EFFECT OF QUALITY CULTURE ON BUILDING CONSTRUCTION PROJECT IN NIGERIA: CASE STUDY OF KWARA STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Construction impacts the quality of life for building facilities and plays a major role in a nation’s economy and development. Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act (2005) Section 17(4)  basically  sets out that construction work is an activity on structure that includes building work, civil engineering   or   engineering   construction   work.   Furthermore,   the   end-products   of construction works had been in the centre of economic development of a nation. According to Farooqui. Mashood and Aziz (2008) construction sector is globally considered to be a basic industry on which the development of the country depends. To a great extent, the growth of a country and its development status is generally determined by the quality of its infrastructures and construction projects.

Construction project development involves numerous parties, various processes, different phases and stages of work and a great deal of input from both the public and private sectors, with the major aim being to bring the project to a successful conclusion (Takim and Akintoye, 2002). Hence, the success of any construction project can be expressed in terms of performance. Blismas, Slier and Thorpe (1999) reckon that project performance is the act of fulfilling the project goals at the inception by the client and the project team in terms of the budget, duration, and quality and client satisfaction. According to Egemen and  Mohamed (2006), performance evaluation in construction generally focuses on a limited number of performance elements related to the product, which are completing the project on time, within budget and with the required quality.

According to Jackson (2004), quality is contained in the tripod of construction management; it does not only impact appearance and durability but also the performance of a project. In today’s construction climate, public sector owners are finding themselves under increasing pressure to improve project performance, complete projects faster, and reduce the cost of administering their construction programs.

However, Abdul-Rahman, Wang and Yap (2010) mentioned that clients and customers, both from the public and private sectors, nowadays place more emphasis on the quality of products rather than the cost and time which was the major concern in the past. In terms of quality in construction, Arditi and Gunaydin (1997) opined that ‘high quality building project depends a great deal on factors such as   the   design   being   easily   understandable   and   applicable,   conformity   of  design   with specifications, economics of construction, ease of operation ,ease of maintenance and energy efficiency.

1.2       RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study is to assess the quality culture on building construction works in Kwara State, Nigeria. To accomplish this aim, a number of research objectives have been established:

These include:

1.         To assess the perception of quality in construction industry in Nigeria

2.         To evaluate the factors affecting the implementation of quality culture in construction works in Nigeria

3.         To examine the factors affecting the maintenance of quality culture in construction works in Nigeria

4.         To evaluate the constraints encountered in the implementation of quality culture in construction works in Nigeria.

1.3       RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1.         What is the perception of quality on building construction industry in Nigeria?

2.         What are the factors affecting the implementation of quality culture on building construction works in Nigeria?

3.         What are the factors affecting the maintenance of quality culture on building construction works in Nigeria?

4.         What are  the  constraints  encountered  in  the  implementation of quality culture  on building construction works in Nigeria?