An appraisal of building control and regulations practice in Nigeria: Project managers’ perspectives

Abstract Development and certification of buildings for health and safety of building users necessitated the building control and regulations agencies in Nigeria, and the protection of the built-up regions from human injuries is man’s major obligation. The article aims to determine and assess the level of practice of building control and regulations in the country with a view to advance their practice. A questionnaire instrument was used, and 35 building control performance indicators were recognized, and categorised into four groups and assessed. A total of 117 questionnaires were distributed to survey participants. Statistical tools of mean, chi-square, Kendall’s coefficient of concordance and Kruskal–Wallis test by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences v.23 were used. The result obtained revealed that the level of practice of the four groups of building control performance indicators is average. On the basis of the survey findings, the top most five building control performance indicators as considered by the participants are as follows: zero tolerance to illegal development and building collapse, enforcement of building control regulations, processing and scrutinizing of building plans for approval, cooperation among staff members and public enlightenment on building control and regulations. The degree of agreement between the participants concerning the performance indicators that influence building control and regulations practice in Nigeria was established. The result obtained revealed that there is a statistically significant degree of agreement among the three different classes of project managers regarding their responses. The study also revealed the drawback in the implementation and enforcement of building control and regulations in the country. Recommendations were also made to improve the practice.