Quality Control Compliance as an Environmental Response to Sustainability in the Nigerian Construction Industry

Abstract

The concept of sustainability has become integral to the environmental dialect within the building construction industry. At present, providing an avenue by which the construction industry can meet its sustainability obligations has remained a topical issue globally. An environmentally oriented movement toward sustainability in building construction, however, still hinges on the traditional principles of cost, quality, and performance. This paper x-rays the unethical performance traits evident in the construction industry in Nigeria and the project delivery practices by indigenous firms that significantly influence the quality and thus the sustainability of construction output. Issues associated with quality control compliance are statistically analysed to determine existing trends. Multivariate analysis is deployed to measure the degree to which quality control parameters explain the participation level of indigenous local contractors in executing government projects. The study mathematically expresses the relationship between quality control adherence and indigenous participation in the execution of government contracts. The statistical analysis shows that the five quality control independent variables (internal organizational factor; the level of enlightenment; adequacy of designs; conducting of relevant tests and supervisory adherence) explain 47% of the variation in the level of indigenous participation. Poor quality control associated with the execution of contracts by indigenous construction companies in Nigeria may thus partly account for the low level of indigenous participation evident in the construction industry.