Vol. 65 No. 1 (2019): QS Journal Vol. 65 No. 1
The first paper by Bashir and Akinola assessed the factors influencing the use of advance payment on building projects in Lagos, Nigeria. The paper revealed time-related factors and economic factors asthemost significant factorsinfluencing the use of advance payment on building projects in Lagos, Nigeria. They suggested that moratorium be given prior to amortization whenever advance payment is adopted on building projects to ensure that the contractors judiciously utilize it.
The 21st century construction industry is focusing more on making buildings smarter and more intelligent. Although to a very large extent, the construction industry in the developed countries have adopted the principles of Intelligent Building System (IBS), many developing countries are still lagging for different reasons. Therefore, to improve the adoption of Intelligent Building Systems in the developing countries, Oke and Omole conducted a study which identified the greatest drivers that should be majored on to create a more conducive environment for IBS to thrive.
Morakinyo and Awodele investigated the level of awareness of surveying professions among career counsellors in Senior Secondary School in Lagos State, Nigeria. They discovered that 77.4% were ignorant of the relevance of Quantity Surveying towards the realisation of the built environment (BE), while 69.8% do not have Quantity Surveying listed on their career advisory register. The study linked its results to the exclusion of relevant stakeholders from the creation of awareness on BE careers and posited that these be corrected in future orientation programmes.
The impact of marketing is significant on the success of an organization. But, the impact of marketing is affected by inherent risks which is a challenge for construction professionals to properly handle. Therefore, to enhance the service delivery of these professionals, Ojo and Ebunoluwa assessed the degree of risks inherent in marketing their services. Their results shed light on the risks that occur most frequently, risks with the greatest impact and high marketing risk factors. These risk factors should be taken into proper consideration to successfully inhibit their effects on the services of construction professionals.
Saka aligned with the assertion that the debt crises of the early 1980s led to the adoption of outward looking economic model and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), as an integral part of the new development policy by developing countries. On this assertion, Saka employed the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM), Forecast Error Variance Decomposition (FEVD) and the Impulse Response Functions (IRFs) to examine the impact of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows on the output of Nigerian Construction Sector (CNS). The results indicated that FDI inflow had a significant impact on the growth of CNS and GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
Saka thus advocated for deeper economic and social reforms to enhance increased FDI inflows.
Globally, there is no controversy on the economic benefits and contributions of Building Information Modelling (BIM) to the productivity of the building industry. Despite these, the pace at which BIM is being adopted is slower than expectation, especially in the developing countries like Nigeria. In view of this, the factors affecting the adoption of BIM by professionals in the Nigerian construction industry was appraised by Ahmad, Waziri and Zadawa. They extended the popular Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) developed by Davis (1989) to produce a BIM acceptance mode l. They uncovered the indicators of Perceived Usefulness and variables that positively affects Perceived Ease of Use.
Arijeloye, Aghimien, Akinradewo and Abdul-Kareem explored the cost variability between the preliminary cost
estimate and the final cost of educational building projects. They examined the factors causing the difference between these two variables in tertiary institutional building projects in Ondo State, Nigeria. The cost deviation between final and preliminary estimates averaged 9%. To bring down this percentage, there should be strict adherence to the principle of cost control and limit the extent of possible changes or variation to the original contract documents at the execution phase of the educational construction projects. Furthermore, the design team should be given adequate time to prepare drawings and specifications at the planning phase. In addition, there should be prior site investigation before the preparation of contract documents.
The concepts of the project owners’ motivation and owner commitment have been adjudged as novel ways of
surmounting the complex process of delivering sustainable building projects. Olanipekun acknowledged that the practical application of these concepts is not yet possible due to lack of specific approaches for their implementation. Therefore, in a bid to illuminate these approaches, Olanipekun carried out a global overview of sustainable buildings in the established member countries of the World Green Building Council (WGBC). Th is study expoused the approaches for implementing the project owners’ motivation and commitment in practice and put forward certain suggestions that are capable of promoting sustainable building practices.
Time and cost overruns have marred the performance of design and management (D&M) contract, which is one of the variances of the management-oriented procurement system that is gaining prominence in Nigeria. To attain building project cost effectiveness in D&M contract, Datti, Inuwa, Gambo, and Mangvwat researched and brought to limelight the most important preconditions for estimating building project cost in D&M contracts in Bauchi town, Nigeria. In addition, a strong positive relationship was observed between the preconditions and project cost effectiveness. The implication of this is that, applying the wrong preconditions will reduce the likelihood of achieving value for money. This work postulated what should be done in relation to preconditions to achieve better cost management and better project execution.
