Effect of Cost of Scaffolding on Cost of Preliminaries in Multi-Storey Building Projects in Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper investigated the relationship between cost of scaffolding and total cost of preliminaries for fifty construction projects in Abuja, Nigeria. Data used for the study were obtained using pro forma method of data collection for both cost of scaffolding and preliminaries for all the fifty (50) multi-storey building projects studied. The use of both descriptive and inferential statistics was adopted to analyze the collected data. Percentage was used for the descriptive analysis while hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used for the inferential analysis and development of predictive models. It was discovered from the analysis that cost of scaffolding carries a significant proportion from total cost of preliminaries and a positive, strong and significant relationship exists between the cost of scaffolding and the total cost of preliminaries in multi-storey building projects. The respective strong value of coefficients of correlation and determination observed ranges from 76% – 80% and 59% – 62%. The degree of association between the cost of scaffolding and total cost of preliminaries and that between the cost of scaffolding and total cost of construction were also respectively found to be strong. The coefficient of correlation ranges from 75% to 80%. All the three predictive regression models formulated were discovered to be suitable for predicting the cost of scaffolding with the use of the total cost of preliminaries and total construction cost at 95% confidence limit. It was suggested that consultants and contractors should ensure that cost of scaffolding is measured in detail at the pre-contract stage and that larger project samples should be used in further studies to formulate better predictive models for cost of scaffolding.