Investigating Construction Malpractices In The Nigerian Construction Industry
Nwabueze Michael Anosike and Uduak Inyang-Udoh
The present paper aims to identify the myriads of construction malpractices hindering sustainable development of the construction industry in Nigeria. Various stages of construction contracting from project conception stage to completion and handover stage were identified and categorized using a well-structured 5-point likert scale questionnaire. The most prevalent construction malpractices at their various construction stages were identified and further classified from the data collated. The findings reveals that, construction malpractices at the pre-contract stage were ranked as the highest (0.87) amongst all stages, whereas bad procurement practice was ranked as second highest (0.79), release of retention money was ranked as 12th and last position with (0.49) score, amongst prevalent construction malpractices recorded. Similarly, unemployment was ranked as first (0.96) and distrust among parties to the contract was ranked lowest (0.49) respectively in the effects of construction malpractices studied. The study concludes that the vision for sustainable construction development in Nigeria is flawed as a result of the myriads of construction malpractices identified, and recommends stiffer measures against practitioners in order to enforce the compliance of professional standards and procedures using the instrumentality of government policies, laws, regulations and statutory agencies as these bad construction practices must be nipped in the bud.
Construction industry, Construction malpractices, Professional, Stakeholders
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Research Articles
A Study Of Methodologies And Approaches For Framing Delay Claims
M. Sridhar and V. S. S. Kumar
Many Infrastructure projects in India are affected by time overruns which eventually result in cost
overrun. In case of owner caused delays in project execution, normally the contractors claim the
delay costs because of prolongation of work. Such delay claims are often disputed not only on
merit, like the contractual liability for the delay but also on the methodology adopted for
quantification of claims .Thus the prevalent delay claims in construction industry have become a
major source of conflicts. The resolution of delay claims is complex due to lack of standard
methodology in framing such claims. For evolving a rational approach for resolution of delay
claims, the practice and approaches followed in framing of delay claims needs to be studied. A
study was undertaken through a questionnaire survey on the practices and approaches followed in
framing the delay claims, their methodologies and quantification aspects. The survey was
conducted on three distinct stakeholders/ groups dealing with the issues of delay claims. The
groups consist of the contractors who lodge delay claims as first group, the project owners and govt.
departments who are the employers as second group. The consultants and arbitrators who judge the
delay claims are considered as third group. Based on the results of the study, it is found that
formulae based approach is predominantly followed for framing delay claims. Appropriate
conclusions have been drawn on practices and approaches followed by contractors which are useful
in evolving a rational methodology for resolution of the delay claims.
Delay claims, Disputes, Disruption, Turn over, Overheads, Productivity, Underutilization,
Extension of time EOT
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Research Articles
Multi Airport System : An Emerging Trend In Airport Capacity Management
Raja Sekhar Mamillapalli and Om Prakash Sharma
Due to commercialization, there has been a growing demand of air traffic all around the world. But a single airport within a region cannot cater to the growing demand due to its limited capacity. Hence, to handle the increasing growth of traffic, there is a concept of development of multiairport
region within a region. The concept of multi-airport system appears to be the most suitable solution to meet the future demand worldwide. But, proper management of these airports is a major concern so that capacity at all the airports is best utilized. In this review paper, an attempt is
made to study the key factors governing its evolution, airport choice criteria of the passengers, airport choice model in multiple airport region, its management, future implication of evolution of this airport system type and impacts of multi-airport systems.
Multi airport, Low cost carrier, Existing airport infrastructure, Suitable access to airports
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Research Articles
Radiant Cooling Systems For High Performance Buildings
Shikha Garg
Air-conditioning is commonly used to achieve thermal comfort in commercial buildings in the hot
and humid Southeast Asian Region. Because of high initial costs, high energy consumption and
often unacceptable indoor climate (SBS, noise, draught) some European countries do not
recommend full air-conditioning and sometimes even prohibit it. Alternatively, heating and
cooling may be done by water-based radiant heating and cooling systems, where pipes are
embedded in the building structure (floors, ceilings, walls) or in the centre of the concrete slabs in
multi-storey buildings. During the last two decades, radiant floor heating applications have
increased significantly. In Germany, Austria and Denmark, 30% to 50% of new residential
buildings have floor heating. In Korea, about 90% of residences are heated by under floor systems.
This paper is focused on this Hydronic radiant cooling for commercial and institutional buildings.
Radiant cooling, Passive air conditioning, Building science
Research & Publications Department 