A novel approach to solving waste incidence of materials on building projects is to framework the issues and processes that are involved in its minimization. The objective of the study is to develop and validate frameworks for material waste minimization in building projects. This study is a survey research in South West Nigeria. Define, Review, Identify, Verify and Execute (DRIVE) and Construction Process Improvement Methodology (CPIM) techniques were used to develop the proposed frameworks; while the validation was done by face validity and scoring model approaches. A pilot validation was done by five academics while the main validation involved 17 potential end users. Data were analysed with frequency and percentage. The study reveals that the frameworks are clear, informative, appropriate and applicable. It is concluded that the frameworks can minimize material waste at every stage of building projects. It is therefore recommended that the proposed FMWM should be adopted by all stakeholders to prevent and minimize material waste at all stages of building projects.Keywords: CPIM, DRIVE, Frameworks, Minimization, Prevention, Waste.

The study investigates the essential skill requirements for construction managers in Nigeria. The objective is to determine the most important skill requirements for construction managers. A structured questionnaire was administered to construction professionals who worked recently with construction managers in their recently completed projects. Snowballing sampling technique was used to select seventy (70) respondents, however only forty (40) responses were used for the data analysis. The results indicate that essential skills required by the construction managers for their jobs include: procedural-industrial skills, quality assurance/management, listening skills, knowledge of codes and regulations, sustainable skills and ability to learn skills. These skills are important for the construction manager to practice effectively in Nigeria and other developing countries. These findings have seven practical implications to professional bodies, Universities and other trainers of construction managers, whose present curricula may be deficient in knowledge areas in industry (business, managerial, personal and technical). These institutions may need to re-orientate and improve the curricula for newly trained construction managers to cope with current skill requirements. On the other hand, recruiting agencies should ensure that job applicants with the right hard and soft skills are engaged as construction managers. Consequently efficient and effective management of future construction projects in Nigeria and other developing countries can be ensured.

Procurement characteristics of Traditional and Labour-only are compared in some selected states of Nigeria. The objective of this study is to examine if procurement risks, generation of claims, variations to original design, control of sub-contractors and procurement prospects are the same for both methods. The study obtains its primary data through the use of designed questionnaires that are sent to clients, contractors and consultants. In all, 120 questionnaires were sent to these respondents who recently completed their housing projects based on the two methods. Results of the study indicate that there is no significant difference between both methods in terms of risks of value for money, getting good satisfaction, generation of more claims and variation to original design while a significant difference exists between both methods in risk of timely completion of project. Labour-only method demonstrates less risk of timely completion of project than the Traditional method. Characteristics of both methods are not significantly different from each other when control of subcontractors, benefits of getting good quality material and workmanship, satisfaction with co-ordination and planning. improved relationship between project team and timely delivery of project are benefits of comparisons. Labour-only differs significantly from Traditional method in terms of prospect of getting good value for money spent on the project. This study concludes that there are various types of risks inherent in use of both methods in housing projects and Labour-only method indicates characteristics of early completion of project and prospects of getting good value for money. Recommendations of the study are that clients, contractors and consultants should use Labour-only for execution of their future housing projects and also they are at liberty to use any of the two methods as they best satisfy their requirements. Implications of this study to policy makers and other stakeholders in the construction industry is that Labour-only method should be explored for use in large and complex projects as significant cost savings can be achieved, timely delivery of project and good value for money are equally achievable with the use of the method. Results of this study serve as a springboard for further research in perfecting the use of Labour-only method for construction projects. Keywords: Comparisons, Procurement characteristics, Traditional and Labour-only procurements, Nigeria.

Within the Nigerian construction industry there has been a lack of research profiling the adoptability of green building practices in construction projects. The aim of this study is to investigate factors determining the adoptability of green building practices. The objectives of the study are to compare perception of stakeholders on factors determining the adoptability of green building principles in construction projects and also to find out the constraints in implementing green building principles. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information from various respondents who were built environment professionals. Random sampling technique was used to select one hundred and fifty (150) respondents out of which ninety-one (91) responses were used for the data analysis. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results indicated that green building practices adoptable by  building industry professional include, site sustainability, material and resource conservation, energy conservation, maintenance and building operation, occupant health and safety, water conservation, recycling and waste reduction.  Barriers affecting green practices include lack of awareness, expertise and higher cost. The findings have important implications for policy and practice. The study recommends full establishment of Green Building Council of Nigeria (GBCN) that will be responsible for awareness creation, introduction of guidelines, tools and techniques that will drive green building practices for future project. KEYWORDS: Adoptability, Green Building, Nigeria, Perception, Stakeholders.

Aim of study is to investigate Critical Success Sub-factors (CSSFs) contributing to successful implementation of PPP projects. Objectives are to compare perception of stakeholders on importance of CSSFs contributing to successful implementation of PPP projects in Nigeria and also to test whether there is significant agreement between the stakeholders on their rankings of CSSFs. Structured questionnaires were used to collect information from professionals and concessionaires who were involved in PPP projects. Purposive sampling technique was used in selecting fifty (50) respondents and only thirty-six (36) responses were used for data analysis. Results suggest that CSSFs for successful implementation of PPP project are integrity, complexity of project, project management expertise, realistic cost/benefit assessment, government guarantee, private sector financial capability and adequate financial market that must be considered by all stakeholders. There is an agreement in the opinion of both the Public and Private sectors on the importance of CSSFs except for strong private consortium where opinions differ. Implications of this study for policy makers in government and stakeholders is for government to provide adequate guarantee for implementation of PPP project that would enable equitable participation of the Private sector and for practice concessionaires with good integrity, financial capability and project management expertise must be considered for future PPP projects. The study concludes that some CSSFs are important for successful implementation of PPP projects in Nigeria and good agreement was obtained between stakeholders perception on the most important CSSFs for successful implementation of PPP projects. The study recommends that governments must provide good guarantee for PPP project implementation. The proposed CSSFs are recommended to all stakeholders and practitioners for their use and adoption in future PPP projects and governments must consider for future PPP projects in Nigeria such concessionaires that will provide realist cost and benefit assessments of the projects. Keywords: Stakeholders, Perception, Critical Success Sub-Factors, Public-Private Partnership, Nigeria.

This paper examines building materials used in construction in Nigeria and asks whether local and conventional building materials are perceived by construction stakeholders to be more environmentally sustainable than innovative building materials. The reason for the investigation stems from a lack of clarity about which of these building material classifications is more environmentally sustainable. The study also aimed to establish whether stakeholders accept the claims made by manufacturers about the environmental sustainability of their building products. The environmental sustainability of the selected building materials was measured using indicators and metrics developed from the literature. The study established that there are no significant differences in the level of environmental impact among the four classes of building materials considered (local, conventional, recycled-content and innovative). In general terms, the cohort of innovative building materials/products is perceived to be ‘greener’ than local innovative building materials, which are considered to be environmentally better than conventional building materials. Based on the findings, this paper concludes that construction industry stakeholders do not acknowledge claims made by manufacturers about the environmental sustainability of their building materials.

Within the Nigerian and Sub-Saharan African construction industries generally there has been a lack of research profiling the constructability practices of contractors and possible barriers to the use of appropriate methods. The aim of this study was to assess constructability practices of contractors in construction projects in this context. The objectives were to identify current constructability practices, and to examine the barriers typically affecting constructability practices. Convenience sampling was used to select 19 contractors in Lagos state, Nigeria, who were interviewed using a structured interview protocol. The data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics. Results indicated that constructability practices common to contractors include checking M & E drawings for clashes and errors; site-layout planning; and preparation of schedule/construction programmes. In-situ constructions, crane/lifting equipment, formwork technologies and external scaffolding systems were used during site operations. Barriers affecting constructability practices stem from contractors’ internal conditions, external factors, and project-related factors including design, lack of knowledge in construction methods, and project size and complexity. The findings have important implications for policy and practice. We recommend public laws making it mandatory for projects to implement constructability reviews and analyses. We also recommend that practice-experienced constructors be employed on projects, and that professional bodies train and educate members on constructability principles and practice for the better management of projects.

Two procurement methods of Traditional and Labour-only are investigated and compared for performance. Labour-only procurement is recently thought to offer cheaper, better and quality projects than Tradition al method for which this study is set to substantiate. Purpose of the study is to compare the two methods for performance, to find out which of the two methods is better in over all performance and also to model procurement performance. This study is a survey research that used structured questionnaires to collect data from clients, consul tants and contractors in 120 recently completed construction projects that used both Traditional and Labour-only methods. Results indicate that there is no significant diffe rence between the performances of both methods while Traditional procurement performs better than the Labour-only method. Relationship exists between client, designer, const ruction, procurement characteristics and overall performance of Labour-only and Traditional procurements. Implications of this study are for policy makers in government to d evelop their awareness on procurement performance for future projects; the proposed regression models support the procurement theory while practitioners and stakeholders should imbibe procurement performance for management of future projects. This study expands existing literature on construction procurement and it recommends Traditional procurement to clients, consultants and contractors for use in their housing projects. The regression models proposed are recommended for measuring procurement performance of completed projects. Awareness on procurement performance should be disseminated by professional bodies and other agencies involved in housing delivery for improvement of future projects.

The aim of this study is to find out the effects of outsourcing practice on performance of mobile telephone providers. Purposes of the study are to investigate if outsourcing practice of mobile providers result in  unemployment and also to find out the key performance indicators for assessing their performance. This study is a survey research that used questionnaires to collect data from mobile telephone engineers, technicians, project managers and customers. Forty (40) questionnaires were sent to mobile operators staff who were selected by random sampling technique from their payrolls while sixty (60) were sent to various customers who were selected by convenience sampling technique. Results indicate that all outsourcing vendors have taken full responsibility of all outsourced jobs and most operators do not have new job roles for staff whose functions are outsourced. Average revenue per user, minutes of use and receiving few queries on network are KPIs for assessing performance of mobile telephone providers while their performance do not depend on subscribers’ churn rate, active subscribers, subscribers complaints and activations. Implications of study to policy makers in government and mobile telephone operators is the need to entrench Service Level Agreements into outsourcing contracts while findings of study support outsourcing theory. Conclusions are outsourcing practice contributes to high unemployment and downsizing for mobile providers firms and consequently contributes to country’s unemployment problem which may adversely affect the economy. Most mobile telephone providers in Nigeria have performed well in revenue, usage and network quality and not by subscribers’ PKIs. Recommendations are mobile operators are to employ competent vendors for their outsourcing jobs as to enhance performance while their profits are to be ploughed back into their business as to improve and increase present level of infrastructural facilities in use. They should also improve their subscriber’s KPI’s so as to reduce churn rates and congestions currently witnessed in their networks. Keywords: Outsourcing practice, performance, telephone service providers, Nigeria

The study investigates key performance indicators (KPIs) that could improve performance of public-private partnership PPP)projects in Nigeria. The study objectives include a comparison of stakeholders’ perception on KPIs and to investigate if significant difference exists between stakeholders’ perceptions on most KPIs. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information from various respondents who were recently involved in PPP projects. Random sampling technique was used to select forty-five (45) respondents out of which thirty-one (31) responses were used forthe data analysis. The results indicate that top KPIs for performance improvement are levels of design complexity and technological advancement,and return on investment. Stakeholders agree on most of the rankings of the KPIs. The general perception of stakeholders was similar on most KPIs except for a few divergent opinions. The study findings have an implication for policy and decision making such that stakeholders could pay special attention to the KPIs identified, that could improve construction project performance. Finally the study recommends further research to explore KPIs for other procurement options.

Several Literatures in construction management support the view that procurements have impacts on project performance. Aim of this study is to investigate the effects of procurement related factors of procurement selection criteria, tendering methods and variation orders on project performance. Purpose of the study is to evaluate the effects of procurement related factors on project performance. Snowballing sampling technique was used in selecting forty (40) construction organizations in Lagos metropolitan city that participated in the study and thirty-one (31) responses were secured from Architects, Builders, Engineers and Quantity Surveyors. Results of the study indicate that procurement selection criteria of cost, time, quality, project characteristics and external environmental factors have effects on project performance. Competitive, open and selective tendering methods have high impacts on project performance. No significant difference was found between the impacts of tendering methods on project performance. Variation orders impact project performance with time, cost overruns and disputes and it have effects on project performance. Conclusions are that procurement selection criteria, tendering methods and variation orders have impacts on project performance. Cost, time, quality related factors, tendering methods and variation orders strongly affect project performance. Recommendations to clients, stakeholders, practitioners and consultants are on the onset to consider tendering methods, use selective, open and competitive tendering approaches and discourage excessive variation orders during construction. Policy makers in government, clients, and private developers into housing projects should give adequate attention for selecting appropriate procurement and tendering methods for better management of future projects in Nigeria and other developing countries.Key words: Procurement, Construction project, Performance, Nigeria

Correlates of procurement performance of Traditional and Labour- only methods are investigated. Purpose of this study is to investigate if procurement challenges, contractual procedures, designer's experience, building type and final contract sum have influences on the performance of both methods. 120 questionnaires were sent out to the various respondents who have used the two methods. 64 responses were received from 39 Traditional projects and 25 Labour-only projects. Results indicate that unit cost of Labour-only correlates significantly with all procurement challenges. Unit cost of Traditional procurement also correlates significantly with lack of adequate supervision while build time and total time both demonstrate significant relationships with most challenges. Labour-only performance factors demonstrate no significant correlation with contractual procedure, designer's experience; build type and final contract sum. Traditional performance factors demonstrate no significant correlation with contractual procedures and designer's experience while it demonstrates significant correlations with building type and final contract sum. Study concludes that procurement challenges in both methods affect their unit cost, build time and total time and may be expensive to use both methods. Performances of both methods do not depend on contractual procedure, and designer's experience but that of Traditional method can be influenced by building type and final contract sum. Study recommendsthat consultants, clients and stakeholders should ensure that all challenges are well managed to avoid cost escalations. For better performance of future projects unit cost should be kept low while cost and time overruns must be avoided.Keywords: Correlates, Procurement performance, Traditional, Labour-only, Nigeria

This study adopt laboratory controlled experiment approach, in order to induce the worst scenario of concrete mix and determine the consequent effect on reinforced concrete element; a mix ratio of 1:3:6 was adopted for the experiment. Reinforced concrete elements were cast using both lagoon and ocean water while fresh water was used as a control experiment. These samples were buried at a depth of 1.5m below the ocean and lagoon bed soil characteristics and observed for a period of 150 days. Both the ocean and the lagoon samples increases in compressive strength from 10.65N/mm2 and 10.57N/mm2 on 7th day to 17.05N/mm2 and 18.04N/mm2 on the 21st day respectively as against the 14.20N/mm2 on 7th day to 17.05N/mm2 and 18.04N/mm2 fresh water sample. On 14th day fresh water sample has 17.48N/mm2 as against 12.10N/mm2 and 12.55N/mm2 recorded for both ocean and lagoon water samples. The findings revealed that concrete sample cast and cured with fresh water gained appreciable compressive strength over 150 days period while sample cast and cured with ocean and lagoon water slowly increase in strength but lower when compared with fresh water reinforced concrete element. Therefore the study recommended that a rich mix other than 1:3:6 and 1:3:5 be strictly enforced on construction sites for concrete under saline attack, increase concrete cover be used for protection against corrosion, and that non destructive test be carried out on all formworks under vertical loads like slabs and beams before they are stripped.

and procurement method has been in use in Nigeria and this method has been latent with a lot of risks. This study intends to identify the risk inherent in Design and and also to evaluate the impact of the identified risks on project performance. A descriptive research survey is undertaken for this study. Snowballing sampling technique was used via the use of questionnaires. Population of the study includes contracting organizations, consultants and clients' organizations that are recently involved in Design and projects. A total of 39 questionnaires were distributed and 27 were returned and used for the analysis. Statistical Package for Social Sciences was used for analyzing the data collected. Descriptive statistical tool of mean item score was employed for the analysis. The results show that the most prominent risk is change in quantity/scope of work in terms of cost related risk while in terms of time related risks the most prominent risk is design changes. Errors and omissions during construction are the risks prominent in terms of quality. In conclusion, Design and procurement has a lot of inherent, unresolved and undefined cost, time and quality related factors that can trigger off risks that will affect performance of DB project. Implications of this study to practitioners in the construction is such that the findings of this study can create awareness for stakeholders and construction practitioners of the prominent risks that affect DB projects and this can help in better management of future DB projects in Nigeria and other developing countries. and Build procurement in spite of these plethora of risks is still strongly recommended for clients, stakeholders and other practitioners in the construction industry for use in their future projects. This procurement method delivers project faster, within cost and offers good quality of workmanship and product to users of this method.

The philosophy of every maintenance practice and operation in any organization is usually to provide a structurally sound and aesthetically appealing environment throughout the life of a property. Maintenance has generally been referred to as all works carried out to keep and restore an item to a currently acceptable standard. This work evaluates the performance of facilities maintenance management in the maintenance of sport complexes in South–West Nigeria. The study research method includes physical observation, administration of questionnaires to measure performance. In order to gather information, structured questionnaires were administer at the study area (the six stadia covered), the management staff, the maintenance staff and the user of the facilities in each of the stadia, covering kiosk owner, sport men and women, spectators, and lover of sports. The study revealed some factors affecting performance in the maintenance of sports complexes among which are: funding, organizational structure, political factors, ownership types, and security. The study concluded that it is only when adequate fund is provided and fully utilized in the maintenance of sport complexes that one will enjoy the initial investment in them and the consequent accruing benefits from the complexes will be achieved. The study recommended among others facts that the government should set aside part of her annual budget to maintenance of the sport complexes so as to ensure their fitness and world class standard at all time which will consequently reduce the operating cost and increase the revenue generating capacity of the stadium.

In the construction industry, project site operatives see resources wastefulness as inevitable. Moreover, there is often an absence of appropriate resources to support waste management. This notion makes participants to a project exhibit nonchalantly towards optimising the “nuclear use” construction resources. It is also an important realisation that, these resources, materials, manpower and machinery are not only increasing in cost daily but also becoming increasingly scarce. Previous research has shown that more than 30% of construction resources often end up wasted during the building production process. These emanate the rational to evaluate the issues of ‘budgeting for resources waste syndromes’ in building industry, and to identify the appropriate measure of achieving optimal utilisation of these resources. This paper identifies the behavioural features of site participants in resources wastefulness and provides an incentive framework for achieving efficient utilisation of construction resources, which include self-fulfilment, belong-ness and appraisal. Adequate implementation of the framework proposed will not only be beneficial to the construction practitioners and researchers, but will also enhance construction sustainability and lean thinking in this building industry-regenerating era.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate if the various risk sources in Design and Build projects can be classified into three risk groups of cost, time and quality using the discriminant analysis technique. Literature search was undertaken to review issues of risk sources, classification of the identified risks into a risk structure, management of risks and effects of risks all on Design and Build projects as well as concepts of discriminant analysis as a statistical technique. This literature review was undertaken through the use of internet, published papers, journal articles and other published reports on risks in Design and Build projects. A research questionnaire was further designed to collect research information. This research study is a survey research that utilized cross-sectional design to capture the primary data. The data for the survey was collected in Nigeria. In all 40 questionnaires were sent to various respondents that included Architects, Engineers, Quantity Surveyors and Builders who had used Design and Build procurement method for their recently completed projects. Responses from these retrieved questionnaires that measured the impact of risks on Design and Build were analyzed using the discriminant analysis technique through the use of SPSS software package to build two discriminant models for classifying risks into cost, time and quality risk groups. Results of the study indicate that time overrun and poor quality are the two factors that discriminate between cost, time and quality related risk groups. These two discriminant functions explain the variation between the risk groups. All the discriminating variables of cost overrun, time overrun and poor quality demonstrate some relationships with the two discriminant functions. The two discriminant models built can classify risks in Design and Build projects into risk groups of cost, time and quality. These classifications models have 72% success rate of classification of risks in Design and Build projects. These models are strongly recommended for use of clients, Design and Build contractors and Risk Managers for the management, control and mitigation of future risks in new Design and Build projects. These models will offer appreciable improvements in risk management and mitigations which can enhance better management of future Design and Build projects. This study also recommends that clients and contractors using Design and Build approach should watch out for emerging issues of cost overrun and poor quality in their projects as these can dictate classification of newly encountered risks.

Construction project work in developing and emerging economics such as Nigeria is very much on the increase. Its successful completion has been of paramount concern to all project stakeholders. To forestall a waste of scarce economic resources, it would therefore be of great help to identify the factors that are responsible for project success and failure.The identified factors will serve as a tool to assess whether the project is on the right track or not. In view of this, a thorough review of related literature was carried out and a number of factors were found t be responsible for project success as well as failure. The factors are mainly client related (funding), consultant related (appropriateness of designs) contractor/project manger related (planning and quality performance)., Others are government policies, corrupt practices, environmental factors, economic, political and social factors and stakeholders' involvement.A detailed survey was conducted using questionnaires and personal interview with respondents, total of 70 questionnaires were given out randomly to respondents in the construction industry of which 53 was retrieved.The data collected was analysed using SPSS.The analysed data revealed that amongst other factors; changes in government policies, inadequate funding and lack of technical expertise are factors responsible for project failure. On the other hand, clarity of project objectives, information and communication management are efficient manner of project execution amongst other factors were established to be the factors that are responsible for project success.Also, from the data amortization of funds, stakeholder involvement, sufficient funding amongst other factor were identified as factors that mitigate project failure. The data further showed that there is no difference in client perceptions as to what contributes most highly to both project success and failure. Therefore, addressing the issues of project success and failure involves the active participation of all stakeholders in the construction industry as well as the government. Each party to any project is required to play his role effectively and efficiently to achieve success in project delivery.Having identified these factors project executors will be in a better position to achieve greater success in project delivery in Nigeria.

The quest of construction project stakeholders is effective control of cost and time. Accomplishing this quest however, remains a difficult task. This study examines factors affecting cost and time control of construction projects with a view to proposing recommendations that could assist stakeholders to achieve enhanced cost and time performance of construction projects. A survey of professionals managing construction projects in Lagos, Nigeria was conducted. Structured questionnaire was developed and administered to eighty (80) managers of construction projects who were randomly selected from a sample frame of One-hundred (100) construction project contractors. A total of fifty-two (52) questionnaires were retrieved representing 62% response rate. Using Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 20.0, descriptive and inferential statistical tools including, bar chart, mean, minimum and maximum values, frequency tables, T-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were employed to analyse collected data. The results of the analysis revealed that the top three significant factors affecting cost and time control of construction projects are; design and documentation issues, poor labour productivity and financial resource management. This study recommends the avoidance of poor work quality in construction activities. Also, project and construction managers should focus on project tripod constraints of cost, quality and time while workers hired and deployed on construction projects should be adequately skilled in order to achieve desired cost and time performance.