ASSESSMENT OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT PRACTICE IN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IN OYO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Project management is believed to be justified as a means of avoiding the ills inherent in the construction and production sectors of the economy and for which reasons most projects fail and or abandoned. The study assesses the project management practice in the construction industry in Oyo state, Nigeria. Multistage sampling was used to select respondent for this study using structured questionnaire for data collection. Majority (93.3%) of the respondents were male and the professional background of those who are in are in charge of project management in the construction industry are: Quantity Surveyors (37.5%) Civil Engineers (28.1%) Architects (18.8%) Builders (12.5%) while those with modern training in project management are very few (3.1%). The most frequent project management tools and techniques employed by respondents are work breakdown structure (63.3%) project sensitivity analysis (35.0%) and cost benefit analysis (30.0%). The major constraints faced by the construction industry in the practice of project management are: high cost of hiring a trained project manager (80.21%) insufficient fund (75.00%) and lack of professional training (75.00%). Pearson correlations showed that years of experience (p=0.001) and professional background (0.004) were significant correlates project management practice. Furthermore there was a significant different in the use of project management tools and techniques among different professionals (p=0.000). The study concludes that the practice of project management going by the knowledge and use of project management tools/technique and knowledge areas is still at the lowest stage. The study recommends that project managers should be made prime consultants in the construction industry.