By: Tijani Salako.

Builders have blamed poor collaboration among professionals in the built industry for the increasing cases of project abandonment and construction waste across the country.

Speaking at a press briefing ahead of the 34th Lagos Builders’ Conference and Annual General Meeting, the Vice Chairman of the chapter, Rasheed Ayoola, said lack of cooperation among architects, engineers, builders, and quantity surveyors often leads to wrong cost estimates, poor processes, and eventual project failure.

Ayoola noted that most abandoned projects stem from poor cost planning and failure to involve the right professionals from the start.

He said, “Because there is no collaboration between the architect, the engineer, and the builder up to the point where the quantity surveyor determines the cost, many projects start with wrong cost assumptions.

By the time they get midway, funds run out, leading to abandonment. When qualified builders are excluded from the process, the quality of materials and workmanship suffers, often resulting in structural failure.

“At the end of the day, it is either underutilisation or overutilisation of materials. And once the client starts managing materials to cut costs, quality drops, and collapse becomes inevitable.”

Meanwhile, Ayoola called on the government and financial institutions to provide more funding support to both individuals and developers through mortgage schemes and housing finance initiatives.

“Government and financial institutions need to empower mortgage banks and support affordable housing projects. Rent-to-own schemes being implemented in Lagos are commendable, but we need more of them.

“In the past, every professional body held tightly to its own space, trying to do everything alone. That rivalry has contributed to poor outcomes. True collaboration means every professional is involved from design to delivery,” he urged.

In a similar vein, the Chairman of the Lagos Chapter of NIOB, Thomas Adeoye, asserted that non-collaboration was fuelling waste of resources in the building sector.

He said, “Professionals collaborating bring together the expertise needed to reduce construction costs, which in turn helps prevent project abandonment and building collapses across the country. No single professional can take full ownership of a construction project; it requires every expert to work hand in hand, with proper coordination and effective monitoring.”

Adeoye lauded recent government initiatives to involve professional bodies in regulatory oversight, stating that the collaboration between regulators and practitioners would help identify and prevent structural failures.

“The result may not be immediate, but with continuous collaboration, we will begin to see positive changes. It’s not just government-driven; it’s something we, as professionals, pushed for,” he said.

He also encouraged research into locally sourced and affordable building materials as a long-term measure to reduce construction costs and bridge Nigeria’s housing deficit.

“We need to look inward to develop cheaper local materials. If government policies support this and professionals cooperate, we can significantly reduce housing deficits,” he stated.

The conference, themed ‘Collaboration, Cooperation and Inclusiveness for Successful and Sustainable Building Delivery’, is scheduled to be held on October 22 and 23 at the D’podium International Event Centre, Ikeja, Lagos.

The 34th Lagos Builders’ Conference seeks to unite key stakeholders in the construction industry, including policymakers and private developers, to tackle challenges in sustainable building delivery and promote stronger collaboration toward safer and more affordable housing in Nigeria.