An Appraisal of value Engineering and Awareness Level amongst Nigerian Construction Professionals

Abstract

The practice of value engineering is known to enhance the provision of necessary functions reliably at the lowest cost; an act that should enhance effectiveness in Nigerian Construction Industry if properly and widely adopted. This paper appraised the concept of value engineering and sought to ascertain its level of popularity as a management technique amongst the professionals in Nigerian Construction Industry. Data was collected through the use of 30 randomly distributed questionnaires, of which 23(76.7%) were received back and analysed. The study revealed that the term “Value Engineering” is not very popular amongst Nigerian construction professionals, although the concept was observed to be incorporated in the cost control and reduction approaches being adopted by some of the professionals. Unhealthy professional practice was seen as a major hindrance to the full-fledge practice of value engineering as a management technique. Proper enlightenment of the professionals and clients of the Industry on the concept through seminars and workshops was thereby recommended while a call is made for encouragement of the “Contractor’s Change Proposal” approach of value engineering with the enactment and implementation of a law backing its practices in Nigeria.