ASSESSMENT OF PROJECT TIME CONTROL IN SELECTED INDIGENOUS BUILDING CONSTRUCTION FIRMS

ASSESSMENT OF PROJECT TIME CONTROL IN SELECTED INDIGENOUS BUILDING CONSTRUCTION FIRMS

ABSTRACT

This study assessed the project time control in selected indigenous building construction firms. Specifically the study determine and assessed the method used in project time control with the view of proffering solutions the  problems of project time overrun in indigenous construction firms in Nigeria. Descriptive survey approach was adopted and structured questionnaire was used to gather data from the research population. In analysis of the data collected, the researcher employed statistical method of data analysis for accuracy. The findings of the study shows that a successful project management ensures the completion of project in time, within budget, and to the project specifications. Thus, the study clearly shows that the indigenous building construction firms in Nigeria make use of gnat bar chart and critical path methods in managing project time and this methods were found to be very effective in delivering project within the stipulated time and budget, indigenous building construction firms in Nigeria were not able to delivered project on time due to the factors such as equipment, scope of the project, quality of work and personnel of the construction firm comprising the skilled and unskilled labour. Finally the study revealed that the problems of project time control in indigenous building construction firms in Abuja can be solved by ensuring availability of equipments and materials on site, proper training and experience of project manager and the adoption of the right project management techniques.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Project execution involves time, cost and quality management. Therefore, close management control of projects is required if they are to be completed within the established time and cost limitations. Project Management Institute (PMI, 1996) defines “project management” as the overall planning, control and coordination of building project from inception to completion stage, aimed at meeting a client’s requirement in order that the project is completed on time within a target cost as planned and to required quality standard.

Many of the construction industries influential clients are hiring a project manager to be the most effective way to procure a new facility, whether it is a multi storey office block, housing development, health or educational building etc. It is essential that in ensuring effectiveness and time conscious service, the project should be under the management system and control of the competent practitioners with a proven track record developed from practical involvement on site execution of construction project.

The survey on project time control in building shows that most projects encounter cost and time over-runs (Williams, Ackermann and Eden, 2002, pl92). According to Wright (1997)’s research, a good rule of thumb is to add a minimum of 50% to every time estimate, and 50% to the first estimate of the budget (Gardiner and Stewart, 1998, p251). It indicates that project is very complex and full of challenge. Many unexpected issues will lead the project cost and time over-runs. Therefore, many technologies and methods are developed for successful monitoring and control to lead the project to success. In this article, we will discuss in the construction phase, how a project manager be successful in time and cost control. An activity duration estimate must be based on the quantity of resources expected to be used on the activity. The estimate should be aggressive, yet realistic. Throughout the performance of the project some activities will take longer than their estimated duration, others will be done in less time than their estimated duration, and a few may conform to duration estimates exactly. Over the life of a project that involves many activities, such delays and accelerations will tend to cancel out one another.

In order to establish a basis from which to calculate a schedule using the duration estimates for the activities, it’s necessary to select the estimated start time and required completion time for overall project. These times define overall window or envelope, of time in which the project must be completed. The projects required completion time is normally part of the project objective and stated in the contract. Once the, estimated duration for each activity in the network and an overall window of time in which the project must be completed, you have to decide whether the activities can be done by the required completion time.  The key to effective project time control is to measure actual progress and compare it to planned progress on a timely and regular basis and to take necessary corrective action immediately. The project time control process involves regularly gathering data on project performance, comparing with the planned performance. This process must occur regularly throughout the project. It starts with establishing a baseline plan that shows how the project scope will be accomplished on time and within the budget. Once this baseline plan is agreed with the customer the project starts. A regular reporting period should be established for comparing the actual progress with the planned progress. Reporting may be daily, weekly, or monthly depending on the complexity and the duration of the project. During each reporting period, two kinds of data or information need to be collected.

This study came up as a result of project time overrun of building production from inception to the completion stage. As a result of this, thisstudy described a procedure for identifying the cost of reducing project time so that comparism can be made with the benefit of getting theproject completed sooner. The method requires gathering direct and indirect cost for specific project duration. Critical activities are searched tofind lowest direct cost activities that will shortened the project duration. Total cost for specific project duration are computed and thencompared with the benefit of reducing project time before the project begins or at the course of the project.

1.2       NEED FOR THE STUDY

Successful project management insures the completion of project in time, within budget, and to the project specifications. An evaluation of project time control in building construction in Nigeria will enable Clients, Contractors and Consultants give an economic/viable approach to construction project work such that they would be able to eliminate and calculate cost of projects, construction delay and reduce its occurrence in construction.

Therefore, this study is significant to investigate on how time is managed on construction industry. So that the managerial staffs can get a clear understanding on time management and they are able to prevent them early. Shareholders need to know their roles and their responsibilities. Construction works need to have a good and detail progress records to deal with future claims. This study is to let the managerial staff to know the importance of monitoring the progress of work on construction industry. Lastly, this study can become a guideline for future development in other possible areas.

1.3       STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS

Construction industry contribute significantly to the Gross Domestic Product of Nigeria annually, however, construction has been facing numerous issues and one of them is time management issues which have cause delayed completion of a project (Yusof, el tal, 2004). According to Westland (2006), time management is the process of recording and controllingtime spent by staff on the project. The issues are poor management of time, choice of procurement methods, participation of shareholders, poor planning of construction works, lack of implementation of software, poor siterecords and etc. Thus these issues can lead to delays are insidious often resulting in time overrun, cost overrun,disputes, litigation, and complete abandonment of projects (Westland, 2006). Hence, this paper will look into the issues mentionedto minimize and avoid delay in any construction project. A research conducted by the Chartered Industry of Building (CIOB, 2008) has indicated that the quality of time-management on construction projects is generally poor. Theresearch also indicates that the growth in training, education and skill levels within the industry in the use of timemanagementtechniques has not kept pace with the technology available. In addition, there are also very few projectsare currently managed by reference to modern methods of time control. Ahmed et al. Yusof, el tal, (2004) found that delay happen inevery construction project and the magnitude of these delays varies considerably from project to project. Some projectsare only a few days behind schedule and some are delayed by over a year. Also, conflicts in shareholders are one ofthe factors of unsuccessful projects. El-Razek et al (2017) identified that different parties of construction in Egyptianconstruction projects do not agree with each other on the importance of various factors of delay, and they mostlyblaming each other of delays. He too finds that team effort is vital in the success of a project. Liberatore et al (2018) hasmentioned that high percentage of the construction respondents used project management software for general workplanning or presentation. The problems were lack ofan organized and formalized approach, lack of clear rules and guidelines on how the records are kept and organized,difficulties in ensuring the consistency of reporting by various responsible individuals, inexperience staffs and etc. Therefore, the importance of project control techniques in managing time to improve the risk of delayed project are needed to be known and recognize so that the risk of project delayed can be minimized.

1.4       AIM AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

1.4.1    Aim

The aim of this study is to assess project time control in some selected indigenous building construction firms.

1.4.2    Objectives

The specific objectives include:

1. Determine the method used in project time control
2. Assess the methods used in project time control
3. Proffer solution to the best method to be used in project time control

1.5       RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The secondary data will be collected through the literature review of journals, textbooks, past projects, handbooks, in order to access the major causes of cost and time overrun in construction industries. The primary data will be collected from principal actors in the construction industry through the use of questionnaire, archival records, physical artifacts and direct observations. Data collected and analyzed will be presented using pie chart, histogram, and tables.

1. SCOPE

This research is limited to examining project time control in building construction in Nigeria and proffering solutions on how to minimize building project cost and time overruns in Nigeria. The research study area is limited to projects in the Abuja the Federal Capital Territory because there is an ease access in obtaining data in the study area (Abuja) by the researcher.

The principal actors in the construction industry namely; the Client, the Consultant and the Contractor are the principal correspondent.