COST ISSUES IN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION IN THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AKURE. NIGERIA

Abstract

Over the years, Cost issues have been very significant factor in construction projects. The study looked into Cost issues in building construction in the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Ondo state, Nigeria. Survey research design was used. Questionnaire with focus on purposive sampling technique was used to obtain data from the respondents. The data was analyzed with the use of relative important index, percentages and mean point value. The hypotheses were tested using Chi square. There are forty five (45) departments and fifteen (15) Units in FUTA out of which six relevant departments and three relevant units in building cost management were selected for this study. These include: Quantity Survey department, Building Technology department, Estate Management, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Project Management Technology department, Physical Planning unit, Bursary unit and Works. Both descriptive and inferential statistics such as frequency, percentage, mean score, chi-square and Relative Importance Index (RII) were used to analyze the data collected. Results showed that Earned Value Method (EVM) is a powerful tool for tracking project progress in building construction with high ranking RII of 0.808. It was also discovered that risk factors such as construction and financial risks affects construction projects. They must be adequately managed to prevent project failure. Construction risk was highly ranked with RII 0.847 closely followed by financial risks with RII 0.843.Based on these findings, experts in building construction should encourage the use of EVM as cost management tool for tracking project progress. Also adequate plan for managing risk factors, especially construction and financial risks must be in place. This would go a long way in cost reduction as well as enhancing value for money in construction projects. The experts in building construction must adequately determine how much is needed to complete the project and how effectively the said amount could be adequately managed for the success of the project. Building construction projects in the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) constitute the bulk of the infrastructures in the university, hence the need for efficient cost management in the sector.