Historically, the Nigerian construction industry inherited its legacy and tradition from the United Kingdom (UK) like other developing countries and relies on the values, systems and techniques as regards the quality developed in the West and Far East.
Often times, these techniques are embraced but poorly applied without any conformity with the country’s specific background, and this answers why buildings collapse and the industry is not growing as fast as it should in Nigeria—a country with all the resources.
Growth prospect for the industry in Nigeria is very high and expectation among industry players is that by 2020, the country alongside India will enjoy higher growth rates than notable nations like China. They predict that by 2021, the industry will triple its investment value.
Though in the last 12 months, there has been some movement in terms of growth as reflected in National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Q4 2018 figures, fundamental factors such as human attitudinal problem and weak quality control need to be addressed and quickly too for the country to be able to realize the 2020 growth prospect.
In real terms, the construction industry recorded a growth rate of 2.05 percent, year-on-year, in Q4 2018. Even though this represented a decline of –2.09 percent points from the rate recorded a year earlier, the the Q4 performance was better by 1.51 percent points when compared to the preceding quarter’s 0.54 percent growth rate.
The NBS figures show that quarter-o- quarter, the sector grew by 21.72 percent in real terms while total real growth rate of the industry in 2018 was 2.33 percent, up from 1.00 percent recorded in 2017.
The contribution and impact of this industry to the economy cannot be neglected as it has become a veritable index when it comes to employment generation for both skilled and unskilled employment in Nigeria. NBS estimates that the industry’s contribution to total real GDP in 2018 remained relatively stable at 3.73 percent compared to 2017.
This seeming growth is yet to reflect in the quality of construction done in the country. A couple of years back, the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing disclosed that 54 buildings collapsed between 2012 and 2016, ca using 175 deaths and 427 others injured.
An average of five deaths are recorded per annum as a result of building collapse, research has showed, a reflection of poor construction quality.
Damilola Ijalade, agent at PWAN Homes & Properties, positioned the issue of poor construction quality is driven by non-compliance with specifications and standards by developers as well as contractors, employment of inept contractors and the use of sub-standard materials and equipment.
“There is proliferation of inexperienced and stingy developers in the industry. Their plans on how work should be carried out on-site at times negate the overall interest of the project”, Ijalade said.
“There are also cases where suppliers of building materials connive with contractors to deliver low quality building materials,” he added.
Poor construction quality revolves around ignorance, carelessness and greed. Ignorance comes to play when inept developers are in charge of a project. Negligence surfaces when the specification adopted for past projects are used without adequate review. Greed plays out when building personnel fail to use quality materials for the projects due to personal interest.
A survey that captured the opinions of professionals including architects, engineers, builders and quantity surveyors disclosed that most of the problems arising from poor construction quality in Nigeria stems from human attitudinal problems, quality assurance processes and lack of implementable standards.
It is noteworthy to state that there is lack of consensus on the set of factors affecting construction quality in Nigeria. However, the major factors driving poor construction quality include:
High construction cost
Construction materials such as cement, steel, iron, aluminium account for more than 70 percent of total project costs, and about 50 percent of them are imported. Inflationary pressure in the macro-space and exchange rate fluctuations have made imported materials costlier, which is not good news for developers.
The industry is controlled by the forces of demand and supply. Dwindling economic fortune has pared the purchasing power of an average Nigerian consumer, thus making demand below supply. As a result, many developers resort to compromising quality by using substandard products in push for competitiveness.
Quality Control
This is a prominent reason for poor construction failure according to research. Quality control involves total adherence to established standards. Quality control is one aspect of business that must never be overlooked as it can make or mar a project.
A report by Bureau of Labour Statistics revealed that the causes of private workers death in construction sites are falls, strike by objects, electrocution and caught-in-between. These are traceable to non-compliance to quality control on sites.
Despite the growing adoption of quality assurance by developing countries, the awareness of this practice is still low in Nigeria. This problem of awareness has been observed as a major factor for quality improvement in Egypt and South Africa.
Inept developers/contractors
Ijalade notes that government awards contracts to low-skilled contractors for their selfish interests. The importance of proper training in maintaining quality in construction cannot be undermined. There is no gainsaying that the paucity of trained personnel has started having negative impact on existing infrastructure. One of the observed factors responsible for Japanese quality success level that is globally recognized is extensive training given to personnel.
Inspection and testing
This is another key factor that drives construction quality. If labour is badly trained or demonstrates low skills and experience, then adequate and proper inspection and testing would enable poor quality jobs to be corrected.
Construction quality cannot be achieved without inspection and quality programme. Inspection team affirms that the quality of work is in line with drawings, specification and overall standards.
Site installation procedure
The problem of poor site installation procedure stems from lack of technical knowledge on the part of the contractor and the workers-on-site most times, and this poses constraint to the performance of local contractors.
Africa’s biggest economy has the potential to grow its construction industry to meet global standards. However, for these prospects to be fully realizable, government, regulatory agencies, stakeholders and professional associations need to revisit these issues.
ISRAEL ODUBOLA
