MATERIALS WASTAGE: CAUSES AND THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS’ LEVEL
ABSTRACT.
This study investigates the existence of certain predetermined causes of materials wastage and their degree of contributions to materials waste generation (MWG) in building projects. The population of the study consists of construction professionals in building projects in Lagos state, Nigeria. The survey involves the usage of a designed questionnaire to elicit information from the targeted population via convenience sampling method. The data were analysed using frequency, mean score and t-test. The research confirms the existence of all the predetermined causes of materials wastage in Nigerian building projects. It also reveals that these causes contribute significantly to MWG but at different level on Nigerian building projects. Poor supervision contributes most to materials waste generation while bulk purchases is least among all the causes. The study therefore recommends that practitioners should be cognizant of these causes of materials waste and introduces measures to curb them to minimize MWG.
INTRODUCTION.
Chadwick (1982) views materials as one of the scarce resources usually required for in the erection or construction of physical infrastructure. He adds that the cost profile of materials forms about 51% by cost of construction. Oladiran (2008b) defines construction wastes generally as excess resources used (which includes materials) than required for construction production. In this regard, Ekanayake and Ofori (2000) views materials waste as any materials, apart from earth materials, which needs to be transported elsewhere from the construction site or used within the construction site itself for the purpose of land filling, incineration, recycling, reusing or composting, other than the intended specific purpose of the project due to materials damage, excess, non-use, or non-compliance with the specifications or being a by-product of the construction process.
The quality of materials used and the management of material waste in building projects are of paramount importance. Obviously, the control of quality of materials used leads to savings from materials wastage. It is generally an accepted phenomenon that not all the materials requested and delivered to construction sites are used for the purpose for which they are ordered. Also, contractors often use sub-standard materials after billing their clients with standard material’s cost. Due to lack of control, these materials are either lost or the quality is not met. Chandrakanthi et. al (2002) report that growth in construction activities increases the amount of CIB W065/055 Commissions: Transformation through Construction 2 construction waste generated. Also, Andy et al (2002) discover that over 70 million tonnes of waste is generated in the construction industry yearly, which amounts to 24kg per week for every person in the UK, about four times the rate of household waste production. Waste costs money at any level of the construction and should be the concern of all the parties in the construction team as it gives rise to loss of resources. In respect to this, this study is focused at investigating the causes of materials wastage and their contribution to materials wastage on building projects.
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