Life Cycle Costing Practices in Ghanaian Public Universities: Case Study of UEW.
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Date
NOVEMBER 2016
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Abstract
Due to the ever-increasing quest for tertiary education in the country, there have been annual increments in enrolments in the various public universities in Ghana over time, leading to pressure on the limited academic facilities. At a high cost of expanding their infrastructural bases, focus has primarily been centered on the cost of construction much to the neglect of overall life span costs of projects. Using a mixed methodology approach, the study aimed at exploring the use of Life Cycle Costing (LCC) practices in GPUs by assessing the level of understanding of practitioners on the technique, documenting existing practices and barriers effective application as well as identifying pre-requisites for effective implementation of the tool. Through a thorough literature review, a questionnaire was developed and administered to 40 practitioners in the built environment (Architects, Engineers, Quantity Surveyors, Project Managers, Estate Officers and Procurement Officers). The study revealed that there is general knowledge and awareness of the LCC tool though rarely applied consciously in practice as confirmed from literature. The study further identified that the involvement of maintenance personnel at the early stage of projects was the most practiced LCC technique and major barriers to the practice have been with bureaucratic structures in administrative procedures as well as poor maintenance culture. Other factors identified included the difficulty in assessing reliable data for analysis, the unavailability of an abridged standardized LCC approach for local practice, insufficient expertise of professionals, the ever-growing challenge of balancing and satisfactorily meeting multiple institutional stakeholders’ needs as well as the effects of inflation on forecasted figures among others. Identified measures for effective implementation of the tool in GPUs are the need to develop institutional design and maintenance standard manuals as well as training of practitioners to gain workable knowledge in the
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application of the tool. Serving as an eye-opener to the exploration of LCC practices in Ghana, this research will be useful for management of GPUs and professionals in the Ghanaian Construction Industry (GCI). The study further recommends that future researchers can explore the perception of built environment professionals on the use of LCC within the GCI.
Description
A Thesis submitted to the Department of Building Technology, College of Art and Built Environment in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science
Keywords
Ghana, Public Universities, Practices, Capital Projects, Life Cycle Costing