Study of Construction Defects in Public Building Projects in Addis Ababa (A Case study of Federal Government Office Building Projects
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Date
2016-11
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Construction defect is a shortcoming in the function, performance, statutory or user requirements of a building, and might manifest itself within the structure, materials, services or other facilities of the affected building. Most construction defects are avoidable; they occur, in general, not through a lack of basic knowledge but by non-application or misapplication of it. Occurrence of construction defect can decrease and affect the value of the buildings. A number of buildings in Addis Ababa are suffering construction defects. Therefore, this research tried to investigate the most frequent types of construction defects in Federal Government Office Building Projects in Addis Ababa next to that possible causes of construction defects were addressed. At the end effects of construction defects and defect reducing measures were investigated.
Questionnaire surveys together with case study were used to collect data on construction defect parameters. A total of 30 questionnaires from client & end users, consultants and contractors were collected and a case study of 7 building construction projects in Addis Ababa was investigated. From the results it was found a total of 55 types of construction defect and 4 common causes of construction defects were recorded. The first three most frequent types of construction defects were; broken or loose tiles on floors or wall; water seepage from external wall, roof, or from ceiling; broken or leaking sanitary fixtures. Similarly the results showed that the most common cause of construction defect was poor workmanship. 58% of construction defect were attributed to poor workmanship. Defective material takes the next role by causing 20% of construction defects. Deign error causes 15% of construction defects and the remaining defects were caused by poor subsurface investigation and improper usage of building.
This research recorded a total of 8 effects of construction defect and project delay ranked as the first effect of construction defects. The next effect was construction cost overrun. The analysis ranked high maintenance cost as the 3rd effects of construction defects. Also the research found a total of 13 construction defect reducing measure and among them periodic and regular construction site supervision was the most important measure to decrease occurrence of construction defect. The next important measure was implementing a comprehensive quality control mechanism. Concurrently coordinating all building systems, starting with the planning phase and continuing into the programming and implementation phases was the third important measures
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Office Building