Poor quality project delivery is major problems that face the Nigeria construction industry. It's of high concern to those who are involved in the construction industry. This study was carried out to identify the major causes of poor...
morePoor quality project delivery is major problems that face the Nigeria construction industry. It's of high concern to those who are involved in the construction industry. This study was carried out to identify the major causes of poor quality project delivery in Nigeria building construction industry, by means of a literature review and a questionnaire survey. A total of fifty (50) poor quality causative factors were obtained from literature. The questionnaire survey was distributed to randomly selected respondents from a combination of clients, consultants, contractors, site-engineers, project-managers and subcontractors. In all, one hundred and forty one (141) questionnaires were distributed to randomly selected respondents (clients, consultants, contractors, site-engineers, project-managers and subcontractors), one hundred and thirty two (132) questionnaires were returned out of which three (3) questionnaires were found incomplete and invalid. Only one hundred and twenty nine (129) questionnaires were found consistent and valid for use in this research. Relative Importance Index (RII) and Severity Index were used to carry out ranking analysis. Based on the data received, the most severe factors affecting project quality in Nigeria construction industries are: construction mistakes, use of inexperienced labours, poor checking and inspection, Poor motivation System (incentives), Poor management commitment and leadership styles, Unavailability of good quality construction materials, Limitation of finance and budget, Inadequate timely supervision among others. Their severity ranges from 89.4% to 80.5%. 1. INTRODUCTION The construction industry is very important in the socioeconomic growth of a nation, as it improves the overall Gross Domestic product (GDP) of a nation. The successful completion of construction projects within the time frame, budget allocation and of expected quality and durability is therefore fundamentally crucial [2]. The construction industry like any other production industry is faced with challenges that affect the performance and output of the endeavor. Identifying potential critical factors that affect the quality performance of small scale contractors before the commencement of projects will ensure client satisfaction at the completion of project. Identifying the potential critical factors will however not eliminate the problem of quality but to a large extent help project team to avoid such negative factors and strictly adhere to project specifications to reduce errors which will call for rework by consultants. Completion of projects in time within the budget, and with desired quality is basic requirements which are seldom achieved in the construction industry. Construction industries in Nigeria are facing a lot of challenges in managing construction projects in areas of quality and budget management. In order to reduce cost and maximize profit, some contractors risk using inferior construction materials and incapable human resources which ultimately results in poor quality and thus compromise safety standards [14]. Failure in achieving required quality also has significant negative impact on project costs. Another problem faced by construction industry is poor quality standards. It is very common and serious problem as the expected quality is not complied in the construction projects [6]. Failure in achieving required quality has also significant impact of project cost. [7] stated that quality cost (non-conformance) in construction industry of USA contributed to 12% of total project cost. [5];[8] and [9] studying quality performance of construction projects through case studies showed that quality failures had resulted in rework which incurred extra cost approximately 2% to 12% of project cost while[11] stated that quality rectification problems contributed to approximately 3.4% to 6.2% of project cost. A variety of authors have provided different categorizations of quality problems, but there have been few attempts to collect together and unify the major sources and factors that affect quality in a comprehensive manner. This research will identify the causative factors of poor quality under different groups. Identifying potential critical factors that affect the quality performance of small scale contractors before the commencement of projects will ensure client satisfaction at the completion of project. Identifying these critical factors may not eliminate the problem of quality but to a large extent help project team to avoid such negative factors and strictly adhere to project specifications to reduce construction mistakes and errors which can leads to rework by consultants. The research is aimed at determining the most severe factors influencing project quality for an efficient and effective project quality management in Nigeria. construction industry. The specific objectives are to: identify the factors influencing project quality, group the factors and to rank the factors.
