Application of Project Management Control Mechanisms in Construction Projects: A Case of Portharcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

The construction industry being an industry where large scale projects are undertaken and for the projects to be successfully completed, the right project control mechanism is needed for the achievement of informed decisions. Hence, this paper reviews the project management control mechanisms adopted by construction firms in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State. The major objective of this study is to identify and evaluate the project management control mechanisms used in the successful delivery of construction projects, investigate the extent of application of the project management control mechanisms in the successful delivery of construction projects. The study deployed a survey and exploratory research design methods of investigation, while a convenient/purposive sampling technique was adopted in selecting the sample size of 96 respondents from a population of 143 respondents using the Krejcie and Morgan method of sample size determination from four (4) construction projects located in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State. The instrument for data collection and measurement was made up of structured questionnaires in addition to semi-structured interviews, personal observations with a view to eliciting information from the targeted professionals. The instrument was further validated for reliability with the aid of the Cronbach’s alpha test. The collected data were later presented using descriptive statistical tools in the form of frequency distribution, figures, charts, while relative importance index (RII) was used in analyzing some of the main theme of the study using the IBM SPSS Statistics version 20. The findings from the study indicate that earned value management (EVM), was the most deployed project control mechanism in construction project delivery. This was followed by the use of milestones, time-cost trade off analysis (TCTA), location based management (LBM) system and building information modelling (BIM).

Keywords

• building information modelling
• earned value management
• milestones
• time-cost trade off analysis
• location based management system
• project management control