ASSESSMENT OF MATERIAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON BUILDING CONSTRUCTION PROJECT DELIVERY IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN ONDO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the assessment of material management practices on building construction project delivery in tertiary institutions in Ondo State, Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to examine the level of material management practices in construction projects deliveries in tertiary institutions in Ondo state, to assess the factors affecting material management practices in construction projects in the study area, and to examine the effect of material management practices on construction project delivery in the study area. The study adopted descriptive survey as it portrayed an accurate profile of persons, events and situations; it allowed the collection of large amounts of data from a sizeable population in a highly economical way. The target population consisted of the on-going building construction projects in nine (9) tertiary institutions in Ondo state which consisted of four (4) Universities; Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Adekunle Ajasin University (AAUA), Elizade University and Ondo State University of Science and Technology (OSUSTECH), three (3) Polytechnics; Best Solution Polytechnic, The Federal Polytechnic Ile Oluji (FEDPOLEL), Rufus Giwa Polytechnic (RUGIPO), and two (2) Colleges of Education; Adeyemi College of Education and College of Education, Ero-Akure (COEERO). Simple random sampling was used. The sample size was 206 construction professionals which consisted of project managers, Quantity surveyors/cost engineer, Builders, Architect and Engineer. The primary data for the study was collected using self-administered questionnaire. It was examined and checked for completeness and comprehensibility. It was then summarised, coded and tabulated. Descriptive statistics was analysed using mean, standard deviation and inferential statistics were analysed using regression and computed to establish the effect of independent variables on dependent variables. Based on the findings, the study found out that material planning with the highest mean value of 3.862 indicate that it is the topmost material management practices carried out in the study area, while waste control with the mean value of 3.598 indicates that it is the least material management practices carried out in the study area. Secondly, the study showed that changes in material specification is the most influencing factor affecting material management practices in construction project delivery with the highest mean ranking value of 4.139, while the least influencing factor is delay in material procurement with the least mean ranking value of 3.770. The study found out that materials planning, materials purchasing, materials transportation, materials waste control and materials handling were significantly related to construction project delivery as they all become statistically significant at 0.000. Therefore, the study established that material management practices which include material materials planning, materials purchasing, materials transportation, materials waste control and materials handling have significant effect on construction projects delivery in the construction industries as the model reached a statistical significant at (sig. = 0.00 meaning that p < 0.05), therefore the null hypothesis H0: material management practices have no significant effect on construction projects delivery in the study area was rejected and the alternative hypothesis accepted. The study recommends that there should be proper planning of material management practices right from the inception of project execution and should also be practiced on all sites and by all categories of construction industry, whether large, medium or small so as to ensure timely project execution and standard project delivery within reasonable cost, time and quality.