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The failure and abandonment of construction projects have proven to be insurmountable problems incessantly militating against the efficient performance of the construction industry in Nigeria. The complexity, technicality and a host of other project execution issues unique to multi-storey building projects do increase their susceptibility to failure and abandonment. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine the factors influencing failure and abandonment of multi-storey building projects in Nigeria. This is with a view to provide inferential empirical data that could enhance successful delivery of multi-storey building projects in Nigeria.

Primary data were used for the study. A structured questionnaire was administered on consultants and contractors’ personnel within Lagos State, Nigeria. A total of 180 copies of the questionnaire were administered ,and 134 copies which represent a combined response rate of 74.4 per cent were retrieved. The data were analysed using frequency distribution and percentages, Mean item score and factor analysis.

The factors most significant to the failure and abandonment of multi-storey building projects are inadequate funding by the client, improper planning at the pre-construction phase, structural failure in multi-storey building during construction, bankruptcy/business failure of the contractor, improper scheduling of the building project activities and failure to engage qualified professionals with technical expertise and experience. The rated factors clustered under human resources capability, planning and structural quality, contractor selection and variation, insecurity and variation, and force majeure and political risk.

The study was limited to multi-storey building projects in Lagos State, Nigeria. Further studies could focus on specific resuscitation strategies for abandoned multi-storey building projects.

The study provided implications for effective project and contract management of multi-storey building projects which is very paramount to improve the delivery of complex, technical- and capital-intensive building projects in Nigeria.

The study provides specific implications for the management of multi-storey building projects, thereby enhancing the delivery of building projects.

The continuous failure of construction projects notwithstanding appreciable increase in project management knowledge has necessitated a proactive approach of assessing early warning signs (EWS) of building projects failure. Building projects are expected to show warning signs before experiencing crises, comparable to a patient displaying symptoms of a disease. Thus, this study aims to examine the EWS that predisposed building projects to failure in Nigeria to provide empirical data for enhancing projects delivery.

Primary data were used for the study. Structured questionnaire was administered to consultants and contractors’ personnel within Lagos State, Nigeria. A total of 180 copies of questionnaire were administered and 134 copies (combined response rate of 74.44 per cent) were retrieved. Frequency distribution, percentages, mean item score and Mann–Whitney test were used to analyse the data.

Most construction professionals applied the EWS approach from project planning and early construction phase. The most significant EWS predisposing building projects to failure were “Management inability and incompetence to proactively detect and manage problems at early project stages”, “Actual expenditure is constantly shooting beyond cost estimates” and “Incurred costs already getting higher than the anticipated benefits”. Project/construction management-related symptoms are most significant to predisposing building projects to failure.

The study provided implications for effective project management of building projects through proactive approach which is very paramount to improving the delivery of building projects in Nigeria.

The study provides implications for proactive management of building projects, thereby enhancing the delivery of building projects.

This paper aims to determine the effect of the period of abandonment on the final cost and duration of resuscitated tertiary educational building projects as a basis for enhancing the performance metrics of the projects and improving the availability of facilities in tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

A structured questionnaire was administered on 47 professionals involved in the physical development of construction projects in Osun State public tertiary educational institutions to provide primary data for the study. Secondary data relating to initial and final costs, initial and final completion dates, dates of abandonment, period of abandonment, date of re-award, etc. were obtained from selected resuscitated projects. Data were analyzed using relative significance index and regression analysis.

The most significant effects of project abandonment were found to be disappointment of populace and over-stretching of existing facilities. The study showed a directly proportional and an exponential effect of period of abandonment on percentage cost overrun of resuscitated projects, which were represented by y_c = −329.755 + 19.545x and y_c = 6.1662e_0.0506x, respectively. A linear relationship between period of abandonment and percentage time overrun was represented by y_t = 0.467 + 0.816x.

The fact that the regression equations could not be validated because of paucity of data was identified as a limitation of this study.

This study adds to the body of knowledge on abandonment of building projects from a quantitative perspective. Findings have implications for guiding long-term infrastructure development plans in public tertiary educational institutions.

Maximum threshold at which abandoned projects may be resuscitated at an economic cost was established as 16 months. Findings further suggest that the economy of new construction would outweigh resuscitation of abandoned projects beyond this period.

The clarity of requisite roles of public sector organizations (PSOs) for successful procurement of public-private partnership (PPP) infrastructure in Nigeria is not well-established as the country is portrayed with the rising statistics on the haphazard pattern of operation of PPP model for infrastructure procurement. This has greatly beset the expected performance of a number of PPP projects which were intended to bridge the infrastructural deficit in the country. This study therefore examined roles the performed by PSOs in PPP infrastructure procurement with a view to delineate PSOs obligations and consequently improve project success.

The study was based on structured questionnaire survey of professionals in PSOs who have been involved in PPP infrastructure procurement in Southwestern Nigeria. The sampled professionals were drawn from a build-up of network through a referral chain by the adoption of respondent-driven sampling (RDS) method. The data collected were subjected to mean score analysis and Kruskal–Wallis test.

The study found that roles pertaining to management of variation, apportionment of penalties and abatements, select preferred bidders, establish management approaches for PPP risks are infrequently performed by PSOs in Nigeria. Whereas these roles are critical to successful procurement of PPP infrastructure as they are prerequisites for PPP infrastructural project success.

The study provides information that would be useful for developing countries with evolving PPP markets for enhanced project delivery.

The build-operate-transfer (BOT) model is fast becoming a sustainable tool for remedying the deficiencies of public financing of hostel facilities in Nigeria. Being a new concept in Nigeria, this study aims to assess clients’ organizations perspective of risk factors associated with BOT model with a view to providing information for their effective management.

Quantitative descriptive analysis was used, which was based on primary data obtained through questionnaire survey. The respondents included architects, engineers (structural/civil/mechanical/electrical), builders and quantity surveyors who were officials in the physical planning development and works departments of five sampled universities in the southwestern Nigeria who executed at least one BOT hostel project. A total number of 45 copies of questionnaire were administered, out of which 35 copies representing a response rate of 77.8 per cent were retrieved. Data analysis was undertaken using descriptive statistics: percentages, mean item score and relative importance index.

Severity of the risk factors specific to BOT model for hostel development was revealed. Besides, conceptual allocations and mitigation measures were suggested against each risk factor.

Private sector investor would find the results of this research useful in preparing robust BOT contract packages through the understanding of the nature of risk factors associated with the procurement model.

With limited evaluation of BOT in hostel facilities procurement, this study developed a simplified approach to management of risk factors associated with BOT model in the education sector.

Abandonment of construction projects is still a burning issue in Nigeria. Beside the poor financing of educational infrastructure, abandonment of construction projects remains a significant contributor to the inadequacy of facilities in Nigerian public tertiary educational institutions. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to assess the causes of abandoned projects specific to public institutions of tertiary education in Nigeria, with a view to providing empirical data that are generalizable to enhancing successful delivery of teaching and research facilities.

Primary data used for the study were obtained through questionnaires administered to 47 professionals comprising 8 architects, 12 mechanical and electrical engineers, 15 civil/structural engineers, 4 builders and 8 quantity surveyors who were involved in physical development of construction projects in public tertiary educational institutions in Osun State. The data were analyzed using mean analysis, factor analysis and the Kruskal-Wallis (K-W) test.

The factors most significant to abandonment of tertiary educational institutional projects were delayed payments, fund mismanagement, inadequate budgetary allocation, inadequacy of finance, inflation and bankruptcy of the contractor. Findings also showed that not all factors causing abandonment were significant to tertiary institutional projects. The significant factors clustered under stakeholders’ response capacity, poor financial management, inadequate planning and monitoring, and unexpected occurrences. The K-W test showed significant differences among the categories of tertiary institutions on the ranking of the most significant causes of abandoned projects.

The study was limited to public tertiary educational institutions in Osun State. Further studies could focus on public health institution projects and private tertiary educational projects to improve the body of knowledge on the subject of causative factors for project abandonment.

The study provided implications for effective contract management of public tertiary educational institutional projects, which is a significant step to improving the available teaching and research facilities in Nigerian tertiary institutions.

The study provides implications for effective contract management systems of projects for public tertiary educational institutions, thereby improving the available teaching and research facilities.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the cost and time performance of construction projects in public and private universities in Osun State, Nigeria.

Purposive sampling technique was adopted to select four universities (two public and two private) used for the study. Archival data on 40 completed construction projects (ten from each university) was used in the study. Data were analysed with percentile and t-test.

The study showed that only 35 per cent of the construction projects in public and 10 per cent of those in private universities were completed at the estimated cost. There were no construction projects completed within the planned time in public universities, but 20 per cent were completed within the planned time in private universities. The t-test showed there is no significant difference in performance of construction projects in public and private universities in Nigeria. The study concluded that time performance of public and private universities in Nigeria was still below acceptable international best practices.

The findings of this study are limited to universities’ construction projects and may be of little application to other construction projects outside university settings.

It is recommended that construction stakeholders be more proactive in ensuring that significant improvement is achieved in cost and time performance of construction projects both in public and private universities; the clients need to be more detailed in their briefs and requirements, the designers (architects and engineers) need to be more precise and avoid varying their designs, the quantity surveyors should use their professional competency in cost engineering adequately and the contractor should avoid spurious claims that result in increase in construction cost and time so that performance of construction projects can be improved.

The study is an attempt to compare cost and time performance of construction projects in public and private universities in Osun State, Nigeria.