Re-thinking post-contract cost controlling techniques in the Nigerian construction industry

Abstract

The challenges of cost and time overruns, construction disputes and client dissatisfaction have plagued the construction industry in Nigeria. This may be as a result of the approaches used in monitoring construction costs. The execution phase of a construction project relies on post-contract cost controlling techniques, such as cash flow monitoring, interim valuations, final account preparation, monitoring activities, site meetings and documentation of activities on site. These techniques are imperative for project success. The purpose of this paper is to assess the various techniques used in post-contract cost control in Nigeria, in terms of their effectiveness. The data was gathered from one hundred and thirty five (135) cost and project managers in Nigeria. The Kendall’s coefficient of concordance was used to test the post-contract cost controlling techniques identified, through an extensive literature review along with one sample run test. The findings reveal that monitoring material cost was the most effective and important technique with a Kendall’s W score of 1.33 and 11.44 respectively. Cash flow monitoring had the lowest score of 7.85 for effectiveness, while variation management had the lowest score of 6.88 for importance. The effectiveness of the techniques was further evaluated using one sample run test. The findings show that sixteen out of the eighteen techniques were not effective from an overall point of view. The cost controlling techniques used in the Nigerian construction industry are deficient and generally ineffective. Therefore, there is a need to research alternative post-contract cost controlling techniques for the construction industry in Nigeria.