ASSESSMENT OF IMPACT OF BUILDABILITY AND MAINTAINABILITYANALYSIS ONBUILDING DELIVERY IN NIGERIA
1Ihenketu Christopher, 2Iwudibiah Chidi Charles & 3Ebube Ogbonna Christopher
1Department of Building Technology, Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Unwana Afikpo, Ebonyi State
2Department of Building Technology, Imo State Polytechnic, Umuagwo
3Building Technology Department, Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi
E-Mail: xtopherihe@gmail.com
Correspondent author: Ihenketu Christopher
ABSTRACT
The process of delivering a project to the owner/client on time, within cost and specified quality standard requires the collaborative efforts of different professionals. More often than not, builders are not involved in the design stage to review the production information produced by these professionals. This does result in designs that are not construction friendly or cost prohibitive in terms of maintenance. Thus, this work is carried out to assess the impact of buildability and maintainability analysis on project delivery. A survey of expert opinion on the impact of buildability and maintainability was conducted. Structured questionnaire was designed and administered to senior high ranking construction professionals in two companies undertaking different building projects; and Relative Importance Index (RII) was used to analyze the collected data. Both projects recorded RII≥0.80 for buildability analysis in “facilitating ease of construction” and “reducing design error”. Both projects also recorded high relevance of RII ≥0.900 for maintainability analysis in reducing maintenance cost, guaranteeing end user satisfaction and increasing the lifespan of the project. From the result of our findings, it is concluded that buildability and maintainability analyses have significant impact on project delivery. The thrust of buildability is at the design stage so as to affect ease in the construction phase; while the thrust of maintainability is at the operation/use phase of the building. Thus, buildability and maintainability assures best performance throughout the life cycle of a building or component. It is therefore recommended that builders should be involved in the design stage so that they can make professional contributions to production information, as this will enhance successful delivery of building projects and satisfaction during operation/use phase.
Keywords: Buildability; Maintainability; Building Delivery in Nigeria
