CIVIL ENGINEERING PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS

Buildings are structures, which serve as shelters for man, his properties and activities. They must be properly planned, designed and erected to obtain desired satisfaction from the environment. The factors to be observed in building construction include durability, adequate stability to prevent its failure or discomfort to the users, resistance to weather, fire outbreak and other forms of accidents. The styles of building construction are constantly changing with introduction of new materials and techniques of construction. Consequently, the work involved in the design and construction stages of buildings are largely that of selecting materials, components and structures that will meet the expected building standards and aesthetics on economy basis. Several codes of practice universally accepted are available for the design and construction of buildings and these codes, though foreign, should be followed as a guide to building construction by the building team. A high level of skill is needed in designing and constructing buildings, competence and craftsmanship from the team, which include the Architects, the Engineers or Contractor (Structural, Mechanical and Electrical), and the Local Authority. In Nigeria like any other countries in the world, building collapse menace is growing at an alarming rate, seemingly uncontrollable or beyond control. The incessant buildings collapse in Nigeria has become a great concern to all the stakeholders and the professionals in the buildi

Since independence, the Nigeria government has desperately continued to make concerted effort in the area of quantitative (but not qualitative) supply of mass housing through huge budgetary and policy provisions but, surprisingly, the rate at which existing ones are collapsing calls for an urgent attention. The site of building collapse scattered across the length and breadth of Nigeria is quite alarming that it is unimaginable what effects it will have on the building industry and Nigeria economy as a whole. One could imagine what edifices these buildings would have been if only they were constructed accordingly. It has been reported that Nigeria, especially Lagos State has become the “world’s junk-yard” of collapsed buildings worth billions of naira (Famoroti, 2005). It is quite unimaginable that a county blessed with so great potentials in its construction industry can experience such magnitude of building collapse Fadamiro in 2002 defined building as “an enclosure for spaces designed for specific use, meant to control local climate, distribute services and evacuate waste”. Buildings can be defined as structural entities capable of securing self by transmitting weights to the ground. More so, buildings are defined “as structures for human activities, which must be safe for the occupants”(Odulami, 2002). However, these same buildings have been posing treats and dangers to people either during or after construction as a result of its collapse.

This study was intended to evaluate the assessment of the effect of organizational culture on the performance of quantity surveying firms in Nigeria. This study was guided by the following objectives; to examine the effect of organizational culture on the performance of quantity surveying firms in Nigeria; To identify the type of organizational culture that existed among the quantity surveying firms in Nigeria; To identify factors hindering the performance of quantity surveying firms in Nigeria.

This research project investigated the effects of design error on the final cost of a project in Nigeria. It is a key issue, because many projects in Nigeria have inadequacies in the plans and specifications which have been major causes of changes to the contract. There have been extreme examples of design errors such as numerous building collapses in Nigeria - projects that have wrought disaster after the construction are completed. One or two major errors that can be corrected with only initial cost considerations and little effect on the schedule finally ends up causing major impacts on the final cost and schedule growth.

Quantity surveying is concerned with controlling and managing construction projects. The Nigerian construction industry is faced with uncertainties. With construction targets not being met and high rate of abandoned construction projects, there is great need for proper risk assessment and implementation. Managing risks in construction projects have been recognized as a very important process in order to achieve project objectives in terms of time, cost, quality, safety and environmental sustainability (Mills, 2001).

Until relatively recently, the discipline of development appraisal has remained the provenance of surveyors and developers. It largely been ignored by other participants in the development process, particularly planners, architects and construction specialists. This is now changing. Close attention is now paid to the feasibility and viability (and profitability) of development proposals as government and other stakeholders seek to extract developer and/or landowner contributions to affordable housing, public services and infrastructure.

The recent flooding that occurred in various part of Nigeria makes this research expedient, to allow for action to prevent such disaster from occurring. The significance of this research work cannot be overemphasized as it has tremendous importance and positve impact on almost all sectors of the economy, government departments and the society at large.

The paper critically analyses the assessment of factors affecting contractors tender for construction project. Designing and implementing an effective tender is a huge challenge for most contractors who seek government contracts in Nigeria. A study conducted by Obuji (2003) in some West African countries including Nigeria, revealed that some small scale contractors are not favoured during a tendering process by prospective clients because, they neglect various factors that affect the success and failures of submitting a tender for a contract.

Management has a great effect on the job-site performance of construction skilled workers. This paper discusses "An assessment of the impact of work environment on the construction skilled workers in Imo State, Nigeria. It was carried out with the aim of assessing the efficiency and productivity of skilled workers on construction environment. The questionnaires and field approach was the method of study used. Data for the study were collected through secondary and primary sources and were analyzed by means of simple percentage, severity Index (likert scale) and productivity formula. The study found that certain groups of skilled workers are more productive on public construction work environment while others are more productive on private construction work environment.

This study comprises of five chapters chapter one shows the general background to the study and full introduction while chapter two deals with literature review, chapter there contain research methodology which is use to present and analyse the method and equipment that are used for the practical, chapter four shows the details of the practical of the result gotten from the practical done in chapter three and the final chapter (five) consist of the summary, conclusion, recommendation and references of the study.