Evaluation of Material Management Practices in Building Project Delivery in the FCT Abuja, Nigeria

Given the rising building collapses within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and the associated humanitarian consequences, this study evaluated materials management practices in building delivery process in build construction in Abuja, Nigeria. The study focused on analysis of material management practices, factors affecting effectiveness of material, measures for managing materials, usage of ICT (relevant software packages) in material management practices and the impacts of risk management plan on effective material management. The design for the study was descriptive survey. The sample was 476 respondents drawn from 1,950 Practicing Quantity Surveyors, Practicing Builders and Practicing Architects. Multi-Stage sampling which involved purposive, cluster and simple random sampling was employed to select the FCT, the zones, and the building professionals respectively. After analysis of data, the result indicated that planning, project drawing sections and material planning methods are the best material management practices observed by professionals in Abuja. Shortage of funds, excessive paper work, delay in material procurement, lack of material control, poor quality of material, damages of material and transport related problems were identified as problems militating effective material management. Findings further indicated that ICT usage had a positive and significant correlation with material management practices for effective building delivery process at r (1, 408) = .593*, p <.05. It is recommended that regulatory bodies hold consistent sensitization on the best material management practices and enforce compliance from practicing professionals.