Prospects of industrialized materials in building production in Nigeria

The paper amidst the issues of growing demand for affordable housing, increasing construction costs, heightened concern for energy-efficiency, fragmentation of the industry; delays in production and delivery time; unnecessary wastages and lack of sustainable practice arising from the widespread adoption of the traditional method of construction examines the need to explore other constructional methods - Industrialized Building System (IBS) so as to satisfy the concerns of construction players. The paper adopts qualitative research method, which entails thematic review of literature appropriate for the study. The paper espouses the immense benefits of industrialized building system, which is considered to be an important part of sustainable construction initiative, no doubt meet the above and the awareness and adoption of current trends and latest innovation in same is essential in order to survive in the emerging competitive market. However reviewed literatures equally shows that , the system has failed to gather momentum due to the perception that the system increases construction costs; the traditional financing practice is at variance to its adoption; the lack of adequate skills and knowledge on the IBS; project delivery and supply chain issues; negative perception of stakeholders on the flexibility of the system and the lack of incentives and seriousness in its promotion by the authorities in both public and private sectors. Based on the review of literature and field survey carried out, this paper discusses the identified barriers with the aim of determining the prospects of industrialized materials in Building production implementation in the Nigerian construction industry.