Impact of ICT On Professional Practice On Nigerians

EJISDC (2006) 24, 2, 1-19
The Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries,

http://www.ejisdc.org
THE IMPACT OF ICT ON PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN THE NIGERIAN
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

A.A. Oladapo
Senior Lecturer and Registered Quantity Surveyor
Dept. of Quantity Surveying
Faculty of Environmental Design & Management
Obafemi Awolowo University
Ile-Ife, Osun State
Nigeria

adeladapo@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT
The potential of ICT for improving the quality of professional services in the construction
industry is generally acknowledged. While reports abound on ICT in the construction
industries of developed countries, very little exists for developing countries. The aim of this
study was therefore to examine the current state of ICT in professional practice in the Nigerian
construction industry in the context of a developing economy.
A survey of the current state of ICT in architectural, engineering and quantity surveying
practices in the Nigerian construction industry was conducted in South West Nigeria. The
results indicated that while core architectural, engineering and quantity surveying functions
(like drawing, engineering design and preparation of bills of quantities respectively) have been
largely computerised, data and document management is still done in the traditional way in
most cases. The Internet is gaining popularity with over 60% of the respondents currently
connected. For now most of the professionals use the Internet mainly for e-mails and its
potentials in more strategically important areas like e-business and electronic data transfer are
yet to be fully exploited.
The impact of ICT on professional practice has been mainly in making jobs easier for
the professions, facilitating decision-making and savings in operating costs, among others. The
notoriously inefficient national electric power supply system and the high cost of computer
hardware and software in relation to the dwindling fortunes of the professions in Nigerias
depressed economy are the key obstacles to increased investments in ICT. However, most of
the respondents (about 80%) were optimistic about the future of ICT in the Nigerian
construction industry, with plans for major new ICT investments in teleworking,
videoconferencing and electronic data management (EDM). These findings, it is hoped, should
guide the construction industry in Nigeria in adopting appropriate policies to internalise the
globally acclaimed benefits of ICT.
Keywords: Information and Communication Technology, Professional Practice,
Construction Industry, Nigeria.

1. INTRODUCTION
The construction industry is so hierarchical and fragmented in nature that some of the major
participants do not consider themselves to be part of the same industry (Hindle, 2000). This
requires close coordination among a large number of specialized but interdependent
organizations and individuals to achieve the cost, time and quality goals of a construction
EJISDC (2006) 24, 2, 1-19 2
project (Toole, 2003). Hence, according to Maqsood et al. (2004), a major construction process
demands heavy exchange of data and information between project participants on a daily basis.
Rivard et al. (2004) have identified the two vital roles information plays in all
construction projects as the specification of the resulting product (design information) and the
initiation and control of the activities required for constructing the facility (management
information). Design consultants (architects, engineers and quantity surveyors), acting as
professional advisers to the client, are largely responsible for the production and dissemination
of both the design and management information among the various project participants.
According to Mohamed & Stewart (2003), the majority of construction process information is
heavily based upon traditional means of communication such as face-to-face meetings and the
exchange of paper documents in the form of technical drawings, specifications and site
instructions. This is why the construction industry has for many years suffered from
difficult-to-access, out-of-date and incomplete information (Shoesmith, 1995). As the
management of construction, like most other industries, requires accurate information, the need
to increase the efficiency of information management by exchanging massive volumes of
information at high speed and at relatively low cost has been long recognised by the industry
(Deng et al., 2001).
According to Nkado (2000), the effectiveness of consultants in meeting the needs of
clients in the built environment is influenced by their recognition and application of
context-relevant competencies. Architectural, engineering and quantity surveying
professionals are the consultants traditionally responsible for the production and management
of most of the project information and documents required by such other project participants as
contractors, subcontractors and suppliers for the execution of construction projects. The
complex and uncertain nature of construction projects demands the appointment of capable
consultants to realize the clients interests in a project (Ng & Chow, 2004). A common
competency required of these consultants is the ability to manage and communicate project
information and documents. In fact, a core issue in the drive for increased productivity in the
construction industry is the effective management of information, both in the form of
information flows that permit rapid inter-organisational transactions between project
participants, and in the form of information accumulated, coded and stored in firm database
structures (Mohamed & Stewart, 2003). Thus from quantity surveyors, a basic competency in
data, information and information technology is required (RICS, 1998), while from engineers,
the availability of computer facilities is a measure of technical capability (Ng & Chow, 2004).
In the case of architects, the effective communication of design information to contractors is a
key performance criterion (Oyedele & Tham, 2005). It has become a tactical necessity for these
consultants and other project participants to integrate their information systems with each other
to improve the flow of information between them and enhance the effectiveness of
decision-making (Li et al., 2000). The adoption and use of ICT facilitates this much-needed
integration in the construction industry (Li et al., 2000; Liston et al., 2000; Mohamed &
Stewart, 2003).
Unfortunately, however, while there are reports of the use of ICT in the construction
industries of industrialised countries like the US (Issa et al., 2003; Toole, 2003); Canada
(Rivard, 2000; Rivard et al., 2004); Sweden, Denmark and Finland (Samuelson, 2002) and
New Zealand (Doherty, 1997), among others, comparatively few (if any) exist for a developing
country like Nigeria. Indeed, according to Pamulu & Bhuta (2004), very few reports exist of
research in ICT in developing countries. While it is not surprising that the findings are similar
in many respects for these industrialized countries, the results, according to Austin (1990),
might not be applicable to a developing country (like Nigeria) due to differences in the cultural,
socio-economic and regulatory environments (Jarvenpaa et al., 1998; Dewan et al., 2000; Seyal
EJISDC (2006) 24, 2, 1-19 3
et al., 2000). This study is therefore an attempt to evaluate the impact of ICT on professional
practice in the Nigerian construction industry in the context of a developing economy to
provide the true picture of the use of ICT in a typical non-industrialised country. This, it is
believed, will extend the frontiers of knowledge on the subject beyond the North American and
European experiences. It is against this background that the paper presents an empirical
analysis of the impact of ICT on the practices of 107 professional consulting firms in Nigeria,
comprising 29 architectural, 38 engineering and 40 quantity surveying practices.
The aim of the study is to assess the impact of ICT on professional consulting firms in
the Nigerian construction industry. To this end, the specific objectives are to:
1 Identify and assess the factors that determine the use of ICT by construction consultants
in Nigeria.
2 Identify and assess the constraints to the use of ICT by the consultants.
3 Identify and assess the benefits of ICT use to the consultants.
4 Assess the current use and the prospects for increased use of ICT among the consultants
in the near future.
The paper starts with an outline of the role of construction professionals and the uses
and benefits of ICT in their practices, followed by the research methodology, the analysis and
discussion of the results, and the conclusions drawn from them.

2. THE ROLE OF DESIGN PROFESSIONALS IN THE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT CHAIN
The construction project chain is a lengthy process initiated and driven by the project promoter
(client). According to Murray et al. (2001), depending on the type of project, the chain may
involve large numbers of skilled professionals and companies with, quite often, much
repetition of activities and accumulation of paperwork. The main project participants in a
typical construction project in Nigeria are the client and his/her team of professional advisers
(consultants) on the one hand and the main contractor, subcontractors and suppliers on the
other. The team of consultants is traditionally made up of architects, engineers and quantity
surveyors. Their duties and contractual responsibilities are detailed in Ashworth (2001). Figure
1 shows the flow process from project inception through implementation to completion and the
roles played by the various participants. The consultants produce the documents which provide
the information required by all the project participants (as shown in Figure 2). Figure 2 shows
that the various participants deal with similar information, therefore that information needs to
be passed along the chain from team to team. Thus, according to Murray et al. (2001), the
majority of the participants require access to the majority of the project information at one time
or another.

EJISDC (2006) 24, 2, 1-19 4

ROLE PLAYERS

ACTIVITY

Client

Architect
Quantity
surveyor

Engineers

Contractor
Subcontractors
and suppliers

Project inception

Preliminary design

Feasibility study

Raising of finance

Detailed design and costing

Tender process and contract
award

Project construction

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

LEGEND
-Initiates and/or performs activity o Requires information from activity

Figure 1: The Project Chain and Role Players (Adapted from Murray et al., 2001).

ROLE PLAYERS

DOCUMENTS

Client

Architect
Quantity
surveyor

Engineers

Contractor
Subcontractors
and suppliers

Drawings

Specifications

Bills of quantities

Budget

Contracts

Planning

Personnel control

Materials control

Equipment control

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

o

LEGEND
Produces documents oRequires information from document

Figure 2: Information Producer-User Matrix for a Typical Project Chain (Adapted from
Murray et al., 2001).

EJISDC (2006) 24, 2, 1-19 5
Project information exchange between the project consultants and
contractors/subcontractors and suppliers has traditionally been based mainly on such paper
documents as architectural and engineering drawings, specifications, bills of quantities and
material schedules (Luiten et al., 1998). As noted by Duyshart (1997), much of this involves
duplication, continual translation and transcription from one medium or form to another, as
well as the loss of information. Thus the practice is far from being satisfactory, as about
two-thirds of construction problems are blamed on inadequate communication and exchange of
information and data (Cornick, 1996). The use of ICT not only minimizes such problems but
also helps improve project planning, scheduling and cost control (Abudayyeh et al., 2001;
Sriprasert and Dawood 2002). This explains the growing awareness of the value of ICT to
bring together the major parties in the construction process, and share project as well as
industry information in a meaningful way (Mohamed & Stewart, 2003).

3. THE CURRENT USE OF ICT IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN CONSTRUCTION
The construction industry is currently experiencing a paradigm shift from traditional
paper-based to digitally based information exchange, which other industries such as aircraft
manufacturing and banking have adopted and benefited from long ago (Rivard et al., 2004).
This shift has been aided to a large extent by the drastic reduction in computer hardware and
software prices and the increased power, usefulness and popularity of computers over the last
few years (Rivard et al., 2004). As more and more computers are connected through the
Internet to form the worldwide web, thus allowing firms located on different streets or in
different cities, provinces, countries, or even continents to readily exchange information, the
reach and benefits of ICT to industries and organizations have indeed become global.
The use of ICT can impact on the traditional processes of professional organizations in
construction and result in change in organisational processes, working methods and culture
(Ruikar et al., 2005). In this regard, some benefits of ICT critical to the performance of
professional consultants are to reduce the time for data processing and communicating
information, and to improve communications for effective decision-making and coordination
among construction participants (Peansupap & Walker, 2005) to enhance construction
productivity (Liston et al., 2000). This is possible because the Internet-based tools of ICT allow
communication between even remote users and enables them to share files, comment on
changes and post requests for information (De Lapp et al., 2004).
While some tools of ICT (particularly hardware) are commonly required in
architectural, engineering and quantity surveying practices, others (mostly software) are
profession-specific. The common types of software used in all the three professions include
word processing, spreadsheet, CAD and Internet software (Goh, 2005). Areas of application of
ICT common to the professions are administration, communication, marketing, desktop
publishing, presentation and project management (Doherty, 1997; Arif & Karam, 2001). While
architects and engineers use CAD mostly for design, drawing and presentation (Rivard, 2000;
Arif & Karam, 2001; De Lapp et al., 2004), quantity surveyors use it for measurement,
preparation of bills of quantities, estimating and presentation. The engineering analysis
software for specific branches of engineering includes Microstran, and MathCad (Doherty,
1997). With 3D modeling capacity in modern structural design software, designing complex
structures is now facilitated where previously this was almost impossible (Walker & Hampson,
2003). For quantity surveying, there are WinQS32, QS Plus2001, QsCAD, CATO, and
Masterbill among others (Willis et al., 1994; Adetola, 1998; Murray et al., 2001), which not
only speed up but also enhance the accuracy of quantity surveying functions from approximate
estimating to final accounts. A detailed description of many of the available software for
EJISDC (2006) 24, 2, 1-19 6
architects, engineers and quantity surveyors can be found in Murray et al. (2001).
In addition to these applications of ICT to what may be termed the traditional domains
of the architectural, engineering and quantity surveying professions, there are some emerging
new areas of ICT innovations. They include knowledge management (KM), electronic
document management (EDM) and e-business. ICT facilitates the transfer of knowledge and
information between project teams, enabling the development of new knowledge for
innovation (Gann, 2000). The development of an EDM system for project management can
save considerable time and cost for document transfer (Tam, 1999); while e-business provides
an efficient infrastructure for remote consulting services to consultants who desire to provide
their services through the Internet (Mangini & Pelli, 2003). Details of the applications of KM
can be found in Egbu et al. (2001) and Egbu & Botterill (2002), those of EDM in Tam (1999,
Bjrk (2002), Sulankivi et al. (2002), and Bckblom et al. (2003) and those for e-business in
Issa et al. (2003), Mangini & Pelli (2003) and Rivard et al. (2004).
Construction professionals must avail themselves of the various tools provided by ICT
to improve the quality and speed of their work in the project chain, from project inception to
commissioning. Given the rapid rate of fall in the prices of ICT hardware and software globally
and the tremendous benefits ICT offers, it should not be too expensive for construction
professionals in Nigeria and other developing countries to embrace the technology. Perhaps the
critical requirement now, according to Murray et al. (2001), is the need for investment in ICT
education.

4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
4.1 Research Design
The study sought the views of consulting professionals on the impact of ICT on their practices
in the Nigerian construction industry. The study was based on a questionnaire survey of 180
consultants, comprising 60 each of architectural, engineering and quantity surveying
practitioners in South Western Nigeria. The respondents were selected randomly from the
registers of their various professional institutions. The choice of South Western Nigeria for the
study was based on the fact that it comprises Lagos (Nigerias commercial capital), which
together with Abuja (The Federal Capital Territory), according to Dada (2005), has the highest
concentration of construction activities in Nigeria.
Overall, 107 properly completed questionnaires (by 29 architects, 38 engineers and 40
quantity surveyors), representing a response rate of 59.4%, provided quantitative data. This
response rate is adjudged by several authors, (Babie, 1989; Ellhag and Boussabaine, 1999;
Idrus & Newman, 2002), to be very good.
4.2 Research Hypotheses
The study tested the following four null (H
0
) and corresponding alternative (H
1
) hypotheses
based on groups of attributes and relevant factors obtained from the literature:
A. H
0
: There is no agreement among construction consultants on the factors that determine
the use of ICT by consulting firms.
H
1
: There is agreement among construction consultants on the factors that determine
B. H
0
: There is no agreement among construction consultants on the factors that impede
EJISDC (2006) 24, 2, 1-19 7
H
1
: There is agreement among construction consultants on the factors that impede the
use of ICT by consulting firms
C. H
0
: There is no agreement among construction consultants on the impact of ICT on
professional practice.
H
1
: There is agreement among construction consultants on the impact of ICT on
professional practice.
D. H
0
: There is no agreement among construction consultants on the current level of ICT
use and its future prospects in professional practice.
H
1
: There is agreement among construction consultants on the current level of ICT use
and its future prospects in professional practice.
4.3 The Questionnaire
The questionnaire comprised three parts. Part 1 sought background information on firms ages
and areas of specialisation as well as respondents qualifications and years of professional
experience. Part 2 asked respondents to score the determinants of the use of ICT, the
constraints to its use and its impact on professional practice. It also sought information on the
availability and use of ICT systems by consulting firms. In Part 3 respondents were asked to
score the current level of ICT use and the future prospects in their practices. The scores used a
five-point Likert-type ordinal scale to measure a range of opinions from Very weak to Very
strong, Very low to Very high, etc. as the case may be.
Although, according to Christianson & Tortora (1995), the postal method of
questionnaire administration is cheaper than other methods, the reality of Nigerias inefficient
and unreliable postal system precluded its use in this study. Thus the questionnaires for this
survey were hand-delivered to and retrieved from respondents between June and August 2005.
The questionnaires were mostly self-administered by respondents, although in some cases the
interview method was used. This approach improved the response rate.
4.4 Methods of Data Analysis
Most of the data collected for the study were ordinal in nature. To be able to rank the factors
perceived by the respondents to impact the various aspects of the study, it was necessary to
highlight the relative importance of the factors (Kangwa & Olubodun, 2003). The severity
index (SI) method was used for the ranking of the factors. This method has been used in
construction research by such authors as Elhag and Boussabaine (1999), Faniran (1999), Idrus
and Newman (2002) and Kangwa & Olubodun (2003).
SI is a non-parametric technique based on the aggregate weighting of the initial
frequency score of each factor (Kangwa & Olubodun, 2003). The formula for the severity
index is given as follows by Elhag and Boussabaine (1999):
n x wifi
n i
i
/ % 100 S.I.
1

=

=
=
,
where S.I. is the severity index, f
i
is the frequency of response, w
i
is the weight for each rating
(i.e. rating in scale/number of points in a scale), and n is the total number of responses. The
value (f
i
x 100)/n is the valid percentage as computed by SPSS.

EJISDC (2006) 24, 2, 1-19 8
5. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
The results of the survey are analysed using the SPSS package and presented in this section
with respect to respondents profiles, the factors that influence computerization of professional
services, the constraints to the use of ICT, the benefits of ICT and the current level of ICT use
and the future prospects in consulting firms.
5.1 Test of Hypotheses
Table 1 shows the consistency and validity of some survey data using the chi-squared test. As
the computed chi-squared values are greater than the table values at the 5% significance level
for all the attributes, we reject the null hypotheses and accept the alternative hypotheses
(Kangwa & Olubodun, 2003). This establishes the fact that there is agreement and consistency
among the respondents in their scoring of the attributes regardless of their different
professional backgrounds.
Table 1: Chi-squared Test of Agreement and Consistency Among Respondents
Attribute
2 computed
2 table value at p = 0.05

DF Significance

Determinants of the use of ICT

Impediments to the use of ICT

Impact of ICT

Current use of and future
prospects for ICT

29.344

330.784

114.550

28.966

7.815

21.026

14.067

12.592

3

12

7

6

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

5.2 Profiles of Respondents
Of the 107 organisations surveyed, 2% had been in existence for up to 5 years, 50% for 6 to 24
years and 48% for over 25 years. Most of them were therefore well established in the industry.
The levels of experience of the respondents are shown in Figure 3.
1.9%
4.7%
7.5%
12.1%
20.6%
28.0%
25.2%
No response
Over 25 years
21-25 years
16-20 years
11-15 years
6-10 years
Less than 5 years

Figure 3: Respondents Level of Experience
EJISDC (2006) 24, 2, 1-19 9
The number of years of experience for as many as 53.2% of the respondents was not
more than 10 years while only 4.7% had over 25 years of experience in the industry. While
38.2% of the respondents had academic qualifications ranging from Higher National Diploma
to the first degree, 61.9% had second degrees and higher.
5.3 Factors Influencing the Computerisation of Professional Practice
The factors that motivate firms to computerise their operations and adopt ICT systems are
ranked using the formula for Severity Index. The influence of each factor was assessed by the
respondents on a rating scale ranging from 1 = Very weak to 5 = Very strong.
For example, out of a total of 99 respondents (n) who rated the factor Client/customer
demand, the response frequencies (f) were 2 for Very weak, 3 for Weak, 24 for
Average, 46 for Strong and 24 for Very strong. The valid percentages, calculated using
the formula (f
i
x 100)/n, were 2x100/99, 3x100/99, 24x100/99, 46x100/99 and 24x100/99.
These values were approximated to 2.0, 3.0, 24.2, 46.5 and 24.2 by the SPSS for Very weak,
Weak, Average, Strong and Very strong respectively. Thus the Severity Index (SI) for
the factor is calculated in Table 2 as SI = 1/5x2 + 2/5x3 + 3/5x24.2 + 4/5x46.5 + 5/5x24.2 =
77.5%.
The results in Table 2 show Level of competition is the most important factor,
followed by Changing trends in technology. This suggests that increasing marketisation of
the Nigerian economy is compelling firms to avail themselves of the competitive edge which
several authors (including Betts, 1999; Peansupap & Walker, 2005):) believe ICT offers.
Correlation between Level of competition and Changing trends in technology is
significantly high (with Pearsons coefficient of correlation = 0.539 and a significance value of
0.000). This implies that increasing competition will increase the rate of ICT diffusion in the
industry, which in turn will generate more competition.

Table 2: Factors Influencing the Adoption of ICT
SPSS Valid Percentage Scores
Factor 1 2 3 4 5 Severity index (%) Rank

Level of competition

Changing trends in
technology

Client/customer
demand

Construction
industry demands

1.0

2.0

2.0

1.0

5.0

3.0

3.0

5.0

16.0

22.0

24.2

42.0

42.0

37.0

46.5

40.0

36.0

36.0

24.2

12.0

81.4

80.4

77.5

71.4

1

2

3

4

5.4 Constraints to ICT Use
Table 3 indicates that Insufficient/erratic power supply is the important constraint to
widespread adoption of ICT and Fear of ICT making professionals redundant is the least
important among the 13 constraints assessed. The unassailable number 1 ranking of
Insufficient/erratic power supply contrasts sharply with the results of studies in several
developed countries (reported by Doherty, 1977; Rivard, 2000; Samuelson, 2002; and Goh,
2005) which made no mention of electricity and other infrastructure as obstacles. While the
supply of electricity is taken for granted in developed countries, in Nigeria it is unreliable
EJISDC (2006) 24, 2, 1-19 10
(AfDB & OECD, 2004), leading to high production costs for companies, which are forced to
procure and run their own power generating facilities. This adds significantly not only to the
cost of using ICT but also to the cost of doing business generally in Nigeria. The insufficiency
of job sizes and fees for investment in ICT (ranked 2) is also very prominent because of the
high cost of hardware/software and the small- or medium-scale nature of a majority (56.1%) of
the organizations surveyed.

Table 3: Factors Impeding the Use of ICT
Factor 1 2 3 4 5 Severity index (%) Rank

Insufficient/erratic
power supply

Job sizes and fees not
enough for ICT

High cost of
hardware/software

Fear of virus attacks

High rate of
obsolescence of
software/hardware

Inadequate ICT
content in construction
education

Scarcity of
professional software

High cost of engaging
computer staff

Lack of management
desire and
appreciation of ICT

Security

Low return on
investment in ICT

Personnel abuse

Fear of ICT making
professionals
redundant

2.9

7.6

7.5

8.5

12.5

12.6

7.8

6.8

22.1

26.5

22.3

24.3

56.2

1.0

13.3

9.4

21.7

10.6

17.5

21.4

27.2

27.9

20.4

33.0

30.1

26.7

2.9

28.6

42.5

29.2

34.6

35.0

37.9

36.9

27.9

30.6

25.2

31.1

10.5

40.4

34.3

21.7

24.5

31.7

20.4

26.2

21.4

12.5

17.3

15.5

9.7

6.7

52.9

16.2

18.9

16.0

10.6

14.6

6.8

7.8

9.6

5.1

3.9

4.9

87.9

67.6

67.0

63.5

63.4

61.4

60.6

59.3

51.9

50.8

49.1

48.2

33.6

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

5.5 The Benefits of ICT
The ranking of the eight benefits of ICT in Table 4 indicates that the three main benefits are
makes the professionals job easier, facilitates decision-making and savings in operating
costs. The overwhelming premium the respondents placed on the fact that ICT makes the
EJISDC (2006) 24, 2, 1-19 11
professionals job easier may be out of the realisation that it offers the best solution to some of
the problems of human inefficiency which, according to Oyedele & Tham (2005), are so severe
in the Nigerian construction industry. Enhances productivity is the only benefit significantly
correlated with all other benefits (with Pearsons correlation coefficients ranging from 0.243 to
0.511 and their significance values ranging from 0.000 to 0.012, i.e. less than 0.05). This
supports the views of Liston et al. (2000) and Peansupap & Walker (2005 that the benefits of
ICT use collectively add up to productivity gains.

Table 4: Benefits of ICT Use
Benefit 1 2 3 4 5 Severity index (%) Rank

Makes
professionals
jobs easier

Facilitates
decision making

Savings in
operating costs

Improves public
image of users

Gives users
competitive
advantage

Enhances
productivity

Saves time

Improves
document
presentation

0.9

37.7

39.6

57.0

59.8

67.9

68.2

75.7

43.4

50.9

38.3

37.4

31.1

31.8

19.6

0.9

14.2

4.7

2.8

0.9

3.7

27.1

4.7

4.7

0.9

0.9

0.9

0.9

71.0

0.9

0.9

93.4

37.2

34.9

30.0

29.1

26.7

26.4

26.0

1

2

]

3

4

5

6

7

8

5.6 The Current Use of ICT and Its Future Prospects
Only 1 out of the 107 firms surveyed does not use the computer in any form. Thus 99.1% of
them have computerised their operations. On the whole, 57.5% of the respondents indicated
that their levels of computer literacy were above average (i.e. adequate or very adequate),
36.8% indicated average level (i.e. barely adequate) and 5.7% indicated below average level
(i.e. inadequate or very inadequate) for their professional needs. A comparison of the three
professions in Table 5 shows that architects had the highest level of ICT use, followed by
quantity surveyors and then engineers. This is similar to the results of studies in Canada
(Rivard, 2000) and the UK (Howes, 2000) where architectural practices have outpaced others
in ICT applications in the construction industry.
EJISDC (2006) 24, 2, 1-19 12
Table 5: Comparison of the Level of ICT Use by Architects, Engineers and Quantity
Surveyors
Profession 1 2 3 4 5 Severity index (%) Rank

Architects

Quantity surveyors

Engineers

4.0

5.0

8.0

15.0

26.3

48.0

52.5

60.5

36.0

20.0

7.9

4.0

7.5

5.3

65.6

62.0

58.4

1

2

3

Varieties of mostly imported software and hardware systems are available in the
Nigerian market. Desktop and laptop computers are the most commonly used by design
professionals (Table 6). The mainframe computer is not common as only 4.7% of the firms use
it.

Table 6: Types of Computers in Use
Type of computer % using it
Desktops

Laptops

Notebooks

Mainframe

Network
91.6

60.7

15.9

4.7

38.3

The common operating systems are Windows XP (used by 93.1% of respondents),
Windows 2000 (used by 88.1% of respondents) and Windows 98 (used by 87.7% of
respondents). Others are MS_DOS and Windows 95 used by 52% and 40.6% of the
respondents respectively. Table 7 shows that MS Word and MS Excel are popular among the
respondents for word processing while MS PowerPoint is commonly used for presentations.
AutoCAD is the dominant design software used by architects while quantity surveyors
commonly use WinQS for measurement and estimating. Only 46.7% of the respondents use a
project planning software, which is MS Project.

Table 7: Software in Use
Software % using it Software % using it
Word Processing and
Accounting

MS Word

Word Perfect

MS Excel

Presentation

MS PowerPoint

Adobe PageMaker

69.2

39.3

55.1

59.8

48.6

Quantity Surveying
Measurement and
Estimating

WinQs

CatoPro

MasterBill

QS Elite

Snape Vector

In-house software

40.0

17.5

20.0

12.5

10.0

2.5
EJISDC (2006) 24, 2, 1-19 13
MS Outlook

Architectural/Engineer
ing Design and Drawing

CorelDraw

AutoCAD

ArchiCAD

47.7

50.0 (56.4)
*

78.6 (69.2)

50.0 (35.9)

Project Planning

MS Project

46.7
*
Figures for engineering in brackets

For the use of communication systems, Table 8 shows that 19.6% of the respondents
have intranet systems while 62.6% are connected to the Internet. Electronic data management
(EDM), voicemails and videoconferencing are not yet popular. None of the respondent firms
has a website.

Table 8: Electronic Communication Systems in Use
Communication system % using it

Internet

Intranet

Voicemail

Electronic data management (EDM)

Videoconferencing

62.6

19.6

13.1

27.1

8.4

The relatively high use of the Internet compared to EDM indicates that although the
Internet has gained popularity, it is mainly used for e-mails among design consultants in the
Nigerian construction industry. The exchange of project information and documents is still
mostly done the traditional way.
While the Internet connectivity rate for construction professions in Nigeria is 62.62%,
the comparative figures for Sweden (Samuelson, 2002) and Malaysia (Lim et al., 2002) are
83% and 94% respectively. The fact that Malaysia, a developing country like Nigeria,
surpasses a developed country like Sweden in this regard poses a real challenge to the Nigerian
construction industry not to be despondent about its current level of Internet use.
The distribution of communication systems used by the architectural (Arc), engineering
(Eng) and quantity surveying (QS) professions is shown in Figure 4. Quantity surveyors lead in
4 of the 5 systems available while engineers trail architects in two systems.
EJISDC (2006) 24, 2, 1-19 14
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
%

o
f

r
e
s
p
o
n
d
e
n
t
s
Arc Eng QS
EDM
Voicemail
Videoconfer-
encing
Intranet
Internet

Figure 4: Use of Communication Systems by the Professions

When asked to predict the level of ICT use among design professionals in the Nigerian
construction industry in the near future with respect to their plans to invest in and use ICT, as
many as 79.4% of the respondents were optimistic about the future, projecting a high or very
high level of ICT use compared to the present level. Only 2.8% expect it to be low while 12.1%
expect it to remain much the same. Those who simply could not see beyond the present to make
any projection were 5.7%. The respondents were also asked to indicate their future plans to
invest in some ICT applications not yet common in the local industry.

0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
%

o
f

r
e
s
p
o
n
d
e
n
t
s
E
-
t
e
n
d
e
r
i
n
g
E
D
M
V
i
d
e
o
c
o
n
f
e
r
e
n
c
i
n
g
T
e
l
e
w
o
r
k
i
n
g

Figure 5: Planned Investments in New ICT Applications

EJISDC (2006) 24, 2, 1-19 15
Figure 5 shows the cumulative rankings of what the respondents considered to be the
likely areas of their future investments (on a scale of 1 to 5 as explained in the methodology).
The results indicate that teleworking is the main area for future investment, followed by
videoconferencing and electronic data management (EDM). This relatively high planned
investment in teleworking may be an attempt by consulting firms to reduce operating cost by
minimising their office space requirements in the face soaring rents in Nigerias major cities.

6. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
ICT is acknowledged as a potent tool for accelerating socio-economic development and
narrowing the gap between developing and developed countries. This requires a developing
country like Nigeria to adopt appropriate ICT innovations for its construction industry, which
is one of the most strategic industries in the nations development agenda. As ICT gained
popularity in the international construction industry in the 1990s, the Nigerian construction
industry also began to use the technology. This study was carried out to access the impact ICT
has had on architectural, engineering and quantity surveying practices, which are the main
producers and managers of project information, in the Nigerian construction industry. The
results of a structured questionnaire survey of firms in these practices were presented in this
paper.
The results indicate a high level of computerisation of professional services among the
firms (99.1%) who use mostly desktop computers. This seems to contradict the expectations of
several researchers, including Davenport (1993), Odedra-Straub (1996) and Chinn & Fairlie
(2004), for a developing country like Nigeria, based on their view that many developing
countries still have low computer penetration rates. The main factor that influences their
adoption of ICT is the increasing level of competition in the industry. The level of use of
specialised application software (such as AutoCAD for architecture and engineering, and
MasterBill and WinQS for quantity surveying) is quite high among architects and engineers but
low among quantity surveyors. Close to 2/3 of the firms are connected to the Internet which
they use mainly for e-mails. Such other strategic uses of the Internet as electronic data transfer
and e-business are virtually unheard of. None of the respondents indicated that they had their
own websites.
The three main impacts of ICT on professional practice have been in making jobs easier
for the professions, facilitating decision-making and savings in operating costs. These findings
accord with the literature which indicates that with the availability of 3D modelling software,
for example, complex designs which were previously almost impossible are now done with
ease (Walker & Hampson, 2003). ICT improves communication to enhance decision making
(Peansupap & Walker, 2005) which ultimately yields time and cost savings (Tam, 1999).
The diffusion of ICT in the industry generally is hampered by such factors as
inadequate/erratic electric power supply and the high cost of ICT hardware and software. The
fact that the problem of power supply is the most prominent obstacle in this study but does not
feature in any of the similar studies in industrialised and newly industrialised economies makes
it peculiar to a poor developing country like Nigeria. This finding highlights the wide gap in
ICT infrastructure which, according to Chinn & Fairlie (2004), exists between developed and
developing countries. In spite of these problems, a majority of the respondents were optimistic
about increased use of ICT in their practices in future, with major new investments planned for
such applications as teleworking, videoconferencing and electronic data management (EDM).
While existing reports on the use of ICT in the construction industries of such
developed countries as New Zealand, Canada, Sweden and Singapore indicate that the high
rate of obsolescence of hardware and software is the most prominent obstacle to the use of ICT,
EJISDC (2006) 24, 2, 1-19 16
it is established in this study that for Nigeria (and possibly many other developing countries),
the poor state of electricity supply and other infrastructure is the most significant. This study
has x-rayed the state of construction ICT in a typical developing country and has attempted to
show that the most critical challenges facing construction professionals in the use of ICT are
quite different for developed countries and a developing country like Nigeria.

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