time, lack of
experience on the part of the contractor, too much contract job on a
contractor, improper contract management, late decision made by the management,
lack of assistance on the management of the contract, lack of materials,
equipment and machinery on site of construction, weather changing rapidly
affecting the progress of construction work among others. Energy efficiency as stated
by Santoli&Matteo (2003), that the energy performance of a building must be
analysis using standards that include the coating of the buildings, the
importance of technical systems and installed equipment, the position and
direction of development of the building considering climatic changes, building
exposure, its range of ability for renewable energy sources and other important
factors, such as indoor environmental standard, that may affect the energy
requirements of the building. Thermal comfort as explained by
Shove et al. (2008) said that
introducing thermal comfort for man is an important factor of the heating and
air conditioning industry. This has a basic effect on the whole building
industry because comfort is not something created for building users, but a
successful shot targeted to be achieved provided the working environment can be
controlled. The control over the environment will partly be dictated by the
building they occupy and its services. And these may be subjected to some
constraints (Cole et. al, 2008). The purpose of the building must be to
allow occupants to achieve their comfort goal. People adapt more readily to
friendly thermal environments. The building should be designed to provide a
thermal environment that is within the range usual for the particular type of
accommodation, according to climate, season and cultural requirement. Site
Suitability fact finding is important as this enable the site legality and
physical accommodation of the type and size of project being constructed. When
selecting sites for construction purposes site shouldn’t be sited in noisy
areas and compatibility with present facilities should be ensured and
determination of what else will be planned for the site in the future (Nwafor,
2006).
1.2 Statement of Problems
Constructions in Nigeria have been
noticed to kick and stop. Most of the times this occurs majorly due to poor
funding of the project, variations in construction designs, incompetent
professionalism at the design stage as well as during construction. The
involvement of quake in construction works in this industry, stakeholders and
contractors trying to maximized profit leading to poor construction work and
collapse. All these facts mention results into lost of lives of the occupant of
these buildings, damage of properties and waste of funds. Bribery also being
one of the problems noticed in Nigerian construction industrywhereby
contractors’ payoff supervisors of project“it could be the consultants or
development agencies” to use fake processes in installing inferior equipment
and the use of less standard materials on site. Corruption has also been traced
in the selection of suitable contractor for the execution of projects in
Nigeria i.e. during procurement of contracts.
Time and cost have also been one of
the major problems of Nigerian construction industry and all effort to solve
this problem has been abortive. The aim of this research is to access some of
these problem and challenges encountered by the ongoing construction work in
Abuja city. Problem like efficiency in the design production and the
construction stage which include cost control, reducing wastage on site, useful
use of materials, encouraging the use of local materials for less energy in use
and reduction also in the use of high cost material such as steel and cement.
Another challenge in this industry is low standard of living of peoplewhichpose
the need for new construction work to kickoff, poverty level of people
contributes to the low standard of living of people which require installation
of new and better infrastructure and basic for people (food, shelter,
clothing’s). As a result of these problems faced by the ongoing constructions
projects in Nigeria industry led to these research questions:
1. What are the major challenges
encountered in construction projects in Nigeria?
2. What are the factors causing these
challenges in ongoing construction projects?
3. What are the preventive or remedy
measures to be taken to prevent challenges encountered in ongoing
construction projects?
4. How do these challenges affect
completion time and price?
1.3Research Hypothesis
(RH) formulated for this study was:
RHo: price fluctuation is
significant in the completion time of ongoing construction projects.
RH1: proper supervision and planning
improve work progress without delays.
1.4Aim and Objectives
The aim of this research is to
evaluate the challenges of ongoing constructions projects in Nigeria
construction industry. The specific objectives are:
- To determine the major challenges facing ongoing construction projects in Nigeria.
- To evaluate the factors causing challenges in ongoing construction projects.
- To evaluate the preventive measures to challenges faced in ongoing construction projects.
- To determine how these challenges experienced affect completion time and price.
1.5Scope and Limitations of the
Study
This research was undertaken to
evaluate the challenges faced by ongoing constructions in the Nigeria
construction in the city of Abuja. This in view accesses the facts and factors
influencing construction production, “building construction”, causes of
collapse and building deteriorating fast after some years of construction.
Ongoing residential building constructions as well as commercial and industrial
buildings were covered for these research work. In this research, only the
professionals in the Nigeria construction industry were given chance to
evaluate some of the problem encountered by ongoing construction project in the
industry.
To improve the social attributes of
construction industry, standard of living of people through poverty
alleviation, provision of amenities, regulation of building project cost, stop
tribal segregation and provision of a safe environment to work should be
ensured.
No comments:
Post a Comment