Abstract
The aims of this thesis titled ‘UTILISATION OF CONSTRUCTION
MANAGEMENT AS A PROCUREMENT METHOD IN THE NIGERIAN
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY’ are to ascertain the various roles played by
construction management in contract administration, to consider the
history and evolution of construction management in order to
ascertain the state-of-the art techniques, to analyse construction
management as an indispensable tool for cost saving in construction
and to analyse construction management as a vehicle to speedy,
efficient and on-time project delivery, while
the objectives are to ascertain the activities/functions that enable the
smooth running and execution of project, and successful completion,
to understand how the client’s briefs can be translated into physical
reality whilst satisfying his design, technical, cost and time
requirements, to find out the various avenues of minimising the
amount of outgoings from a company, whilst maximising the amount
of incomings in order to have
BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Construction Management was fully developed in the 1970s out of the
need to develop an alternative project delivery system that would
incorporate the positive features of the traditional system which was
based on long established professional and craft roles (Okolie, 2002).
In the traditional system, clients employed architects to produce the
overall design of their buildings, and design its appearance in detail,
quantity surveyors to ensure that the designs can be afforded within
the client’s budget, and engineers to design the structural elements
and the internal engineered services that ensure the building is safe
and comfortable. These professionals are employed by the client as
consultants. A planning supervisor was also brought into the team who
may architect or someone employed as an external consultant. In
addition, specialist contractors might by employed as part of the
design team because their expertise is needed for the design of key
elements or systems of the building.
The design information is used in selecting a main contractor to
construct the building. Most of the direct construction work was
undertaken by specialist contractor employed by the main contractor
as sub-contractors. The construction work was supervised by the
consultants to ensure the design was correctly interpreted and the
building is of the required quality. The diagram below shows the main
contractual relationships in the traditional system.
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Fig. 1 (Sourced from: Modern Construction Management, 5th Edition)
The increasing complexities of modern project in terms of time, cost,
technology and quantity requirements have made the traditional
system inadequate and obsolete since construction management
satisfies the increasing demand for improved construction industry
performance by clients. In order to strengthen this confidence, the
construction manager provides such professional services as value
engineering, value management, project feasibility study, project
budgeting, bid packaging, parameter estimating, time and cost
control system, e.t.c. which are aimed at optimising client’s value for
money.
1.1 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
This research project titled UTILISATION OF CONSTRUCTION
MANAGEMENT AS A PROCUREMENT METHOD IN NIGERIAN
CONSRUCTION INDUSTRY is aimed at:
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1, Analysing the impact of construction management as a vehicle to
speedy, efficient and on-time project delivery,
2, Analysing construction management as an indispensable tool for
cost saving in construction,
3, Considering the history and evolution of construction management
in order to ascertain the state-of-the-art techniques of construction
management,
4, Ascertaining the various roles played by construction management
in contract administration (planning, managing, organizing, execution
and delivery of contract).
The objectives of this research project are to:
1, Understand how the client’s brief can be translated into physical
reality whilst satisfying his design, technical, cost and time
requirements,
2, Find out the various avenues of minimising the amount of outgoings
from a company, whilst maximizing the amount of incomings in order
to have significant cost savings on a project,
3, Determine the height of deviation of the current practice of
construction management from the primitive method, and
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4, Ascertain the activities/function that enable the smooth running
and execution of a project, and successful completion.
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT
The most significant and frequent problems that do face construction
management during construction of projects are cost and time
overrun. It is realised these days that as a result of cost and time
overrun, projects are hardly delivered at the agreed price and
agreed time frame of completion owing to some obvious reasons. This
can be attributed to the fact construction managers do not always
employ Variance Analysis method to guard against cost overrun. In
order to analyse the variance in construction costs, Earned Value
Management (EVM) becomes worthwhile. EVM is a project
management technique that seeks to measure forward progress in an
objective manner. EVM is trusted as having a unique ability to
combine measurements of technical performance (i.e.
accomplishment of planned work, schedule performance (i.e.
under/over budget) within a single integrated methodology. With the
resultant analyses of the set performances the EVM provides an Early
Warning of performance problems. Additionally, EVM promises to
improve the definition of project scope, prevent scope creep,
communicate objective progress to stakeholders, and this keep the
project team focused on achieving progress
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
What does construction management seek to achieve?
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Has the use of tools (economic, technical and administrative tools)
been constructive in the achievement of smooth and successful
project delivery?
At what specific stage of a project is construction management
needed (Pre or Post contract)?
What are the types of planning in construction management and who
is (are) responsible for planning. Is planning left in the hands of a
construction manager alone?
1.4 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF STUDY
This research project is limited to Lagos metropolis as this is an
environment where hitech and modern construction works are being
carried out in large number coupled with the nature and
geographical disposition of the environment (terrestial and aquatic)
which is a combination of both on-shore and off –shore construction
works. These combinations enable this choice as they are all
encompassing.
In addition, this research work covers and is limited to only building
construction works which include but not limited to residential
buildings, office complexes, academic complexes, shopping
centres/malls.
Lastly architects, engineers, quantity surveyors, project/construction
managers, consultants, professionals, contractors and clients are
involved on the effectiveness, efficacy and other wise of construction
management