Factors Affecting Front-End and Building Project Performance in South-South Nigeria

This study is aimed at identifying factors affecting the front-end and identify key factors of the front-end influencing performance of public building projects in South-South Nigeria. The study used a survey research design method of investigation, and a purposive sampling technique to select a sample size of 400 from a population of 968 respondents using the Slovin’s formula. The data collection and survey instrument included a well-structured questionnaire and personal observations and visits to elicit information from respondents/public building project locations/sites. The collected data was presented in the form of frequency distribution using descriptive statistical tools via IBM SPSS Statistics version 26.0. While mean score and factor analysis were used to analyze the study's main objectives. The study's findings indicate that the factors affecting the front-end of public building projects in South-South, Nigeria includes poor scope definition as the main cause of project failure (cost and schedule overrun), with a mean score of 2.67, awareness of practice of FEP is low, unstructured, subject to subjective individual professional opinion and ineffective with a mean score of 2.66, project definition of large public building is best achieved by stakeholder’s collaboration with a mean score of 2.65, lack of team skill/competence affects FEP with a mean score of 2.58 and lack of organizational commitment to FEP affects the process with a high mean score of 2.58 from the response of 372 responses used for the study. The study's results further revealed nine (9) clusters named in order of significance as the factors of frontend influencing public building project performance includes; political, social and economic climate, organizational culture, project team training and development, stakeholder alignment and collaboration, common vocabulary and understanding, use of structured stage-gated process, process integration, activity sequencing, and front-end management framework. The study recommends that in order to prevent scope expansion and foster collaboration among stakeholders, the project frontend should be adequately defined from the outset. Professional bodies and stakeholders should increase awareness, and a collaborative culture should be encouragedKeywords: Frontend, Project Management, Public Building Projects, South-South, Nigeria.