Abstract:
Although a growing body of literature maintains that the construction industry plays a significant role in the economic development world-over, the extent of its regulation may, however, undermine the objectives of sustainable urban development. This study, as a result, investigates the factors influencing quality assurance within the building construction industry in Kenya, a case study of Kisii town. The target population comprised of 7430 residential developments from seven neighbourhoods that were spatially segregated using a high-resolution satellite image. Proportional stratified random sampling was thereafter adopted to select 364 developers through questionnaires. Results indicated that the key factors that undermine the extent of quality assurance within the building construction industry in the study area included failure to obtain a development permit, non-engagement of registered professionals in building design, an inadequate inspection of buildings during construction phases and unauthorized occupation of buildings by developers. The study concludes that despite the existing legal framework, these challenges continue owing to inadequate development control by the County Government of Kisii. This study contributes to the literature on the built environment by demonstrating how factors limiting quality assurance within the construction industry may be statistically analyzed.
Machine summary:
Results indicated that the key factors that undermine the extent of quality assurance within the building construction industry in the study area included failure to obtain a development permit, non-engagement of registered professionals in building design, an inadequate inspection of buildings during construction phases and unauthorized occupation of buildings by developers.
To this end, although a growing body of literature has attempted to account for some of the variables that are perceived to determine quality assurance within the construction industry, there is still a scarcity in knowledge on how other variables such as obtaining a development permit, engagement of professionals, and authorization of the building occupation, may also impact on quality assurance.
Response Rate and Results of the Pilot Study In order to investigate the determinants of quality assurance within the construction industry in Kisii Town, questionnaires were administered to the owners of residential building developments.
These research findings relate to that of Chigozie & Jide (2015) that established that the menace of quacks and quackery had Table 3: Test between having development permission and engagement of professionals (Source: Field survey data, 2018) {مراجعه شود به فایل جدول الحاقی} 10 negatively contributed to the sustainable development of the building construction industry in Nigeria.
Authorization of Building Occupation Section 16 (3) of the Building Code (The Republic of Kenya, 1968) explicitly requires a person who has constructed a building to give the CGK a notice of its completion to enable a final quality assurance inspection to be made and a Certificate of Completion subsequently issued.