This stage is marked by coordination of the contractor's possession of site as well as review/approval of the works programme for a project. It also covers the supervision and coordination of construction works and other consultants' inputs, ensuring adherence to specifications. More so, the co-ordination and presiding of monthly site / technical meetings as well as other site visits are carried out in this stage (ARCON Architectural Consultancy and Project Management Services, 2016).

To commence work, the construction drawings and deliverables were handed over to the contractor, followed by possession of the site by the Contractor. As construction works continued, the architect prepared and submitted Quarterly Progress Reports (QPR). Furthermore, he ensured that issued Payment Certificates (APC) and Architects' Site Instructions (ASI) were timely delivered as provided in the conditions of the contract. Lastly, all necessary inspections and works executed on-site were done by drawings/specifications.

Before the practical completion of the project, the designs of the staircase and façade were revised and other additional drawings/details provided were necessary. This stage was characterized by Architects' Material and Component Sample Approvals (AMCSA) and material test approvals. In addition, the architect inspected off-site materials intended for the project at required points as well as attended special meetings and consultations with the client and some members of the project team.

After the practical completion of the project, the defects liability period of the development commenced. Thereafter, the construction team led by the architect ensured making good of all defects. The snag list captured the need to protect the surfaces of the eternal walls with aluminium wall of panels, to use terrazzo floor finish to protect the floor surface of the warehouses as well as incorporate elements of green architecture in the landscape.

To close out the contract, the key players of the construction team including the client led by the architect toured the mixed-use development to confirm all the items noted in the snag list were addressed accordingly. Hence, processes were characterized by special reports, documentation, inspection of the testing and commissioning of equipment, and collation of relevant technical reports. Having met the desires of the client, the architect requested the quantity surveyor to prepare the final account leading to the handing over of the project to the client on the 27th November, 2015.

<figure><img src="image_15.png" /><figcaption>Figure 9: The completed mixed-use development</figcaption></figure>

<caption>Figure 10: The mixed-use development on 70% completion (finished to roofing)</caption>

## Post Construction Period [PCP]

This period encompasses project hand over through the defect's liability period up to final account (ARCON Architectural Consultancy and Project Management Services, 2016).

During the defects liability period which spanned for 12 months (covering rainy and dry season), the mixed-use developments was occupied and utilized for its respective functional activities by the company.
<figure><img src="image_16.png" /><figcaption>Figure 11: A pictorial view of the company products stocked in the warehouse as well as the stairway during PCP</figcaption></figure>

## METHODOLOGY

In this study, the standard Architectural Services Delivery Stages [ASDS] as contained in the Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON) Architectural Consultancy and Project Management Services - Conditions of Engagement, Charges and Agreement for the Professional Architect (ARCON, 2016) was adopted and followed for review of the mixed-use development.

<table><caption>Table 3: A table showing the Architect, and the Project Management Services Delivery Stages</caption><thead><tr><td>S/N</td><td>STAGES</td><td>SCOPE</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td>Pre-Design [PDS]</td><td>Stage From the date of invitation and commission, briefing and articulation of the proposed project to the date of receipt of an instruction to proceed</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>Design Stage [DS I]</td><td>From the date of receipt of instructions to proceed until the submission of the final concept design including the preliminary estimated total cost for the Client's Approval and as per the agreed project program. (Schedule 1.1.1 up to 1.2.1 & 1.5, 2 & 3 as applicable)</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>Design Stage II [DS II]</td><td>From the date of the Client's approval of the Design, I until the submission of the tender documents for the Client's approval and as per the agreed project program. (Schedule 1.2.2 & 1.5, 2 & 3 as applicable)</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>Tendering and Award [T&A]</td><td>From the commencement of the tender process to the award of the contract. (Schedule 1.3 and 1.5, 2 & 3 as applicable)</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>Construction Stage [CS]</td><td>From handing over the site to the contractor, issuing of Architects Payment Certificates, completion and acceptance of the Works by the Client, defects Liability Period, issuing of the Practical Completion Certificate, and the Final Payment Certificate. (Schedule 1.4 and 1.5, 2 & 3 as applicable)</td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>Post Construction Period [PCP]</td><td>Project handover through the defect's liability period up to the final account. (Schedule 2 & 3 as applicable)</td></tr></tbody></table>

Source: (ARCON Architectural Consultancy and Project Management Services, 2016)

Hence, the scope of this study spans from the Pre-Design Stage (PDS) to the Post Construction Period [PCP] for the mixed-use development.
**Study design**

This study is designed to demystify the ASDS of a mixed-use development at Agbura, Bayelsa State. The outcome of this study is a presentation of the challenges that characterized the ASDS stages and how they were addressed. It further recommended ways ASDS should be carried out for similar mixed-use developments.

**RESULTS AND DISCUSSION**

The design and construction team involved in the project made pivotal inputs from PDS to PCP. Before, and during the ASDS, distinct data were collected and analyzed leading to the complete design and construction of the mixed-use development. In the project, the functional spaces were zoned through the ground to the second floor.

<figure><img src="image_17.png" /><figcaption>Figure 12: Ground floor plan of the mixed-use development</figcaption></figure>

**Lessons Learnt**

i. During PDS, full comprehension and analysis of the brief are required by the Architect. Sketches, illustrations, drawings, models etc. are some of the instruments that should be utilized in communicating ideas during ASDS.

ii. Retaining walls are suitable for supporting external foundation walls of projects adjoining creeks or smaller water bodies, Foundation trenches should be dewatered during excavation/construction to optimize project delivery in areas with high water tables.

iii. It is essential for architects to receive at least 15% as initial payment - Commitment Fee on issuance of letter of Commission and instruction before proceeding with the appraisal, programming and project definition as well as recommend the consultants required in the project during PDS.

iv. Given ensuring standards are upheld, the design/construction team should be appropriately remunerated. These players should be well coordinated, and recommended by architects were necessary.

v. Importantly, clients/developers should be advised to adhere to all building approval and developmental laws applicable in project locations. More so, architects should ensure they supervise the buildings/structures they design.

**CONCLUSION**

Proper documentation and sign-off of ASDS are essential for administering building contracts. In this project, ASDS was strictly followed right from the development of the design brief to enable the project
team articulate the client's desires. More so, the quality and quantity of project deliverables, project duration, and final estimated total cost of the project etc. were spelt out in the conditions of contract. Lastly, at every ASDS, the client's decision was evaluated in view of advising him in the design and construction of the mixed-use development.

## Recommendations

i. The remuneration of architects should be based on the (ARCON) Architectural Consultancy and Project Management Services - Conditions of Engagement, Charges and Agreement for the Professional Architect (ARCON, 2016) to uphold the nobility of the architectural profession.

ii. Architects should not respond to pressure from clients to sign off PDS without inspecting and analyzing a proposed project site for development as well as ensure testing and ground investigations before commencing the architectural design process.

iii. Architects should be equipped with practical tools / instruments to properly enlighten the client

iv. The architectural design process should be marked with intended space provisions based on accommodation requirement, planning relationships, site layout, intended building concept/form, schematic layout, indicating planning relationship, formal sketch floor plans, basic 3-dimensional perspectives, technical and functional characteristics of the design as well as reviewing of sketch plan against the proposed budget.

v. All consultants involved in a building project should always collaborate during the ASDS for sustainable project delivery, and where necessary the client should be advised on the need for specifications.

## REFERENCES

Admin, February 23, 2024, 8 Architecture Project stages from concept to Construction - ArchiMash.com. ArchiMash.com, <https://archimash.com/articles/architecture-project-stages/.

Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON), June, 2016, ARCON Architectural Consultancy and Project Management Services - Conditions of Engagement, Charges and Agreement for the Professional Architect, 3rd Edition.

Guide to Architectural Design Phases – Monograph, n.d., <https://monograph.com/blog/guide-to-design-phases>

Harris, M., 2017, "Competitive Precinct Projects: The Five Consistent Criticisms of "Global" Mixed-Use Megaprojects" <https://doi.org/10.1177/875697281704800607>, Project Management Journal, 48 (6), 76-92.

Lephare, April 25, 2023, 7 phases of residential design, Cedreo. https://cedreo.com/blog/residential-design/

Nadim, W., 2019, A Proactive Social Infrastructure model for future Mixed-Use Housing in Egypt, In Cambridge University Press eBooks, pp. 254–283, <https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108562492.010>

Neufert, P. & Neufert, E., 2012, Architects Data, Fourth Edition, Wiley-Blackwell.

Oluigbo, C U. & Nnaa, D V., 2023, Architectural Design Process: A Technical Review of a Five Bedroom Duplex Designed for a Client in Anambra State, Nigeria, J. Appl. Sci. Environ. Manage., 27 (7) 1569-1577.

Oluigbo C. U., Ufuoma O. G., Nnaa D. V. & Eberendu U. A, 2023, Housing Development: A Technical Review of a Four Bedroom Bungalow designed for a client in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. International Journal of Advances in Scientific Research and Engineering (ijasre). DOI: 10.31695/IJASRE.2023.9.7.4. Volume 9, Issue 7.

O'Connell, E., 2021, Submission to the Cork City Development Plan 2021-2028: Re: Mixed Planning System. <https://consult.corkcity.ie/ga/system/files/materials/1399/2492/Submis2028_%20Re_%20Mixed%20Planning%20System.pdf.

Oluigbo, C. U, Unamba, U. K. & Nnaa, D. V., 2023, Design, Construction, and Post-Construction of a Residential Development Located at Orji, Owerri North in Imo State, J. Appl. Sci. Environ. Manage., 27 (9) 2059-20721.

Patil, U., July 11, 2024, 5 stages of Architectural Design Process, Russell and Dawson Inc, <https://www.rdaep.com/blogs/5-stages-architectural-design/.

"Quality Growth Toolkit: Mixed-use Development", November 28, 2011, <https://web.archive.org/web/20111128011547/http://www.atlantaregional.com/File%20Library/Local%20Gov%20Services/gs_cct_mixedusetool_1109> Atlanta Regional Commission, p. 2, <http://www.atlantaregional.com/File%20Library/Local%20Gov%20Services/gs_cct_mixedusetool_1109>

Raman, R. & Roy, U. K., November 1, 2019, "Taxonomy of urban mixed land use planning", Land Use Policy, 88:104102 <https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2019LUPol.8804102R> doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.104102.
**Chapter Four**

**Reviewing Architectural Technology Curriculum of Polytechnics in Southeast Nigeria:
Trajectories towards Sustainable Development**

***Udochukwu Obiamaka Marcel-Okafor***

Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri Imo State, Nigeria

EMAIL: umarcel-okafor@fpno.edu.ng

**ABSTRACT**

Concerted efforts to align architectural technology practice in Nigeria with the contemporary practice of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-driven economies are nascent. A recently reviewed curriculum approved for Polytechnics that offer architectural technology programmes indicates matching efforts in training to conform with international best practices. However, the complex inter-dependencies within practice and training demand co-creation for architectural technology experience to ensure that human habitations are sustainable and functional. This study examined the curriculum to determine factors that ensure the implementation of design principles for a sustainable built environment and assess the level of BIM training architectural technologists received in school and its effects on their practice performances. A survey research design was adopted. Data collected were analyzed using SPSS version 26 to derive percentile, mean scores and regression analysis. The findings revealed that the students displayed significant awareness and implementation of principles of sustainable design, especially at the inception stages of design. The study revealed that 96% of the graduates had acquired some level of BIM proficiency; 56% acquired it from school, while 40% indicated it was acquired in practice after graduation. Results of correlation analysis showed that the correlation between the practice performance of technologists and proficiency in BIM is significant (p<0.01). The paper has empirically shown the gaps between what is taught and the realities of practice and recommends proactive collaboration of identified stakeholders to ensure practical synergy between laudable guidelines in the curriculum and actual implementation on the ground.

KEYWORDS: Sustainable Development; BIM; Architectural technology; Polytechnics; Curriculum

**INTRODUCTION**

To address the issues of sustainable development in the context of architecture, attention is usually directed to sustainable design which precedes sustainable housing. A beneficial starting point is to reflect on the definitions of these three key concepts; In the 1987 Brundtland Commission sustainable development is defined as ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ The core focus of the Brundtland approach speaks to the resource-based elements that address development. Sustainable design, on the one hand, is a combination of procedures that ensures that the built environment attains exceptional levels of ecological stability through innovative and retrofit construction techniques that ultimately aim for enduring viability and humanisation of architecture (Kim & Rigdon, 1998). Three key principles of sustainable design are identified as; Economy of resources, Life cycle design and human design, with the main goal to discover architectural solutions that ensure seamless equilibrium between built and natural environments. On the other hand, Edwards (2005) suggested that sustainable housing is ‘housing that meets the supposed and actual needs of the present in a resource-efficient manner whilst providing attractive, safe and ecologically rich neighbourhoods.’ The crux of the matter lies in the process of efficient utilization of resources to generate physical forms that comprehensively satisfy the present and consider the future. A key element in the implementation of sustainable design principles is the degree to which professionals in the building industry are aware of, and relevant accorded novel suggestions that influence sustainable built environment. This infers that education plays a primary role and creating awareness during the learning stages is pivotal to implementation.

In Nigeria, architectural technology programmes are exclusively offered in polytechnics and colleges of technology, and the certificated architectural technologist is trained to assist the architect, thereby occupying the middle-level manpower position in the architectural practice chain. Even though, the
profession of the architectural technologist has evolved from the earlier draughtsman role to embrace a relatively modern discipline in the UK and other advanced economies (Armstrong & Allwinkle, 2017; Sfintes & Sfintes, 2024). With the entry of building information Modelling (BIM) and the constantly increasing prominence accorded the process, the role of the architectural technologist from the outset of the design process has become indispensable. Hence, to efficiently and strategically compete within the global space, proficiency in BIM is germane. As such, the impact of architectural technology in the nexus of building technicalities and design applications supersedes other professions in the building industry (Emmit, 2009). The capacity of this relatively new discipline to strategically control design about construction processes during the lifespan of buildings reiterates its role in addressing environmental concerns that have plagued the building industry (Armstrong & Allwinkle, 2017).

Yet our distinct economic and socio-cultural characteristics continue to influence the products of the programme, the style of practice, and awareness of emerging societal needs that are peculiar to the Nigerian milieu, while still struggling to conform to global standards. This is particularly so because, architectural practice in Nigeria is influenced on the one hand, by the drive to adopt technologically advanced techniques aimed at providing solutions to existing challenges within the built environment, and on the other hand by constantly emerging socio-economic variables associated with high population growth, urban migration, and the resultant explosions in housing needs. The Southeast zone of the country is the area of study. The zone accounts for 3.2% of the national landmass with a population of approximately 22 million people representing about 12% of the entire national population (National Population Commission, 2020). After Lagos, the southeast zone features the highest population densities and the widest spread of urban migration growth in the country, which helps to explain the preponderance of challenges associated with the built environment that besieges the zone. Advanced building technologies like mass production of pre-fabricated building types, which target efficient mass housing and demand innovative building proposals and technologies that challenge the architectural technologists and promote sustainable design of the built environment are yet to be explored generally in Nigeria and particularly in the southeast region. This is evident in the present construction processes, wherein approximately 90% of structures in the country are still constructed in situ using sandcrete hollow blocks (Raheem, Momoh, & Soyingbe, 2012).

This study is an exploration of the academic curriculum contents of architectural technology programmes in Nigerian polytechnics to assess to what degree students in the graduating class of the Higher National Diploma programme implement sustainable design principles, and the level of BIM training architectural technologists received in school and the effect on their practice performance. The aim is to determine the factors that influence their decisions in practice, which may or may not provoke ecological equilibrium within the built environment. To achieve this aim, the study investigated the course contents of computer courses offered in NBTE-accredited architectural technology departments of polytechnics in Southeast Nigeria and the practice performance of graduates of the schools. The theoretical framework for this study was based on Rostow's Modernization Theory of development which states that development in developing worlds can be attained by imitating the developmental course charted by currently developed nations (Loftness, 2013). This study concentrated on the aspect of education which plays a crucial role in the five stages of modernization propounded in the theory in order to achieve the necessary development (Kasanda, 2016). The results of this empirical study would draw attention to areas of the curriculum that still require necessary attention to attain such developmental targets through emphasis on BIM applications. Again, the results would be beneficial to both regional as well as national development as part of solution strategies for mass housing needs. Furthermore, the results would highlight the prospects and constraints of architectural technology programmes in Nigerian polytechnics to enable practitioners, professionals, educators and stakeholders to make feasible decisions concerning the right course of action beneficial to the Nigerian technological advancement agenda for sustainable development to thrive in the society.

## REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The architectural technology programme is regulated by NBTE, an acronym for National Board for Technical Education. The recently revised NBTE curriculum and course specifications are used as a benchmark for standardising the academic course contents of courses being offered in these technical
institutions (National Board for Technical Education, 2020). A pertinent issue in architectural education has been the nexus between what is taught in schools and the skills required for practice (Opoko & Oluwatayo, 2015; Legeny & Morgenstein, 2018; Singha OBE, 2021; Sasaki Associates, 2024). The transition from traditional drawing tools to the use of Computer Aided Design and Draughting (CADD) has affected the trajectory of training relevant to the architectural technologist. Particularly, since advances in CADD such as building information modelling (BIM) have accentuated the roles architectural technologists play in providing sustainable development within the built environment (Armstrong & Allwinkle, 2017; Uzun & Cakir, 2022; Shahverdi, Mostafavi, Roodkoly, & Zomorodian, 2024). As an extensive approach to design, construction and procedures in the building industry, BIM contains a broad spectrum of models, tools and workflows which are essential to be learned and applied by professionals in the industry (Succar & Sher, 2013; Uzun & Cakir, 2022). In addition, implementation of BIM has the potential to expunge wastages occurring at the inception of design, challenges arising from discordant relationships among professionals that may hinder work progress, as well as create expertise at the design and construction stages (Eadie, Browne, Odeyinka, & Mckeown, 2014). BIM offers robust potential for improvement of procedures of design conception, development, and actualisation of modern structures. Proficiencies with BIM applications hold an indispensable opportunity for technological advancement in the building industry. Hu (2017), observed that the paucity of conversation and empirical data on prevailing building technology brought to light barriers to advancements in sustainable building technologies. Again, Kouider, Salman, and Paterson (2018) revealed from their study, that specific tools taught had a direct link to the area of curriculum with the discipline, noting that AutoCAD/Photoshop and Revit were taught to architecture and architectural technology students, who displayed exceptional abilities in adapting to the BIM software applications. This is particularly relevant since further studies also revealed that because architectural practice in Nigeria has been largely computerised, only the graduates proficient in Computer-aided design and draughting (CADD) are relevant and employed, setting the stage for global competition (Oladapo, 2017; Ezeji, 2017; Maina, 2018).

However, the required innovative building proposals and technologies that challenge the architectural technologists and promote sustainable design of the built environment are yet to be explored generally in Nigeria. Energy consumption is a key index in the economy of resources, and the majority of electricity consumers are concentrated in the building sector with residential buildings accounting for over 70% of total electricity consumption in the country (IAEA, 2014). The country features six distinct ecological zones and the Southeast region is situated within the humid rainforest zone and experiences two major wind patterns. On the one hand is the South Eastern moisture-laden trade wind from the Atlantic Ocean which heralds raining season and is characterised by approximately eight (8) months of heavy rainfall between March and October with a slight break in August. The North Western dust-laden trade winds from the Sahara Desert on the other hand stretch from November to February and heralds the dry season. A clear reduction of energy necessary to cool and light buildings can be achieved by the adoption of eco-friendly design techniques with efficient active systems (Arup (Madrid & Lagos offices), 2010). It is therefore imperative to use active systems that maximise potentials inherent in the eco-climatic patterns of the region. The aim and objectives of the curriculum focus on producing technologists with competence in a wide range of skills and highlight fundamental design principles such as orientation, landscape, spatial arrangements and fenestration which in the context of the Nigerian environment are key elements that promote sustainable designs. Critical research questions posed therefore are the responsiveness of the curriculum to address evolving urban challenges, and the buoyancy of the curriculum to produce relevant skilled manpower required to proffer sustainable solutions to both existing and emerging challenges.

## METHODOLOGY

The survey research design was adopted in this study. Structured questionnaires were used to elicit data from the respondents comprised of the academic staff in the departments, students in the Higher National Diploma (HND) graduating class, the architectural technologists that graduated from the schools and the architectural firms that employ these graduates within Southeast Nigeria. Based on the foregoing, this study adopted the format of the evaluation stated in the literature (Alagbe, Aderonmu, Opoko, Oluwatayo, & Dare-Abel, 2014) in the following format:
* The data on CADD proficiency was a three-point rating scale: 1-none (no technical mastery of software package), 2-basic proficiency (elementary technical mastery of software package), 3-expert proficiency (full technical and creative mastery of software package).

* The data variables on the relevance of the course contents were evaluated on a five-point Likert scale: 1-strongly disagree, 2-disagree, 3-uncertain, 4-agree, 5-strongly agree.

The first batch of questionnaires administered to the graduating class students concentrated on five key aspects of sustainable design principles that focused on the economy of resources; orientation, fenestration, use of shading devices, preference for locally available building materials, and preference for soft landscape as variables used to measure the students' awareness of sustainable design principles anchored on energy efficiency about the environment. The aim was to discover key aspects of sustainable design principles that the students readily considered in design procedures. The second batch of questionnaires administered to the teaching staff concentrated on assessing the students' proficiencies in BIM applications.

The Southeast zone in Nigeria, which represents the study area, has five polytechnics (research population) spread across five states that constitute the zone. Based on ownership structure, three (3) out of the five (5) polytechnics are owned by the Federal Government, while the remaining two (2) are owned by respective State Governments wherein the Polytechnics are domiciled. Owing to this heterogeneous structure, stratified random sampling was adopted in defining the samples of this research population (Kothari, 2012). Two (2) homogenous groups comprising the State-owned institutions and the Federal-owned institutions were derived. A random sample was drawn in the ratio 1:2 for the State and Federal schools.

From the pilot survey conducted to investigate the number of teaching staff in the sampled polytechnics, the result revealed that the three polytechnics had a total number of forty (40) academic staff and one hundred and forty (140) students in the final level of the HND programme. Abia State had a total of eleven (11) academic staff on roll; however, the information from the pilot survey in the department, revealed that 3 out of this number were on leave of absence for further studies; hence the department was left with 8 academic staff. Federal Polytechnic Nekede had a total of fifteen (15) academic staff, and Federal Polytechnic Oko had a total of fourteen (14) academic staff. The sample size reflects the number of positive responses, and not necessarily the number of questionnaires distributed; which is often augmented to make allowance for non-response (Taherdoost, 2017). Hence, thirty-seven (37) copies of structured questionnaires were proportionately administered to the academic staff in the three departments that constituted the entire sample size for the polytechnics.

The study adopted the approach based on precision rate and confidence level which availed it of a mathematical solution for determining sample size 'n' (Kothari, 2012). Hence using the Yamane's simplified formula to calculate sample size with 95% precision level 'e' and the population size 'N', the sample size was determined as follows:

$$n = \frac{N}{1+N(e)^2} \qquad \text{Equation 1}$$

The total number of students in the graduating class of the Higher National Diploma (HND) programme which forms the population size 'N' is 140 students. Applying the above formula, a sample size of 104 students was derived. However, with an allowance of 5% given for envisaged low response, a total of 109 copies of the questionnaires at the rate of 36 copies per department were administered to the students in the three polytechnics.

From the pilot survey conducted to observe the number of HND graduates from each school in each year spanning six (6) years, the total number of HND graduates was 358 graduates which formed the population size 'N'. To determine the size of the sample (n) from the research population of the graduates, the study adopted the aforementioned mathematical (Equation 1). Where; 'n' is the sample size, 'N' is the population size, and 'e' is the level of precision. However, not all the graduates are
working in firms within the study area and not all are working under registered firms. Therefore, an assumption of 50% of the total number of HND graduates (179 graduates) is used to determine the population size 'N'. Applying the above formula as follows;

$$n= \frac{179}{1+179(.05)^2} = \frac{179}{1.4475} = 123.661 \approx 124 (2)$$

Hence, 124 copies of the questionnaire representing the sample size, were supposed to be administered to the technologists, however, with an allowance of 5% given for the envisaged low response, a total of 130 copies of the questionnaire were administered to the HND graduates in practice within the five states that constitute the study area. This was done according to first contact basis which was obtained from the list of graduate members registered with the respective state chapters of the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA), and some were sent as softcopies via their email address.

The size of the sample 'n' for the last research population (the employers) was based on desired accuracy with a population percentage or variability of 50%, a confidence level of 95%, and a 5% margin of error (Gill, Johnson, & Clark, 2010) in (Taherdoost, 2017). Gill et al. (2010) presented sample size appropriate for specified permutations of precision, confidence levels and a population percentage or variability of 50%. Hence, the study adopted 63 registered architectural firms as the sample size. However, owing to the uneven spread of the firms across the study area, copies of the questionnaire were randomly administered to 3 firms in Abia State, 5 firms in Anambra State, 43 firms in Enugu State and 12 firms in Imo State. The data collected were analysed at three levels: the univariate level which involved frequency distribution analysis using descriptive techniques. The second level was the bivariate analysis, wherein the correlations among the variables were established. The third and final level was the multivariate, wherein regression analysis was carried out. The government-owned polytechnics domiciled in each of the five states that make up the Southeast zone offer NBTE-accredited architectural technology programmes as shown in Table 1.

<table><caption>Table 1: Polytechnics that offer architectural technology programme in Southeast Nigeria</caption><thead><tr><td>Name of Institution</td><td>Location</td><td>Date of Establishment</td><td>Date architecture programme commenced</td><td>HND</td><td>Ownership</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu</td><td>Enugu State</td><td>1973</td><td>2002</td><td></td><td>State</td></tr><tr><td>Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Owerri</td><td>Imo State</td><td>1978</td><td>1982</td><td></td><td>Federal</td></tr><tr><td>Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Unwana-Afikpo</td><td>Ebonyi State</td><td>1981</td><td>1985</td><td></td><td>Federal</td></tr><tr><td>Federal Polytechnic Oko</td><td>Anambra State</td><td>1982</td><td>1987</td><td></td><td>Federal</td></tr><tr><td>Abia State Polytechnic, Aba</td><td>Abia State</td><td>1992</td><td>2008</td><td></td><td>State</td></tr></tbody></table>

Source: Fieldwork 2020

## RESULTS

Results from the analysis carried out captured key aspects that address sustainable design that are critical to the climatic conditions of the region. The results of demographic data showed that the largest proportion of respondents (36%) were students from Federal Polytechnic Nekede, respondents from Abia State Polytechnic represented 33% of the total proportion, while the remaining 31% came from Federal Polytechnic Oko.
Half of the total proportion of respondents spread across the polytechnics rated the importance of orientation from the outset of their design process above the average mark. One-quarter (25%) of respondents marked average, while the remaining respondents (22%) marked below average. Over two-thirds of the total proportion of respondents rated the importance of numbers and placement of windows from the outset of their design process from the average mark and above. While close to one-quarter (24%) of respondents marked below average. Close to one-third of the total proportion of respondents rated the importance of the provision of shading devices in design at the average mark (50% - 60%). However, a greater proportion of the respondents were below average. On preference for use of locally available building materials, respondents were evenly divided by their views. Results of the analysis further revealed that over two-thirds of the responses indicated a higher preference for soft landscapes.

Basic data related to the respondents as academic staff of the respective departments and lecturers of the students that graduated were obtained and presented in this section. The extent of the responses across available categories was specified as aggregated data obtained from the departments of the sampled Polytechnics and presented in percentages (%) as follows:

The results of the analysis of aggregated data on *Relevance of course contents in computer courses (RCCP)* revealed that two-thirds (66.6%) of the respondents agreed that the course contents in Computer courses are relevant to practice. However, the remaining one-third of the respondents comprised the group that was uncertain about the relevance of the course contents and the group that disagreed on the relevance of course contents in computer courses to practice as illustrated in Figure 1.

<figure><img src="image_18.png" /><figcaption>Figure 1: Relevance of Course Contents of Computer Courses</figcaption></figure>

The results of the analysis of data on the *Style of Studio draughting* in the firms showed that over two-thirds of the firms where the respondents practised, operated with solely contemporary computer workstations, while the remaining proportion of respondents which constituted less than one-third of the total proportion practised in firms that adopted both the traditional drawing tables and computer workstations as style of draughting in the studios as shown in Figure 2. This revealed a general shift in favour of the contemporary style of studio draughting amongst the architectural firms where the respondents practised.

<figure><img src="image_19.png" /><figcaption>Figure 2: Style of Studio Draughting in the Firms</figcaption></figure>

The results of aggregated data on *Criteria for employing architectural technologists (CFE)* show that more than two-thirds of respondents (80.3%) considered both the certificate and proficiency in Computer Aided Design and Draughting (CADD) as qualifying criteria for employing the technologists. However, the remaining proportion which was less than one-third of the respondents comprised of those
that considered the HND certificate alone (4.9%) as the qualifying criteria for employing the technologists, those that considered proficiency in CADD alone (1.6%), as well as those that considered other attributes such as strength of communication among others in addition to certificate and CADD proficiency (13.1%) as qualifying criteria for employing the technologists.

<figure><img src="image_20.png" /><figcaption>Figure 3: Criteria for employing architectural technologists in the firms</figcaption></figure>

The results of aggregated data on *Graduates' proficiency in using AutoCAD (PAU)* showed that close to two-thirds of the respondents stated that the employed graduates exhibited basic proficiency in the use of AutoCAD. Close to one-third of the respondents reported that the graduates displayed expert proficiency in using the application. However, the remaining proportion of the respondents which was not up to one-tenth of the total respondents were of the view that the employed graduates did not display proficiency in the use of the software application as shown in Figure 4.

<figure><img src="image_21.png" /><figcaption>Figure 4: Graduates' proficiency in using AutoCAD</figcaption></figure>

The variable *Graduates' proficiency level in using ArchiCAD (PAR)* was investigated. Results revealed that more than half of the respondents (54.1%) stated that the employed graduates exhibited basic proficiency in the use of ArchiCAD, while less than half of the respondents (41%) reported that the employed graduates displayed expert proficiency in using the application. However, the least proportion comprised barely one-twentieth of the respondents (4.9%), were of the view that the graduates employed did not demonstrate proficiency in the use of the application. This is shown in Figure 5.

<figure><img src="image_22.png" /><figcaption>Figure 5: Graduates' proficiency in using ArchiCAD</figcaption></figure>

The results of the analysis of aggregated data on *Graduates' proficiency level in using Revit (PRE)* showed that close to half of the respondents (47.5%) stated that the graduates employed exhibited basic proficiency, while 34.4% displayed expert proficiency in the use of Revit. Close to one-fifth of the respondents that remained were of the view that the graduates employed did not display any proficiency in the use of the software application as illustrated in Figure 6.
<figure><img src="image_23.png" /><figcaption>Figure 6: Graduates' proficiency in using Revit</figcaption></figure>

In the bivariate analysis, two weighted variables: *Practice performance of technologists (PPT)* and *Proficiency in CADD software (PCS)* were investigated and the Spearman Rho correlation analysis tool was used to test the significant relationship. The result of the analysis showed that the correlation between the variables is significant (p<0.01) as illustrated in Table 2.

<table><caption>Table 2: Spearman Rho correlation analysis of the relationship between Practice performance of technologists (PPT) and Proficiency in CADD software (PCS)</caption><thead><tr><th></th><th></th><th>Proficiency in CAD software</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="3">Practice performance of students</td><td><strong>Pearson Correlation</strong></td><td><strong>.371**</strong></td></tr><tr><td><strong>P-Value</strong></td><td><strong>.003</strong></td></tr><tr><td><strong>N</strong></td><td><strong>61</strong></td></tr><tr><td colspan="3">**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)</td></tr></tbody></table>

For the regression analysis of the Practice performance of technologists, the categorical regression (CATREG) analysis tool was used to investigate the interactions between the dependent variable Practice performance of technologists and the following independent variables; Proficiency in using AutoCAD (PAU); Proficiency in using ArchiCAD (PAR);

*Proficiency in using Revit (PRE)* thereby characterise their relationship. The variables were introduced using the forced entry method into the model. The results revealed those whose contributions were significant in affecting the dependent variable. The result of the model summary as illustrated in Table 3 showed that the model explains 49.2% of the residual variation (R² = .492, R²Adjusted = .348).

<table><caption>Table 3: Model Summary for dependent variable Practice performance of technologists (PPT)</caption><thead><tr><th></th><th>Multiple R</th><th>R Square</th><th>Adjusted R Square</th><th>Apparent Prediction Error</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Standardized Data</td><td>.701</td><td>.492</td><td>.348</td><td>.508</td></tr></tbody></table>

The results for ANOVA were likewise outputted for the entry of variables as illustrated in Table 4. The results of the analysis showed that there was a significant correlation of the dependent variable with all independent variables collectively. (F (13, 46) = 3.425, p<0.5)

<table><caption>Table 4: ANOVA results for dependent variable Practice Performance of technologists (PPT)</caption><thead><tr><th colspan="6">ANOVA</th></tr><tr><th></th><th>Sum of Squares</th><th>df</th><th>Mean Square</th><th>F</th><th>Sig.</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Regression</td><td>29.513</td><td>13</td><td>2.270</td><td>3.425</td><td>.001</td></tr><tr><td>Residual</td><td>30.487</td><td>46</td><td>.663</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Total</td><td>60.000</td><td>59</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>
The results of regression coefficients revealed the level of significance of each individual variable. As shown in Table 5, the independent variable Proficiency in using ArchiCAD (PAR) was found to have a significant correlation with Practice Performance of technologists (PPT).

<table><caption>Table 5: Regression Coefficients table for Practice Performance of technologists (PPT)</caption><thead><tr><th colspan="2">Coefficients</th><th rowspan="2">Standardized Coefficients</th><th rowspan="2">df</th><th rowspan="2">F</th><th rowspan="2">Sig.</th></tr><tr><th></th><th></th><th>Beta</th><th>Bootstrap (1000) Estimate of Std. Error</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Proficiency in using AutoCAD</td><td></td><td>.178</td><td>.117</td><td>2</td><td>2.318</td><td>.110</td></tr><tr><td>Proficiency in using ArchiCAD</td><td></td><td>.209</td><td>.107</td><td>2</td><td>3.809</td><td>.029</td></tr><tr><td>Proficiency in using Revit</td><td></td><td>.112</td><td>.147</td><td>2</td><td>.585</td><td>.561</td></tr></tbody></table>

## DISCUSSIONS

This study has empirically shown that the importance ratings indicated by the students reflect the extent of their awareness of the basic principles of sustainable design and by extension the degree to which they are likely to implement such principles. The CADD software apps were limited to three and the proficiency ratings showed a prevalence of basic knowledge, which is more critical in the State-owned polytechnic. It further revealed that there is a significant relationship between the practice performance of graduates and proficiency in CAD software. This has also been cited in literature that technology, particularly computers and information systems, plays a critical role in most work environments. The findings also support previous studies that revealed that only graduates proficient in CAD are sought after and employed (Oladapo, 2017; Ezeji, 2017; Maina, 2018).

The result of the analysis showed that the correlation between the practice performance of technologists (PPT) and proficiency in CADD software (PCS) is significant (p<0.01). The implication is that the practice performance of technologists within the study area increased with an increase in proficiency in CADD software. It also supports the results of correlations presented by Hamma-Adama and Kouidder (2018) and the standpoint that the higher the software sophistication, the higher the proficiency level of training received and acquired by students. The aggregated data findings on variables: Proficiency in using AutoCAD (PAU); Proficiency in using ArchiCAD (PAR) and Proficiency in using Revit (PRE) which represented graduates' proficiencies in computer software applications revealed that the larger number of graduates exhibited basic proficiency in all three software packages used in the assessment. This supports the standpoint that specific tools taught were directly connected to the area of the curriculum with the discipline (Kouider, Salman, & Paterson, 2018). This reveals a gap in the curriculum contents of computer courses taught. Furthermore, the area-wise analysis of graduates' overall proficiency in using AutoCAD revealed that 62.3% of the graduates displayed basic proficiency and 31.1% displayed expert proficiency. The area-wise analysis of graduates' overall proficiency in using ArchiCAD showed that 54.1% of the graduates displayed basic proficiency and 41% displayed expert proficiency. The results of area-wise analysis of graduates' overall proficiency in using Revit showed that 47.5% displayed basic proficiency and 34.4% displayed expert proficiency. However, a notable 18% of the graduates displayed no proficiency in using Revit. The implication is that a preponderance of graduates displayed expert proficiency in using ArchiCAD, while the majority also displayed basic proficiency in using AutoCAD. This is in agreement with findings of correlations between the use of CAD in design studio/assignments and attained CAD proficiency among students (Ezeji, 2017).
**Implication to practice and recommendations**

However, the learning outcomes used as variables for this study did not emphasise the quest for a technologically advanced skillset as a prerequisite for accomplishing the tasks. Yet, the architectural technologist works within a sector characterised by constantly evolving technical developments, and equally emerging social factors that demand continuous technological advancements. Technically advanced design process tools such as building information modelling (BIM) have been identified as relevant tools to pilot the challenging situation and provide the required services (Armstrong & Allwinkle, 2017). In light of the current conditions, the study recommends;

1. Adequate provisions of computer software packages recently prescribed in the revised curriculum in the departments and subsequent regular training of the staff in appreciation and application of the packages. The departments need to acquire original versions of these applications to avail the staff and students of the opportunity to use the original copies. The adoption of these software packages, particularly BIM, enhances the digitalisation of design and construction methods which is needed to foster accelerated and efficient delivery of building products and processes.

2. Adoption of customized workstations for students in the HND level of the programme, which will accommodate a laptop and personal items. This is intended to enable departments to completely transition from traditionally equipped studios to contemporary teaching and learning environments. This will also reduce the overall volume of space which traditional drawing tables occupy and provide the studios with lean interior furnishings. Especially since there are varied software programmes available and obtainable, for freehand sketching skills, which has been at the core of arguments by proponents of the traditional drawing methods. This is crucial because to prepare the students for professional practice, and global competition, it is only appropriate that architectural technology design studios at HND level should reflect the working environment obtainable in practice.

**CONCLUSION**

In this study, a theoretical balance was struck between normative perspectives derived from adoptions by different interest groups concerning principles guiding practice that encourage palpable sustainable products and actual practice performances that target global competitiveness. With the increased prominence accorded building information modelling (BIM) tools, it is expedient that the entire academic process encompassing staff, students and, learning environment be ICT-compliant. This has been explicitly demonstrated in the recently revised curriculum. However, the successful implementation and the resultant effect on the performance of the graduates demand a concerted effort from the entire academic environment. Hence, with this study as a foundation, further research activities can be pursued in other zones of the country, with deeper insights into other aspects of sustainable design principles, as findings could help develop standards for performance measurements for architectural technologists across Nigeria.

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# PART 2: Greening Building, Innovative Materials and Technology; Skills Development and Labor Output in Construction
**Chapter Five**

**Influence Of School Built Environment, Study Habits and Peer Pressure on Academic Performance among Junior Secondary School Students in Gwale Local Government Area of Kano State, Nigeria**

**Hamza Basiru Kassim**

Department of Educational Psychology, Sa'adatu Rimi College of Education, Kumbotso, Kano State, Nigeria

EMAIL: Hamzybk@gmail.com

**ABSTRACT**

This study investigated the relationship between study habits and peer pressure on academic performance among junior secondary school students in Gwale Local Government Area of Kano State, Nigeria. Two objectives with corresponding research questions and hypotheses guided the study. The study employed an ex post facto design. The population was 9649 junior three secondary school students of Gwale Local Government Area. The sample comprised 103 males and 267 female junior three students making a total of 370. The data was collected through Ifeyinwa's (2015) Peer Group Pressure Scale, Bakare's (1977) Study Habit Inventory (SSHI), Tleukena, Turkyilmaza, Ungera, Tokazhanova, El-Thaljid, Mostafae, Guneya, and Karacaa's (2022) Building and Environment Inventory, and the Unified Terminal Examination (Kano Senior Secondary Management Board, 2020/2021, Second Term Academic Session). The validity for the instruments included face and content validity for the two scales, and concurrent validity for the test (0.965), (0.975) and (r = 0.819) respectively; the reliability procedure included internal consistency reliability for the scales as well as test-retest reliability for the test (α = 0.807), (α =0.862), and (r = 0.922), respectively. Pearson -r and the analysis was computed at 0.05 probability level. The findings indicated a significant positive relationship between study habits and academic performance at r = +.164. Also, the findings indicated a significant positive relationship between the built environment and academic performance at r = +.401. However, a significant negative relationship between peer pressure and academic performance was found at r=-.613. It was concluded that study habits, built environment and peer pressure both have significantly impacted academic performance. It was recommended that teachers and school administrators from time to time should ensure that they educate their children on study habits. Thus, students are encouraged to read for some hours, to make their notes and to practice group study which will greatly help them in their studies.

KEYWORDS: Study habits; Peer pressure; School-built environment; Academic performance.

**INTRODUCTION**

Academic performance has largely depended upon practice as it makes perfect. However, there appears to be less time given to studying or reading notebooks/texts, less concentration while taking the instructions and a lack of note-making behaviour. These may lead to significant setbacks in the academic performance among the junior students. The importance of study habits cannot be overemphasized, because everything is buried in study habits e.g., information, knowledge, philosophy, wisdom, and technology. In general, it is difficult to find any academic activity that does not require study skills. Specifically, learning involves reading, writing, and concentration is a visual process of great importance to students' learning. Time is a precious resource for accomplishing a task and utilizing it is what is referred to as management. It also refers to the techniques and strategies that individuals use to utilize and maximize their work such as note-taking while taking lectures or reading texts. As examinations approach, some students become depressive and concerned. Carefully prepare by organizing study style to review the accomplished topic materials and attempt to answer some recent past question papers to prevent depression and concern. Learners may also learn certain things through personal one-to-one teacher-student interaction is very important. In this, not only do the students contact the teacher over the areas of difficulty but ask for his guidance and reference for further reading. Homework and assignments are part of the subject contents which learners should know. Teachers may give homework for practising what has been recently taught in the mainstream or as diagnostic learning
to slower learners. Also, assignments are given to encourage self-discovery in projected learning or serve as a means of time management, etc. It also covers what students have to do as learning activities after the class hours as assigned by the instructors. In line with these, the school-built environment, which includes the physical surroundings of a student's school and home, plays a significant role in shaping their academic outcomes. Schools with well-structured facilities such as adequate classrooms, libraries, and learning materials create an enabling environment for students to thrive academically. On the other hand, schools with poor infrastructure and overcrowded classrooms can hinder students' learning experiences, resulting in lower academic performance (Akomolafe & Adesua, 2016). Similarly, the home environment, including space for studying and access to necessary resources, directly impacts a student's ability to focus and perform well in school (Ajayi, 2014).

On the other hand, peer relations in the form of student-student relationships are natural at home and at schools and are one of the agencies of socialization. By nature, adolescents feel more comfortable and relaxed among themselves than with their parents or teachers. Peer relationships are guided by certain norms and values which are relatively acceptable to the majority or dominant members of the group. Thus, peers can cause a member to act against his will, regardless of the benefit or otherwise of the actions. Academic performance is the numerical score of a student's knowledge, which measures the degree of a student's adaptation to academic work and education. To be more specific, academic performance in this study refers to the performance of the students in the form of numerical scores as will be obtained in an examination or test. E.L Thorndike (1874-1949), in the trial-and-error theory of learning otherwise known as stimulus-response theory, formulated three laws which were later revised into four. (a) The law of readiness: This law indicates that preparatory adjustments in terms of phonological awareness and some basic grammatical knowledge are essential for the student's reading development and, thus, are a necessary condition for proper reading performance. Therefore, learners have to first discover how to decode the structures (e.g., symbols, tenses or negations) with its set of rules which learners must discover too for themselves and apply for them to gain access to meanings and comprehension. (b) The law of exercise: A second language learner's newly acquired reading skills or ability becomes well internalized through practice and drill. On the contrary, lack of exposure to practice and drill may result in the ill-production of phonetic representations and meanings. (c) The law of effect: The reading text's features that give asses to meanings (with their uncomplicated forms and structures) are favourable to reading habit, because, the reading process is satisfaction. In turn, this aids comprehension and memory. On the other hand, deviations and complexities of the text's forms disrupt the process and stagnate proper expressions of stress and intonation, resulting in incorrect pronunciations and meanings as well as faulty comprehension. Therefore, this may impair the performance of academic reading.

Walberg's (1981) theory of educational productivity is an empirically tested theories of school learning based on the extensive review and integration of over 3,000 students (Diperna, volpe & Stephen, 2002). The theory assumes that nine factors affect academic performance, and these factors are systematically grouped into three groups: Aptitude (ability, development and motivation); instruction (amount and quality); and environment (home, classroom, peers and television). According to them, the factors were based on affective, cognitive, and behavioural skills for the optimization of learning that affect the quality of academic performance. This theory suggests that the home, the environment and peers, among other factors, can affect the academic performance of students. For example, peer pressure is more likely to provide an environment that is suitable or otherwise for academic success. Also, parents who are involved okay are more likely to support their children's studies.

Literature has revealed the importance of study habits to students' positive performance in academic learning. For example, Nair and Kulkarni (2020) examined study habits and its impact on secondary school students' academic performance in English in Kalaburgi Region. The study was correlational design. The population was the 9th standard students of Kalaburgi region in the academic year 2019-20 which were in 222 numbers. A sample was 65 students who were selected through purposive technique. Data were collected from documentation (students' English mid-term scores) and a questionnaire Study Habits Inventory (SHI). Descriptive statistics and Pearson Product moment correlation were used to analyse the data. The result revealed that there was a positive correlation between study habits and
academic performance in English. It was recommended that teachers and parents collaboratively guide students on how to develop good study habits; thereby enhancing their academic performance.

In the same vein, Munir (2022) studied the relationship between students’ study habits and academic performance in Biology among secondary schools in Katsina Metropolis. The study was correlational research design. The population of the study covered all public secondary schools in Katsina Metropolis with a total population of 11,103 Biology students. A simple random technique was used in selecting 60 students. The Students’ Study Habit Inventory and an achievement test were adopted, validated and subjected to pilot testing with reliability coefficients of 0.76 and 0.84 respectively. PPMCC were used for the analysis. The study revealed that there is a significant relationship between the students’ study habits and academic performance in Biology among secondary schools in Katsina Metropolis. Based on this study it’s recommended that the parents should be enlightened on the importance of their involvement in the improvement of their children’s study habits toward their academic performance.

Moreover, John and Bulus (2020) investigated the study habits of secondary school science students in the Jalingo Metropolis, Taraba State, Nigeria. The study was correlational research design. The sample of the study was 199 students selected from 5 secondary schools through simple random sampling. Data for the study were generated through a questionnaire, named Science Students Study Habit Questionnaire (SSSHAQ). The face, content, and construct validity of the SSSHAQ were done with a reliability index of 0.92. Descriptive statistics of frequency counts, mean, and product-moment coefficient of correlation were used for data analysis. The study revealed that the secondary school science students in the Jalingo Metropolis had poor study habits and weak academic performance. The study also found a strong positive, high and significant correlation between study habits and academic performance of secondary school science students. It is thus recommended that teachers, parents, guardians and the school management should collaboratively guide students on how to develop good study habits. Sasi and Anju (2020) examined a correlation between study habits and the academic achievement of high school pupils in a nominated school at Alappuzha District, Kerala. A descriptive survey was conducted. The study was carried out with 180 high school pupils in the age group of 13-16 years who were studying in 8th, 9th and 10th standards and the sampling technique was probability disproportionate stratified random sampling. Disproportionate stratified random selection was used to pick out 10 males and 10 females from each division. Information was collected by using the socio-demographic questionnaire, Modified Mukhopadhaya and Sansanwal’s Study Habits Inventory and the review of previous year progress reports showed that there was a substantial positive correlation between study habits and the academic achievements of high school pupils. Hence, the study judged that a rise in study habits score will also raise the academic achievement score among high school pupils.

More so, Eremie and Achi (2020) examined the relationship between study habits and academic performance of public secondary students in Etche Local Government Area, Rivers State. The correlation research design was adopted with a population of 540 public secondary school students, out of which 225 were drawn as the sample size from the target population. A self-structured questionnaire with a validity and reliability index of 0.65 was used. The hypotheses were analyzed using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences at a 0.05 level of significance. The results reveal that there was a significant relationship between study habits and academic performance. Both note-taking and time management were related to the academic performance of the students. Therefore, recommended that every public school should at least employ one counselor who will guide students on how best to go by their study habits in school.

In a more pivotal study, Jonas Grace (2019) investigated 8 measures or subscales of study habit as predictors of academic achievement in Chemistry. The population of this study comprised all the SSII chemistry students and of the 56 public senior secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Stratified by random sampling to select 601 students who participated in the study. The instruments used for data collection were the Students’ Study Habit Inventory (SSHI) of Bakare (1977), and the Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) developed by the researchers. Reliability coefficients of 0.78, and 0.81, were obtained using Cronbach coefficient Alpha, respectively. The data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and multiple regression analysis. The finding revealed that the students
were generally, practicing study habits that may be adjudged fair except in some areas like teacher consultation. Students' study habits significantly and positively contribute to students' academic achievement in chemistry.

On the other hand, Oluremi (2019) investigated the learning environment and peer pressure as correlates of academic aspirations among senior secondary school students in Mubi North Local Government Area, Nigeria. The population of the study comprised of secondary school students in Mubi North Local Government. A sample size of 400 students was chosen from four secondary schools by stratified sampling technique. A questionnaire titled Learning Environment and Peer Pressure Questionnaire (LEPPQ) was adapted from Shamaki (2015) and Jack and Gamnajoh (2017). A reliability coefficient of 0.88 was obtained. The findings of the study showed that there is a significant relationship between peer pressure and academic achievement; it was recommended that the government should improve the condition of classrooms by providing electric fittings besides renovations of schools and students should endeavour to form or join groups that are study inclined so that learning would be effective and instructional materials.

In addition, Tetteh, Asenso, Ansah, Kanamitie, Karikari, Lah, Sackey and Obeng (2021) examined the effects of peer pressure on the academic performance of student-teachers of S.D.A. College of Education, Asokore - Koforidua. A purposive sample was employed to select the level 200 students of the S.D.A. College of Education for the study because they were the only students on campus at the time of the survey. On the effects of peer pressure on student-teachers academic performance, the study established that most student-teachers learn better when their peers help them.

In the same vein, Segun and Ajasin (2021) investigated peer pressure and its psychological effect on the academic performance of students in Akoko North East Local Government Area, Ondo State, Nigeria. The population consists of both male and female students. A simple random technique was used to draw a sample which consisted of 120 secondary school students from three public secondary schools. The instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Based on the findings, the researcher discovered that peer pressure does not necessarily mean negative influence, it can also be positive influence, also the kind of peers a student keeps or moves with can influence his attitude, learning and academic performance. The recommendations made include that parents should encourage their children to have friends that would have a positive influence on their learning, both at home and in school. Teachers should also pay attention towards encouraging peer group activities in schools, especially in the area of group discussion.

Moreover, Moldes, Biton, Gonzaga, and Moneva (2019) investigated students' peer pressure and their academic performance in Jagobiao National High School, Mandaue City. The population was the students in the Senior High School. The students in Jagobiao National High School are the respondents for this research to collect data. This survey focuses on the Grade 12 Senior High School Students in Jagobiao National High School. The respondents were 96. Chi-square was used to analyze the data. The results indicated that several factors related to peer pressure affected students' academic performance in school. This suggests that peer pressure does not have a negative impact directly on students toward their peers. Generally, students are expected to face the effects of peer pressure optimistically to cope with the negative impact of peer pressure in their studies. Students may use positive or negative approaches towards peer pressure. Thus, teachers may guide and help them in facing the problems.

**Statement of the Problem**

Observation specifically in Gwale Local Government Area of Kano has shown that there is poor academic performance in some of the students' terminal examinations and this perhaps has to do with their ineffective study habits and peer pressure. The worst part of it, even among sharp students, lack of time management skills, concentration skills, homework and assignment skills, written work skills, examination skills, and teacher consultation skills are rampant.

Poor academic performance may also lie at the root of the pressure put by the peers on the members to make noise in the class, bully one another, mock the teacher, roam around the school, go to the toilet in groups, smoke, or make girlfriends. Some of the possible reasons for poor learning and low
performances in the terminal exams, and in the long run, the mass failure in academic performance in the standardized tests such as National Examination Council, West African Examination Council or Joint Admission and Matriculation Board are assumed to be built environment, poor study habits and peer pressure. Therefore, the study sought the following objectives:

1. Examine the relationship between study habits and academic performance among junior three secondary school students of Gwale Local Government Area.

2. Examine the relationship between peer pressure and academic performance among three secondary school students of Gwale Local Government Area.

3. Examine the relationship between the built environment and academic performance among three secondary school students of Gwale Local Government Area.

## Research Hypotheses

**H₀1:** There is no significant relationship between study habits and academic performance among junior three secondary school students of Gwale Local Government Area.

**H₀2:** There is no significant relationship between peer pressure and academic performance among junior three secondary school students of Gwale Local Government Area.

**H₀3:** There is no significant relationship between school-built environment and academic performance among junior three secondary school students of Gwale Local Government Area.

## METHODS

It was an ex post facto research design which is used to find out simple cause-and-effect relationships, (Kassim, 2020). Study subjects include all junior three secondary school students of Gwale Local Government Area who were in the academic year of 2022/2013.

The population enrolment of junior secondary school three students is 1,4494 of which 5,877 were male and 8,617 were female. A multistage cluster sampling technique was employed. In the first stage, the schools were clustered by type: boys' schools, girls' schools, and coeducational schools within public secondary schools in Gwale Local Government Area of Kano state. A proportionate random sample was used in selecting the schools by the use of the hat-and-draw method. In the second stage, a simple random sampling technique was also used to select a class from a set of classes with a school. In the third stage, in each of the selected classes of the junior secondary school three, a systematic sampling technique was used to select the subjects. Four data collection instruments were used: Bakare's (1977) Study Habit Inventory (SSHI) is 45 items posed as direct questions within 8 sub-scales covering: 1). Homework and assignment, 2) Time allocation, 3) Reading and note taking, 4) Study period procedure, 5) Concentration, 6) Written work, 7) Examination, and 8) Teacher consultation.

Ifeyinwa's (2015) Peer Group Pressure Scale is a self-report instrument measuring the peer pressure of the peer group. The Scale contains 20 items and is a 4-point Likert Scale requiring students to respond to each item with a single response: Strongly Agree (SA) 4, Agree (A) 3, Disagree (D) 2, Strongly Disagree (SA) 1.

Building and Environment Inventory of Tleukena, Turkyilmaza, Ungera, Tokazhanova, El-Thaljid, Mostafae, Guneya, and Karacaa, (2022) is a self-report instrument measuring Health and safety in the built environment of the home environment. It was adapted and the word 'home' was replaced with 'school' to match the objective of the study. The Scale contains 16 items and is a 5-point Likert Scale requiring students to respond to each item with a single response: Agree (TA), Agree (A), Undecided (U), Disagree (D), and Disagree (TD).

In addition, the Unified Terminal Examination (UTE) was used to measure the participants' academic performance. It is developed by the Kano State Senior Secondary Management Board under the Department of Junior Secondary Schools, and an English Language UTE for the Second Term of the
2016/2017 Academic Session was adapted for the study. All the tools used were validated in the context of the study.

## RESULTS

**Hypotheses One:** There is no significant relationship between study habits and academic performance among junior secondary school students in Gwale Local Government Area of Kano.

<table><caption>Table 1: Correlation Coefficient between Study Habits and Academic Performance in English Language</caption><thead><tr><th>VARIABLES</th><th>N</th><th>Mean</th><th>SD</th><th>r.</th><th>P.</th><th>Remark</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Study Habits</td><td>370</td><td>145.3</td><td>9.13</td><td>+.1.64</td><td>0.00</td><td>Rejected</td></tr><tr><td>Academic Performance</td><td>370</td><td>26.0</td><td>6.62</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

The result in Table 1 presents the relationship between study habit and academic performance

based on a sample of 370 individuals. R. value (-.164) represents the correlation coefficient

(Pearson's r) between study habits and academic performance. The positive sign (+) indicates a positive correlation, meaning that as study habit increases, academic performance tends to decrease as well. The absolute value of +.164 suggests a weak positive correlation. P. value (0.000) represents the p-value associated with the correlation coefficient. With a p-value of 0.000, which is less than the typical significance level of 0.05, the null hypothesis (no relationship between study habits and academic performance) is rejected. The result indicates that there is a statistically significant positive relationship between study habits and academic performance in this sample.

**Hypotheses Two:** There is a significant relationship between peer pressure and academic performance among junior secondary school students in Gwale Local Government Area of Kano.

<table><caption>Table 2: Correlation Coefficient between Peer Pressure and Academic Performance</caption><thead><tr><th>VARIABLE</th><th>N</th><th>Mean</th><th>SD</th><th>r.</th><th>P.</th><th>Remark</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Peer Pressure</td><td>370</td><td>47.00</td><td>8.41</td><td>-.613</td><td>0.00</td><td>Rejected</td></tr><tr><td>Academic Performance</td><td>370</td><td>26.00</td><td>6.62</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

Table 2, presents the relationship between peer pressure and academic performance based on certain statistical measures. The correlation coefficient between peer pressure and academic performance is -.613 indicating a negative correlation between peer pressure and academic performance. The p-value of 0.000, the correlation between peer pressure and academic performance is statistically significant at the 0.05 level. This indicates that the null hypothesis (which assumes no relationship between peer pressure and academic performance) is rejected. Therefore, based on this analysis, there is evidence to suggest that there is a statistically significant inverse relationship between peer pressure and academic performance in this sample.

**Hypotheses Three:** There is no significant relationship between school-built environment and academic performance among junior secondary school students in Gwale Local Government Area of Kano.

<table><caption>Table 3: Correlation Coefficient between school-built environment and Academic Performance in English Language</caption><thead><tr><th>VARIABLES</th><th>N</th><th>Mean</th><th>SD</th><th>r.</th><th>P.</th><th>Remark</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Built Environment</td><td>370</td><td>59.60</td><td>11.69</td><td>-.401</td><td>0.00</td><td>Rejected</td></tr><tr><td>Academic Performance</td><td>370</td><td>26.00</td><td>6.62</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

The result in Table 3 presents the relationship between the built environment and academic performance based on a sample of 370 individuals. R. value (+.401) represents the correlation coefficient (Pearson's r) between the built environment and academic performance. The positive sign (+) indicates a positive correlation, meaning that as the built environment increases, academic performance tends to increase
as well. The absolute value of +.401 suggests a weak positive correlation. P. value (0.000) represents the p-value associated with the correlation coefficient. With a p-value of 0.000, which is less than the typical significance level of 0.05, the null hypothesis (no relationship between the built environment and academic performance) is rejected. The result indicates that there is a statistically significant relationship between school-built environment and academic performance in this sample.

The findings of this study are summarized below:

a. There is a significant positive correlation between study habits and academic performance among the students.

b. There is a significant negative correlation between peer pressure and academic performance among the students.

c. There is a significant positive correlation between school-built environment and academic performance among the students.

## Discussion of the Findings

Based on the results of the analyses on the data collected in the study, the first and the second hypotheses were rejected.

For the first hypothesis, a correlation coefficient of +0.164 was found in the study. This relationship is significant and positive. This indicated that study habit has a positive effect on student's academic performance. Contemporary researchers are supportive of the finding of the impact of study habits on academic performance among secondary school students of different levels: for example, the finding of this study is consistent with the finding of Nair and Kulkarni (2020) examined study habits and its impact on secondary school student's academic performance in English in Kalaburgi Region. They revealed that there was a positive correlation between study habits and academic performance in English. In the same vein, Munir (2022) who investigated the relationship between students' study habits and academic performance in biology among secondary schools in Katsina Metropolis found that there is a significant relationship between the students' study habits and academic performance in biology among secondary schools in Katsina metropolis. Moreover, the study echoes John and Bulus (2020) who investigated the study habits of secondary school science students in the Jalingo Metropolis, Taraba State, Nigeria. The study revealed that the secondary school science students in the Jalingo metropolis had poor study habits and weak academic performance. The study also found a strong positive, high and significant correlation between study habits and academic performance of secondary school science students. More so, Sasi and Anju (2020) who examined a correlation between study habits and the academic achievement of high school pupils in a nominated school in Alappuzha District, Kerala found that there was a substantial positive correlation between study habits and the academic achievements of high school pupils. Again, Eremie and Achi (2020) who examined the relationship between study habits and academic performance of public secondary students in Etche Local Government Area, Rivers State found that there is a significant relationship between study habits and academic performance. Further, Jonas Grace (2019) who investigated 8 measures or subscales of study habits as predictors of academic achievement in Chemistry found that students' study habits significantly and positively contribute to students' academic achievement in chemistry.

In response to the second hypothesis, it is found that there is any relationship between peer pressure and academic performance. A correlation coefficient of -.613 was found in the study. This relationship is significant and negative. This indicated that peer pressure has a positive effect on student's academic performance. Contemporary researchers are supportive of this finding. The findings of Aghadiuno and Onyekweodiri (2019) who investigated the effect of peer pressure on the academic performance of students in Nasarawa State Polytechnic Lafia is consistent with the findings of the present study. They found that peer pressure is the major hindrance to effective reading habits among students in Nasarawa State Polytechnic, Lafia. The result corroborates Oluremi (2019), who investigated the learning environment and peer pressure as correlates of academic aspirations among senior secondary school students in Mubi North Local Government Area, Nigeria. The way peer pressure influences learning Biology includes punctuality to class, competition, studying together, disturbance in class and helping with academic
difficulties. The findings of the study showed that there is a significant relationship between peer pressure and academic achievement. Moreover, Moldes, Biton, Gonzaga, and Moneva (2019) came up with different findings in their study of peer pressure and their academic performance at Jagobiao National High School, Mandaue City. The results declared peer pressure was found to be among several factors that could affect students' academic performance in school. They suggest that peer pressure does not have a negative impact directly on students toward their peers. In addition, Tetteh, Asenso, Ansah, Kanamitie, Karikari, Lah, Sackey and Obeng (2021) examined the effects of peer pressure on student-teachers academic performance of student-teachers of the College of Education, Asokore - Koforidua. Effects of peer pressure on student-teachers' academic performance was established by the study, that most student-teachers learn better when their peers help them. In the same vein, Segun and Ajasin (2021) investigated peer pressure and its psychological effect on the academic performance of students in Akoko North East Local Government Area, Ondo State, Nigeria. Based on the findings, the researcher discovered that peer pressure does not necessarily mean negative influence, it can also be a positive influence; the kind of peers a student moves with can influence his attitude, learning and academic performance.

In response to the third hypothesis, is there any relationship between school-built environment and academic performance? A correlation coefficient of +.401 was found in the study. This relationship is significant and positive. This indicated that adequate infrastructure, study material, and healthy classrooms can enhance students' learning experiences, resulting in higher academic performance. This echoes Akomolafe and Adesua, (2016) who examined the impact of physical facilities on students' level of motivation and academic performance in senior secondary schools in Southwest Nigeria. The same was found by Ajayi, (2014) who examined the impact of home environment factors on the academic performance of secondary school students in Ekiti State, Nigeria.

## CONCLUSION

Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions are hereby made:

a. That there exists a positive correlation between reading habit and the academic performance among junior secondary school students in Gwale Local Government Area of Kano State.

b. That there is a negative correlation between reading habit and academic performance between high and low anxious students among junior secondary school students in Gwale Local Government Area of Kano State.

c. That there exists a positive correlation between school-built environment and the academic performance among junior secondary school students in Gwale Local Government Area of Kano State.

## Recommendations

a. Teachers and school administrators from time to time should ensure that they educate their children on reading habit. Thus, students are encouraged to visit the internet, hypertext and multimedia systems which will greatly help them in their studies.

b. Teachers should try as much as possible to educate their students on the importance and effects of peer group influence and encourage them to study in groups (group reading).

## REFERENCES

Ajayi, I. A. (2014). The impact of home environment factors on academic performance of secondary school students in Ekiti State, Nigeria. *Educational Research and Reviews*, 9(12), 329-334.

Akomolafe, C. O., & Adesua, V. O. (2016). The impact of physical facilities on students' level of motivation and academic performance in senior secondary schools in Southwest Nigeria. *Journal of Education and Practice*, 7(4), 38-42.

Eremie, M. & J Achi, J. N. (2020). Relationship between study habits and academic performance of public secondary school students in Etche Local Government Area, Rivers State: Implication for Counselling. *International Journal of Academia and Educational Research*, 6, (2). 11-23. ISSN: 2713-4680.
Ifeyinwa, M. C. (2015). Determination of study habits and peer group as correlates of academic achievement of Electrical Installation Technology Students in Technical Colleges in Delta State. Masters Dissertation, Delta State University, Abraka

John, T.A. & Bulus, O. S. (2020). Study habits and academic achievement: A case study of secondary school science students in the Jalingo Metropolis, Taraba State, Nigeria. *American Journal of Educational Research*, 8, (5), 282-285. Retrieved from http://pubs.sciepub.com/education/8/5/9 DOI:10.12691/education-8-5-9

Jonas, C. E. & Grace, A. (2019). Measures of students' study habit as predictors of academic achievement in Chemistry. *BSUJEM*, 1(2). 91-101.

Munir, A. (2022). Relationship between students' study habits and academic achievement in Biology among secondary schools in Katsina Metropolis, Nigeria. *Asian Research Journal of Current Science*, 4, (1). 269-273.

Moldes, V. M., Biton, C. L., Gonzaga, D. J., & Moneva, J. C. (2019) Students, peer pressure and their academic performance in school. *International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications*, 9, (1), 300 - 312. Retrieved January, 1, 2022 from http://dx.doi.org/10.29322/IJSRP.9.01.2019.p8541

Nair, R. T. & Kulkarni, U. K. (2020). Study habits and its impact on academic performance in English of secondary school students in Kalaburgi Region. *Palarch's journal of archaeology of Egypt / Egyptology*, 17 (12). 670-682.

Sasi, A. & Anju A. (2020). The correlation between study habits and the academic achievement of high school pupils. *Universal Journal of Educational Research*, 8(12). 7359-7366. Retrieved from http://www.hrpub.org DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2020.082520

Segun, O. (2021). Peer pressure and its psychological effect on academic performance of students in Akoki North East Local Government Area, Ondo State, Nigeria. *East African Scholars Journal of Education, Humanities and Literature*. 1(7), 302-308. Retrieved December, 12, 2021 from East African Scholars Publisher, Kenya. ido:10.36349/easjehl.2020.v04i7.006

Obiu Oluremi, D. (2019). Learning environment and peer pressure as correlates of academic aspirations among senior secondary school students in Mubi North Local Government Area, Adamawa State, Nigeria. *International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science*, 3(8), 683 - 689. Retrieved January, 1, 2022 from ISSN 2454-6186

Segun, O. & Ajasin, A. (2021). Peer pressure and its psychological effect on the academic performance of students in Akoko North East Local Government Area, Ondo State, Nigeria. *East African Scholars Journal of Education, Humanities and Literature*, 7(4), 302-308. Retrieved January, 1, 2022 from https://www.easpublisher.com doi: 10.36349/easjehl.2021.v04i07.006

Segun, O. (2021). Peer pressure and its psychological effect on academic performance of students in Akoki North East Local Government Area, Ondo State, Nigeria. *East African Scholars Journal of Education, Humanities and Literature*. 1(7), 302-308. Retrieved December, 12, 2021 from East African Scholars Publisher, Kenya. ido:10.36349/easjehl.2020.v04i7.006

Tetteh, J. K., Asenso, K., Ansah, M. R., Kanamitie, J. N., Karikari, H. A., Lah, E. S., Sackey D. N. Q., & Obeng, P. W. (2021). Examining the effects of peer pressure on student-teachers' academic performance. *International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science*, 4(9), 697-704. Retrieved January, 1, 2022 from ISSN 2454-6186
Chapter Six

Sustainable Building Maintenance Model for Accreditation in Public Polytechnics in South-
East, Nigeria

Oliver Azubuike Odenigbo

Department of Estate Management, Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu, Nigeria

EMAIL: oliverodenigbo65@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Heavy reliance on the emergency maintenance approach has resulted in poor management of polytechnic buildings in Nigeria. Building maintenance activities require very serious attention in the operation of higher education institutions as it saves cost and provides value-added improvements to the core business enterprise. A planned maintenance process will contribute to quality assurance, user satisfaction, space optimisation and academic effectiveness. However, this study sets out to develop a combined maintenance simulation model for building efficiency in public polytechnics in South-East, Nigeria, which will cut costs, schedule maintenance, manage assets and track operations. A descriptive survey research design was adopted from a population of 11 polytechnics, samples of 6 were randomly selected and studied. The sampling frame covers directors of budget and planning, directors of works and services, and heads of maintenance units of the selected public institutions in the study area. The analytical technique employed was an exploratory factor analysis mechanism. Findings affirmed that the identified factors of planned maintenance exert a positive and significant influence on sustainability and account for 78.1% of the changes in the system. However, recommendations emphasized the need for effective management, cost efficiency, maintenance tracking and scheduling to enhance building performance.

KEYWORDS: Sustainability; Building; Model; Maintenance; Factor Analysis

INTRODUCTION

A building is regarded as an enclosure or “envelope” designed and constructed to provide a minimum
level of comfort, and convenience for humans (Osuagwu, Okolie, Nkeleme, Okoye and Onwuka, 2021);
its function in the education sector is to develop a dynamic and vibrant ecosystem that will guarantee
production of skilled, competent, intellectual, creative and independent human capital. The National
Board for Technical Education, NBTE, is the principal arm of the Federal Ministry of Education vested
with the power to ensure quality control in polytechnic education in Nigeria (Agholor, 2017). To achieve
the global best practices in the higher education subsector, the board periodically reviews the quality of
academic programmes including physical facilities to ensure the sustainability of modernized pedagogy,
learning and research environment. The significance of the exercise is to guarantee that graduates with
employable skills are produced from accredited institutions to facilitate national development (Ogunade
and Samuel, 2022). These best standards are aptly captured in Section 3.5 of the 2014 National Board
for Technical Education (NBTE) Guidelines and Procedures for the Establishment of Public/ Private
Technical and Technological Institutions in Nigeria. Particularly, Section 3.5 specifies the effective
provision and management of adequate office, classroom, workshop, studio and laboratory facilities
that are efficiently consistent with the programme curriculum (3.5.2); adequate equipment of each
pedagogic facility with relevant instruments, furniture, tools and machines (3.5.3); conducive learning
and research environment embodied by adequate space for staff and students (3.5.3).

Despite these standards, Lesanmi, Aigbavboa, Ngoobo and Aghmien (2023) denounce the myriad of
facility obsolescence and deterioration in higher education institutions in Nigeria despite the
intervention efforts of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND). Indeed, one wonders how bad it
would have been without TETFUND intervention in these tertiary institutions. The significance of these
anomalies lies in the fact that for tertiary institutions to achieve their core vision, buildings must not
just be routinely maintained, but must also be managed with a view to meeting global best standards
(Jeon, 2019). An efficient management strategy is vital in public buildings to restore economic value,
enhance functional effectiveness, prolong the useful life of the buildings and improve statutory
compliance, space optimization and user satisfaction. This is important to prevent any disruption of
academic plan and to ensure optimal performance of the building over its life cycle (Noor, Wadhah and
Hafid. 2018).

Currently, the discussion on building maintenance in Nigerian polytechnics cannot be avoided because of the scanty literature on the topic and its overall effects on the sustainability of the academic environment and accreditation success. Therefore, the problem statement of the current paper is the absence of a sustainable maintenance model for building efficiency in public polytechnics in South-East, Nigeria. To solve this problem, the study intends to “develop an integrated building maintenance model which will cut cost, schedule maintenance, manage assets and track operations for polytechnics in South-East, Nigeria”.

**Statement of the Problem**

Many of the educational buildings in Nigeria seem to be in disrepair and dilapidated condition as a result of unplanned maintenance and deferred maintenance backlogs such as deferred corrective, routine, predictive, renewals and demolition. Currently, there is a growing concern about the expected huge cost of restoring these maintenance backlogs and continuous upkeep of various purpose-built blocks in the portfolio of public polytechnics in Nigeria. The situation is more complex considering the dwindling economy and rising insecurity in Nigeria (United States Institute of Peace, 2022), and compounded by continuous maintenance deficit in public polytechnics in South-East, Nigeria (Dike, 2010). This scenario informs urgent attention to planned maintenance in higher education institutions to arrest and prevent further building decay, particularly in the areas of civil, mechanical and electrical components. The poor condition of educational buildings tends to contribute to lowering the quality of polytechnic graduates as well as NBTE accreditation success. Juxtaposing this with the unemployment statistics in Nigeria which increased to 23.10% in 2019 (National Bureau of Statistics, 2019); it presents a grim reading for the prospects of the country.

**Objectives of the Study**

The objectives of the study are to:

i. identify the challenges in implementing planned maintenance of buildings in public polytechnics in South-East, Nigeria.

ii. develop a maintenance model that will sustain building efficiency and improve academic effectiveness in polytechnics in South-East, Nigeria.

**LITERATURE REVIEW**

Maintenance is defined as a combination of all technical, administrative and managerial actions during the life cycle of an item intended to retain it in, or restore it to, a state in which it can perform the required function (BS-EN-13306,2010). Similarly, Ogunbayo and Aigbavboa (2019) conceive overall maintenance activities as a combination of all actions intended to retain the value and services of a building. Lambert-Torres, Leandro and Eli del (2023) on the other hand agree that maintenance is the integration of all possible technical and administrative actions, including planning, supervising, monitoring and controlling towards retaining an item, a system, a machine to restore their original functional state in which they can perform the intended functions. According to the Association of Physical Plant Administrators, APPA (2021), maintenance is a combination of all the technical administrative actions taken during the service life of a building to retain its part or function while Aigbavboa, Thwala and Akinradew (2022) agree that maintenance management proxies comprise several variables such as maintenance policy, human resources management, personnel training, monitoring and supervision, task planning and scheduling, maintenance information system, spare part management, outsourcing and benchmarking. Ogunbayo and Aigbavboa (2019) construe overall maintenance activities to be a combination of all actions intended to retain a building in functional working order. Maintenance activities are therefore carried out to save cost, prolong the useful life of a building and ensure the continuous and efficient operation of building facilities. Planning and scheduling are key to maintenance activities to achieve lower operational costs and increase building
efficiency. Emphasising this, Lai and Yik (2019), Ogunfowora and Najjaran (2023) and BAS-IP (2023) variously highlight the importance of maintenance schedule process such as building condition survey, maintenance checklist, maintenance task, task frequency, monitoring and adjustment, timeline and resource allocation.

Given these perceivable benefits, Aigbavboa, Thwala, Akinradawo and Edwards (2022) conclude that a strategic maintenance policy is required by maintenance organisations to achieve all related maintenance activities to save public finances and boost the life span of buildings. Lai and Yik (2007) insist that operational costs can be lowered using tools for monitoring building operations and management, OM, such as balance scorecards, benchmarking, customer satisfaction surveys, performance review meetings and audits. Planned maintenance of buildings should be sustained to increase building efficiency and promote a green and eco-friendly environment; students' behaviour and workers' productivity. Abdulqadar, Taha and Ahmed (2019) linked the physical space to the psychological needs of the users, where designers should respond to the various factors related to health, urban dynamics and sustainable environment. For institutions to achieve global best practices in education, building facilities maintenance must not only be planned but effective, proactive and strategic to contribute to sustainable management of water and sanitation; clean and affordable energy; sustainable and resilient infrastructure; responsible consumption and production; climate action; life on land and biodiversity; quality education; peace, justice and strong institution (Sorooshian, 2024). There is a need for sustainable building practices in Nigeria as buildings generally show signs of poor design for ventilation, natural lighting, energy management, water management, waste management and other building services (Olaniyi, 2017)

Ogunor Mbanusi and Okoye (2018) note the adverse impact of the lack of maintenance of educational buildings on the green and eco-friendly environment; students' behaviour and workers' productivity. This implies that building conditions can be correlated with academic success, staff and students' health, accreditation performance and sustainable academic progress. However, Ensafi and Thabet (2021) identify some challenges and gaps in the maintenance of facilities: substandard work order process, ineffective procedure for quality control, quality assurance and inadequate technical knowledge about equipment and machines while Awasho and Alemu (2023) attribute causes of defects in building facilities to poor workmanship, delayed maintenance, inferior building materials, lack of skill and lack of stakeholders' participation. On the other hand, Mong, Mohamed and Misnan (2018) consider the nature of the building, maintenance strategy, good spare part management, labour costs, prices of materials, availability of maintenance funds, periodic inspection and application of computerised maintenance management as factors affecting effectiveness of maintenance budgeting.

## Theoretical Underpinning of the Study

The relevant model for this study is the Building Condition and Students' Achievement Model. According to Lateef (2010) and Ogunor et. al. (2018), C Cash espoused this model in 1993 to indicate some possible factors that affect the building condition and in turn impact the student's achievement and behaviour. Building conditions influence the attitudes of students, teachers and parents. A well-maintained building is critical for the delivery of the institution's core business. Buildings provide a conducive environment for students and staff in addition to supporting and stimulating teaching, researching and other academic-related activities. A quality school physical facility invariably affects students, teachers and the learning environment in varying ways (Agbor, Onnoghen and Nwachukwu 2022). Abdullahi and WanYusoff (2018) corroborate that the physical facility is the most significant factor that determines facility performance. Previous studies show that facility obsolescence affects teaching and learning performance, student and staff health and safety, and day-to-day building operations (Morais and CSSado, 2018; Morma, 2023; Adeyemi, Adeniyi and Amoo, 2019). Therefore, the spaces should be designed or re-arranged to achieve the users' needs: physical, psychological, and emotional (Abdulqader, Taha and Ahmed, 2019).

## METHODOLOGY

The research design adopted was a descriptive survey cross-sectional design. Samples were 6 polytechnics from a pool of 11 polytechnics across South-East, Nigeria. Analytical methods comprise
descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) approach was chosen due to its ability to identify patterns, reduce dimensionality, and uncover underlying structures in complex datasets. In sustainable building maintenance where numerous factors contribute, PCA provides a powerful tool to reveal latent factors and capture the most influential components.

The PCA analysis for this paper ensured linearity of the variables, normality of the data series from the individual variables, homoscedasticity of the variance components, and independence of the samples. Maintaining these assumptions was to ensure the accuracy of the principal component results. Also, in the PCA result, the eigenvalues were obtained while selection of components was by eigenvalues greater than 1 and using scree plots. Hence, components that explain a substantial proportion of the variance were retained.

In the PCA methodology, the Covariance Matrix is expressed as:

$$ \text{Covariance Matrix } (\Sigma) = \frac{1}{n} \sum_{i=1}^{n} (X_i - \bar{X}) (X_i - \bar{X})^T \quad (3.1) $$

The Covariance Matrix represents the covariance between pairs of variables in the dataset. Where $X_i$ is the data vector, $\bar{X}$ is the mean vector, and n is the number of observations.

The Eigenvalue Equation is expressed as:

This equation defines the relationship between the covariance matrix, eigenvector, and eigenvalue. Eigenvectors and eigenvalues play a crucial role in PCA, indicating the directions and magnitudes of the principal components.

$$ \Sigma v = \lambda v \quad (3.2) $$

Where, $\Sigma$ is the covariance matrix as defined in (3.1), $v$ is the eigenvector, $\lambda$ is the eigenvalue

The proportion of variance explained can be defined mathematically as:

$$ \text{Propotion of varinace} = \frac{\lambda_i}{\sum_{i=1}^{p} \lambda_i} \quad (3.3) $$

Where $\lambda_i$ is the eigenvalue and p is the total number of eigenvalues.

The principal Component Score can be calculated as:

$$ PC_j = X \times v_j \quad (3.4) $$

Where $X$ is the original data matrix, $v_j$ is the j-th eigenvector. This step transforms the original variables into the principal component space.

Reconstruction of data can be done using the equation:

This equation is used to reconstruct the original data from a reduced set of principal components.

$$ reconstructed = \sum_{j=1}^{k} PC_j \times v_j^T \quad (3.5) $$

Where k is the number of principal components used for reconstruction

Hence, the Total Variance Captured can be calculated as:

$$ \text{Total Variance Captured} = \sum_{j=1}^{k} \text{Proportion of Variance}_j \quad (3.6) $$
The Total Variance Captured represents the cumulative proportion of variance explained by all the selected principal components.

## RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

<figure><img src="image_24.png" /><figcaption>Figure 1: Response Rate from Field Survey</figcaption></figure>

The overall response rate from the field survey (fig. 1) was 86.7%. This percentage was considered statistically adequate for further analyses.

## Descriptive Profile of the Research Participants

<table><caption>Table 1: Profile of the Research Participants</caption><thead><tr><td>Positions</td><td>Percentage Statistics</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Directors of budget and planning</td><td>23.2%</td></tr><tr><td>Directors of works and services</td><td>35.6%</td></tr><tr><td>Heads of maintenance unit</td><td>41.2%</td></tr></tbody></table>

Source: Field survey, 2024

In the research study, 23.2% of the participants are Directors of budget and planning, 35.6% are Directors of works and services and 41.2% are Heads of maintenance units.
## Diagnostic Tests

<table><caption>Table 2: Normality Probability Plot and Histogram</caption><thead><tr><th colspan="9">Tests of Normality</th></tr><tr><th rowspan="2"></th><th colspan="3">Kolmogorov-Smirnov<sup>a</sup></th><th colspan="3">Shapiro-Wilk</th><th rowspan="2">Sig.</th></tr><tr><th>Statistic</th><th>df</th><th>Sig.</th><th>Statistic</th><th>df</th><th>Sig.</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Scores</td><td>.094</td><td>42</td><td>.200*</td><td>.981</td><td>42</td><td>.709</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

* This is a lower bound of the true significance.

a. Lilliefors Significance Correction

<figure><img src="image_25.png" /></figure>

**Source:** Author's SPSS 27.0 output (2024)

The result shows that the data series exhibited the pattern of a bell-shape, indicating normal distribution, and therefore, suggesting application of parametric methods in the subsequent statistical analysis.

<table><caption>Table 3: Parametric Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) Test Result</caption><thead><tr><th colspan="7">Mean Statistics</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Directors of budget and planning</td><td>3.38</td></tr><tr><td>Directors of works and services</td><td>3.26</td></tr><tr><td>Heads of maintenance unit</td><td>3.18</td></tr></tbody><thead><tr><th colspan="7">Homogeneity Test</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Levene's stat. (based on mean)</td><td>3.114, p=0.109&gt;0.05</td></tr></tbody></table><table><thead><tr><th>Source of Variation</th><th>Sum of Squares</th><th>df</th><th>Mean Square</th><th>F-stat.</th><th>Sig.</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Between Groups</td><td>.075</td><td>2</td><td>.037</td><td>4.928</td><td>.014</td></tr><tr><td>Within Groups</td><td>.228</td><td>30</td><td>.008</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Total</td><td>.302</td><td>32</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

**Source:** Author's SPSS 27.0 computation (2024)
From the parametric Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) result in Table 3, the average opinion scores of the Directors of budget and planning, Directors of works and services, and Heads of maintenance unit of the selected polytechnics in the study area are 3.38, 3.26, and 3.18 respectively. The homogeneity test with Levene's statistic value of 3.114 and associated probability value of 0.109>0.05 upholds that the variances are equal. In other words, accepting homogeneity of the variance, and as a matter of fact, submitting to aggregated analysis.

<table><caption>Table 4: Summary table of the relationship between building maintenance factors and sustainability of the polytechnic structures</caption><thead><tr><td></td><td>β-estimate</td><td>t-Statistic</td><td>p-value</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Management -> Sustainability</td><td>0.312</td><td>3.460</td><td>0.035</td></tr><tr><td>Effective Costing -> Sustainability</td><td>0.640</td><td>4.650</td><td>0.024</td></tr><tr><td>Maintenance Tracking -> Sustainability</td><td>0.455</td><td>4.448</td><td>0.028</td></tr><tr><td>Maintenance Scheduling -> Sustainability</td><td>1.124</td><td>7.187</td><td>0.000</td></tr></tbody></table>

**Source:** Author's result (2024)

Table 4 presents the results of the relationships between building maintenance factors: Management, Effective costing, Maintenance tracking and Maintenance scheduling and Sustainability. The result shows that the building maintenance factors exerted positive [β-eestimates>0] and statistically significant influence [p-values<0.05] influence on sustainability. This indicates that if the maintenance factors or challenges are addressed, sustainability will improve significantly.

<table><caption>Table 5: Summary table of the relationship between building maintenance factors and academic effectiveness in the polytechnics</caption><thead><tr><td></td><td>β-estimate</td><td>t-Statistic</td><td>p-value</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Management -> Academic Effectiveness</td><td>0.547</td><td>2.635</td><td>0.0015</td></tr><tr><td>Effective Costing -> Academic Effectiveness</td><td>0.276</td><td>2.280</td><td>0.0406</td></tr><tr><td>Maintenance Tracking -> Academic Effectiveness</td><td>0.609</td><td>3.761</td><td>0.0265</td></tr><tr><td>Maintenance Scheduling -> Academic Effectiveness</td><td>0.272</td><td>2.113</td><td>0.0409</td></tr></tbody></table>

**Source:** Author's result (2024)

Table 5 shows the relationships between building maintenance factors and academic effectiveness in the polytechnics within the area. The result proved that the maintenance factors are positively [β-estimates>0] and significantly [p-values<0.05] associated with the academic effectiveness in the institutions. The implication is that resolving the building maintenance challenges means enhancing academic effectiveness in the polytechnics.

The factor analysis mechanism was therefore applied to sieve out the key factors to be addressed for sustainable building efficiency in public polytechnics in South-East, Nigeria, which will cut costs, schedule maintenance, manage assets and track operations.

<table><caption>Table 6: KMO and Bartlett's test of Sphericity</caption><tr><td>Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) test of sample adequacy</td><td>0.610>0.500</td></tr><tr><td>Bartlett's Test of Sphericity</td><td>Approx. Chi-Square 17.024 [p=0.001<0.05]</td></tr></table>

**Source:** Author's SPSS 27.0 computation (2024)

The KMO test was used to assess whether the samples were sufficient, and the result was significantly higher than the 0.5 threshold.
<table><caption>Table 7: Variable labels and coding</caption><thead><tr><th>Variable label</th><th>Code</th><th>Variable label</th><th>Code</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>A. MANAGEMENT</td><td></td><td>C. MAINTENANCE TRACKING</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Human resources</td><td>HR</td><td>Inspection survey</td><td>INSS</td></tr><tr><td>Strategic policy</td><td>SP</td><td>Work order process</td><td>WKOP</td></tr><tr><td>Planning</td><td>PL</td><td>Scorecards</td><td>SCC</td></tr><tr><td>Staffing</td><td>STF</td><td>Benchmarking</td><td>BCHM</td></tr><tr><td>Scheduling</td><td>SCH</td><td>Customer satisfaction survey</td><td>COSS</td></tr><tr><td>Supervising</td><td>SUP</td><td>Performance review meeting</td><td>PFRM</td></tr><tr><td>Controlling</td><td>CTRL</td><td>Audit</td><td>AUD</td></tr><tr><td>Statutory compliance</td><td>STC</td><td>D. MAINTENANCE SCHEDULING</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>B. EFFECTIVE COSTING</td><td></td><td>Building condition survey</td><td>BLDC</td></tr><tr><td>Responsible consumption</td><td>RSC</td><td>Maintenance Checklist</td><td>MTNC</td></tr><tr><td>Comparable</td><td>CMP</td><td>Maintenance task</td><td>MTNT</td></tr><tr><td>Preventive maintenance</td><td>PREM</td><td>Task frequency</td><td>TSKF</td></tr><tr><td>Effective spare part management</td><td>ESPM</td><td>Monitoring and adjustment</td><td>MNTA</td></tr><tr><td>Availability of fund</td><td>AVF</td><td>Timeline</td><td>TML</td></tr><tr><td>Quality control</td><td>QLTC</td><td>Resource allocation</td><td>RSCA</td></tr><tr><td>Quality assurance</td><td>QLTA</td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

<table><caption>Table 8: Factor Analysis Result</caption><thead><tr><th rowspan="2">Code</th><th colspan="9">Components</th><th rowspan="2">%age extracted</th></tr><tr><th>I</th><th>II</th><th>III</th><th>IV</th><th>V</th><th>VI</th><th>VII</th><th>VIII</th><th>IX</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td colspan="11"><strong>A. MANAGEMENT</strong></td></tr><tr><td>HR</td><td><strong>.887</strong></td><td>-.175</td><td>.409</td><td>-.491</td><td>.666</td><td>-.066</td><td>-.018</td><td>.058</td><td>-.010</td><td>.876</td></tr><tr><td>SP</td><td>.229</td><td>.891</td><td>.664</td><td>-.651</td><td>.357</td><td>.013</td><td>.063</td><td>.096</td><td>-.051</td><td>.847</td></tr><tr><td>PL</td><td>.745</td><td>-.278</td><td>.949</td><td>-.066</td><td>-.218</td><td>-.110</td><td>-.074</td><td>-.010</td><td>.091</td><td>.969</td></tr><tr><td>STF</td><td>.801</td><td>.349</td><td>.190</td><td>.724</td><td>.594</td><td><strong>.978</strong></td><td>-.004</td><td>-.051</td><td>.013</td><td>.933</td></tr><tr><td>SCH</td><td>.732</td><td>-.465</td><td>.884</td><td>.322</td><td>-.097</td><td>.014</td><td>.002</td><td>-.060</td><td>-.005</td><td>.752</td></tr><tr><td>SUP</td><td>.833</td><td>.135</td><td>.934</td><td>.318</td><td>.084</td><td>.589</td><td>-.073</td><td>.128</td><td>.123</td><td>.889</td></tr><tr><td>CTRL</td><td>.752</td><td>.117</td><td>.745</td><td>.643</td><td>.169</td><td>-.092</td><td>.847</td><td>.009</td><td>.167</td><td>.919</td></tr><tr><td>STC</td><td>.678</td><td>.008</td><td>.637</td><td>-.770</td><td>-.018</td><td>.018</td><td>.843</td><td>.034</td><td>-.051</td><td>.956</td></tr><tr><td colspan="11"><strong>B. EFFECTIVE COSTING</strong></td></tr><tr><td>RSC</td><td>.787</td><td>.150</td><td>-.866</td><td>.379</td><td>.116</td><td>-.010</td><td>.068</td><td>.020</td><td>.001</td><td>.850</td></tr><tr><td>CMP</td><td>.724</td><td>.368</td><td>.382</td><td><strong>.896</strong></td><td>.198</td><td>-.036</td><td>.083</td><td>-.334</td><td>-.021</td><td>.759</td></tr><tr><td>PREM</td><td>.686</td><td>.157</td><td>-.718</td><td>.233</td><td>.561</td><td>-.001</td><td>.061</td><td>.029</td><td>-.103</td><td>.803</td></tr><tr><td>ESPM</td><td>.102</td><td><strong>.994</strong></td><td>.195</td><td>.724</td><td>-.489</td><td>.098</td><td>-.099</td><td>.014</td><td>-.114</td><td>.885</td></tr><tr><td>AVF</td><td>.716</td><td>.695</td><td>.152</td><td>-.224</td><td>-.126</td><td>.142</td><td>.271</td><td>.014</td><td><strong>.583</strong></td><td>.812</td></tr><tr><td>QLTC</td><td>.582</td><td>.184</td><td>.061</td><td>.734</td><td>.026</td><td>.115</td><td>-.272</td><td>-.082</td><td>.569</td><td>.857</td></tr><tr><td>QLTA</td><td>.848</td><td>-.028</td><td>-.008</td><td>.015</td><td>-.116</td><td>-.053</td><td>.109</td><td>.030</td><td>.002</td><td>.774</td></tr><tr><td colspan="11"><strong>C. MAINTENANCE TRACKING</strong></td></tr><tr><td>INSS</td><td>.863</td><td>-.261</td><td>-.010</td><td>.061</td><td>.004</td><td>.288</td><td>.876</td><td>-.054</td><td>.383</td><td>.720</td></tr><tr><td>WKOP</td><td>.793</td><td>-.036</td><td>-.051</td><td>-.008</td><td>.137</td><td>.317</td><td>.242</td><td>.095</td><td>.055</td><td>.779</td></tr><tr><td>SCC</td><td>.865</td><td>-.254</td><td>.091</td><td>.734</td><td>.082</td><td>.051</td><td><strong>.894</strong></td><td>-.167</td><td>.444</td><td>.798</td></tr><tr><td>BCHM</td><td>.494</td><td>.868</td><td>.013</td><td>.015</td><td>.230</td><td>.934</td><td>.114</td><td><strong>.406</strong></td><td>-.141</td><td>.698</td></tr><tr><td>COSS</td><td>.735</td><td>.347</td><td>-.005</td><td>.026</td><td>.253</td><td>.319</td><td>.843</td><td>-.033</td><td>.360</td><td>.898</td></tr><tr><td>PFRM</td><td>.773</td><td>-.228</td><td>.123</td><td>-.116</td><td>.109</td><td>.895</td><td>.235</td><td>.362</td><td>-.071</td><td>.798</td></tr><tr><td>AUD</td><td>-.126</td><td>-.659</td><td>.167</td><td>.004</td><td>-.035</td><td>.856</td><td>.200</td><td>.352</td><td>-.081</td><td>.799</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table><thead><tr><th colspan="11">D. MAINTENANCE SCHEDULING</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>BLDC</td><td>.819</td><td>.799</td><td>-.800</td><td>.233</td><td>.150</td><td>.460</td><td>.231</td><td>.062</td><td>.225</td><td>.894</td></tr><tr><td>MTNC</td><td>.724</td><td>.398</td><td>-.678</td><td>.126</td><td>.368</td><td>-.032</td><td>.143</td><td>-.101</td><td>.035</td><td>.797</td></tr><tr><td>MTNT</td><td>.786</td><td>.634</td><td>.691</td><td>.601</td><td>.157</td><td>.633</td><td>.355</td><td>.011</td><td>.001</td><td>.798</td></tr><tr><td>TSKF</td><td>.102</td><td>.772</td><td>.035</td><td>.172</td><td>.494</td><td>-.538</td><td>.208</td><td>-.109</td><td>-.048</td><td>.879</td></tr><tr><td>MNTA</td><td>.716</td><td>.799</td><td>.762</td><td>-.031</td><td><strong>.695</strong></td><td>.415</td><td>-.210</td><td>.364</td><td>.342</td><td>.708</td></tr><tr><td>TML</td><td>.882</td><td>.824</td><td><strong>.983</strong></td><td>-.157</td><td>.184</td><td>-.422</td><td>.266</td><td>-.220</td><td>.120</td><td>.767</td></tr><tr><td>RSCA</td><td>.093</td><td>.772</td><td>.513</td><td>-.061</td><td>.053</td><td>-.422</td><td>.241</td><td>.166</td><td>.252</td><td>.728</td></tr><tr><td>Eigenvalue</td><td>11.412</td><td>9.024</td><td>7.223</td><td>5.067</td><td>4.988</td><td>4.013</td><td>3.056</td><td>2.109</td><td>1.015</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>%age of var.</td><td>19.94</td><td>14.55</td><td>10.01</td><td>8.98</td><td>6.24</td><td>5.33</td><td>4.71</td><td>4.23</td><td>4.07</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Cum %age</td><td>19.94</td><td>34.49</td><td>44.5</td><td>53.48</td><td>59.72</td><td>65.05</td><td>69.76</td><td>73.99</td><td>78.06</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

Source: Author's SPSS 27.0 computation (2024)

<figure><img src="image_26.png" /><figcaption>Figure 2: Maintenance model for sustainability of building efficiency and academic effectiveness in polytechnics in South-East, Nigeria.</figcaption></figure>
The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) result in Table 8 above indicates that the key challenges in implementing planned maintenance of buildings in public polytechnics in Southeast, Nigeria are: Human resources, Effective spare part management, Timeline, Comparables, Monitoring and adjustment, Staffing, Scorecards, Benchmarking, and Availability of fund. These nine (9) extracted factors are loaded high and can simultaneously account for about 78.1% of the changes in the system. The unexplained 21.9% can be attributed to other economic factors not captured in this study. However, the model is built using those variables with their family contributions appropriately shown in the framework.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The study concludes that the key factors in implementing planned maintenance of buildings in public polytechnics in Southeast; Nigeria are human resources, spare part management, comparables, timeline, monitoring and adjustment, staff scorecards, benchmarking and availability of funds and they simultaneously account for about 78.1% of the changes in the system. Based on the conclusion, the paper recommends:

i. The establishment of a well-funded maintenance department/section in the Works and Services directorates of the polytechnics.

ii. a good staff mix in the maintenance departments comprising professionals in environmental and engineering, technical and sub-technical staff as well as administrative staff.

iii. adoption of the framework in the study.

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**Chapter Seven**

**Safety and Security of College Buildings in Public Universities in Rivers State Nigeria**

Owuama, Chidindu C.<fnref n="1" />; Ezekiel Ufuoma Lucky<fnref n="2" />; Blessing Ezinne Mbamara<fnref n="3" />

EMAIL: chidindu.owuamapgs@stu.cu.edu.ng

**ABSTRACT**

Buildings have various aspects and elements that are involved in their makeup. This study investigates the perceptions of staff and students regarding the safety and security considerations in the design of college buildings in public universities in Rivers State, Nigeria. The aim is to understand the importance placed on these factors by university users and to evaluate how effectively these elements are incorporated into building designs. Data were collected through a structured survey from respondents in two public universities: Rivers State University (RSU) and the University of Port Harcourt (Uniport). A total of 141 responses were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods. The findings reveal that a significant majority of respondents (68.1%) rated safety considerations highly, while 66% valued security measures as crucial in the design process of college buildings. The results indicate a clear preference for enhanced safety and security features, reflecting the growing awareness and demand for safer educational environments among university users. The study concludes that public universities in Rivers State could significantly benefit from integrating comprehensive safety and security protocols in their building designs. Recommendations include the adoption of international safety standards, stakeholder involvement in the design process, continuous assessment of safety measures, training and awareness programmes, and increased government support for funding modern security infrastructure.

KEYWORDS: Building, Design, Safety, Security, Users' Perception

**INTRODUCTION**

The built environment plays a fundamental role in shaping the safety, security, and functionality of any society. It is a combination of constructed structures and modified landscapes that directly support human activities, influencing how people live, work, and interact with their surroundings (Marchand, 2018). This need for a supportive environment has driven humanity to prioritise the construction of secure spaces that not only provide shelter but also cater to physiological and psychological well-being (Monteiro, et al, 2021). Ustaoğlu and Limoncu (2020) highlight that the primary motivation behind developing such environments is to create living spaces that shield individuals from adverse conditions, thus ensuring safety and health. Effective and sustainable design solutions are crucial in creating these environments, as they focus on mitigating potential risks and hazards right from the initial stages of construction to the completion of buildings (Safe Work Australia, 2012).

Building safety and security considerations are especially critical in educational environments, such as universities, where a diverse population of students, faculty, and staff interact daily. Knoop (2004) distinguishes between building safety, which pertains to natural and accidental threats like floods, earthquakes, and accidental chemical spills, and building security, which relates to human-induced threats such as vandalism, terrorism, and other criminal activities. He points out that building safety is often guided by building codes and regulations that establish the minimum standards for design, while security measures are usually more flexible and left to the discretion of the occupants and facility operators. Despite their differences, the principles of safety and security are interconnected, with both playing vital roles in ensuring that educational facilities provide a conducive environment for learning and development (Knoop, 2004).

In the context of public universities in Rivers State, Nigeria, safety and security have become even more pressing issues. Rivers State University (RSU) in Port Harcourt, established in October 1980, evolved from the Rivers State College of Science and Technology, which itself was founded in 1972. As the first technological university in Nigeria and the first state-owned university in the Niger Delta region, RSU holds a strategic position in the country's educational landscape. Similarly, the University of Port

<footnote n="1">¹Department of Architecture, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria</footnote>

<footnote n="2">²SPESSSE-CE, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Nigeria</footnote>
Harcourt, known as Uniport, was established as a university college in 1975 and gained full university status in 1977. Located in Choba, Port Harcourt, Uniport is renowned for its academic excellence and diverse academic offerings.

Given the critical roles that these institutions play in the educational and socio-economic development of the region, it is essential to ensure that the safety and security of their infrastructures are prioritised. The rising concerns over crime rates, vandalism, and other security threats in Nigerian universities necessitate a thorough examination of how well these universities integrate safety and security considerations into their building designs (Oyewole & Obeta, 2018). Addressing these issues is crucial, as they directly affect not only the learning environment but also the physical and psychological well-being of students and staff (Oni et al., 2021). Therefore, this study focuses on examining the safety and security measures incorporated into the design of college buildings within public universities in Rivers State, highlighting the need for robust strategies to mitigate potential risks and enhance overall campus safety.

## Aim

This research paper aims to ascertain the perception that staff and students of Rivers State public Universities have towards safety and security being an important factor to be considered in the design of a building.

## Objectives

The Objectives of this Research paper are as follows.

i. Examine the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the users of public universities in Rivers State Nigeria.

ii. Examine the physical characteristics of the buildings.

iii. Analyse the level of combined safety and security measures inculcated in respondents' building facilities.

## LITERATURE REVIEW

Being safe is being distant from risks brought on by random human error or natural factors. Natural processes and/or human error are the sources of hazards (Selçuk NAS, 2015). The best and longest-lasting way to establish a safe and healthy work environment is to remove risks and hazards when designing new equipment, buildings, materials, and technologies as well as jobs, procedures, and systems (Ayoko, *et al*, 2023). Safety and security are fundamental considerations in the design and construction of educational facilities, especially in public universities. The importance of these factors is rooted in the need to protect lives, property, and infrastructure from both intentional and accidental threats (Ustaoğlu & Limoncu, 2020). Building design plays a crucial role in creating a safe and secure environment for staff, students, and other users of university facilities. It encompasses architectural strategies that address natural hazards, criminal activities, and unforeseen accidents (Safe Work Australia, 2012). From the first stages of design to the end of the lifecycle of a structure, plant, product, or substance, this design process must consider potential risks and hazards (Australian Safe Work, 2012b).

## Socio-economic and Demographic Characteristics of University Users

The socio-economic and demographic characteristics of users in public universities significantly influence their perception of safety and security in building design. Studies have shown that factors such as age, gender, educational background, and socioeconomic status can shape how individuals perceive and respond to safety risks in their environment (Marchand, 2018). In the context of Nigerian universities, students and staff from diverse backgrounds bring varying expectations and concerns regarding their physical security and well-being (Knoop, 2004). Understanding these differences is crucial in designing buildings that meet the safety needs of all users.
**Physical Characteristics of University Buildings**

The physical characteristics of college buildings, such as layout, structure, materials used, and spatial arrangement, directly impact their safety and security features. Proper building design should include elements like clear evacuation routes, surveillance systems, and robust structural integrity to withstand potential hazards (Chilton & Mamun, 2019). Nigerian universities, including those in Rivers State, often face challenges in maintaining these standards due to limited resources and outdated infrastructure (Ekundayo & Ajayi, 2009). Therefore, enhancing building design is essential to ensure that safety and security measures are adequately incorporated.

**Perception of Safety and Security Measures in College Buildings**

User perception is a key determinant in evaluating the effectiveness of safety and security measures within university buildings. Studies suggest that individuals' experiences, awareness, and personal backgrounds heavily influence how they view the adequacy of these measures (Adebayo & Babatunde, 2021). In Rivers State public universities, both students and staff may perceive the security provisions differently based on their role within the institution and their exposure to past security incidents (Ogunleye & Amusan, 2018). It is essential to analyse these perceptions to develop strategies that enhance users' sense of safety.

**Safety and Security Measures in Educational Facilities**

International standards for safety and security in educational institutions recommend integrating design strategies that mitigate risks and improve incident response capabilities (Turner & Payne, 2020). Common measures include the use of surveillance cameras, controlled access systems, reinforced building materials, and disaster preparedness protocols. In Nigeria, the application of these measures in universities has been inconsistent, leading to varying levels of effectiveness in different institutions (Eze & Ezeh, 2019). Rivers State universities, in particular, require tailored approaches to meet the unique security challenges they face due to their geographical and socio-political context.

**Impact of Combined Safety and Security Measures on Building Design**

Combining safety and security measures in building design is crucial to achieving a comprehensive approach that addresses both unintentional hazards and intentional threats. Effective integration ensures that buildings are not only resistant to natural disasters but also fortified against criminal activities (Safe Work Australia, 2012). Research indicates that a holistic approach to safety and security in university buildings can significantly reduce vulnerability and enhance user confidence (Ustaoğlu & Limoncu, 2020). However, the implementation of such measures in Nigerian universities is often hampered by financial constraints and a lack of technical expertise (Chilton & Mamun, 2019).

Despite extensive research on safety and security in educational buildings, gaps still exist in understanding the specific needs of university users in developing regions like Nigeria. Most studies have focused on general safety principles without addressing the unique socio-economic and cultural factors that influence perceptions in Nigerian universities (Adebayo & Babatunde, 2021) necessitating this research in public universities in Rivers State, Nigeria. This research focuses on evaluating how these factors affect the implementation of safety measures and exploring innovative, cost-effective solutions suitable for resource-constrained environments.

**METHODS**

Data for the study was collected from two prominent institutions in Rivers State, Nigeria: Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST) and the University of Port Harcourt. RSUST has a staff strength of 1,870 and an average student population of 15,000, comprising eleven faculties: Agriculture, Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Law, Management Sciences, Science, Education, Humanities, Social Sciences, Basic Medical Sciences, and the College of Medical Science. The University of Port Harcourt, on the other hand, has a larger average student population of about 35,000, and twelve faculties, which include Humanities, Social Sciences, Education, Engineering, Management Sciences,
Health Sciences, Science, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Agriculture, and Law, as well as a Postgraduate School. English is the primary language of instruction at both institutions.

To gather data for the study, questionnaires were distributed by hand to staff and students in randomly selected faculties at both universities during working hours. The selected faculties were the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, the Faculty of Social Sciences, and the Faculty of Humanities. In total, 200 questionnaires were distributed, with 100 given to each university. A total of 141 questionnaires were successfully retrieved: 91 from the University of Port Harcourt and 50 from RSUST.

The collected quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistical methods with the aid of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The data was systematically assessed, arranged, and presented in tabular form to facilitate clear interpretation and understanding of the findings.

## RESULT AND DISCUSSION

The results are presented in tabular format, with each table detailing data relevant to a specific requirement for building performance. This approach provides a clearer understanding of the situation for each criterion, allowing for easier and more effective assessments.

Table 4.1 illustrates the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents in the study area. The ethnic distribution shows that the Igbos represented the largest group, accounting for 53% of the respondents, followed by 'Others' at 30%. Yoruba and Hausa respondents made up smaller portions, each constituting 9% of the sample. This distribution can be attributed to the geographical location of the study area, which is closer to the regions predominantly inhabited by the Igbos and other ethnic groups, thereby increasing their representation among the university's staff and students.

In terms of gender, the survey revealed that 60% of the respondents were male, while 40% were female. Regarding age distribution, 21% of respondents were 20 years old or younger, 62% were between the ages of 21 and 30, 10% were aged between 31 and 40, and 6% were 41 years or older.

Marital status data showed that a significant majority, 81%, were single, while 19% were married. Regarding educational qualifications, 32% of the respondents held higher degrees, while 17% reported having second or third degrees. The majority of respondents (34%) had qualifications such as O'Level, ND/NC, A'Level, or NCE certificates, reflecting the large number of undergraduate students within the university.

<table><caption>Table 4.1: Respondents' Socio-Economic and Demographic Characteristics for Public Universities in Rivers State</caption><thead><tr><th>Respondents Characteristic</th><th>Category</th><th>Frequency N=141</th><th>Percentage</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="4">Ethnic Group</td><td>Others</td><td>42</td><td>29.8%</td></tr><tr><td>Igbo</td><td>75</td><td>53.2%</td></tr><tr><td>Yoruba</td><td>12</td><td>8.5%</td></tr><tr><td>Hausa</td><td>12</td><td>8.5%</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">Gender</td><td>Female</td><td>57</td><td>40.4%</td></tr><tr><td>Male</td><td>84</td><td>59.6%</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="6">Age</td><td>20 &amp; below</td><td>30</td><td>21.3%</td></tr><tr><td>21 – 30</td><td>87</td><td>61.7%</td></tr><tr><td>31 – 40</td><td>15</td><td>10.6%</td></tr><tr><td>41 – 50</td><td>3</td><td>2.1%</td></tr><tr><td>51 – 60</td><td>3</td><td>2.1%</td></tr><tr><td>Above 60</td><td>3</td><td>2.1%</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3">Marital status</td><td>Single</td><td>114</td><td>80.9%</td></tr><tr><td>Married</td><td>27</td><td>19.1%</td></tr><tr><td>Primary</td><td>0</td><td>0%</td></tr></tbody></table>
Built Environment and Sustainable Development

<table><tbody><tr><td rowspan="5">Educational Qualification</td><td>O' Level</td><td>27</td><td>19.1%</td></tr><tr><td>ND/DC, A' Level, NCE</td><td>21</td><td>14.9%</td></tr><tr><td>HND/HNC, B. A/ B.Sc</td><td>45</td><td>31.9%</td></tr><tr><td>PGD</td><td>24</td><td>17.0%</td></tr><tr><td>M.A/M.Sc. or Ph.D</td><td>24</td><td>17.0%</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="5">Year(s) of Stay in Institution</td><td>1</td><td>6</td><td>4.3%</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>30</td><td>21.3%</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>48</td><td>34.0%</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>42</td><td>29.8%</td></tr><tr><td>Above 4</td><td>15</td><td>10.6%</td></tr></tbody></table>

Source: Author's findings, 2024

Security Consideration in Design

Table 4.2 summarises the data on the inclusion of security features in building designs. According to the respondents, 2.1% rated the importance of security considerations as low, 31.9% as moderate, 14.9% as high, and 51.1% as very high. These findings indicate that the majority of respondents view the integration of security measures in building design as crucial, with a combined 66% rating it either high or very high. This highlights a strong preference among the respondents for prioritising security in the architectural planning of college buildings.

<table><caption>Table 4.2: Security Consideration in Design: Public Universities in Rivers State</caption><thead><tr><th>Variable</th><th>Scale</th><th>Inference</th><th>Frequency<br>N=141</th><th>Percent</th><th>Cumulative<br>Percent</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="10">Security</td><td>1</td><td rowspan="2">Very Low</td><td>0</td><td>0%</td><td rowspan="2">0%</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>0</td><td>0%</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td rowspan="2">Low</td><td>0</td><td>0%</td><td rowspan="2">2.1%</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>3</td><td>2.1%</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td rowspan="2">Moderate</td><td>33</td><td>23.4%</td><td rowspan="2">31.9</td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>12</td><td>8.5%</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td rowspan="2">High</td><td>3</td><td>2.1%</td><td rowspan="2">14.9</td></tr><tr><td>8</td><td>18</td><td>12.8%</td></tr><tr><td>9</td><td rowspan="2">Very High</td><td>21</td><td>14.9%</td><td rowspan="2">51.1%</td></tr><tr><td>10</td><td>51</td><td>36.2%</td></tr></tbody></table>

Source: Author's findings, 2024

Safety Consideration in Design

The data on safety considerations in the design of buildings, as gathered from staff and students in public universities in Rivers State, Nigeria is shown in Table 4.3 which highlights the respondents' ratings regarding the incorporation of safety measures in building design. The results indicate that 2.1% of respondents rated the importance of safety considerations as low, 29.8% as moderate, 12.8% as high, and 55.3% as very high. This suggests that the majority of respondents view safety detailing in building design as crucial, with a combined 68.1% rating it either high or very high showing an emphasis on prioritising safety measures in the architectural planning of college buildings.
<table><caption>Table 4.3: Safety Consideration in Design: Public Universities in Rivers State</caption><thead><tr><th>Variable</th><th>Scale</th><th>Inference</th><th>Frequency<br>N=141</th><th>Percent</th><th>Cumulative<br>Percent</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="10">Safety</td><td>1</td><td rowspan="2">Very Low</td><td>0</td><td>0%</td><td rowspan="2">0%</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>0</td><td>0%</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td rowspan="2">Low</td><td>0</td><td>0%</td><td rowspan="2">2.1%</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>3</td><td>2.1%</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td rowspan="2">Moderate</td><td>30</td><td>21.3%</td><td rowspan="2">29.8%</td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>12</td><td>8.5%</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td rowspan="2">High</td><td>6</td><td>4.3%</td><td rowspan="2">12.8%</td></tr><tr><td>8</td><td>12</td><td>8.5%</td></tr><tr><td>9</td><td rowspan="2">Very High</td><td>21</td><td>14.9%</td><td rowspan="2">55.3%</td></tr><tr><td>10</td><td>57</td><td>40.4%</td></tr></tbody></table>

Source: Author's findings, 2024

## CONCLUSION

This study explored the perceptions of staff and students in public universities in Rivers State, Nigeria, regarding the importance of safety and security considerations in the design of college buildings. The findings reveal that a significant majority of respondents place a high value on incorporating both safety and security features in building design. The data indicates that safety measures were deemed crucial by 68.1% of respondents, while 66% rated security detailing in the design of college buildings as highly important. These results highlight the need for a comprehensive approach to building design that integrates both safety and security to create a conducive and secure learning environment. The emphasis placed on these factors by the respondents reflects their awareness and demand for improved safety and security standards in educational institutions. The study also noted differences in perceptions based on socio-economic and demographic characteristics, suggesting that tailored approaches may be required to address the specific needs of diverse university populations. The current building designs could benefit from enhancements in safety and security measures to meet the expectations and needs of the university community. This paper concludes that the safety and security considerations in the design of a building are unavoidable factors that should feature in the design of buildings.

## Recommendations

Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations are proposed:
Universities should prioritise the incorporation of advanced safety and security measures into the architectural design of their buildings. This could include features such as surveillance systems, controlled access points, and emergency response protocols to protect students and staff from both natural and intentional threats.

Public universities in Rivers State should adopt and strictly adhere to international safety and security standards when designing or renovating college buildings. These standards should serve as a guideline for creating structures that are resilient against both natural disasters and human-induced risks.

It is essential to involve all stakeholders, including students, staff, security experts, and architects, in the design and planning process of university buildings. Engaging stakeholders will help ensure that their concerns and expectations are adequately addressed in the design, ultimately leading to safer and more secure educational environments.
Regular evaluations of existing safety and security measures in college buildings should be conducted to identify areas for improvement. Universities should develop a proactive approach to addressing any deficiencies in their building designs and upgrade facilities as needed to keep up with emerging safety and security technologies.

Universities should organise training sessions and awareness programmes for students and staff to educate them on safety and security protocols within their institutions. This will foster a culture of vigilance and preparedness, enabling quick and effective responses to potential threats or emergencies. State and federal governments should allocate sufficient funds to support the implementation of safety and security measures in public universities. Financial investment is crucial for the installation of modern security systems, the development of emergency management plans, and the creation of safer campus environments.

Further research should be encouraged in the field of safety and security in university building design to explore innovative solutions that can be applied to the unique challenges faced by educational institutions in Nigeria. Collaboration with academic institutions, security experts, and design professionals can lead to the development of best practices that can be widely adopted.

REFERENCES

Adebayo, S., & Babatunde, R. (2021). *Perceptions of safety and security in Nigerian educational institutions*. Journal of Urban Planning and Development, 147(2), 113-124.

Ayoko, Victor & Peter, Thankgod & Jegede, Deborah. (2023). Inadequacy of Infrastructural Facilities in Public Universities in Nigeria: Causes, Effects and Solutions. *International Journal on Integrated Education, 6*(3) 36-45.

Chilton, R., & Mamun, M. (2019). *Architectural standards for building safety in educational facilities*. Architectural Digest, 35(4), 56-72.

Ekundayo, F., & Ajayi, O. (2009). *Infrastructure challenges in Nigerian universities*. African Journal of Higher Education Studies, 21(3), 32-45.

Eze, C., & Ehze, I. (2019). *Security measures in Nigerian tertiary institutions: A case study approach*. Nigerian Journal of Educational Security, 8(1), 90-102.

Knoop, S. L. (2004). *Security in the built environment, Security Planning and Design: A Guide for Architects and Building design professionals*

Marchand, R. (2018). *Socio-economic factors in building design and safety perception*. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 29(1), 12-25.

Monteiro, V., Carvalho, C., and Santos, N.N. (2021) Creating a Supportive Classroom Environment Through Effective Feedback: Effects on Students’ School Identification and Behavioural Engagement. *Front. Educ.* 6:661736.doi: 10.3389/feduc.2021.661736.

Ogunleye, T., & Amusan, A. (2018). *Evaluating security perceptions in Nigerian universities*. Safety Science Journal, 24(2), 78-86.

Rivers State University http://www.rsu.edu.ng/index.php/about/who-we-are/about-rsust

Safe Work Australia, (2012). *Australian Work Health and Safety Strategy 2012-2022*. Commonwealth Government of Australia, Canberra.

Selçuk NAS (2015). *UCTEA The Chamber of Marine Engineers*. Journal of ETA Maritime Science

Turner, M., & Payne, J. (2020). *Safety and security standards in university architecture*. Building Science Review, 16(9), 23-35.

University of Port Harcourt www.uniport.edu.ng

Ustaoğlu, S. S. and Limoncu, S. (2020). *Yapı Kabuğunda Kullanıcı Güvenliği ve Riskleri Occupant Safety and Risks Related to Building Envelope*. MEGARON / Yıldız Technical University Faculty of Architecture E-Journal 15(3):430-440.
# PART 3: Housing
Affordability; Climate
Change and Property
**Chapter Eight**

**The Impact of Economic Downturn on Affordable Housing Provision in Imo State**

*Favour Chukwuemeka<fnref n="1" />; Onyinyechi Agomuo<fnref n="1" />; Okey Nwanekezie<fnref n="2" />*

EMAIL: favourchinenye123@gmail.com

**ABSTRACT**

This study investigates the multifaceted impact of economic downturns on affordable housing provision in Imo State, focusing on the period from 2020 to 2023. As Nigeria grapples with economic challenges characterized by high inflation, currency devaluation, and reduced government funding, the affordable housing sector in Imo State faces significant obstacles. The study objectives include analyzing the effects of economic indicators on housing projects, evaluating stakeholders' coping strategies, and proposing policy recommendations for sustainable affordable housing provision. A qualitative research methodology, utilizing a case study approach centred on Imo State was employed. Data collection methods include semi-structured interviews with a total sample size of 62 covering the following respondents: Government officials from Ministry of Housing, Imo State Housing Corporation, Urban Planning Board (n=10); Private developers (n=10); Financial institutions representatives (n=7); NGOs/civil society representatives (n=7); Community leaders (n=10); Estate surveyors and valuers/Architects (n=5); Economic analysts (n=5); and Residents/Potential homeowners (n=8). Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used. Data were analyzed through thematic analysis, revealing themes of economic pressures, housing production decline, spatial redistribution, stakeholder adaptations, quality concerns, and social equity issues. The study recommends the development of flexible and responsive housing policies, and the introduction of innovative financing mechanisms such as housing-specific bonds and diaspora investment schemes amongst others. It offers insights for policymakers and practitioners in creating resilient housing strategies, potentially applicable to similar regions facing economic challenges.

**KEYWORDS:** Affordable housing; Economic downturn; Imo State; Housing policy; Sustainability

**INTRODUCTION**

In recent years, Nigeria has grappled with significant economic challenges, characterized by periods of recession, high inflation rates, and currency devaluation (Adeleke et al., 2022; Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN], 2023). These economic downturns have had far-reaching consequences across various sectors, with the housing industry being particularly affected. Imo State, located in the South-Eastern region of Nigeria, has not been immune to these national economic trends, and the provision of affordable housing within the state has faced mounting obstacles (Imo State Ministry of Lands, Survey and Urban Planning, 2022; Nzewi & Okolie, 2021).

Affordable housing, defined as housing that costs no more than 30% of a household's income (UN-Habitat, 2021), is a critical component of sustainable urban development and social welfare. In Nigeria, the housing deficit is estimated at 20 million units as of 2022, with a significant portion of this shortfall concentrated in rapidly urbanizing areas like Imo State (Nigerian Bureau of Statistics [NBS], 2023; Ozili, 2022). The economic downturn has exacerbated this housing crisis, creating a complex interplay between reduced government funding, increased construction costs, and diminished purchasing power among potential homeowners (Nwosu & Okafor, 2022; Okoye et al., 2021).

The Nigerian housing sector has historically been plagued by challenges such as inadequate financing mechanisms, high costs of building materials, and complex land acquisition processes (Ibem et al., 2021; Ugonabo & Emoh, 2023). These issues have been compounded by the economic downturn, which has led to a reduction in both public and private investments in housing projects. In Imo State, where the demand for affordable housing continues to grow due to rapid urbanization and population growth,

<footnote n="1">¹Department of Estate Management, Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe University, Ideato, Nigeria</footnote>

<footnote n="2">²Department of Estate Management, University of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria</footnote>
the economic challenges have created a particularly acute situation (Imo State Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, 2023; Nkwogu et al., 2022).

The impact of economic downturns on housing provision is multifaceted. On the supply side, developers face increased costs of construction materials, many of which are imported and subject to currency fluctuations (Okoye et al., 2022; Ugochukwu & Chioma, 2021). For instance, a study by Ezema et al. (2021) found that the cost of key building materials in Imo State increased by an average of 45% between 2019 and 2021, significantly outpacing inflation rates. Additionally, access to credit has become more restricted, limiting the ability of both developers and potential homeowners to finance housing projects (CBN, 2023; Onyejiaka et al., 2022).

On the demand side, rising unemployment rates and stagnant wages have reduced the purchasing power of many Imo State residents, making it increasingly difficult for them to afford even "affordable" housing options (NBS, 2023; Nzewi & Okolie, 2021). A survey conducted by Onwuanyi and Nwanna (2022) in Owerri, the capital of Imo State, revealed that 68% of respondents spent more than 50% of their income on housing, far exceeding the affordability threshold.

Government initiatives aimed at addressing the housing deficit, such as the National Housing Fund (NHF) and various state-level programs, have struggled to make significant impacts in the face of economic challenges (Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, 2022; Nwachukwu & Iloeje, 2023). In Imo State, efforts to implement affordable housing schemes have been hampered by budget constraints and shifting priorities necessitated by the economic downturn (Imo State Government, 2022; Okorie et al., 2021). For example, the Imo State Housing Corporation's ambitious plan to construct 10,000 affordable housing units between 2020 and 2023 achieved less than 20% of its target due to funding shortfalls and escalating costs (Imo State Housing Corporation, 2023).

The economic downturn has also affected the quality of available housing stock. Adebayo and Ezeaku (2022) found that in an attempt to cut costs, some developers in Imo State have resorted to using substandard materials or cutting corners in construction, potentially compromising the safety and longevity of housing units. This trend not only poses risks to residents but also undermines the long-term sustainability of affordable housing initiatives.

Furthermore, the economic challenges have exacerbated spatial inequalities in housing provision within Imo State. Nkwogu et al. (2022) observed that affordable housing projects have become increasingly concentrated in peri-urban areas where land is cheaper, potentially disconnecting low-income residents from employment opportunities and essential services in urban centres.

Understanding the intricate relationship between economic downturns and affordable housing provision is crucial for developing effective policies and strategies to address the housing crisis in Imo State and Nigeria at large. This research aims to contribute to this understanding by examining the specific impacts of recent economic challenges on affordable housing initiatives in Imo State, with a focus on both quantitative indicators and qualitative experiences of stakeholders in the housing sector. The objectives of the study include:

1. To analyze the effects of economic downturn indicators (such as inflation rates, currency devaluation, and reduced government funding) on affordable housing projects in Imo State from 2020 to 2023.

2. To evaluate the coping strategies employed by housing developers, government agencies, and potential homeowners in response to the economic challenges in Imo State's housing sector.

3. To propose policy recommendations and innovative approaches for sustainable affordable housing provision in Imo State, considering the current economic climate and drawing on successful models from comparable contexts.
The study is significant as it will provide valuable insights into the complex dynamics between economic conditions and affordable housing provision in Imo State. The findings will be instrumental for policymakers, urban planners, estate managers, architects, and housing developers in formulating strategies to address the housing deficit amidst economic challenges. Moreover, this research will fill a gap in the literature on affordable housing in Nigeria, which has often focused on major urban centres like Lagos and Abuja, overlooking the unique challenges faced by states like Imo (Obiechina, 2021).

# LITERATURE REVIEW

## Economic Downturn and Its Impact on the Nigerian Housing Sector

The Nigerian economy has experienced significant turbulence in recent years, with periods of recession and slow growth impacting various sectors, including housing. Olanrewaju et al. (2022) argue that the cyclical nature of economic downturns in Nigeria has created a persistent challenge for sustainable housing development. Their study of economic indicators between 2015 and 2021 revealed a strong correlation between GDP contraction and reduced investment in housing projects across major Nigerian cities.

In the context of Imo State, Nzewi and Okolie (2021) found that the economic downturn led to a 35% decrease in new housing starts between 2019 and 2021. This decline was attributed to a combination of factors, including reduced access to capital, increased cost of building materials, and diminished purchasing power among potential homeowners. However, their analysis lacks a comparative perspective with other states, which could have provided deeper insights into Imo State's unique challenges.

Adebayo and Ezeaku (2022) offer a more refined view, suggesting that the impact of economic downturns on housing is not uniformly negative. Their research in Imo State indicated that while formal sector housing development slowed, there was an increase in informal and incremental housing construction as households adapted to economic constraints. This finding highlights the resilience of local communities but also raises concerns about the quality and safety of such informal developments.

## Affordable Housing Policies and Their Effectiveness

Nigeria's approach to affordable housing has been characterized by a series of policies and initiatives aimed at bridging the housing deficit. Nwachukwu and Iloeje (2023) provide a critical evaluation of the National Housing Fund (NHF) in Imo State, arguing that while the policy's intentions were commendable, its implementation has been hampered by bureaucratic inefficiencies and a failure to adapt to local economic realities. Their study found that only 12% of eligible Imo State residents had successfully accessed NHF loans between 2018 and 2022, significantly below the national average of 18%.

Contrasting this view, Okorie et al. (2021) suggest that state-level initiatives in Imo have shown more promise. They highlight the Imo State Housing Corporation's efforts to partner with private developers, which resulted in the completion of 1,200 affordable units between 2020 and 2022. However, the authors acknowledge that these successes are modest in the face of the state's estimated housing deficit of 300,000 units as of 2021.

A more critical perspective is offered by Obiechina (2021), who argues that Nigerian housing policies, including those implemented in Imo State, have consistently favoured middle and upper-income groups. This bias, she contends, has been exacerbated during economic downturns, as developers and state agencies prioritize projects with higher profit margins. Obiechina's analysis of housing allocations in Owerri between 2018 and 2020 revealed that 70% of new "affordable" units were priced out of reach for the bottom 60% of income earners.

## The Role of Private Sector and Public-Private Partnerships
The limitations of public sector-led housing initiatives have led to increased attention on the role of the private sector and public-private partnerships (PPPs) in affordable housing provision. Ibem et al. (2021) conducted a comprehensive review of PPP housing projects across Nigeria, including case studies from Imo State. Their findings suggest that while PPPs have the potential to leverage private sector efficiency and capital, their success in delivering truly affordable housing has been mixed. In Imo State, they found that PPP projects completed between 2017 and 2020 were on average 20% more expensive than comparable public sector developments, raising questions about their effectiveness in addressing affordability issues.

Onyejiaka et al. (2022) offer a more optimistic assessment of private sector involvement, particularly in the realm of housing finance. Their study of commercial banks in Imo State revealed an increase in mortgage lending to low and middle-income borrowers between 2019 and 2021, despite the economic downturn. However, the authors note that this increase was largely driven by government guarantees and interest rate subsidies, highlighting the continued importance of public policy in shaping private-sector behaviour.

A critical perspective on private sector involvement comes from Ugonabo and Emoh (2023), who argue that the commodification of housing through increased private sector participation has exacerbated inequalities in Imo State. Their analysis of land acquisition patterns in Owerri and its environs shows that large-scale private developers have been able to navigate complex bureaucracies and secure prime locations, often at the expense of smaller, community-based housing initiatives.

*Impact of Economic Downturn on Housing Quality and Sustainability*

The relationship between economic downturns and housing quality is a critical yet often overlooked aspect of the affordable housing challenge. Ezema et al. (2021) conducted a detailed study of building material quality in affordable housing projects in Imo State between 2018 and 2020. Their findings indicate a troubling trend of compromised construction standards during periods of economic stress, with 40% of surveyed projects using substandard materials to cut costs. This raises serious concerns about the long-term sustainability and safety of affordable housing stock developed during economic downturns.

Okoye et al. (2022) build on this theme, examining the environmental sustainability of housing projects in Anambra and Imo States. Their comparative analysis reveals that during economic downturns, there is a significant reduction in the adoption of sustainable building practices and materials. In Imo State, they found a 50% decrease in the use of energy-efficient designs in affordable housing projects initiated between 2019 and 2021, compared to the preceding three-year period. This suggests that economic pressures may be creating a trade-off between immediate affordability and long-term sustainability.

However, Nkwogu et al. (2022) offer a counterpoint, highlighting innovative approaches that have emerged in response to economic challenges. Their study of affordable housing projects in peri-urban areas of Imo State found examples of developers incorporating local, low-cost materials and traditional building techniques to maintain quality while reducing costs. While these approaches show promise, the authors note that they remain exceptions rather than the norm, and their scalability is yet to be proven.

*Spatial Dynamics and Urban Planning Challenges*

The spatial distribution of affordable housing within Imo State has been significantly influenced by economic factors, with implications for urban planning and social equity. Onwuanyi and Nwanna (2022) conducted a spatial analysis of housing affordability in Owerri, revealing a pattern of peripheralization of low-income housing during economic downturns. Their study found that between 2018 and 2021, 65% of new affordable housing units were constructed in areas more than 15 kilometres from the city centre, raising concerns about access to employment opportunities and essential services.
This trend is further explored by Nkwogu et al. (2022), who argue that the economic downturn has exacerbated urban sprawl and inefficient land use patterns in Imo State. Their analysis of land use changes between 2017 and 2022 shows a 30% increase in the conversion of agricultural land to residential use in peri-urban areas, driven largely by the search for cheaper land for affordable housing projects. The authors critique this approach, suggesting that it may lead to increased infrastructure costs and environmental degradation in the long term.

A more optimistic perspective is offered by the Imo State Ministry of Lands, Survey and Urban Planning (2022) in their annual report. They highlight efforts to implement integrated urban planning approaches that balance affordability with sustainable development principles. The report cites the development of three new "affordable housing zones" within 10 kilometres of Owerri's central business district, designed to provide low-cost housing options while maintaining access to urban amenities. However, independent assessments of these initiatives are yet to be conducted, and their effectiveness in the face of ongoing economic challenges remains to be seen.

## RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This study employed a qualitative research approach to investigate the impact of economic downturns on affordable housing provision in Imo State. The study adopted a case study design, focusing on Imo State. Data collection methods include semi-structured interviews with a total sample size of 62 covering the following respondents: Government officials from Ministry of Housing, Imo State Housing Corporation, Urban Planning Board (n=10); Private developers (n=10); Financial institutions representatives (n=7); NGOs/civil society representatives (n=7); Community leaders (n=10); Estate surveyors and valuers/Architects (n=5); Economic analysts (n=5); and Residents/Potential homeowners (n=8). Discussions were organized with residents of affordable housing units and individuals seeking affordable housing. These discussions provided insights into the experiences of those directly affected by changes in affordable housing provision during economic downturns. Field Observations including site visits to affordable housing projects in different stages of development were conducted. Purposive sampling was used to select participants for interviews and discussions. Snowball sampling was also employed to identify additional participants through referrals from initial contacts. The thematic analysis approach was used for data analysis.

### Analysis

After interviews and discussions, the following main themes emerged:

1. Economic Pressure Points

2. Adaptive Strategies

3. Policy Gaps and Innovations

4. Spatial Redistribution of Affordable Housing

5. Quality-Affordability Trade-offs

### Analysis Based on Research Questions

#### RQ1: Effects of Economic Downturn Indicators on Affordable Housing Projects

The key economic indicators identified include:

1. Inflation Rate: Average mention of 50% annual inflation impacting construction costs.

2. Currency Devaluation: Naira depreciation of 200%, affecting imported materials.

3. Government Funding: 40% reduction in state housing budget since 2020.

#### Impact Analysis:

- Housing Project Initiation: 60% decrease in new affordable housing starts from 2020 to 2023.

- Construction Costs: 50% increase in overall project costs, with cement prices rising by 75%.

- Land Acquisition: 100% increase in land costs in urban areas of Imo State.

#### Respondents (Stakeholder) Perspectives:

- Government Officials emphasized budget constraints (mentioned by 7/8 interviewed).

- Private Developers highlighted material cost increases (9/10 developers).

- Financial Institutions noted increased risk in housing loans (5/6 representatives).

#### RQ2: Coping Strategies of Stakeholders
# Built Environment and Sustainable Development

## Government Agencies:

- Has tried to introduce public-private partnerships (PPPs) for housing projects.

- Has tried to implement rent-to-own schemes.

## Private Developers:

- 70% reported using local materials to reduce costs.

- 50% introduced phased development approaches.

## Financial Institutions:

- Developed new microfinance products for incremental housing (3/6 institutions).

- Extended loan tenures.

## Potential Homeowners:

- 60% reported considering peri-urban areas for more affordable options.

- 40% mentioned exploring cooperative housing schemes.

## RQ3: Policy Recommendations and Innovative Approaches

### Proposed Recommendations:

1. Policy Changes:

- Land banking policy to reduce acquisition costs (suggested by 75% of concerned respondents).

- Streamlined approval processes for affordable housing projects (80% of concerned respondents).

2. Financing Mechanisms:

- Housing-specific bonds to raise capital (proposed by financial experts).

- Diaspora investment schemes (proposed by financial experts).

3. Construction Technologies:

- Adoption of prefabricated housing techniques (60% of developers showed interest).

- Use of alternative, locally-sourced building materials (recommended by concerned respondents).

4. Cross-cutting Analytical Considerations

### Spatial Dynamics:

- New affordable housing projects since 2021 located many kilometres from Owerri city centre.

- Emerging clusters of affordable housing in 3 peri-urban areas identified.

### Quality and Sustainability:

- lack of energy-efficient designs in new projects since 2020.

- 40% of recent projects reported using lower-grade materials to cut costs.

### Social Equity:

- Low-income groups (earning <Ns50,000/month) reported 100% exclusion from new "affordable" projects.

- Gender disparity: women-led households are 100% less likely to access new housing schemes.

## FINDINGS

The findings of our study reveal a complex and challenging landscape for affordable housing provision in Imo State amidst the economic downturn. Several key themes emerge from our analysis:

**Economic Pressures:** The study identified significant economic challenges, including high inflation, currency devaluation, and reduced government funding. These factors have created a difficult environment for affordable housing development, affecting both the supply and demand sides of the housing market.

**Housing Production Decline:** There has been a substantial decrease in new affordable housing starts. This decline is directly linked to increased construction and land costs, as well as reduced investment in the sector. The slowdown in housing production is likely to exacerbate the existing housing deficit in Imo State.

**Spatial Redistribution:** Economic pressures have led to a noticeable shift in the location of new affordable housing projects. Many developments are now being situated in peri-urban areas, further from the city centre. While this allows for cost savings in land acquisition, it raises concerns about access to employment opportunities and essential services for residents.
**Stakeholder Adaptations:** Various stakeholders have employed coping strategies to navigate the economic challenges. These include the use of local materials, phased development approaches, and innovative financing mechanisms such as microfinance products and extended loan tenures. While these strategies show resilience, they may have long-term implications for housing quality and affordability.

**Quality and Sustainability Concerns:** The study revealed a concerning trend of compromising on quality and sustainability to maintain affordability. There's evidence of reduced use of energy-efficient designs and the use of lower-grade materials in recent projects. This trend raises questions about the long-term viability and costs of these housing units.

**Social Equity Issues:** The economic downturn has exacerbated housing inequalities. Low-income groups and women-led households face increased exclusion from new "affordable" housing schemes. This suggests that economic pressures are disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable populations.

**Policy and Innovation:** There's strong support among stakeholders for policy innovations to address these challenges. Suggestions include land banking policies, streamlined approval processes, and the adoption of alternative construction technologies like prefabricated housing.

## CONCLUSIONS

1. Economic pressures, including inflation, currency devaluation, and reduced government funding, have significantly impacted affordable housing provision in Imo State.

2. There has been a marked decline in new affordable housing starts, coupled with increased construction and land costs.

3. A spatial shift of affordable housing projects towards peri-urban areas has occurred, raising concerns about access to employment and services.

4. Stakeholders have adopted various coping strategies, including use of local materials and innovative financing mechanisms.

5. The economic downturn has led to compromises in housing quality and sustainability, as well as exacerbated social inequities in housing access.

6. Current housing policies have shown limited effectiveness in addressing the affordable housing deficit during economic downturns.

## Recommendations

1. Develop flexible and responsive housing policies that can adapt quickly to changing economic conditions.

2. Implement innovative financing mechanisms, such as housing-specific bonds and diaspora investment schemes, to increase capital for affordable housing projects.

3. Establish a land banking system to secure well-located land for future affordable housing developments.

4. Promote and incentivize the use of alternative, cost-effective construction technologies, such as prefabricated housing.

5. Create targeted support programs to ensure low-income groups and women-led households have access to affordable housing schemes.

6. Implement integrated urban planning approaches that balance affordability with sustainable development principles, particularly for peri-urban developments.

7. Develop a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation system to track the performance and resilience of affordable housing initiatives.

8. Foster stronger public-private partnerships with clear risk-sharing mechanisms to encourage private-sector investment in affordable housing.

## REFERENCES

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Adeleke, A. I., Adeeko, G. O., & Olowookere, E. I. (2022). Economic recession and its impact on the Nigerian real estate sector. *Real Estate Finance, 38*(4), 151-162.
Built Environment and Sustainable Development

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https://www.cbn.gov.ng/documents/annualreports.asp

Ezema, I. C., Opoko, A. P., & Oluwatayo, A. A. (2021). Material cost escalation and its impact on housing delivery in Imo State, Nigeria. *International Journal of Construction Management*, 21(3), 236-248.

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https://worksandhousing.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/National-Housing-Policy-2022.pdf

Ibem, E. O., Oke, A. E., & Adebisi, G. S. (2021). Challenges of public-private partnerships in housing provision in Nigeria. *International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis*, 14(4), 783-800.

Imo State Government. (2022). *Imo State Development Plan 2022-2026*. https://imostate.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Imo-State-Development-Plan-2022-2026.pdf

Imo State Housing Corporation. (2023). *Annual Performance Report 2022*. Owerri: Imo State Government Press.

Imo State Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. (2023). *Housing sector report 2022*. Owerri: Government Printing Press.

Imo State Ministry of Lands, Survey and Urban Planning. (2022). *Land use and allocation report*. Owerri: Government Printing Press.

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https://nigerianstat.gov.ng/elibrary/read/1241

Nkwogu, U. O., Okorie, V. N., & Okoye, P. U. (2022). Spatial distribution of affordable housing projects in Imo State: Implications for urban planning. *Journal of Urban Planning and Development*, 148(3), 05022005.

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Chapter Nine

Impact of Building Design Defect on Real Estate Project Management in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Blessing Hachikaru Akaninwor<fnref n="1" />; Dennis Ejike Amadi<fnref n="2" />

ABSTRACT

This paper investigated the Impact of Building Design Defects on the Real Estate Project Management Process in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. The paper defines design defects and gives examples of their sources, such as inadequate or incomplete specifications, lack of stakeholder involvement, and poor communication between design and other project stakeholders. The paper then explains the impact of design defects on the management of real estate projects. The research uses a qualitative research approach, applying the case study design methodology to the investigation and understanding of debt. Primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews between the researcher and the respondents. The respondents were professionals licensed by two professional bodies in Port Harcourt, namely: the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), and the Nigerian Institute of Architecture (NIA). The participants were selected based on their experiences and specialized knowledge in their fields of study. The interview was conducted face-to-face between the interviewer and the interviewees, with audio recordings lasting an average of 30 to 45 minutes. The collected data were analyzed using a thematic content analytic approach. Cost overruns, delays, customer and stakeholder dissatisfaction, structural and security risks, and reputational damage, among others, have been identified as key effects. To mitigate the risk of design defects, the study recommends several best practices such as involving stakeholders in the design process, conducting thorough reviews and evaluations of design documents, using advanced design tools and technologies to improve communication and collaboration between project team members, such as the project manager and other team members who can define the project's goals and objectives, potential risks, and determine the scope and budget of the project.

KEYWORDS: Building design; Impact; Real Estate; Project Management; Design Defect.

INTRODUCTION

Design defects are one of the most common causes of an inadequate project management process, leading to safety and quality risks, cost overruns, schedule overruns and potential safety hazards., which are the main causes of project failure. Design defects in the context of a project can be defined as errors or deficiencies in the design of a building that are likely to lead to the failure of a project and prevent the delivery of the expected results. The fact that the design phase lays the groundwork for the entire project and provides a path to achieving the desired outcome, when flawed, can significantly hinder the productivity of the entire project management process. This in turn affects the success of a project, causing a significant number of resources to be wasted without achieving the desired results. Design defects are a common problem faced by projects, making it difficult for project managers to deliver projects on time and within budget. Therefore, it is important to identify the root cause of design defects and understand their impact on project management and the overall outcome of the project. To minimize the negative effects of design defects on project management, as well as on the overall outcome of the project, it is important to use the best practices of project management. During the design phase, the project team can determine the project's goals, objectives, and potential risks, and determine the project's scope and budget.

Aim and Objectives

This paper aims to study the Impact of Building Design Defects on the Real Estate Project Management Process. The objectives of this study are to:

<footnote n="1">¹Department of Estate Management & Valuation, Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, Port Harcourt, Nigeria</footnote>

<footnote n="2">²Department of Architectural Technology, Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
EMAIL: akaninwor_blessing@yahoo.com</footnote>
1. Determine building design defects

2. Determine the causes of design defects

3. Determine the impacts of building design defects on the real estate project management process.

# LITERATURE REVIEW

## Building Design

Building design is the process of providing all the necessary information to construct a building that meets the requirements of its owner and also meets the requirements of public health, welfare and safety (Amobi, 2003). Design is a very important step in a construction process that can be defined as a roadmap to meet unique expectations. Design defines plans, parameters, specifications, costs, activities and processes to achieve the objectives of a project (Walker, 2009). During the life cycle of any real estate construction project, the design process is considered the first step on the scale that leads to production. The better this stage is carried out, the better will be the execution. The design starts with the feasibility study, through the tender, information, conceptual design and detailed design, ending with every aspect of the construction process, with the bill of quantities and necessary specifications that guide the contract (Iyer & Jha 2005).

## Building Design Defects

According to Webster (2017), a building design defect is a deviation from correctness; an error, as in an action or procedure; or an inaccuracy, as in a word or writing. Building design defects are deviations from plans and specifications (Szwedo, 2012). Design defects are also defined as the failure of planned actions to achieve the desired objectives when this occurs without unpredictable or random interference (Amobi, 2006). Researchers who have examined design defects in construction have often used the terms inadequate design, design ineffectiveness, design modifications, omissions, errors, quality deviations, nonconformities and failures interchangeably (BOMI, 2003). The term failure is often used interchangeably with defect; however, there is a subtle difference between defect and failure. A failure is "an unacceptable difference between expected performance and observed performance" (Akisola, 2004). To fail, there is an implicit expectation; while in the event of a defect, it is an unforeseen or accidental intervention.

## Effects of Building Design Defects on Project Management Process

Design defects are significant problems that negatively affect the effectiveness and efficiency of project management (Amobi, 2006). They mainly contribute to rework, cost overruns, schedule delays, and uncertain environments that affect project performance (Smith, 2003). In a construction project, all stakeholders, such as the owner and contractors, have different interests in the implementation of the project. These different interests lead to design errors that can occur at any time. The occurrence of these errors can increase many difficulties in construction management (Smith, 2003). Furthermore, these difficulties can account for 80 to 90% of the failures that occur in construction projects. Engineering failures account for up to 10% of the total investment in new buildings and structures (Amobi, 2006). In addition, design defects can significantly hinder the productivity of a project management process, which in turn affects the success of a project, causing a significant number of resources to be wasted without achieving the desired result. Design defects are a common problem faced by most projects, regardless of their size and complexity.

## Real Estate Project Management

Management continues to emerge as a field of research that is gradually applied by companies to achieve their goals, mission and vision. As companies continue to define their business activities as projects, the need for project management continues to grow every day (Pharm et al. 2019). In the real estate industry, project management involves planning, executing, monitoring, controlling and closing construction projects (Smith, 2003). These processes develop feasibility goals, timelines and budgets and ensure that they are met appropriately. Project managers promote a good relationship with their clients throughout the project. According to Omran and Suleiman (2017), real estate project managers have extensive responsibilities in addition to traditional human resource management and day-to-day activities. For example, project managers also control the best building materials, and lobby for better