Poor Workmanship in Construction of Low Cost Housing

Most defects in construction projects are due to human error. In other word, we can say that human error happened due to poor performance in workmanship during construction of a building. Poor workmanship in housing construction, and poor management and control of building contractors have contributed to the housing problem. According to research conducted by the Building Research Establishment (BRE), 90% of building failures are due to problems arising in the design and construction stages. These problems include poor communication, inadequate information or failure to check information, inadequate checks and controls, lack of technical expertise and skills, and inadequate feedback leading to recurring errors. The quality issues of low cost housing nowadays begin to arise as there are many complaints about defects in some of the building elements of the house. One of the causes of this condition is due to poor quality of workmanship during construction. This will affect the quality of life of occupants and also giving bad image of the parties involved in the construction of low cost housing. This paper will discuss some variables that related to the causes of poor quality of workmanship in construction projects and some common building defects found at low cost housing.