Management of Materials in Building
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
This study was conducted with the following objectives:
- To study the practices of construction material management by construction firms in Nigeria
- To investigate the factors militating against effective materials management on construction site in Nigeria
- To assess professionals perception on the measures to be put in place to ensure effective materials management in the construction industry in Nigeria.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE
INTRODUCTION
This chapter reviews the literature on the management of building materials in Nigeria. It discusses issues arising from the topic of interest as viewed from different perspectives, with a view of giving a theoretical and empirical foundation to the study.
LITERATURE REVIEW
MATERIALS MANAGEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
Materials management is an important function in order to improve productivity in construction projects. Bell & Stukhart (1986) defined materials management functions which include planning and material take off, vendor evaluation and selection, purchasing, expenditure, shipping, material receiving, warehousing and inventory, and material distribution. The result of improper handling and managing materials on site during a construction process will influence the total project cost, time and the quality (Che Wan Putra et al., 1999). Proverbs et al. (1999) stated that costs for materials handling may range from 30 % – 80 % of total construction costs. In addition, Dey (2001) indicated that almost 60 % of the total working capital of any industrial organisation consists of materials costs. Therefore, materials management should be efficient in order to control productivity and cost in construction projects. There are many issues which contribute to poor materials management in construction projects. Zakeri et al. (1996) suggested that waste, transport difficulties, improper handling on site, misuse of the specification, lack of a proper work plan, inappropriate materials delivery and excessive paperwork all adversely affect materials management. Furthermore, Dey (2001) noted that the common issues related to materials management are as follows:
- Receiving materials before they are required, causing more inventory cost and chances of deterioration in quality;
- Not receiving materials at the time of requirement, causing loss of productivity;
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to analyse Data for the study was collected via a structured questionnaire designed to assess the views of respondents on material management on building construction sites. Respondents were asked to rate their perceptions regarding the level of importance of these strategies on a four point Likert ordinal scale where 4 = Strongly Agree, 3 = Agree, 2 = Disagree and 1 = Strongly Disagree. The questionnaires were administered to contractors in their head offices and their representatives on construction sites.
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
Primary source and
Secondary source
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
INTRODUCTION
It is important to reiterate that the objective of this study was the management of building materials in Nigeria.
In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in evaluating examine the effect It is important to reiterate that the objective of this study was the factors affecting inflation on property value in Nigeria.
SUMMARY
This study was undertaken to examine management of building materials. The study opened with chapter one where the statement of the problem was clearly defined. The study objectives and research hypotheses were defined and formulated respectively. The study reviewed related and relevant literatures. The chapter two gave the conceptual framework, empirical and theoretical studies. The third chapter described the methodology employed by the researcher in collecting both the primary and the secondary data. The research method employed here is the descriptive survey method. The study analyzed and presented the data collected in tables. While the fifth chapter gives the study summary and conclusion.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The research has examined materials management on building construction sites. Findings shows that procurement of materials with requisition from site is more common with the contractors and its best practice of materials procurements for construction sites for effective materials management. The study also establish that the following: damage by mishandling and re-work due to poor workmanship, inadequate storage facilities on site, delay in material supply, inadequate supervision, poor site security, weather and other natural occurrence, alteration of designs, over ordering of construction materials, theft and vandalism are the causes of material wastage on building construction sites and the factors affecting effective material management on construction sites are as follows: design changes, lack of proper work planning and scheduling, inefficient workforce, fraudulent practices /negligence and corrupt practices, lack of security personnel, waste on construction site and lack of or inadequate storage facility. Furthermore, the research identifies the following as measures for effective material management on building construction site: employment of skilled craftsmen and operators, training of both management and other staff, employment of store keeper and security personnel; procurement requisition to specify quality, quantity and delivery time; ensuring proper planning and scheduling of building works, introducing material management at the design stage and consideration of weather conditions.
The study recommends that Contractor should make provisions for training and retraining of management and site personnel in order to improve their efficiency for effective material management and contractors should ensure the use of skilled craftsmen for their works and provide efficient supervision with professionals to ensure effective material management on building construction sites.
References
- Adedayo, A.O., Ojo, O. & Obamiro, J. K. (2006). Operations Research in Decision Analysis and Production Management. Pumark: Lagos.
- Akintoye, A. (1995). Just in time Application and implication for building material management. Journal of construction management and economics.
- Alwi, S., Hampson, K., Mohamed, S. (1999). Investigation on the relationship between rework and Site Supervision in High Building construction in Indonesia. The second international conference on construction process reengineering.
- Ahuja, Hira, N. and S, P, Dozzi (1994). Project management techniques in planning and controlling construction projects, Second Edition, John Wiley& Sons Inc., New York.
- Anwar, Z. Sohail, M. Shazia N. Hashim. H & Muhammad, S. A (2015). Factors Affecting Material Procurement, Supply and Management in Building Projects of Pakistan: A Contractor’s Perspective.