Strategies for Disputes Reduction in the Nigerian Construction Process

Abstract

Dispute has been observed as a common phenomenon in the construction process and has constituted several problems to project actors and the construction industry. Therefore, this research was conducted to find out the causes of disputes and to develop strategies that can be adopted by construction stakeholders to prevent it frequent occurrence in the construction process. To achieve this aim, a mixed methods research design was adopted in the study. The approach was adopted for robust data collection in the study. In the mixed methods, oral interview and questionnaire were the instrument used for data collection. The oral interview was first conducted with 16 construction stakeholders in five selected firms in Abuja. The data obtained in the interview study was analyzed through content analysis. The findings from the interview exercise served as basis for preparation of questionnaire that was later administered to some randomly selected construction firms in the study context. The data obtained from the questionnaire study was analyzed through descriptive statistics. The findings from the study show that lack of understanding and agreement on the type of contract, contractual payment, bridge of contract, and differing site condition are the main causes of disputes in Nigerian construction process. The study concluded that adequate knowledge of contractual document before the start of a project, bringing up contract conditions that are fair to all parties and maintaining a good relationship between the clients, professionals and workers are the strategies that can be adopted to overcome disputes in construction projects.