By Jude Njoku & Kingsley Adegboye
One week after the suspension of the eight-day nation-wide strike/protest championed by Labour and civil society groups to kick against the withdrawal of subsidy on fuel, professionals in the construction industry have begun to take stock of their losses occasioned during the period the strike lasted.

According to those who spoke to Vanguard Homes & Property, the nation-wide strike brought the fledgling sub-sector which is generally regarded as the barometer for measuring the health of any country, on its knees.

The National Publicity Secretary, Nigerian Institute of Building NIOB, Mr. Kunle Awobodu said the strike had devastating effects on the construction industry. According to him, most of those who were working at project sites, were thrown off balance by the nation wide strike. Similarly,  people expecting payments during the period of the strike could not get paid by their clients as long as the strike lasted.

The former NIOB chairman in Lagos State added that due to the strike, clients could not get money from banks to execute ongoing and fresh projects.

Mr Awobodu noted that the harmattan season dis not help matters. According to him,  the harmattan weather during the strike affected some materials such as planks and mixed concrete. Planks got bent and would require outright replacement while mixed concrete became hardened because they could not be used at the right time. He noted that such materials would be calculated as waste.

Awobodu posited that apart from these adverse impacts of the suspended strike, the duration or delivery schedule of most projects were altered and this would consequently affect the completion period of such projects. The supply of materials also suffered during the period under review, and this has resulted to the back log in the supply chain of building materials.

Explaining that it may not be possible to put a figure on the actual losses incurred by industry stakeholders, Awobodu explained that in terms of labour, the cost will certainly increase but the percentage of the increase cannot be determined. “The impact of the increase in fuel price is quite significant to the building industry. We will undergo similar experience time around. Obviously, both prices of labour and materials will be increased”, he stated.

Also reacting to the impact of the strike on the construction industry, Mr. Afolabi Adedeji, a civil engineer and CEO of  Buildwell International Company Limited, a facility management outfit, said the strike will lead to extension or postponement in the completion dates of projects. He pointed out however, that because this is dry season now, some project managers may still make up for lost time.

According to him, clients should be prepared to cope with demands for variation or an upward review of contract sum from contractors on projects already in progress. He said in the medium term, some projects nearing approval stage may need to be kept in abeyance due to increasing budgetary constraints.

Engr Adedeji explained that both skilled and unskilled workers in the construction industry may suffer more redundancy with half pay or no salary at all as a result of the strike. “Those in full employment may need to find creative ways to cope with rising cost of living that has been further exacerbated by the recent fuel price hike. We all know the apprehension which this will naturally cause for all of us in terms of quality of work, construction safety and the moral fabric of the society.

“Already, scarce talents at the upper echelon of the built environment industry may abandon it for more worthwhile endeavours elsewhere. More should be done to build local capacity, retain and attract existing talents in the construction industry which lays the bedrock for national development”, he said.

A construction cost expert, Mr Jide Oke told Vanguard Homes & Property that virtually all aspects of the construction industry – labour, materials, what contractors will charge as overhead- will be affected by the new pump price of fuel.

“The cost of materials will go up astronomically because most materials are imported and even if they are not imported, they would be transported from the point of sale to the construction site. The cost of labour will also go up because the construction workers are buying from the same market.

Profit and overhead will go up because people will spend more to run their offices and provide services. Unit rates will also go up and nobody can do anything about it,” the former chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, NIQS said.