THE RELEVANCE OF QUANTITY SURVEYOR IN THE MANAGEMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF PUBLIC ESTATES

1.1 Introduction

Quantity surveying is concerned with controlling and managing construction projects. The Nigerian construction industry is faced with uncertainties. With construction targets not being met and high rate of abandoned construction projects, there is great need for proper risk assessment and implementation. Managing risks in construction projects have been recognized as a very important process in order to achieve project objectives in terms of time, cost, quality, safety and environmental sustainability (Mills, 2001).

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

Construction project team consist of professional such as the architect, engineer, and the quantity surveyor that will help to assist and advice the client in order to meet all the project objectives in term of time, quality and cost. Awareness and knowledge on risk management is very crucial so that they will deal with the risk properly which will directly leads to project success. Due to this scenario, this research aims to identify the level of awareness of construction professional specifically Nigerian quantity surveyors towards risk management. Facilities management as an antecedent in property management and maintenance could be said to mean “the supervising, directing and the controlling of interest in landed property with a view to obtaining the possible maximum return, which in most cases is financial but could also be political, social status, prestige or any management objectives, which an investor chooses (Obelender, 2000). It is on this background that this study was carried out.

The International Facilities Management Association (IFMA) defined Facilities Management (FM) as “the integration of processes within an organisation to maintain and develop the agreed services, which support and improve the effectiveness of its primary activities. The British Institute of facilities management has a wider scope of meaning than simply “the management of buildings and services” it defined facilities management as the integration of multi-disciplinary activities within the built environment and the management of their impact upon people and the workplace”. The definition above offers a slightly simpler description of the term facilities management. A well simplified definition of facilities management was propounded by Ramsey (2001). He stated that “facilities management is a process of managing al the multiple services that enable a facility to become a profitable investment for its owners and a productive environment for its users”. Facility management depends upon the skill, vision, experience of the practitioners Nnachi (2007) and Okezie (2007).

Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the relevance of Quantity surveyor in the management and maintenance of public estates.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

Embarking on a construction project involves taking risks, as the Nigerian construction industry is not risk-free. No matter how small or simple is the project it is still can go wrong as soon as the two parties, the employer and the contractor signed a contract they have taken onboard the risk (Sawczuk, 1996). The individual in the construction industries that undertake various activities are heterogeneous since client; consultant and contractors have different roles and objectives (flanagan, 1995). Risk management in Nigerian construction industry is actually not widely being practiced.

According to Burchett (2009), Risk in construction, however cannot be eliminated, but it can be minimized, transferred or retained. However, the industry has a very poor reputation for managing risk, with many projects failing to meet deadlines and costargents (Mills, 2001). In practice, normally in order to deal with the unexpected event, there will be an allocation about 10 percent from the estimated cost of the proposed construction project as a contingency sum. Earlier observation shows that the risk management process is not widely being implemented in Nigerian construction industry. For this reason, this research seeks to identify the barriers and challenges for the implementation of risk management in the Nigerian construction industry.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to scrutinize the relevance of Quantity surveyor in the management and maintenance of public estates. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To find out the importance of public estates management and maintenance by Quantity surveyor
2. To evaluate the quantity surveyor's level of awareness and acceptance on maintenance of public estates
3. To identify the current practice of risk management amongst Quantity Surveyors’.
4. To examine the barriers and challenges to the implementation of risk management and maintenance in construction project from the quantity surveyor's point of view.

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1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• What are the importance of public estates management and maintenance by Quantity surveyor?
• What is the quantity surveyor's level of awareness and acceptance on maintenance of public estates?
• What is the current practice of risk management amongst Quantity Surveyors’?
• Is there any factor affecting the implementation of risk management and maintenance of construction project from the quantity surveyor's point of view?

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1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

• H0: There is no significant factor affecting the implementation of risk management and maintenance of construction project by quantity surveyors
• H1: There is a significant factor affecting the implementation of risk management and maintenance of construction project by quantity surveyors

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1.7 Significance of Study

Findings of this study will aid Nigerian quantity surveyors in appreciating the importance of adopting proper risk management techniques in their daily jobs. Since risk management is not widely being adopted in Nigerian construction industry, this research will help to promote the practice of risk management among the industry's players.

In addition to this, being an inter-discipline type of research, both the consultants and contractors and also the industry as a whole may benefit from the outcome of the research and have better understanding on risk management. This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The study focuses on the relevance of Quantity surveyor in the management and maintenance of public estates in Nigeria.

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1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

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1.10 Definition of Terms

Risk: This is the potential of losing something of value, weighed against the potential to gain something of value.

Risk Perception: Risk perception is the subjective judgment people make about the severity of a risk, and may vary person to person

Practice: is the act of rehearsing a behavior over and over, or engaging in an activity again and again, for the purpose of improving or mastering it, as in the phrase "practice makes perfect

Quantity Surveyor: a Quantity Surveyor (QS) is a professional working within the construction industry concerned with construction costs and contracts.

Construction: In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking.