Most Critical Factors Responsible for Poor Project Quality Performance in Building Construction Industry (A Case Study of Three Major Cities in Nigeria)

European International Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 8 No. 2 March 2019 Cite this article: Dorcas,O.A.B., Elkanah, A.O., & John, O.O (2019). Most Critical Factors Responsible For Poor Project Quality Performance in Building Construction Industry (A Case Study of Three Major Cities in Nigeria). European International Journal of Science and Technology, 8(2), 1-14. 1 Most Critical Factors Responsible For Poor Project Quality Performance in Building Construction Industry (A Case Study of Three Major Cities in Nigeria) Oluyemi-Ayibiowu, Bamitale Dorcas1, Aiyewalehinmi, Olumide Elkanah2, Omolayo, Oluwakayode John3 1,2,3 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria Published: 13 March 2019 Copyright © Dorcas et al. ABSTRACT 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 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 sub-contractors. 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%. European International Journal of Science and Technology ISSN: 2304-9693 www.eijst.org.uk 2 Key words: building construction industry; Relative Importance Index (RII); construction mistakes; Poor motivation System and Limitation of finance 1. INTRODUCTION The construction industry is very important in the socio-economic 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 re-work 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 (nonconformance) 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 re-work 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. European International Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 8 No. 2 March 2019 3 The scope of this research is limited to identification of the factors influencing project quality; and ranking of the most severe factors influencing quality of construction project. Relationship that exists between quality and other parameters such as: roles of project team (respondents); academic qualification; level of experience (in years); type of project; project funding; and past project challenges will be determined. The study is limited to projects within Nigeria, using Lagos, Abuja and Portharcourt metropolis of Nigeria as case study areas. Target respondents for this study are the principal actors in the construction industry namely: owner/client, consultant, contractor, site-engineers, project-managers, and subcontractors. The study involved: collection of site reports on quality of projects on some large construction sites; data collection from the selected project sites with the aid of structured and unstructured questionnaires; personal interviews; analysis of data. 1.2 POOR QUALITY 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. [3] identified among other factors; lack of management commitment to continual quality improvement; lack of quality training of staff; management leadership; efficient team work among stakeholders as generic factors that affect the quality process. [13] also identified lack of technical and professional expertise and resources to perform task, lack of employee commitment and understanding, lack of education and training to drive the improvement process when he studied the quality assurance practices of some selected construction firms in the Kumasi metropolis in Ghana. European International Journal of Science and Technology ISSN: 2304-9693 www.eijst.org.uk 4 Table 1: Quality Problems Factors Lack of contractor supervision (Arditi&Gunaydin, 1998; Wong & Fung, 1999) Poor relationship and partnering among project participants (Arditi&Gunaydin, 1998; Jha&lyer, 2006; Tang et al., 2009) Reduced Subcontractor responsibility (Leonard, 2008; Pheng& Wei, 1996; Wong & Fung, 1999) Inappropriate method of contractor selecting (Arditi&Gunaydin, 1998; Pheng& Wei, 1996) Poor quality procedure and department (Chan & Tarn, 2000; Moody, 2005; Saraph, et al., 1989) Lack of auditing system (Pheng& Wei, 1996; Samuels, 1994) Poor Training system (Arditi&Gunaydin, 1998) Low quality continues improvement (Joaquin et al., 2008; Pheng& Wei, 1 996) Lack of process improvement (Pheng& Wei, 1996; Saraph, et al., 1989) Lack of Management commitment (Hiyassat, 2000; Marosszeky, et al., 2002; Yung & Yip, 2010) Low effective project management system (Anderson, 1992; Chan & Tarn, 2000; Yung & Yip, 2010) Bureaucracy (Marosszeky, et al., 2002) Supplier impact (Arditi&Gunaydin, 1997; Wong & Fung, 1999) Low quality drawing and specification (Arditi&Gunaydin, 1998; Pheng& Wei, 1996) Design complexity (Chan & Tarn, 2000) Poor performance of quality tools (Arditi&Gunaydin, 1997; Leonard, 2008) Difficult application of quality system (Mohammed & Abdullah, 2006; Serpell, 1999) Project size and complexity (Chan & Tam, 2000; Jha&lyer, 2006) Material/Equipment specification (Hiyassat, 2000; Pheng& Wee, 2001) Project Environment (Chan & Tam, 2000) Low quality and poor availability of resources (Joaquin, et al., 2008; Yung & Yip, 2010) Lack of motivation (Marosszeky, et al., 2002; Pheng& Wee, 2001; Serpell, 1999) Source: Adenuga, 2013 2. MATERIAL AND METHOD 2.1 STUDY AREAS Three locations (study areas) were selected in Nigeria for this research. These are Abuja, Lagos and Portharcourt (as shown in Figure 1). The choice of locations was based on commercial viability, social status, economic considerations and area accessibility which provide opportunities for diverse industries like: construction, consulting, manufacturing, agriculture, telecom, marketing, legal, health and technological advancement. European International Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 8 No. 2 March 2019 5 Figure 1: Map of Nigeria showing study areas (Abuja, Lagos and Portharcourt) 2.2 DATA SOURCE Questionnaires were administered to collect necessary data, descriptive analysis of respondents’ characteristics, ranking and severity analysis, reliability statistics and Pearson correlation. A total of One hundred and twenty nine (129) experienced personnel involved in handling construction projects, responded to the questionnaires in Lagos, Abuja and Portharcourt, as a representative of the entire Nigeria construction sites. This research methodology was carried out under literature review, interviews, questionnaires survey and secondary data collection. These methods acted as supplement to each other which made the data collection more comprehensive, meaningful and valid. Basically, the literature review focused on gaining a better understanding of quality performance and causative factors of quality non-conformance or substandard in construction projects. These factors were analyzed in conformance to represent the problems of quality in prevailing construction industries in Nigeria through administered questionnaire and interviewing experienced personnel involved in handling construction projects. This revealed the perception of owner/client, consultant, contractor, site-engineers, project-managers, and subcontractors towards the factors causing cost overrun. Gathered data was ranked using Relative Importance Index (R.I.I) method and statistical tools in order to draw the conclusion in determining the current situation of project quality problem and factors contributing to these problems of quality. European International Journal of Science and Technology ISSN: 2304-9693 www.eijst.org.uk 6 2.3 POPULATION AND SAMPLE The entire population size (N) and total representative sample (n) for this research was determined using simple random sampling (SRS) method. Simple random sampling is a method in which members or items of the population can only be selected one at a time for inclusion in the sample. The sample size (n) for each study area was calculated using: n = n'/ [1+ (n'/N)] (Mahmoud, 2012)[10] Where: N = total number of population n = sample size from finite population n' = sample size from infinite population = S²/V²; where: S² is the variance of the population elements and V is a standard error of sampling population. Usually S = 0.5 and V = 0.06; [4 &12]. 2.4 RELATIVE IMPORTANCE INDEX AND SEVERITY The Relative Important Index method (RII) was used to determine Respondent’s perception of the relative importance of the identified influencing factors on quality in construction sites. Relative Important Index (R.I.I) = 𝐚𝐢 (𝐧𝐢) 𝟓 𝐢=𝟏 𝐀×𝐍 (1) Relative Important Index (R.I.I) = 𝟓𝐧𝟓+𝟒𝐧𝟒+𝟑𝐧𝟑+𝟐𝐧𝟐+𝟏𝐧𝟏 𝟓𝐍 (2) (0 ≤ R.I.I ≤1) Where: ai is Constant expressing weight given to ith response: i = 1,2,3,4,5 n is variable expressing frequency of i N is Total number of Respondents, A is Highest weight (as shown in Table 2, where A=5) n5 is Number of Respondent for very important n4 is Number of Respondent for Important n3 is Number of Respondent for Moderately important n2 is Number of Respondent for Not important n1 is Number of Respondent for Not very important The item with the highest RII value was ranked first (1) the next (2) and so on. Interpretation of the RII values is as follows: RII < 0.60, item is assessed to have low rating 0.60 ≤ RII <0.80, item assessed to have high rating. RII ≥ 0.80, item assessed to have very high rating. European International Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 8 No. 2 March 2019 7 Table 2: Likert scale showing ranking and rating Item Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree nor Disagree Agree Strongly Agree Description Not very Important Not Important Moderately Important Important Very Important Scale 1 2 3 4 5 The Severity Index (I) was calculated to interpret the degree of severity effect of the identified factors influencing quality on building construction projects using Lagos, Abuja and Portharcourt as case study areas in Nigeria. The categorizations reflected the scale of the respondents answer to questionnaire. The severity index of a category was the average severity indexes of all its related factors. This index was calculated as follows: Severity Index (I) = 𝐚𝐢 (𝐧𝐢) 𝟓 𝐢=𝟏 𝐀×𝐍×𝟏𝟎𝟎% (3) i.e. Severity Index (I) = 𝐑.𝐈.𝐈 × 𝟏𝟎𝟎% (4) The severity index was categorized into five levels:  0-49% was categorized as none severe;  50-69% was categorized as fairly severe;  70-74% was categorized as moderately severe;  75-79% was categorized as severe; and  80-100% was categorized as most severe. The most severe independent factors for project quality as the dependent variable under investigation were selected as most relative important factors influencing apportioned research objective. 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The results presented are characteristics of respondents to questionnaire distributed (Figure 2); descriptive analysis, ranking and severity analysis; reliability statistics; and correlation results. Figure 2: Pie Chart Representing Percentage of Respondents’ Role European International Journal of Science and Technology ISSN: 2304-9693 www.eijst.org.uk 8 3.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF RESPONDENTS Table 3: Questionnaire Distribution and Responses from the selected study areas Abuja Lagos Portharcourt TOTAL Number Distributed 48 60 33 141 Number of Responses 44 54 31 129 Percentage of Responses (%) 91.67 90.00 93.94 91.49 % Responses = (Number of responses/Number Distributed) X 100% Table 4: Summary of Characteristics of Respondents Category Classification Frequency Percent (%) 1. Roles/Position of Respondents Owners 10 7.75 Consultant 22 17.05 Contractor 40 31.01 Site Engineer 25 19.38 Project Manager 11 8.53 Sub-contractor 21 16.28 Total 129 100 2. Respondents’ Academic Qualification O.N.D 0 0 H.N.D 26 20.16 B.Sc/B.Tech 40 31.01 P.G.D 25 19.38 M.Sc/M.Tech 32 24.81 Ph.D 6 4.65 Total 129 100 3. Respondents’ Level of Experience in Construction Project 1 year to 2 year 0 0 2 year to 5 year 13 10.08 5 year to 10 year 20 15.50 10 year to 15 year 43 33.33 15 year and above 53 41.09 Total 129 100 4. Respondent’s Type of Project Residential 9 6.98 Non-Residential 51 39.53 Public utility 19 14.73 Civil works 18 13.95 Commercial/ special trade 32 24.81 European International Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 8 No. 2 March 2019 9 Others that were not specified 0 0 Total 129 100 5. Type of Project Funding Public 42 32.56 Private 65 50.39 Joint 22 17.05 Total 129 100 6. Respondent’s Previous Project Challenges Abandoned project (1) 41 31.78 Delivered behind schedule (2) 52 40.31 Experienced cost over-run (3) 31 24.03 Reworked/berated (4) 5 3.88 has no challenge 0 0 no project experience 0 0 Total 129 100 3.2 RANKING ANALYSIS (RELATIVE IMPORTANCE INDEX AND SEVERITY INDEX) From Table 5, 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%.