RISK MANAGEMENT PRACTICE AND OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF SELECTED FEDERAL UNIVERSITY BUILDING PROJECTS IN SOUTH EASTERN NIGERIA.

Abstract

The study focused on the risk management practice and operational performance of selected federal University building project in South Eastern Nigeria. The broad objective is aimed at examining risk management practices and operational performance in selected federal university building projects in Enugu, Anambra and Imo state. The specific objectives are to identify the risk management challenges that affect the operational performance in the selected federal university building projects in Enugu, Anambra and Imo state; to determine the impact of risk management practice in the selected federal university building projects. The study adopted descriptive survey and ex-post facto research design. The population under this study comprises of 102 registered construction professionals working in the physical planning unit under the study area. They are the people who were actively involved in the planning and management of construction projects within the university premises. The study also built multiple regression model and make use of statistical procedures in estimating the relationship between the choiced variables. The variables under study are building project performance as the dependent variable whereas risk identification, risk assessment, risk response and control are the independent variables and test using ordinary least square techniques. The findings of the study reveals that lack of public safety regulations, poor time management, communication gap on risk management, undefined objective and several other listed items are the identified risk management challenges facing construction project performance in the selected federal institutional project in South East Nigeria. The study further concludes that the impact of building project performance on itself is 1 which 100 percent whereas the impact of building project performance on risk management practice is 0.161 which practically indicates that a unit increase in risk management practice will lead to 16.1% increase in building project performance on the average. the result of the study concludes also that risk management practice has a positive relationship on the building project performance. The study recommends that There is need for government and relevant stakeholder in the industries to enforce the application of risk management in order to reduce/minimize the rate of in building project so as to enhance the performance of building construction project in Nigeria and South East in particular.