CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
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). Project risk managementis an
iterative process: the process is beneficial when is implemented in a
systematic manner throughout the lifecycle of a construction project, from the
planning stage to completion.
Risk management has become an
integral process in managing construction projects. Construction project
activities are to be well calculated in-order for the deliverable to be of
great use and benefit to its stakeholders. To complete most construction
projects on time, minimizing cost and wastages proper risk management
techniques must be employed (Tchankova, 2002). According to Mills (2001),
systematic risk management is expecting the unexpected or in other words it is
a tool which helps control risks in construction projects and its objective is
to introduce a simple, practical method of identifying, assessing, monitoring
and managing risk in an informed and structured way.
Normally, in risk management
process, the first steps will involves risk identification process which
includes the prioritization process in order to identify and rank the risk based
on its impact and seriousness. Risk that will have a greater impact on a
project normally will be handled first and low impact risk will be handled
later.
Construction project team consist
of professional such as the architect, engineer, and the quantity surveyor that
will help to assist and advice the client in order to meet all the project
objectives in term of time, quality and cost. Awareness and knowledge on risk management
is very crucial so that they will deal with the risk properly which will directly
leads to project success. Due to this scenario, this research aims to identify
the level of awareness of construction professional specifically Nigerian
quantity surveyors towards risk management. Apart from that, it will also aim
to identify how risk management being implemented in the Nigerian construction
industry and also the potential barrier and challengers in the implementation
of risk management specifically from the quantity surveyor's point of view.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Embarking on a construction
project involves taking risks, as the Nigerian construction industry is not
risk-free. No matter how small or simple is the project it is still can go
wrong as soon as the two parties, the employer and the contractor signeda
contract they have taken onboard the risk (Sawczuk, 1996). The individual in
the construction industries that undertake various activities are heterogeneous
since client, consultant and contractors have different roles and objectives
(flanagan, 1995). Risk management in Nigerian construction industry is actually
not widely being practiced.
According to Burchett (2009),Risk
in construction, however cannot be eliminated, but it can be minimized,
transferred or retained. However, the industry has a very poor reputation for
managing risk, with many projects failing to meet deadlines and costargents
(Mills, 2001). In practice, normally in order to deal with the unexpected
event, there will be an allocation about 10 percent from the estimated cost of
the proposed construction project as a contingency sum. Earlier observation
shows that the risk management process is not widely being implemented in Nigerian
construction industry. For this reason, this research seeks to identify the
barriers and challenges forthe implementation of risk management in the
Nigerian construction industry.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The aim of this research is to investigate
the practice of risk management amongstthe construction practitioners
specifically the quantity surveyor in the Nigerian construction industry.
In order to achieve the aim of
the study, specific objectives for the study are:
1.
To evaluate the quantity surveyor's level of awareness and
acceptance on Risk Management practice.
2.
To identify the current practice of risk management amongst Quantity
Surveyors’.
3.
To examine the barriers and challenges to the implementation of
risk management in construction project from the quantity surveyor's point of view.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.
What is the quantity surveyor's level of awareness and acceptance
on Risk Management practice?
2.
What is the current practice of risk management amongst Quantity
Surveyors’?
3.
What barriers and challenges face the implementation of risk
management in construction project from the quantity surveyor's point of view?
1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
1.
Ho: Awareness and acceptance of risk management practices do not
aid quantity surveyors in attaining construction project objectives
2.
Hi: Awareness and acceptance of risk management practices aid
quantity surveyors in attaining construction project objectives
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
Findings of this study will aid
Nigerian quantity surveyors in appreciating the importance of adopting proper
risk management techniques in their daily jobs. Since risk management is not
widely beingadopted in Nigerian construction industry, this research will help
to promote thepractice of risk management among the industry's players.
In addition to this, being
aninter-discipline type of research, both the consultants and contractors and
also theindustry as a whole may benefit from the outcome of the research and
have betterunderstanding on risk management.
1.7 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF
STUDY
This research study will
focus on risk management practices adopted by quantity surveyors in Uyo Local
Government area of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. All findings and recommendations
from the study are limited to findings and recommendations based on the chosen
sample size.
In carrying out this study,
the researcher was faced with time and finance constraints, as lectures did not
give room for more time to extend the research time frame. Finance on the other
hand made printing, transportation to cover a wider area difficult.
1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS
RISK- This is the potential of losing something of
value, weighed against the potential to gain something of value.
RISK PERCEPTION-Risk perceptionis
the subjective judgment people make about the severity of a risk, and may vary
person to person
PRACTICE- is the act of rehearsing a
behavior over and over, or engaging in an activity again and again, for the
purpose of improving or mastering it, as in the phrase "practice makes
perfect
QUANTITY SURVEYOR- aQuantity Surveyor (QS) is a professional working within the construction industry concerned
with construction costs and contracts.
CONSTRUCTION- In
the fields of architecture
and civil engineering,
construction is a process that
consists of the building
or assembling of infrastructure.
Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking.
Normally, the job is managed by a project manager,
and supervised by a construction manager,
design engineer,
construction engineer
or project architect.
RISK MANAGEMNENT- is the
identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks
followed by coordinated and economical application of resources to minimize,
monitor, and control the probability and/or impact of unfortunate eventsor to
maximize the realization of opportunities.