Factors Influencing Quality of Residential Buildings Projects: a Case of Kasarani Constituency in Nairobi County, Kenya
Abstract
. In the last three decades, the buildings industry has experienced challenges of quality which
are complex and different. The buildings industry in Kenya has been associated with
disruptions in quality therefore causing cost and time problems. Many of the quality challenges
are a product of inadequate planning. In Kenya, there have been reports of poor administration
of residential buildings projects, a superfluous surge in project usage lacking organization and
budgetary arrangements, and exorbitant project management. Unsafe residential buildings have
become rampant in the recent past, especially in the Nairobi Metropolitan region. The purpose
of the study was to assess the factors which influence quality of residential buildings projects
in Kasarani Constituency of Nairobi County. The following specific objectives guided the
research; to assess the influence of construction equipment, project funding, project
management, and modern technology on quality of residential buildings projects in Kasarani
Constituency of Nairobi County. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design
targeting practitioners in the residential building industry including Architects, Civil and
Structural Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, Electrical Engineers, Land Surveyors, Quantity
Surveyors, Construction Project Managers and Private Developers. The sample size was 385
respondents, and the non-probability sampling technique was used in the study. Data collection
in the study was done by administering questionnaires and carrying out interviews. Descriptive
statistics, such as frequency, means, percentage and standard deviation, were used to interpret
the data. A regression analysis was conducted in order to show how construction equipments,
project funding, project management and modern technology influence quality of residential
buildings projects in Kasarani Constituency of Nairobi County. There was a positive and
significant relationship between construction equipment (r=0.695, p-value <0.05) and quality
of residential building projects in Kasarani Constituency of Nairobi County. There was a
positive and significant correlation between project funding (r=0.831, p-value <0.05) and
quality of residential building projects in Kasarani Constituency of Nairobi County. There was
a positive and significant relationship between project management (r=0.776, p-value <0.05)
and quality of residential building projects in Kasarani Constituency of Nairobi County. There
was a positive and significant relationship between modern technology (r=0.743, p-value
<0.05) and quality of residential building projects in Kasarani Constituency of Nairobi County.
This implied that the nature of construction equipment, the level of project funding and project
management as well as the level of application of modern technology were positive
determinants of quality of residential building projects in Kasarani Constituency of Nairobi
County. The recommendations are that the right construction equipment should be used in the
construction of residential buildings. Competent project managers should be engaged in order
to manage the construction of residential buildings. Clients and contractors should have enough
cash flow in order to execute projects. Appropriate technologies such as Building Information
Modelling should be adopted quickly in the residential buildings sector in order to minimize
errors, and improve quality of works. The study recommends that a similar study should be
carried out in other Constituencies in the Country since this study was only limited to Kasarani
Constituency of Nairobi County.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
- School of Business [1317]
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