Assessment of the Perceived Impact of Flooding and Climate Change on Construction Projects in Nigeria.

Abstract

Since the Paris Agreement (PA) in 2015, there has been an increasing focus on assessing the impact of flooding and climate change. The study assessed the impact of flooding and climate change on construction projects in Nigeria. Data were collected through questionnaire and semi-structured interview to address the research objectives. Primary data were collected by applying tools for eliciting local knowledge and perceptions, such as interviews and questionnaire administration. Nigerian town planners, architects, quantity surveyors, engineers, construction managers, contractors, and project managers were sampled and administered copies of the questionnaire. The findings revealed there is a high level of impact (76.8%) of flooding on the construction industry in Nigeria. The many (55.1%) of the respondents agreed that they experienced financial implications due to inadequate implementation of riskmitigating methods for unforeseen flood and weather events. The identified key causing some of structure/ building collapse are attributed to issue of flood events and climate change such as heavy rainfall and overflow of rivers in accordance of 64.4% of the respondents. The study concluded that flood events are not the primary cause of structural or building collapses in the industry and also identifies key causes of flooding in Nigeria, including the release of water from the Ladgo Dam in Cameroon and the overflow of the Rivers Niger, Benue, and Meme due to heavy rainfall. To navigate these challenges, a proactive and well-informed construction key stakeholders and manager should consider active integration of flood risk mitigation strategy from the tender phase to operation stage thereby; ensuring adequate information is available to justify project decisions.