EVALUATION OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF PRELIMINARIES IN BUILDING PROJECTS IN ONDO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Preliminaries in building construction contracts are allowed for the support services provided on to the main work. Some studies show that they account for as much as ten percent (10%) of the total cost of the contract. There has not been any precise approach to the administration of preliminaries in building construction in Ondo State, Nigeria, there is the need to evaluate the administration of preliminaries being carried out on building projects in Ondo State. This research therefore evaluate the administration of preliminaries for construction projects with a view to improving the management of preliminaries in building construction in Ondo State, Nigeria, using a case study of Caring Heart Mega Schools within the State. The methods of valuing preliminaries of building works was assessed through the use of well-structured questionnaires and a pro forma. Also the contributions of stakeholders in the administration of preliminaries was assessed and the effect of preliminaries on the overall project success was evaluated. The method adopted involved the collection of primary data on completed projects and the administration of semi-structured interview. Data gathered were analyzed using different analytical tools such as; percentage, mean item score, content analysis and Linear regression. The study revealed that there was no proper breakdown of the preliminaries at the tendering stage and estimation of the preliminaries was carried out based on percentage of the measured works and 75% of the respondents indicated that assessing individual item is the most appropriate method of valuing preliminaries while 70% of the respondents opined that use of monthly proportion is common in practice; Only four stakeholders in the building construction industry contributes majorly in the administration of preliminaries and these stakeholders includes the client, contractor, architect and the quantity survey. Final preliminaries duration increase as project final duration increase, preliminaries also have significant effect on project cost. The study recommends that: efforts should be made by practitioners to value individual items of preliminaries; Contractors and consultants must establish the size and complexity of project before pricing preliminaries; Consultants should always ask the contractors to break down the preliminaries in the bills of quantities at the tendering stage.