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Article
Publication date: 7 September 2015

Dubem I. Ikediashi, Stephen O. Ogunlana and Isaac A. Odesola

– The purpose of this paper is to explore the concepts of satisfaction and service quality of outsourced facilities management (FM) services.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the concepts of satisfaction and service quality of outsourced facilities management (FM) services.

Design/methodology/approach

An empirical survey of 208 stakeholders in Nigeria’s hospitals was used to first, assess the level of satisfaction of users of outsourced FM services and second, validate a conceptual model using the structural equation modelling (SEM) methodology.

Findings

Findings show that the three top services are cleaning (6.17), security (6.01) and landscape maintenance (5.73) while the least rated service is the plant maintenance and their personnel. The result also indicates that all six hypotheses were supported by the service quality satisfaction model structural equation model, meaning that quality attributes depicted by the outsourced FM services is antecedent to overall satisfaction. Specifically, “security services to overall satisfaction” received the highest path loading of 0.88, and was closely followed by “cleaning services to overall satisfaction” with a loading of 0.82. “Plant maintenance services to overall satisfaction” was however supported even though it had a very low path coefficient of 0.38.

Originality/value

The study establishes a causal relationship between antecedents of satisfaction and service quality within the context of Nigeria’s public hospitals and provided insight into outsourced services that received high level of satisfaction among stakeholders unique from previous studies.

Details

Built Environment Project and Asset Management, vol. 5 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-124X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 August 2021

Samuel Ekung, Isaac Abiodun Odesola and Timothy Adewuyi

The dearth of green standards (GS) in sub-Saharan Africa is alarming and the green cost premiums (GCP) in seeking certification in emerging markets are scanty. This paper studied…

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Abstract

Purpose

The dearth of green standards (GS) in sub-Saharan Africa is alarming and the green cost premiums (GCP) in seeking certification in emerging markets are scanty. This paper studied the Building Energy-Efficiency Code of Nigeria (BEEC) and estimated the potential GCPs associated with the various energy-efficiency ratings.

Design/methodology/approach

The study retrofitted 150 conventional residential bungalow and maisonette buildings using BEEC's energy-efficiency interventions and performed analytical estimating of the retrofitted designs. The mean cost premium associated with each energy-efficiency intervention is presented as well as their financial benefits and payback periods. The benefits are achievable financial-savings due to a reduction in energy consumption and savings in electricity payment estimated from the average energy demands of each building. An independent t-test was further conducted to determine the cost differential between energy-efficient design (ED) and conventional design over a five-year period.

Findings

The potential GCPs and their payback periods are actually less than feared. The study showed that less than 5% and 21% extra funding would be required to achieve 1 to 4-Star and 5-Star energy-efficiency ratings involving passive design interventions and photovoltaic systems. Passive and active design interventions produced a financial savings of $8.08/m2 in electricity payment and $2.84/m2 per annum in energy consumption reduction. The financial-savings ($10.92/m2) was objective to pay-off the GCPs in less than four years. The independent t-test analysis showed the cost of ED is more economical after four years into the project lifecycle.

Originality/value

The research provides cost benchmarks for navigating cost planning and budgetary decisions during ED implementation and births a departure point for advancing energy-efficient construction in developing markets from the rational economic decision perspective.

Details

International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, vol. 40 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-4708

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 April 2021

Samuel Ekung, Isaac Odesola and Michael Oladokun

Across the globe, the dearth of certainty about the cost of sustainable buildings (SBs) remains a critical disincentive to their adoption. This study explored the factually…

Abstract

Purpose

Across the globe, the dearth of certainty about the cost of sustainable buildings (SBs) remains a critical disincentive to their adoption. This study explored the factually incorrect knowledge about the cost of SBs and their implications on adoption.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopted sequenced mixed qualitative and quantitative approaches involving a literature review, Delphi study and survey. Semi-structured and structured self-study questionnaires were administered to a random sample of green building experts, researchers and registered construction professionals with deep knowledge of SB. The dataset from 254 stakeholders was analysed for commonality, principal components and critical misperceptions using multivariate approaches.

Findings

The predominant misperceptions in the study linked low adoption of SB to cost premium, portray cost premium as a property of luxury sustainable features and suggest related practices are suitable for exemplary projects only. The critical misperceptions produced various misinterpretations that inhibit the adoption of SB through the dearth of policies, increased complexities and inflation of budget to curb perceived risks.

Practical implications

The study buttressed the imperative to improve cost information, knowledge, skills and stakeholders' risk perceptions to increase SB adoption. The results provide insight into the regional misperceptions and knowledge gaps that could explain the low adoption of SB in a typical emerging green market.

Originality/value

The study showed that the prevalent knowledge about the cost of SB among construction stakeholders are unsupported beliefs and directs attention to emerging issues critical to SBs' adoption in emerging markets.

Details

Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, vol. 11 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6099

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 June 2021

Samuel Ekung, Isaac Odesola and Alex Opoku

The pertinent information about green buildings (GB) is laden with cost misperceptions (CM) that are paraded into adoption decisions without factual clarifications. The…

Abstract

Purpose

The pertinent information about green buildings (GB) is laden with cost misperceptions (CM) that are paraded into adoption decisions without factual clarifications. The unsupported beliefs are fundamental to the disparaging low adoption of related technologies globally. The purpose of this paper is to explore the causes of CMs among construction stakeholders and why is it difficult to discredit this information?

Design/methodology/approach

The research adopted two-tier approaches involving a Delphi study and a questionnaire survey. Construction stakeholders and GB experts, totalling 415 were surveyed, while 12 professionals participated in the Delphi study. This study analysed data from 254 valid responses using Factor Analysis, Fussy Set Theory and Kruskal Wallis test to explain why CMs are prevalent.

Findings

The causes of CMs converge towards seven principal factors including low knowledge of GB practices, non-familiarity with performance metrics, inadequate evidence, poor-risk perceptions and reliance on the costs of exemplar projects. The results were explained using gaps in cost management, knowledge and sustainability accounting to show the critical improvements that can benefit GB adoption.

Practical implications

CMs are not abstract but develop from patterns that can be detected and understood within a specific context. Growing GB projects within a region would improve cost information, sustainability accounting, cost management and quality of evidence. GB cost information paraded into adoption decision processes are overestimated and overvalued beliefs of their financial implications. Tackling the important sources of CMs in the study is appropriate to improve rational decision-making aiding GB adoption.

Originality/value

This study untied causes of negative dispositions towards the cost of GB that distort stakeholders’ adoption decisions.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology , vol. 20 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 December 2021

Bamidele Temitope Arijeloye, Isaac Olaniyi Aje and Ayodeji Emmanuel Oke

The purpose of the study is to elicit risk factors that are peculiar to public-private partnership (PPP)-procured mass housing in Nigeria from the expert perspectives in ensuring…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to elicit risk factors that are peculiar to public-private partnership (PPP)-procured mass housing in Nigeria from the expert perspectives in ensuring the success of the scheme thereby reducing housing deficit in the country.

Design/methodology/approach

The risk inherent in construction projects had been established through literature in general. The risk in PPP projects is emerging because of the recent acceptance of the procurement option by governments all over the globe. The Nigerian Government has also adopted the procurement option in bridging the housing deficit in the country. This study, therefore, conducts a Delphi survey on the probability of risk occurrence peculiar to PPP mass housing projects (MHPs) in Nigeria. Pragmatic research approach through the mixed method of both quantitative and qualitative methods was adopted for this study. The quantitative method adopts the administration of questionnaires through the Delphi survey, whereas the qualitative method used interviews with the respondents. A two-stage Delphi questionnaire was administered to construction practitioners that cut across academics, the public and the private sectors by adopting convenient sampling techniques and following the Delphi principles and procedures. A total of 63 risk factors were submitted to the expert to rank on a Likert scale of 7 and any risk factors that the mean item score (MIS) falls below the grading scale of the five-point benchmark is deemed not necessary a risk factor associated with PPP MHPs and thereby expunged from the second round of the Delphi Survey. The interview was subsequently applied to the respondents to substantiate the risk factors that are peculiar to PPP-procured mass housing in the study area.

Findings

The findings show that risk factors such as maintenance frequent than expected, life of facility shorter than anticipated and maintenance cost higher than expected fall below 5.0 benchmark with MIS of 4.64 and 4.55 indicating that the risk factors are not peculiar to PPP mass housing in Nigeria.

Research limitations/implications

The implication for practise of this research is that these risk factors provide the PPP stakeholders with the comprehensive checklists that can aid in developing PPP risk assessment guidelines in the sector though both partners should be aware of the dynamic nature of risk because new ones might be emerging.

Originality/value

The authors hereby declare that the research findings are a product of a thorough research conducted in the study area and have not to be submitted or published by another person or publisher and due acknowledgement was made where necessary.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology , vol. 22 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2022

Emmanuel Yaw Frempong-Jnr, Simon Ofori Ametepey and John Edward Cobbina

The construction industry’s contribution to environmental deterioration is widely established in the literature, implying that addressing this issue will require a coordinated…

Abstract

Purpose

The construction industry’s contribution to environmental deterioration is widely established in the literature, implying that addressing this issue will require a coordinated effort from all stakeholders. According to literature, stakeholder involvement without stakeholder management (SKM) is not enough, in ensuring efficient construction waste management (CWM). This study investigates the impact of SKM on efficient CWM by aggregating all relevant SKM variables and measuring their degree of influence on efficient CWM.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a four-stage research approach that included a literature review, a pilot study, a questionnaire survey and statistical analysis. After a thorough examination of the literature, nine essential SKM factors were identified and tested by a questionnaire survey following a pilot study. A total of 310 questionnaires were filled out and returned for analysis (exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis).

Findings

The study established that SKM is a unidimensional construct since all the variables extracted unto one underlying component with total variance explained (TVE), accounting for 58.938% of the total Variance in the measure of SKM in efficient CWM. Additionally, the reliability and validity test results satisfied the recommended thresholds, thus justifying the factorability of the construct. Furthermore, the hypothesis test revealed that SKM has a statistically significant impact on efficient CWM, implying that increasing SKM will have a beneficial impact on efficient CWM.

Research limitations/implications

The study is limited to material waste management in the construction industry and the outcome was determined solely by a field survey in Ghana. Extending the study to other jurisdictions would have improved its findings and made them easier to generalise.

Practical implications

The study’s findings are helpful for practitioners and researchers, especially regarding the influence of the eight SKM variables on efficient CWM.

Social implications

The study’s findings will reduce pollution, thus enhancing public health and encouraging social inclusion through the creation of jobs in the waste management chain.

Originality/value

The uniqueness of this study is anchored on the fact that no CWM study has considered all the eight SKM variables measured in this study at the same time. Also, this study has contributed to the literature by establishing the determinants of SKM in efficient CWM in Ghana.

Details

Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, vol. 12 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6099

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 August 2023

Hezekiah Farayola Olaniran and Bolatito Folasade Akinbile

Despite the contributions of both the oil and gas and construction industries to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country, both industries are still marred by incessant…

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Abstract

Purpose

Despite the contributions of both the oil and gas and construction industries to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country, both industries are still marred by incessant accidents. Therefore, the aim of this study is to compare the health and safety practises of the construction and oil and gas industries in Nigeria in order to suggest the best approach to health and safety practices.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey questionnaire was developed and administered to professionals working in the construction and oil and gas industries. Data were analysed using the relative importance index (RII). An independent sample t-test was also conducted to determine whether there was a significant difference in the construction and oil and gas industries.

Findings

The study revealed that the rate at which health and safety are practised in the oil and gas industry is comparatively high compared to how they are practised in the construction industry. Proper site layout and planning, provision of a safe working environment, proper health and safety risk assessment were more predominantly practised in the oil and gas industry, while proper site layout and planning, disallowing unauthorised entry into site and the provision of a safe working environment were predominantly practised in the construction industry.

Originality/value

This study is the first to compare the health and safety practises of the construction and oil and gas industries in Nigeria. This study was significant because it would provide insight into construction and oil and gas managers, as well as other decision-makers in both industries, on how to improve health and safety practices.

Details

Frontiers in Engineering and Built Environment, vol. 3 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2634-2499

Keywords

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