Investigation into the modern construction skills required of blocklaying, bricklaying and concreting work craftmen in building industry in Niger State.

Abstract

The study investigated the modern construction skills required of Block laying, Bricklaying and Concreting Work Craftsmen in Building Construction Industry in Niger State, Nigeria. In the study, skills improvement needs in the use of advance tools and equipment; the skills improvement needs in bonding walls unit; the skills improvement needs in plastering and rendering wall finishes and the skills improvement needs in the production of concrete structures were determined. Data for study was obtained through the administration of structured questionnaire. A sample of 66 block laying, bricklaying and concreting work craftsmen and 40 building professionals were randomly selected in building construction industry in the three geo-political zones of Niger State, Nigeria. Mean statistics and standard deviation tools were employed to analyse the data related to the four research questions. The findings revealed that three items out of the thirty items were accepted as the highly required modern construction skills; twenty six items were established as the required modern construction skill while, one item was moderately required as the modern construction skills. It was therefore recommended that National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) should consider inclusion of the identified skills in the curriculum. Building construction industry should organize workshop for their craftsmen on the areas where skills improvement are needed. Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON) and National Institute of Building (NIOB) should organize workshops and seminars that will expose the craftsmen to the modern skills required in the industry.