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Sustainability transformation in the construction industry is vital for the attainment of sustainable development goals. While conventional construction has been at the expense of social and economic sustainability, sustainable construction can enhance environmental, social and economic outcomes for the construction industry and society at large. However, the industry struggles with new initiates because its stakeholders are products of unique institutions which shape their decisions and intentions to adopt new practices. This study assessed the institutional pressures that influence the adoption of sustainable construction to enhance our understanding of other factors that can promote and accelerate the adoption of sustainable construction.

The study adopted a quantitative research design with the use of online questionnaires to elicit information from construction professionals in South Africa. Descriptive statistics of frequencies, mean and standard deviation were used to analyse the data obtained from the survey. Linear regression was also used to assess the influence of institutional pressures on the adoption of sustainable construction.

Mimetic pressures were found to have a significant influence on the adoption of sustainable construction. The decision to adopt sustainable construction was based on the sustainability actions of industry leaders (mimetic pressure). Normative and coercive pressures had no significant influence on the adoption of sustainable construction.

Mimetic pressure from competitors and normative pressures is already exerting some pressure on stakeholders to adopt sustainable construction. However, there cannot be a long-term commitment that will yield the needed sustainability transformations without additional normative pressure from learned societies and coercive pressure from the government. As one of the pioneering works from the global south, this study provides empirical validations of the influence of institutional pressures on the adoption of sustainable construction. It also enhances understanding of how institutional pressures from the social context can promote and accelerate the adoption of sustainable construction.

The findings present one of the pioneering efforts to empirically validate the influence of institutional pressures on the adoption of sustainable construction.

Building information modeling (BIM) inclusion in education pedagogy is crucial in preparing skilled graduates for employment in the construction industry. Against this backdrop, studies on BIM education abound in architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) programmes in higher education institutions (HEIs). However, there are limited empirical studies on BIM potentials in the quantity surveying (QS) profession in HEIs, particularly in developing countries. The purpose of this study is to identify and assess the BIM drivers and benefits as important to the QS profession using an empirical approach.

A comprehensive literature review was conducted to identify the BIM drivers and benefits in relation to the QS profession, which was used to design a questionnaire. To capture a broad perception, a questionnaire survey was carried out which targeted the academia and final year undergraduate students from two selected universities offering QS honour degree programmes in Nigeria. Data collected were analysed using mean score, standard deviation and Mann–Whitney test.

The study identified 12 BIM drivers in relation to the QS profession and the analysis of the ranking revealed that almost all the identified BIM drivers are considered by respondents as important. The study further identified 14 BIM benefits and the analysis of the ranking indicated that all the identified BIM benefits are considered as important. The results of the Mann–Whitney test indicated a slight statistically significant difference, particularly in one of the selected universities on the ranking of the BIM drivers and benefits as important to the QS profession.

The findings of the study provide empirical evidence on the current perceptions of the drivers and benefits of BIM to QS academia and students as they explore the concept for the advancement of QS profession.

This study would provide practical insights to use BIM for QS practice. Also, this study would contribute to improving the QS graduates and professional quantity surveyors understanding of the BIM knowledge applicable to QS profession.

This study aims to examine the predictors of entrepreneurial intentions of real estate students in an emerging economy where there are significant odds against paid employment owing to the dwindling economic drivers.

Primary data was obtained using closed-ended questionnaire served on final-year real estate students in three tertiary institutions in Southwestern Nigeria. Out of a total of 231 copies of the questionnaire distributed, 160 (69.3%) were retrieved and found suitable for analysis. Using ordinal least square regression, the study examined the influence of the independent variables on the respondents’ entrepreneurial intention across two models. While the first model was without the moderators of prior entrepreneurial exposure (that is, parental occupation, relationship with a real estate entrepreneur, previous/current engagement in business and attendance at business/entrepreneurial seminars/workshops), the second included all the control variables. Other descriptive and inferential statistical methods were adopted.

The findings revealed that personal satisfaction/prestige, support system, university education, age, cumulative grade points and mothers’ education were statistically significant predictors, at p < 0.05, across the two models examined. Fathers’ education and occupation were only significant in the second model, that is, when controlled for prior entrepreneurial exposure. Also, the influence of faculties and barriers of registration/information were significant at 10% level only in the second model. Finally, the study found no statistically significant differencing across gender, family status, mothers’ occupation and relationship with a real estate entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurship is a significant factor influencing economic growth and increased market competitiveness, an examination of students entrepreneurial intentions appear important, especially in regions where there are low economic opportunities.

This study is among the first attempts at understanding the predictors of real estate students’ entrepreneurial intentions from an emerging market perspective.

Electrical services contribute a substantial percentage of total construction cost of any particular project. It is essential for estimators to have a detailed knowledge of the factors that affect the incorporation of electrical services cost into the overall building project cost. The overall aim of the study that formed the basis for this paper therefore was to investigate the factors that influence cost estimating of electrical services project.

The study was carried out based on questionnaire survey of 225 organizations that are involved in cost estimating of electrical services projects in Nigeria. A total of 158 questionnaires out of the 163 retrieved were appropriate for analysis. A list of factors potentially influencing cost estimate for electrical services was identified for the respondents to rate. The data collected were analyzed using factor analysis based on principal component analysis and varimax orthogonal rotation.

The results shows that the factors affecting production of cost estimate for electrical services could be grouped into four principal factors: the most important factor grouping being estimator competence followed by project technicality, economic requirements and contract requirements.

Many factors are considered by practitioners in the preparation of cost estimate for electrical work in construction project development. The paper has listed about 23 factors that are relevant. However, this paper has shown that four principal factors need to be considered as they explain 64 percent of the factors affect cost estimate production for building project's electrical service works.

Review of literature has shown that there is limited empirical research on the factors influencing cost estimate production for electrical services work. The paper has produced an empirical research on the crucial factors that must be taken into account when producing cost estimate for the electrical service projects.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the diffusion of facilities management (FM) as a sustainable tool to facility performance within the perspective of public universities in Nigeria.

A review of the literature reveals the practices of FM in both the educational and institutional buildings. Factors influencing the practices and strategies for sustaining facilities condition were evaluated. Data were collected through a well-structured questionnaire administered on both the technical and managerial officers in charge of FM in Nigeria public universities. Data collected were subjected to both the descriptive and inferential statistical tools.

The FM practice in the Nigeria public universities is found to be lagging behind private sector experience, despite the significant benefits of FM to learning process. In particular, passive actions are being taken to manage facilities, even when most are obsolete and deteriorated. Critical challenges to FM practice are low level of technology, poor funding and poor policy implementation. Outsourcing of technical personnel is essential to ameliorate the conditions of public universities’ facilities in Nigeria.

This paper helps policymakers and administrators to know the condition of facilities and understand the FM practice in the Nigerian public universities.

Reactive/passive practice is the norm in FM of public universities in Nigeria. However, outsourcing of technical personnel in FM has a great potential for functional facilities in public universities.

In developing countries, adoption of building information modelling (BIM) concept within the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) curricula in universities is a relatively new effort, and subsequently, studies on the status of BIM implementation in universities are rare. This study, therefore, becomes imperative with a view to identifying and examining the barriers to the incorporation of BIM into quantity surveying (QS) undergraduate curriculum in Nigerian universities.

The study adopted a questionnaire survey, which was targeted at the academia and students from two selected universities offering QS honours degree programme. Data collected were analysed using mean score, Mann–Whitney test and factor analysis.

The study identified 30 barriers, and the analysis of the ranking revealed that 17 (out of 30) identified barriers were considered as the most serious barriers. The study, through factor analysis, grouped the 30 identified barriers into six major factors.

The findings provide greater insights and empirical evidence on the major barriers to implementation of BIM education in developing countries.

The identified barriers are relevant not only to QS education but also to other related disciplines within the AEC context. These findings would be of great value to academic staff and university management board to develop strategies for incorporating BIM into AEC disciplines curricula in developing countries at large.

Studies focusing on the growth of indigenous construction firms (ICFs) are getting dated, and unreflective of recent policy changes in developing countries. This study sought to analyze critical barriers to the growth of ICFs and obtain an unsupervised parsimonious grouping of the barriers for policy improvements.

A mix of quantitative and qualitative research methods was adopted for the study. ICFs in Nigeria were cross-sectionally surveyed based on a set of firm growth barriers obtained from literature and refined by focus group discussion. Descriptive (means, standard deviations, percentages) and inferential (Kruskal-Wallice and Mann-Whitney U test) statistics were used in the analyses of the data. Factor analysis was used to group the variables.

Results showed that “declining” ICFs are more negatively impacted by low construction mechanization/use of labor intensive methods, inadequate geographical reach of operations, and inadequate flow of jobs/low demand than “stunted” and “growing” ICFs. The three main domains of critical barriers to the growth of ICFs were identified in descending order of importance as low patronage, difficulty accessing funds, and business management incapacity.

The study recommends improvements in access to funds for ICFs by increasing the percentage of advance payments, and creating a pool of equipment for easy hire by ICFs. ICFs are advised to seek information on tendering opportunities outside their regions of domicile in order to increase their patronage.

This study reveals differences in the impacts of growth barriers on ICFs at different growth levels. This study also clarifies persisting barriers to the growth of ICFs [primarily construction micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs)] from a developing country perspective using a longer list of variables.