ENABLERS OF EFFECTIVE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES: EVIDENCE FROM THE NIGERIAN BUILDING INDUSTRY

Purpose: This study is aimed at achieving improvement of service delivery through identification and establishing of main factors affecting professional services in the building industry.

Design/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional survey of randomly selected firms of Architects, Structural Engineers, Mechanical and Electrical Engineers and Quantity Surveyors was used for the study. Mean Score (MS) was used to rank the factors and ANOVA was used to test the hypothesis of the study.

Findings: The three most important factors were the use of modern hardware and software, commitment of staff and ability of the client to choose the right design team for their projects. The result of ANOVA result showed a differences in the perceptions of the professionals in respect of the following: frequency of changes in regulations by government, capacity of the local building materials industry, supply and price of construction materials, availability of specified materials and enforcement of regulations on foreign firm's practices.

Research limitations/implications: The generalisation and application of the results of the study to projects which do not have full services of Architects, Structural Engineers, Mechanical and Electrical Engineers and Quantity Surveyors.

Practical implications: The result will guide practitioners on the effects of these factors for learning and sharing of knowledge on their experiences in order to improve service delivery.

Originality/value: The enablers identified in this study will provide the support that makes competitive services possible, providing understanding and insight into the elements that catalyses success in professional services.