Building Failure and Collapse in Nigeria: the Influence of the Informal Sector

The occurrence of building failure and collapse has become a major issue of concern in the development of this nation as the magnitudes of this incident are becoming very alarming. This paper therefore examines the incidents of building failure/collapse in Nigeria. By focusing on six major states from each of the six geo-political regions of the country, the paper examined the contributory role of the informal sector to this decadence. The study indicated that the building failure and collapse stem principally from hasty construction, low quality workmanship, poor supervision, inexperience (use of incompetent hands), ignorance, evasion/ non-compliance with building regulations and non enforcement of building quality, standard and control on construction site/market. This study has revealed that more than 70% of the reported cases of building collapse in Nigeria stemmed from the informal sector. It further showed that 70-0%, 23-3% and 6.7% of the reported cases occurred in private, public and corporate organizations respectively. In this paper, it is concluded that it is important to educate or giver further advice to the government and the governmental agencies to be proactive to their duties in order to curb/reduce this negative image

Cost Management Practice of Construction Firms and Its Influencing Factors: Lessons from Southwestern Nigeria

The growing need at maintaining steady cost projection of construction projects has been an issue of serious concern to both the clients and the construction practitioners on sites. Also, cost deviation from initial cost plan and cost budget has been prevalent on construction sites and no concerted efforts have been made at addressing this phenomenon. This study therefore examined the factors that are considered to be affecting the cost management practice of construction firms in the southwestern Nigeria and also proffered possible ways of ameliorating the factors. Using survey approach, one hundred copies each of structured questionnaires were distributed to clients, contractors and consultants on construction sites in the study area while 72, 77 and 78 copies were duly filled and returned by the respondents respectively. Relative Importance Index (RII) technique was used for the analysis. The results revealed that poor leadership and in appropriate management, inefficient deployment of resources, excessive wastage of materials on sites, complex payment mechanisms, theft of materials on sites and variation during construction works are the prevailing factors affecting construction cost management practice in the study area. It was concluded that extra focus should be placed on the identified factors with a view to reducing cost of construction, enhancing construction performance and building confidence within the construction industry in the study area

The Performance of Traditional contract procurement on Housing projects in Nigeria.

The traditional contract procurement has been widely criticized as an ineffective procurement method because it often involves time and cost overrun on construction projects. Yet the method is still being widely used in Nigeria most especially for the procurement of housing projects. It is suspected that this procurement method may not be ineffective in all cost categories of housing projects. Therefore time and cost performances of the procurement method on 57 housing projects of varying cost categories initiated by the Nigerian government between 1993 and 1999 were studied. The category of one to five million naira (US$1.00 ≈ 92 Nigerian Naira in 1999) showed the least time overrun of 18.98% while the highest time overrun of 99.64 % was shown in the five to ten million naira. The over ten million naira category had the least cost overrun of 9.13% while the highest cost overrun of 34.55 % was shown in the less than one million naira. The one to five million naira cost category exhibited weak correlation between time and cost overruns but the five million naira and above categories showed strong correlation. It was concluded that one to five million naira cost category is quite suitable for traditional contract procurement on housing projects in Nigeria

Manpower Planning and Development in the Nigerian Construction Industry

In view of the present competitiveness and the general brain drain across the nations, manpower planning and development are becoming increasingly important within the industry. This paper therefore discussed the current manpower situation in the Nigerian industry with a special emphasis on the construction industry in Nigeria. It began with a broad review of manpower planning and its development. It was revealed that modem manpower management relies upon formal programmes of development for all kinds and levels of employees through training, education and effective communication. It then concluded by highlighting the strategies for effective manpower development in construction industry and the general industry in Nigeria. They include the establishment of easily achievable goal, the development of a set of objectives to assist in the realization of the goal and the formulation · of implementation strategies for each of the objectives.This paper discusses the current manpower situation in the Nigerian industry with a special emphasis on the construction industry in Nigeria. It begins with a broad review of manpower planning and its development. It was revealed that modem manpower management relies upon formal programmes of development for all kinds and levels of employees through training, education and effective communication. It then concludes by highlighting the strategies for effective manpower development in construction industry and the general industry in Nigeria. They include the establishment of easily achievable goal, the development of a set of objectives to assist in the realisation of the goal and the formulation of implementation strategies for each of the objective

Developing Plant and Equipment Policy for Indigenous Construction Firms in Nigeria

Plant and equipment play an increasing role in building/engineering operations in such a way that both time and money can be saved by their efficient use. The paper therefore discussed the general plant policy in the construction industry and went further to develop a plant/equipment policy for indigenous construction firms in Nigeria. Using a stratified sampling technique, the opinions of ninety indigenous contractors were randomly sampled from three commercial nerve centres ofthe country (Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt). The paper revealed that the indigenous construction firms invest little or nothing on plant/equipment purchase and therefore have no policy in place. It then concluded that for the plant policy to be efficiently executed, it is desirable to install a recording and costing system which should include, among other things, an asset register comprising an inventory of each plant item in the fleet with information on the date of purchase, registration/code number, location and the hours operated

The Influence of Training on Bricklayers’ Productivity in Nigeria

The global economic situation and the need for construction contractors to remain in business in this competitive environment have made productivity improvement more and more important. This study therefore investigated the impact of formal and informal trainings on the productivity of bricklayers in three commercial nerve centres of Nigeria (Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt).To achieve this, questionnaires, backed up with interviews and on-site measurements were conducted on the management and bricklayers of construction firms who were randomly drawn from the three categories of construction firms in the country (large-sized, medium-sized and small-sized firms). 90 and 180 structured questionnaires were distributed to the management and bricklayers in the study area while 72 and 118 questionnaires were respectively filled and returned in this regard. The results of the descriptive and inferential statistical techniques indicated that training had significant effect on the productivity of bricklayers in Nigeria. Other factors such as monetary and nonmonetary incentives, planning and control, organizational strategy, supervision aspects and general management also had their contributory effects to bricklayers’ productivity. The study concluded that the issue of training should be accorded a priority attention by the managements of construction firms in order to attain greater workers’ productivity on construction sites

IT Management of Building Materials’ Planning and Control Processes Using Web-Based Technologies

Mismanagement of building materials has constantly plagued the construction industry resulting in issues of cost overrun, delay, high levels of construction waste, wastefulness, project abandonment, climate change etc. The purpose of the research is to examine an IT management of building materials’ planning and control processes using web-based technologies. The study made use of a desktop review of literature and a case diagram to illustrate the various interactions involved in the use of an IT system. A framework of drivers and barriers that affect the use of web-based technologies in planning and control of building materials in order to be able to achieve IT management by Construction Managers and construction firm’s head office was developed. In conclusion, the study developed a framework of a web-based material planning and control system for construction project delivery that engenders openness, transparency and accountability in the management of building materials on construction sites

Evaluation of Energy Use in Public Housing in Lagos, Nigeria: Prospects for Renewable Energy Sources

Even though domestic energy can be from either renewable or non-renewable sources, the former is preferred because of its role in reducing both the operational energy intensity and carbon footprint. Given the positive role renewable energy plays in the energy mix, this paper examined the pattern of operational energy use with particular reference to the renewable and non-renewable energy content in medium and high density public residential buildings in Lagos, Nigeria. A survey research method was adopted for primary data collection while data analysis was by descriptive statistics. The study found that renewable energy use in the residential units is very low. In contrast, there was high dependence of the occupants on non-renewable direct fuel combustion through the use of fossil fuel-driven privately-owned electricity generators for electricity supply as a result of the inadequate supply from the national grid. In addition to the relatively high operational energy intensity observed in the studied buildings, the findings have implications for the safety, health and wellbeing of the building occupants as well as for carbon emissions from the buildings and for overall environmental sustainability. Recommendations to increase renewable energy use in new buildings and as retrofits in existing buildings were made. Article History: Received Oct 18, 2015; Received in revised form January 14, 2016; Accepted January 30, 2016; Available online How to Cite This Article: Ezema, I.C., Olotuah, A.O., and Fagbenle, O.I, S. (2016) Evaluation of Energy Use in Public Housing in Lagos, Nigeria: Prospects for Renewable Energy Sources. Int. Journal of Renewable Energy Development, 5(1),15-24. http://dx.doi.org/10.14710/ijred.5.1.15-2

EFFECTS OF PARTIAL REPLACEMENT OF SAND WITH LATERITIC SOIL IN SANDCRETE BLOCKS

Of recent, the attention of most researchers is shifting towards the optimization of building materials by using local contents; the use of indigenous materials; and local industrial by-products unique and abundant in certain localities. This study therefore explored ways in which lateritic soil could be utilised in hollow sandcrete block production in Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. Sandcrete blocks were made with lateritic soil taken from different sources replacing the conventional fine aggregate (local river sand) in steps of 10% up to 60%. Their compressive strengths determined to check for conformity with standard sandcrete block as specified in the Nigerian National Building Code (2006) with a view to determine the acceptable percentage replacement. Soil tests were performed on the lateritic soil samples to characterise the soils. Classification of the lateritic soil samples within Ota, revealed that the lateritic soils are mostly sandy clay of high plasticity and may replace sand by up to 20%, though an approximate linear decrease in strength with increasing sand replacement with lateritic soil was observed. This percentage replacement can be recommended to the block making industries within Ota with a view to encouraging utilization, though it is encouraged to confirm the percentage before embarking on mass block production