The Impact of Construction Industry in the Development of Nigeria
Chapter One
Aim and Objectives of the Research
- To investigate the contribution of the construction industry to economic development in Nigeria.
- To investigate the nature and direction of the causal relationship between the construction industry and the gross domestic product (as a measure of economic growth).
- To analyze the relationships between the construction industry and other economic sectors.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
The construction industry defined
According to DBIS (2013), “the construction sector is a key sector for the UK economy. The construction sector is defined as: (i) construction contracting industry; (ii) provision of construction related professional services; and (iii) construction related products and materials”. The construction industry is a system containing all the practitioners including the clients, the contractors, sub-contractors and consultants, and those in the manufacture, supply and distribution of construction materials. It also includes the construction training schools.
The construction industry can be divided into three major segments. These include; Construction of building by Building Contractors, or General Contractors. These contractors build residential, industrial, commercial, and other buildings. The second category is the Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction Contractors that build sewers, roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, and other projects. Specialty Trade Contractors who perform specialized activities relating to construction such as carpentry, painting, plumbing, tiling, and mechanical and electrical works form the third segment. Those that lease heavy earth moving equipment, plant and machineries for construction purposes are also in this category.
Construction usually is done or coordinated by general contractors, who specialize in one type of construction such as residential or commercial building. They take full responsibility for the complete job, except for specified portions of the work that may be omitted from the general contract. Although general contractors may do a portion of the work with their own crews, they often subcontract most of the work to heavy construction or specialty trade contractors.
Specialty trade contractors usually do the work of only one trade, such as painting, carpentry, or electrical work, or of two or more closely related trades, such as plumbing and heating. Beyond fitting their work to that of the other trades, specialty trade contractors have no responsibility for the structure as a whole. They obtain orders for their work from general contractors, architects, or property owners. Repair work is almost always done on direct order from owners, occupants, architects, or rental agents.
Construction industry is the sector of the national economy that engages in preparation of land and construction, alteration of roads and alteration of buildings, structures and facilities. The construction industry is the fourth largest contributor to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the Australian economy and plays a major role in determining economic growth. In chain volume terms, the construction industry accounted for 6.8% of GDP in 2008-09, compared with 7.0% in 2007-08. The industry had previously experienced seven consecutive years of growth as a proportion of GDP, since the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 2000-01. As at May quarter 2009 the construction industry employed 9.1% of the Australian workforce, making it Australia’s fourth largest industry after banking and finance, manufacturing and health (AEI, 2010).
Construction industry in the UK consists of firms engaged in general construction and demolition; construction and repair of building; civil engineering; installation of fixtures and fittings (which includes plumbing, gas fitting, and electrical installation) and finally what is called ‘’building completion’’, that is painting, glazing, plastering, tiling, etc (Standard Industrial Classification, 2007). The construction industry also includes the manufacturing, distribution and supply of construction materials and construction products.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
The chapter describes the research design as well as the methods that were used to sample the population and the target population bringing out the sample size. The chapter further looks at methods of data collection, research instruments, their validity and reliability, operational definition of variables and methods of data analysis.
Research Design
This study employed a descriptive survey design, which is a type of research undertaken with the aim of describing characteristics of variables in a situation. According to Best and Khan (2009), descriptive survey design is concerned with conditions or relationships that exists, opinions that are held, processes that are going on, effects that are evident, or trends that are developing. (Kerlinger, 1969). The descriptive survey design enabled collection of data without manipulating the research variables. The descriptive survey design optimizes on the strengths of both quantitative and qualitative research methodology. The survey method allowed collection of data from a large sample population and generated findings are a representation of the whole population at a lower cost (Saunders, et al., 2007).
Target Population
A random technique was used for the research with construction clients, construction professionals in contracting firms, consulting firms and government establishments as the targeted population.
CHAPTER FOUR
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
From table 1, 87.8% of the respondents are either working in consulting firms, contracting firms or government organizations and also shows that majority of the respondents are contractors.
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Ensuring good performance in construction projects involves all participating people and parties to be fully aware of their individual roles on the project. It stems down from how the clients is assured of what the intentions and goals are and effectively communicating the specific roles to the professionals, the designer whom will in turn, accurately represent it and on to the contractor whom will work with the available information and faithfully reproduce the requirement on the project site. However, to achieve good project performance practice and project effectiveness, all persons concerned must be fully involved and should not be limited to some specific persons. Also, the effective involvement of enforcement by government agency, regulatory bodies must be ensured. Without adequate effective enforcement by government agency and/or regulatory bodies and availability of proof of contractors’ credentials for competence assurance capability to the client before awarding the contract, there will be a continued gap between the level of awareness and the performance of construction projects in the country which will definitely affect the economic development of the country. The outcome of this study is of great relevance to the construction industry. The study reveals that the bulk of the responsibility revolves between the owner of the project and the participating professionals in the construction project. Both needs to cooperate with the other to ensure the attainment of the same goal as their roles are inter-dependent. From the manufacturer of the building components to the contractors, consultants, and clients, the cooperation and working together of the parties involved would ensure that the desired performance of the project is attained.
It is recommended that human resources in the construction industry be improved through appropriate and unceasing training programs to enhance construction projects performance. By so doing, the workforce can be updated with increased knowledge and improve their familiarity with emerging and more effective project management processes and techniques. There is a hierarchy of relative importance concerning elements required for measuring construction project performances, all these elements have to be fully integrated by Nigerian professionals for effective project performance. Good governance remains an important national asset, its high time Nigerian government start practicing good corporate governance in order to achieve all the factors considered to be the indices of economic development. This study is useful not only for government agencies and parastatals concerned with physical development of the country but other participants in the construction industry. These include contractors, professionals, regulatory bodies and other stakeholders with indirect link to construction activities It is time Nigerian construction industry becomes a force worthy of reckoning on the international stage. In view of this, it is recommended that government should put all the identified factors and indices into consideration, most especially improvement in technology, extension of infrastructure, increase in employment opportunities as well as government expenditure and urbanization, as these are the main factors considered to enhance economic development of the country.
The construction industry has not really impacted the Nigeria economy. This is partly due to the impact of corruption on the industry and partly due to lack of visionary leaders. Nigeria is the only oil producing country in the bottom of “Table of World Infrastructure” with a non-oil producing country (Switzerland) taking the first position. Nigeria is also blessed with construction materials like cement, sand, steel and gravel and has the required level of manpower with 60% of its higher institutions offering construction related courses like Architecture, Building, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Urban and Regional Planning and Quantity Surveying.
This research has shown that socio-economic development of any country is directly related to the level of infrastructure in the country. Commerce and industry greatly depend on warehousing and good road infrastructures. With the unbearable high level of unemployment rate in the country, the government can stimulate growth in the economy by constructing whopping 5,000,000 units of housing to reduce the housing deficit of over 17,000,000 units in Nigeria. The abandoned Oyo to Sokoto Road, Second Niger Bridge, Fourth Mainland Bridge, Kaltho-Bagana Bridge over River Benue, Abuja-Lokoja-Ibadan Expressway and renovations of military and police barracks are some of the projects that can be embarked upon.
There are no modern bus stations with canopies and sheds for boarding and egress of passengers under harsh weather. Nigeria has the capacity to construct bus and coach stations with toilets, shops and baggage storage section. Electricity provision and enabling environment like the one in China and Malaysia which will encourage Nigerian construction experts competing abroad should be put in place.
Silos for the storage of excess agricultural produce can be constructed in our rural areas near where they are being produced. Our rural roads are also in bad condition making it difficult for farmers to transport agricultural produce to the cities. Rural school infrastructures, health facilities, education facilities, social infrastructures like market and post offices and residential buildings can be targeted for upgrade to develop the construction sector.
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