Structural challenges

Several problems associated with the structural development of houses in Nigeria have been highlighted in the literature. Recently, government projects for housing mostly encounter problems linked to the provision of sub-standard homes for citizens of Nigeria (Adenuga, 2013). Key to this is associated with the poor qualities of finishing and supervision requirements of the structures (Olotuah, 2000; Adeoye, 2016). In most instance, houses are provided to individuals either without quality being considered or the structure were compromised. This situation happens particularly in developing countries such as Nigeria. This led to the Mortgage Bank Association of Nigeria (MBAN) set targets for the development of Nigerian housing and mortgage market for five years, which has not yet been achieved.

The provision of adequate infrastructures and houses that are affordable are the major obstacle Nigeria is facing now (Ajayi and Omole, 2012). However, according to Gudienė et al. (2003) for a construction project to have a success, seven critical factors need to be considered. The model consists of the following factors; external, institutional, project related, project management/team members related; project managers related; clients and contractors related factors. Figure 3.4 below provides diagram presenting the interconnection between the critical factors for success in a model.

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Figure 3.4 Conceptual critical success factors model for construction project

Source: Gudienė et al. (2003)

Further assessment of the variable contains in figure 3.4, revealed the interrelationship that exist between these variables. Furthermore, a synergistic interaction makes it possible for one variable to influence a variable in the others. The presentation below is a review of major sources that categorised the problems associated with quality delivery of houses and the

Construction Project Success Project related factors:

Adequate funds and Resources, Project value, Size, Type, Complexity, Goals, Planning, Innovations, Construction methods, Realistic schedules, Risk and etc.

Project management/team members related factors:

Competence, Experience,

Decision making, Effectiveness, Motivation,

Technical capability, Risk identification and Allocation, Project organization, Personnel issues and etc..

Project manager related factors:

Leadership skills, Organizational skills, Coordinating skills of Project managers and their experience, Authority and trust,

Effective and timely, Adoptability to changes, Contract management Trust and etc.

Contract related factors: Company characteristics, Technical and professional Capability, Experience, Economic and financial situation, Quality issues, Health and safety conditions, work conditions and etc. Project manager related

factors: Experience,

Type (private or public), size, Influence,

Ability to make timely decision, and etc. Construction Regulations Pr od uc t a nd se rv ic e r ati fic ati on Co ns tr uc tio n pe rm its Standards Na tu re e co lo gi ca l e nv ir on m en t Cu ltu ra l e nv ir on m en t

Economic environment Social environment

Te ch no lo gic al en vir on m en t Le ga l e nv ir on m en t

Political environment Physical environment

Data base

Stakeholders Decision support

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factors that influence their existence (Heravitorbati et al., 2011). Key factors that play against the delivery of quality housing include lack of managerial foresight that lead to poor contractors’ supervision alongside others issues. In addition, lack of competent contractors and supervisors as well as the use of low-quality building materials are other factors that affect the delivery of quality housing at present (Saidu and Yeom, 2020). Several authors have opined that, in other to avoid poor housing quality and unsustainable house price bubble and bust, there is the need for nations to consider workable housing pricing and mortgage valuation strategies parameters. These should be based on the econometrics of location, the price of land, and the cost of developing affordable housing for the target population (Kitagawa et al., 2016; Saidu and Yeom, 2020)

Table 3.6: Housing quality defects sources and quality problem factors A. Stakeholder Managerial

• Lack of contractor supervision

• Poor relationship and partnering among project participants

• Reduced Subcontractor responsibility

• Inappropriate method of contractor

• Poor quality procedure and department

• Lack of auditing system

• Poor training system

• Low improvement quality

• Lack of management commitment

• Lack quality policy

• Low effective project management systems

• Bureaucracy

• Supplier impact B. Technical

• Poor design and specification

• Design complexity

• Difficult data collection systems

• Poor performance of quality tools

• Difficult application of quality system C. Material/Environmental Equipment

• Nature uniqueness

• Project size and complexity

• Material/equipment specification

• Project environment

• Low quality and lack of material availability D. Cultural/Political

• Lack of motivation

• Incompatible tendering procedures

• Low tendency to teamwork

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Heravitorbati et al. (2011) further categorised the problems associated with building quality in four different themes as identified in table 3.6 with the housing quality as the most prominent issues affecting affordable housing development. Based these outcomes it can be concluded that better quality structure should be viewed as upmost priority if target set around affordable housing is to be achieved. Similarly, Alaghbari (2010) and Camilleri (2011) earlier suggested that the low-income earners with a limited access to regular cash flow are finding it difficult to save for homeownership due to high cost of construction, which now is divesting in to other of housing finance. In line with the aforementioned, basic infrastructures such as road networks, water, drainages, electricity etc. are factors that need looking into to guarantee the provision of an affordable housing development that will be self-sustainable in the long run (Ajayi and Omole, 2012; Saidu and Yeom, 2020). Which at the moment most housing schemes do lack some of this provision and exposing the stock to potential threat to socio-environmental threat.