School Of Graduates Studies in the Department of Project Management “Managing and Minimizing Wastage of Construction Materials on Selected Public Building Projects in Addis Ababa”

Abstract

Construction industry is an industry, which is involved in the planning execution and evaluation (monitoring) of all types of civil works. Physical infrastructures such as buildings, communication & energy related construction works, water supply & sewerage civil works etc. are some of the major projects (program) in the construction industry. Specifically in our country Ethiopia, it covers 58% of the annual budget. The successful execution of construction projects within given cost, time and quality, good handling of construction materials on construction site requires systematic planning and controlling of the construction works. The type of materials produced to serve the industry range from raw goods such as sand, aggregates, soil and water to manufactured goods such as bricks, cement, plasterboard, metals (steel and iron), timber, concrete, cement, and plaster. Because of a high rate of consumption of these materials, waste is generated in large quantities, which can have significant impact on the environment. Therefore, this research was attempt to assess the current situation of managing and minimizing wastage of construction materials in the Addis Ababa on selected public building construction projects and formulates and gives recommendations with respect to handling of construction materials in accordance with the outcome of the paper. The main tools for the collection of data included questionnaires, interviews and site visit were used to identify the various efforts that have been made in the past to evaluate and examine the causes and sources of construction materials waste on building construction project. Simple statistical analysis involving tables and percentages were used in analyze the results from the questionnaire. Secondary sources of data were obtained from relevant literature that covered research, publication on the subject matter. The results from analysis ranked from the first to fifth position by contractors, consultants and owners that the most significant factors causing construction waste on building construction projects are: -Site supervision factors, Materials handling and storage factors, Design and documentation factors, Site management and practices factors and Operations factors. The results of this study recommended that there is a need to establish a new construction waste department to develop waste management policies and develop the effective strategy to reduce construction waste.