Assessment of Cost Control Techniques on Road Construction Project Delivery in FCT Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

The advancement of technology in the last century has contributed to the increase in the number of complex construction projects that require proactive management. Cost control should be seen as an important management tool that is crucial to the survival of a construction company. This study examining the various cost control techniques used in road construction projects and the effect they have on project delivery. The emphasis here is limited to study the Contractor’s point of view. The main concern of the study is to assess the impact of cost control techniques used in road construction projects with a view of project delivery using Inferential Data Analysis. The other focusing areas are to identify cost control techniques used, the challenges of cost control techniques and examine the most effective cost control technique. The preliminary data for this research has been collected through a literature review and well-structured questionnaire survey targeted contractors of Road Construction. This study reveals six commonly used cost control techniques which include Cash Flow Analysis, Valuation of work in Progress, Cost Control, Materials Management, Budgetary Control and Cost Value Reconciliation. The findings further illustrate that the most frequently used cost control techniques in road construction projects was Cash Flow Analysis (CFA). The study concludes that cost control techniques have strong impact on road construction project delivery and lack of knowledge on the use of available tools and technology affect the practice of cost control techniques. It is recommended that Quantity Surveyors should involve in road construction and construction firm should try applying other techniques on projects for better performance.