Building capacity in institutional voids: carbon competency development among quantity surveyors in Nigeria’s weak institutional environment

Purpose This study assesses the training needs and competency strategies that quantity surveyors (QSs) perceive as important for enhancing embodied carbon estimation (ECE) in Nigeria’s weak institutional environment. It addresses gap in understanding how global sustainability norms may be taken up by a profession traditionally focused on cost management, in a setting where institutional pressures remain limited. Design/methodology/approach This organization-based study collected data from 132 quantity surveying firms (QSFs) in Lagos, Nigeria, using a structured questionnaire covering 21 training needs and competency strategies. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to rank the perceived importance of these items and to identify the underlying competency clusters. Findings The factor analysis identified two clusters of perceived training needs and competency strategies: (1) technical and operational capacity building comprising skills for lifecycle assessment and the use of carbon digital tools; and (2) knowledge infrastructure and strategic integration, comprising systemic support such as carbon databases and online resources and industry guidelines. All 21 competency strategies were rated as highly important, suggesting that respondents did not strongly differentiate among them and regarded all of them as priorities for improving ECE. Practical implications The findings offer insights for academia, policymakers and professional bodies in the Nigerian built environment. Suggested priorities include a local embodied carbon database, industry guidelines, collaborative knowledge-sharing platforms, continuing professional development accreditation for ECE and phased, scalable multi-stakeholder implementation roadmaps. As the findings are specific to Lagos, Nigeria, implications for other developing countries and weak institutional environments should be drawn with caution. Originality/value The study offers three contributions. First, by showing that respondents attach high importance to ECE competencies in a context where formal requirements for ECE are limited, it provides a basis for further examining whether institutional pressures are the only route to competency development. Second, it proposes distributed competency as a conceptual lens, suggesting that sustainable construction competence may be better understood as drawing on socio-technical systems rather than on individual skills and knowledge alone. Third, it provides a data-driven structured categorization of perceived priorities for ECE competency development among construction cost professionals in Nigeria’s weak institutional context.