Assessment of Barriers to Communication in The Nigerian Construction Industry
Assessment of Barriers to Communication in The Nigerian Construction Industry
ABSTRACT
All the various stages of construction rely on professionals transferring appropriate and relevant information to develop a buildable design that meets the client’s requirements.
As the project unfolds and the design is realized, information in the form of drawings, specifications and construction methods must be communicated from one expert to another.
This study’s aim to find out the factor that causes communication barriers in the construction industry.
A cross sectional descriptive study design was used and 100 professionals from the construction industry were selected using a non-probability convenience sampling technique.
Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS Version 20) was used for the analysis. Data was summarized using frequency tables and graphic presentation.
Chi-square test was used to test the association between the predictor variable and the outcome variable. P-value was set at P < 0.05. The research sampled 82 professionals working with consultant, project clients and contractors.
The research established that within the Nigerian construction industry there have been many barriers to communication on construction project in Nigeria and the inherent factors that influences the occurrence of this barriers was also determine which includes:
TABLE OF CONTENT
Title page ……………………………………………………………………………….. I
Declaration………………………………………………………………………………. II
Certification……………………………………………………………………………… III
Acknowledgement………………………………………………………………………. IV
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………… V
Table of content………………………………………………………………………… VI
List of tables…………………………………………………………………………….. IX
List of figures…………………………………………………………………………… X
Chapter one: Introduction……………………………………………………………… 1
1.1Background to the study………………………………………………………………. 1
1.2 Statement of research problem……………………………………………………….. 5
1.3 Significance of the study……………………………………………………………… 6
1.4 Aim and Objectives…………………………………………………………………… 7
1.5 Methodology…………………………………………………………………………. 8
1.6 Scope…………………………………………………………………………………. 8
Chapter Two: Literature review…………………………………………………..………9
2.1 The Nigerian construction industry…………………………………………………… 9
2.1.1 Overview of the Nigerian construction industry………………………………………9
2.2 Concept of communication…………………………………………………………….10
2.3 Importance of communication…………………………………………………………. 12
2.4 Communication in construction………………………………………………………..14
2.5 Communication model………………………………………………………………….15
2.6 Characteristics of communication……………………………………………………..16
2.7 Methods of communication……………………………………………………………18
2.8 Communication channels…………………………………………………………….. 19
2.9 Communication models……………………………………………………………….20
2.10 Barriers to communication…………………………………………………………..23
2.11 Categorization of barriers to communication………………………………………..26
2.12 Recognizing barriers to communication…………………………………………….28
2.13 Methods of overcoming barriers to communication…………………………………29
2.14 Patterns of communication within the construction industry…………………….….32
2.14.1 Communication at conception/Design stage………………………………………32
2.14.2 Communication during approval by the planning authority……………………….33
2.14.3 Communication between design team and building team…………………………34
2.14.4 Communication within contractors organization…………………………………34
2.14.5 Communication between parties………………………………………………….34
2.15 Stakeholders in the construction industry…………………………………………..35
2.15.1 Roles of participants in the construction industry………………………………..35
2.16 Communication structure in the construction industry……………………………..37
2.17 Causes of poor communication……………………………………………………..41
2.18 Effects of poor communication on projects…………………………………………42
Chapter three: Research methods……………………………………………………..45
3.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..45
3.2 Secondary data……………………………………………………………………….45
3.3 Research approach……………………………………………………………………46
3.4 Research design ………………. ……………………………………………………46
3.5 Sampling………………….………………………………………………………….47
3.6 Data collection tool…………………………………………………………………..48
3.7 Data analysis…………………………………………………………………………48
3.8 Limitation of the study……………………………………………………………….49
Chapter Four: Results and discussion. ……………………………………51
4.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………..…….51
4.2 Questionnaires results. . .……………………………………………….………………51
4.3Discussion of results………………………………………………………………….. 59
4.3.1 Demographic variables…………………………..………………………………….59
4.3.2 Occurrence of barriers ………………………………….……………………..….60
4.3.3 Relationship between barriers with the factor that influences the occurrence of
barrier……………………………………………………………………………………..62
4.4 Effects of communication barriers on construction projects………………………….67
Chapter Five: Conclusion and Recommendation…………………………………….71
5.1 Summary of findings…………………………………………………………………71
5.2 Recommendation………………………………………………………………….…72
5.3 Further research………………………………………………………………….…..72
References…………………………………………………………………………………73
Appendix…………………………………………………………………………………..78
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Construction industry is one of the most booming industries in the world. It is mainly urban based and is concerned with preparation as well as construction of real estate properties.
The repairing of any existing building or the making of certain alterations in the same building also comes under the construction industry.
The construction industry accounts for around one-third of the world’s gross domestic product, seven percent of employment, half of all resource usage and up to forty percent of energy consumption.
The construction industry is also a key indicator and driver of economic activity and wealth creation (Mehra, 2009).
Therefore communication within the construction industry is essential as efficiency in building depends upon the quality of relationship between the clients, professionals, contractors and sub-contractors.
In other words, the problems in construction are a communication problem (Emmit & Gorse, 2003). Globally, the construction industry plays a key role in the economy of both developing and developed countries, contributing between 4-14% of the GDP whilst generating vast amount of employment and wealth.
The construction sector also provides the infrastructure that supports other sectors of the economy. In Nigeria, the sector is very strategic to the nation’s development efforts and a major indicator of the country’s wealth in social and economic terms.
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