Impact of Climate Change on Cost of Building Projects in Nigerian Construction Industry

Abstract

Climate change is adversely affecting the building industries and is really slowing down the speed of projects in Nigeria, impacting negatively on the cost of executing a project. The study aimed to evaluate the various effects of climate change on the built environment, investigate how climate change can affect productivity in building projects in Nigeria and evaluate the negative impact of climate change in building projects. The study obtained both primary and secondary data. Quantitative data were obtained through the administration of one hundred and ten structured questionnaires which were distributed across various building projects based on systematic sampling spread across the states. Descriptive analysis was adopted for the study. Results obtained from the study revealed that most construction projects in Nigeria are vulnerable to weather-related issues and most of the times, wet conditions. The study also showed some of the greatest factors in which it has on cost of maintenance of facilities that might have been affected through these weather-related issues. The study recommends that plants and equipment should be properly stored to avoid damage during wet conditions and that the safety officer should always ensure that workers are not exposed during wet and windy conditions.