Assessment of Professionalism and Ethical Standards on Project Delivery in Nigerian Built Environment

Abstract

Adherence to ethical standards is evidence of professionalism in any organization or society. The construction industry can only deliver projects successfully when the professionals comply with the already ethical standards. However, the bone of contention is that projects are often not delivered on time and are hardly within required specifications and budgetary provision as well as quality requirements. Therefore, this study aimed at assessing professionalism and ethical standards on project delivery as a threat to the built environment. This was achieved by identifying the ethical standards and ascertained the impact of professionalism on project delivery in the built environment. The strata for the research are the professionals (Architects, Builders, Engineers, Quantity Surveyors and Town Planners) in the built environment. The paper adopted questionnaire survey on the population of construction professionals. Stratified random sampling was used to select 341 samples from the study population based on formula; and one-way ANOVA was used to analyze the data at 95% level of significance. The study concluded that lack of developing skills for enhanced professionalism dwindle the socioeconomic growth as well as sustainable development in the built environment. It is recommended that mandatory professional development should be enhanced and monitoring and supervision mechanisms should be enforced for best practices in the built environment. The findings also revealed that ethical standard was compromised and as such projects were carried out without strict compliance to specifications and which accounts for poor quality of work and delay in project delivery. The study recommended total adherence to professionalism and ethical standards to sustain project delivery in the built environment.