Abstract:
It is believed that building material wastage on construction
sites account for cost overruns and any improvement in building materials management on construction sites has the potential to enhance the construction industry’s performance with cost-saving benefits. The purpose of this study is to identify the most wasteful building material during construction operation. It also sets out to assess the level of material wastage with various subcontracting options, the percentage contribution of material wastage to project cost overrun,
identify factors contributing to material waste on building sites and to examine the relationship between subcontracting options, project cost overrun and the level of waste generated from building material. A survey research design was employed. Responses from 56 site based professionals representing 70% of the respondents were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Results indicate that the most wasteful building material during construction operation is mortar from plastering/rendering; labour-only subcontracting options have high contribution to material wastage. Furthermore, the study revealed that the average percentage contribution of building material wastage to project cost overrun is between 21-30%; Poor supervision, re-work, and poor material handling were identified as dominant factors that have high contribution to material wastage on sites. Finally, the result also shows that there is a relationship between subcontracting options, cost overrun and waste generated from building material during construction.
Measures to reduce material wastage on construction sites were proposed.Improvement in building materials management
on construction sites has the potential to enhance the construction industry’s performance with cost-saving benefits. .
Keywords: Material wastage,
Cost overruns,
Contractual options, Construction, Nigeria.
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