An Analysis of the Factors Responsible for Errors in Nigerian Construction Documents

Abstract

The paper presents an empirical study of factors responsible for errors in Nigerian construction documents and aims at identifying the significant factors that are responsible for errors in the Nigerian construction documents. Information was obtained from both consultants (the producers of construction documents) and contractors (the user of construction documents) for the purpose of comparing the significant factors identified by the two sets of respondents. Out of the two hundred and sixty questionnaires administered, eighty six were retrieved and used for the analysis of the study. The statistical methods used for analysis are frequencies, percentages and mean item scores. The findings of the research show that while the contractors agreed that the consultants and management are the main factors responsible for errors in the Nigerian construction documents, the consultants agreed that the management and clients are the main factors responsible for them. However, the collective agreement of the consultants and contractors was that the consultants and management are the main factors responsible for errors in the Nigerian construction documents. The study concludes that the consultants and management are the main factors responsible for errors in the Nigerian construction documents and that they were just not willing to blame themselves for the misfortunes of Nigerian construction documents, hence they blame clients and management before themselves. The recommendation of the study is that to prevent and reduce errors in Nigerian construction documents, the significant factors that fall under the category of consultants and management need to be avoided when preparing construction documents.

Key words: Construction documents, Consultants/designers, Contractors, Errors, Nigeria