An Investigation of the Effectiveness of the National Construction Authority (Nca) in Curbing Malpractices in the Kenyan Construction Industry

Abstract

The research done was aimed at investigating the effectiveness of the NCA in curbing construction malpractices in the Kenyan Construction Industry. The main study objective was to establish whether the NCA has reduced building collapses in the construction industry. Specific objectives were to identify the extent to which the NCA has reducing substandard building materials, increased the quality of workmanship, reduced quack contractors and incompetent construction workers and supervisors. The independent variables were noted to be substandard building materials, poor workmanship, quack contactors and incompetent construction workers and supervisors whereas the dependent variable was the effectiveness of the NCA. The study tested the effect of these independent variable on the dependent variable. This was done by scrutinizing the null hypothesis that, NCA has not reduced the use of substandard building materials, poor workmanship and quack contractors, workers and supervisors in the construction industry. The study employed the use of questionnaires drafted with the mixed approach of both quantitative and qualitative questions to collect data. The targeted population were fourteen members each from Kenya Property Developers Association (KPDA), National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA), Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK), Nairobi City County (NCC), Institute of Construction Project Managers of Kenya (ICPMK), Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors (BORAQS) and Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK) resulting to 98 respondents. Nachimias (1996) formula was implemented resulting to 42 respondents as the sample size. Out of the 42 respondents targeted, 35 questionnaires were returned indicating 83% response rate. The information from the questionnaires was then imported into Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 25, then cleaned, edited and coded. The data entered into SPSS was exposed to various statistical and graphical analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to define features/ characteristics of the population. Data analysis employed the use of means, cross tabulation, chi-square and Kruskal Wallis (KW) tests. The results from the articulated analyses were presented using tables and figures. The findings from the study indicate that, the National Construction Authority (NCA) has been able to reduce the use of substandard building materials, improved workmanship in the construction industry and reduced quack contractors. It has however failed to significantly reduce workers and supervisors incompetence.