Client Type and Communication Practice during Pre-Contract Phase of Construction Project Development in South-West, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of client type on communication practice adopted at pre-contract phase of construction project development. The objectives are to evaluate the levels and differences in adoption of communication practices between construction projects developed by public and private clients in South-west, Nigeria. To achieve the objectives, a sample of 394 construction projects was carried out. Three encoding-decoding communication practices: iconic, non-iconic and computer; five communication media: verbal, non-verbal, written, audio-visual and electronic and three communication channels: print, electronics and face-to-face were identified from literature. The components of the eleven communication practices were identified and measured using 5 scales. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and analyzed using percentage, mean and t-test. Results reveal non-iconic and computer as most preferred encoding-decoding communication practices by consultants engaged by public and private clients respectively and audio-visual and print as most preferred communication media and channel respectively. The study recommends further study on the effects of communication practices on project performance and an awareness of these effects among consultants. The findings of the study make significant contribution to knowledge in the area of research and adoption of performance-oriented communication practices.

1. Introduction

Communication remains an important instrument for generating project information which is regarded as a resource for determining project success while Pre-contract phase of project development is described as a documentation stage where communication practice is most required. Investigating the effects of client type on communication practice adopted at pre-contract phase of construction project development therefore, helps to place client type rightly in project performance. In effect, the levels and differences in adoption of communication practices between construction projects developed by public and private clients in South-west, Nigeria are established.

Meanwhile, the construction project contributes significantly to the development of any nation [1]. This contribution includes the workforce employment which is about 20% of the total workforce of the industry [2]. Hence it is reasonable to postulate that the industry contributes significantly to the growth of the economy through the provision of infrastructure affirmed to be a backbone for the economy. However, the inability of the construction industry to cope with the increasing complexity of construction projects informs its propensity for exceeding deadlines set for project duration [3].

These problems are linked to the nature of construction projects known to inhibit development of good communication links. Emmitt and Gorse [4] argued that timely project completion relies on the accuracy and timeliness of information exchange among the project team. As such, an appropriate information flow management system would be required to address the high degree of task uncertainties which characterize construction projects execution.

Although studies have investigated several aspects of communication in construction, the ones on “Client Type and Communication Practice at Pre-Contract Phase of Construction Project Development in South-West, Nigeria” appear to be relatively scarce. Hence, the motivation for the appraisal of levels and differences in adoption of communication practices between construction projects developed by public and private Clients during pre-contract phase of construction project delivery, with a view to choosing the most appropriate one for project delivery.

2. Literature survey

The study reviews related literature in the following areas: Nigerian construction industry, Information sharing among the project participants, Poor Communication between Client and Contractor, Communication in Construction Projects, Practice of communication in construction and Effectiveness of communication within construction teams.

Olaniran [5] asserted that the Nigerian construction industry contributes to the country’s economy in numerous ways. Among them is the provision of employment for the country labour force [6, 7]. According to [8] the Nigeria construction industry remains the largest employer of labour considering the fact that over thirty percent (30%) of the country’s workforce is employed by it. Samuel [9] on his part, posited that, above 69,749 workers were somehow employed by103 construction firms in the country, in the year 2018 alone.

This employment is usually by direct engagement of construction professionals and or by indirectly engaging Suppliers while purchasing construction materials [10].

The global construction industry has a value of 4 trillion dollars while the Nigeria construction industry makes up to 0.2% of the global total. Aside employment provision, [9] indicated that in comparison to other developed countries the Nigeria construction industry is relatively small.

In terms of size, [11] and [12] assert that rise in growth of the Nigeria construction industry has made it so large that same can be considered the largest in West African countries. Anny et al. [13] however opined that the growth recorded in the Nigeria construction industry is informed by the Government’s continued investment in infrastructural development.

The positive impact of these sustainable practices on construction projects in developed countries, [14] elicited the sustained interest of construction professionals and academicians within the Nigerian construction industry [1].

Unfortunately, sustainable construction practice is yet to be firmly rooted in developing countries; including the Nigeria construction industry [7, 15]. Ogunde et al. [2] and Nwokoro and Onukwube [16] affirmed that sustainable practice is still a developing concept within the Nigeria construction industry. The idea behind sustainable construction emerged around 2006 following the development of the national building code in 2006 [17]. The national building code in 2006 provided an advantage for creating awareness regarding sustainable construction practice within the Nigeria construction industry, [18].

Despite the creation of the national building code, the construction industry in Nigeria still experience a lot of fragmentation [19, 20] noted that fragmentation in the Nigeria construction industry is caused due to the increasing demand for specialization.

Two major types of fragmentation namely; internal and external are rife in the Nigeria construction industry. The former which is the problem of integrating construction project team members and the latter which is attributed to the problem of integrating external bodies such as public authorities to the construction project.

Olatunji [21] however asserted that regardless the nature of fragmentation, same is responsible for the poor information sharing among project team members in the Nigeria construction industry. Abubakar et al. [22] similarly revealed that the separation of design and construction during the project development phases is informed by the fragmentation experienced within the industry. Same is responsible for project delays, poor performance, low productivity, cost overruns, disputes and many others, [23, 24, 25]. This problem, therefore, creates a paradigm shift in ensuring better communication process of construction projects’ life cycle.

Yang et al., [26], asserted that building, project management requires effective collaboration and coordination between all the stakeholders in order to realize the project objectives; including successful delivery of project.

It is however pertinent to note that in procurement; whether or not it’s outright project implementation, information flow continues to play a profound role in the construction environment [27]. Anything to the contrary, Wikforss and Alexander [28] declared, will affect the performance of the construction industry.

3. Communication in construction projects

According to [29], so many factors such as lack of trust and inadequate responsibility, which causes misunderstanding among two parties during construction process, affect communication between client and contractor.

Tazelaar and Snijders [30] however identified harsh relationship between client and contractor which often leads to conflicts and litigation, as major cause of communication barrier between them. Ning et al. [31] on his part, suggests that lack of public clients’ initiative in relational transactions negatively influence the communication between public clients and contractors during project. Mitkus [29] identified lack of trust between client and contractor; as always resulting to argument and conflicts. Lau and Rowlinson [32] equally mentioned lack of trust and misunderstanding as being responsible for difficulty in managing construction projects.

According to [29], the true cause of construction related conflicts is unsuccessful communication between the participants (client and contractor) in a construction project.

The absence of communication between client and contractor equally creates fears of exploitation and betrayal, which invariably results in avoidance of commitment by the team [33].

Laufer et al. [34] also mention that, poor communication between the client and contractor results to conflict, misunderstanding, uncertainty and lack of mutual cooperation among the two parties.

A study conducted by [35] highlighted that, poor communication between the parties (client and contractor) leads to estrangement and misunderstanding regarding the contract requirement while according to [36], same is one the factors that leads to time overrun in construction projects in Malaysian, Nigerian and Indian.

The construction sector is an economic investment, and its relationship with economic development is well posited. Many studies [22, 24] have discussed the contributions of the construction sector towards the economic development of nations.

The construction business is a complex enterprise with several stakeholders whose interaction requires that information be analyzed and transmitted. As such, communication remains a strategic consideration, more so that most construction disputes are due to breach or inadequate communication among the team members.

For instance, poor communication of design information often leads to design problems and eventually lead to delays and poor quality. Therefore, communication will only become effective if the receiver understands the information as intended by the sender.

At every stage of the construction lifecycle, information (in the form of drawings, specifications, notes, letters, memos, models, catalogs, instruction manuals, and pictures) needs to be stored, retrieved, and communicated.

The structure of the Dutch construction industry does not differ so much from the UK, except for the fact that Dutch industry is highly regulated in comparison with the UK [37], and that the UK subcontracting system (as opposed to the Dutch) allows for principals to contract directly to subcontractors [38].

Communication between clients and contractors during the construction project has also become a great challenge to the extent that it constitutes one of the major factors that affects project delivery. It is an important element for every organization to succeed thus making timely and accurate Communication among project stakeholders a sine-quanon in realizing the project objectives - management cannot receive information inputs, supervisors cannot give instructions, work cannot be coordinated and eventual collapse of organization [27].

Communication is a term derived from Latin word ‘communis’, which means to inform. It is the transformation of information; and a key function of management in any organization - ideas, goals, plans, instructions etc. are communicated to the managerial staff for the purpose of coordination. Davis [39] asserts; it is essentially a bridge of meaning between people. The communication process is made up of four key components namely: encoding, medium, decoding, and feedback while the other two factors, representing the human elements in the form of the sender and the receiver, are present.

There are multiple factors that influence the user’s evaluation and perceived impacts of communication process. Trevino and Webster [40] identify flow as an important construct that characterizes perceptions of employee interactions with computer-mediated communication technologies as more or less playful and exploratory. They further hypothesized that flow is influenced by the technology (higher for electronic mail), ease of use and computer skill. Furthermore, [41] argue that communication flows vertically and horizontally in the hierarchy or it is free-flowing [42], with all the members of the organization communicating with each other.

Bartels et al. [41] further argue that communication flows vertically and horizontally in the hierarchy of organizations. It thus gives the employees the opportunity to speak out and provide critical feedback that could be important in decision-making process [43].

Communication is therefore seen as complex creative processes that occur between two or more people with the aim of exchanging information in order to solve problems and ‘break new grounds’. It is however imperative that an open communication climate characterized by unrestricted dialog, honest and mutual interaction that encourages shared understanding and promotes tolerance is created, to achieve a better work environment.

4. Materials and methods

The appraisal of the Client Type is a significant factor towards ensuring the effective movements of construction information. The methodology adopted in this study to appraise difference in the levels of adoption of communication process between Public and Private Clients by construction professionals entails two primary steps namely: review of literature relating to communication process among construction professionals in the construction industry and designing questionnaire based on the reviewed literature and self-administered to the construction professionals within South-West Nigeria. The construction professionals comprise of the architect, builders, civil engineers, structural engineers, quantity surveyors, mechanical engineers and Electrical Engineers. The questionnaire was divided into two (2) sections covering the communication process and the respondent personal information. A total of four hundred and seven questionnaires (407) was received, used three hundred and ninety-four 394 (81.7%) for the analysis after scrutinizing for errors. A total of four hundred and eighty-two (482) was distributed to the respondents. Thereafter, the response to the questionnaire was inputted into Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 23. The study adopted a quantitative research design study, using Independent Sample t-test Mann-Whitney U test of difference in the levels of adoption of communication process between Public and Private Clients.

5. Analyses and discussion

407 construction projects which constituted a category of the study population, was adopted for this study. Information on the project client were investigated. The distribution of projects sampled into the sub-variables of the project client characteristic was analyzed using percentage. The results are presented in Table 1.

Characteristic	N	%
Project client
Public	87	22.1
Private (Individual)	307	77.9
Total	394	100

Table 1.

Descriptive results of the characteristics of project sampled.

N, Number of projects.

On project client, Table 1 shows that the projects sampled are distributed among Public (22.1%) and Private Individual (77.9%). These results show that the study covered short, average and long term projects.

5.1 Levels of adoption of communication process based on project client

The third research hypothesis was tested for difference in the levels of adoption of communication process between public and private clients. The hypothesis was tested using Independent Sample t-test and Mann Whitney U test at p-value ≤0.05. The results reveal that the differences in the levels of adoption of nine (9) communication practices between projects procured by public and private clients are significant. The results are presented in Table 2.

Variables tested	N	M	MR	SR	MRU	WW	Z	t-value	Df	p-value	Dec
Media:
Written
Public	87	3.54						2.157	392	0.032	R
Private	307	3.33
Audio-visual
Public	87	3.55						2.282	391	0.023	R
Private	306	3.77
Electronic
Public	85	2.61						3.242	389	0.001	R
Private	306	2.29
Channel:
Print
Public	84	3.46						3.365	386	0.001
Private	304	3.05
Electronics
Public	84	2.78						4.377	386	0.001	R
Private	304	2.35
Flow:
Upward
Public	83	3.29	169.27	14049	10563	14049	-2.316			0.021	R
Private	302	3.63	199.52	60256
Downward
Public	83	3.22	158.45	13151	9665.5	13151	3.331			0.001	R
Private	302	3.68	202.50	81153
Lateral
Public	83	3.35	165.24	13715	10229	13715	2.681			0.007	R
Private	302	3.77	200.63	60590
Horizontal
Public	85	3.15	161.10	13608	9953.5	13608	3.277			0.001	R
Private	301	3.60	202.93	61082
Nexus
Public	85	3.35	187.64	15949.5	122945.5	15949	0.570			0.569	FR
Private	301	3.45	195.15	58741.5

Table 2.

Results of independent sample t-test Mann-Whitney U test of difference in the levels of adoption of communication process between public and private clients.

N, Number of respondents; M, Mean; MS, Mean score; MR, Mean rank; SR, Sum of ranks; MWU, Mann–Whitney U; WW, Wilkinxon W; Df, Degree of freedom; Dec, Decision; R, Reject; FR, Fail to reject.

Table 2 shows that the p-values for the test of difference in the levels of adoption of written (0.032), audio-visual (0.023) and electronic communication media (0.001), print (0.001) and electronic (0.001) communication channels and upward (0.021) downward (0.001) lateral (0.007) and horizontal (0.021) communication flows between projects procured by public and private sector client are less than the critical p-value (0.05), therefore, the test rejects the hypothesis. The results indicate that the differences in the adoption of written, audio-visual and electronic communication media, print and electronic communication channels and upward, downward, lateral and horizontal communication flows between public and private sector project are significant. The implication is that project clients have significant effect on the levels of adoption of the two communication media, two communication channels and four communication flows.

6. Conclusions and recommendations

Levels of adoption of communication process between public and private sector project are significant. The implication is that project clients have significant effect on the levels of adoption of two communication media, two communication channels and four communication flows. The mean scores of the levels of adoption of the nine communication practices show that written and electronic communication media, print and electronic communication channels are more adopted in projects procured by public clients than in projects procured by private clients while audio-visual communication medium and the four communication flows are more adopted in projects procured by private clients than projects procured by public client. However, the p-values for the test of differences in the levels of adoption of iconic, non-iconic and computer encoding-decoding communication practices, verbal and non-verbal communication media, face-to-face communication channel and nexus communication flow (0.569) between projects procured by public and private sector clients is higher than the critical p-value (0.05), therefore, the test fails to reject the hypothesis. The results indicate that the difference in the levels of adoption of the communication processes between public and private sector projects is not significant; therefore, the type of client does not have significant effect on the levels of adoption of the communication processes between public and private sector projects during pre-contract phase of project delivery.

Clients and consultants should discourage the adoption of computer encoding-decoding practice, written communication medium and nexus communication flow during pre-contract phase of project delivery in the efforts to minimize delay in the delivery of projects.

Clients and consultants should give high consideration to communication speed, quality of project information, expected frequency of communication of project information, number of project participants, technology to be used for communicating project information in their choice of appropriate communication process to be adopted during pre-contract phase of project delivery.

Project clients and consultants should give consideration to the adoption of iconic and non-iconic encoding-decoding practices when procuring projects by design-build method, the adoption of upward, downward and lateral practices when procuring projects by design-bid-build method and the adoption of electronic communication medium and print, face-to-face and electronics communication channels when procuring projects by labour-only method.

Acknowledgments

The authors like to appreciate everybody that has contributed to this article directly or indirectly.

Conflicts of interest

The author hereby declares that there is no conflict of interest.