ANALYSIS OF FACTORS INFLUENCING MATERIAL WASTAGE ON BUILDING SITE IN NIGERIA
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ABSTRACT
The study was carried to critically investigate the analysis of factors influencing material wastage on building sites in Kaduna State. To achieve this objective, three research questions were stated to guide this study. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, tables and graph to analyze research questions. A structured questionnaire was used as the major instrument for data collection from the respondents in selected Building Companies in Kaduna State. After the careful analysis of the data, the following findings were revealed that; there are major causes of material wastage; there are factors causing the material wastage according to their influence on the budget of the project and there are possible means of reducing the wastage. The study was concluded with some recommendations that monetary incentives should be introduced so that workers get motivated and thereby change their negative attitude to work; and there is need for workers to exercise more care when carrying out their work especially while working with breakable materials such as sandcrete blocks, tiles, ceiling boards etc.
Introduction
Wastage on construction site has become a canker worm in Nigerian construction industry. This problem has negatively affected the performance of many projects in Nigeria. Obiegbu (2002) noted that wastage in construction firms has come to stay considering the fact that at least 5% is attained when
preparing the estimate for a project which is usually not adequate. Wastage is seen in many ways as peculiarity of construction projects. This means that many construction works have wastage because it is an issue that cannot be divorced from construction work. There have been different definitions of construction material waste by different authors. For the purpose of this study, building material wastage can be defined as the difference between the value of materials delivered and accepted on site and those properly used as specified and accurately measured in the work after deducting the cost saving of substituted materials transferred elsewhere in which unnecessary cost and time may be incurred by the material wastage (Shen and Tam, 2002). The causes of construction material waste can be measured and evaluated using a large number of construction phase related factors such as design and documentation, materials procurement and management, site management practices and site
supervision including environmental conditions. The first set is related to designers and client’s
requirements; the people who consider the functional requirement of the building. The second set is related to construction team and contractors; people who consider the buildability and maintainability of the building. The third set is related to the site supervisors and the site operatives; people who are directly involved in the art of putting the raw materials together to form the building envelop. Teo et al. (2009) observed that extra construction materials are usually purchased due to material wastage during construction. Previous studies from various countries have confirmed that waste represents relatively larger percentage of production. Tam et al. (2007) in a study in the United Kingdom reported an additional cost of 15% to construction project cost overruns as a result of material wastage. Bossink and Brouwers (1996) stated that material wastage accounts for between 20-30% project cost overruns. It is
therefore glaring that the economic losses from construction material waste could pose a great threat to the economic growth of a nation. There is a growing consensus within the built environment in Nigeria that building materials account for over 50% of the total cost of a building project (Akinkurolere and Franklin, 2005). It therefore follows that wastage of material will lead to increase in total cost of building project. This assertion is supported by Teo et al. (2009) who opined that building material wastage
on construction sites contributes to cost overruns. This implies that in-depth review, identification
of causative factors of waste, assessment of these factors and any improvement in material wastage
management on construction sites will enhance the cost performance of projects in Nigeria.
