Stakeholders Assessment of Constraints to Project Delivery in the Nigerian Construction Industry

The central goal of construction stakeholders is to successfully deliver projects to stated objective (s). However, for decades, construction projects have been plagued by perennial constraints of cost and time overruns, poor quality, and lack of sustainability. The objective of this paper is to identify and assess the constraints to construction project delivery, and to recommend solutions to enhance project performance. This paper adopted both quantitative and qualitative methods to establish the constraints in the Nigerian construction industry. A pilot survey and literature reviewed revealed a total of fifty (50) construction constraints, which were further classified into eight (8) major groups. Well-structured questionnaires were administered to construction stakeholders (client, consultant and contractor) in Abuja, the federal capital city of Nigeria. Relative Importance Index (RII) was used to analyze the data using Likert scale.  The results suggest that cost/time overrun related factors (inability to reduce project cost), Stakeholders interactive-related factors (inability to establish client value system), Client-related factors (Delay in interim payment and finance problem), and Labor/material-related factors (escalation of material prices and materials quality variability) are the most prevalent constraints in the Nigerian construction environment.  To mitigate the effects of these challenges, it is suggested that a formal innovative approach should be used by stakeholders to address the problems of poor communication, high project cost, and delay. Clients should also take measures to provide adequate funding and should promptly honor interim certificates.