Abstract:
Over the years, the construction industry of Ghana has witnessed tremendous increase
in the cost of building. Despite the clarion call by successive governments and civil
society organisations to use indigenous materials, the patronage still remains a
challenge. This study sought to investigate into the use of indigenous materials for
buildings construction and its inherent challenges using Denkyembour District Akwatia as the case study. The target population involves contractors, employees of
construction firms and clients. Convenience sampling technique was employed in
selecting sample size of 207, out of which 186 responded. Questionnaire served as the
main data collection instrument and results were analysed using descriptive statistics
and inferential statistics. The study found that most respondents alluded they patronise
indigenous materials for construction activities. The three most dominant challenges
to the use of indigenous materials were apathy, low technical know-how and
misconception based on social class. This has been fueled by the misconception that
indigenous materials are of low standard and quality. It was established that the
quality of buildings are highly determined by the nature and type of materials used.
The use of indigenous materials were found to promote cultural heritage, keeps
money in the local economy, provide cool room temperature and most of them were
affordable and cheap. Despites these challenges, the use of indigenous materials help
to promote culture of the local communities and retain income in the local economy.
There should be a comprehensive policy that would motivate the communities to
adopt the use of local materials for buildings and it is appropriate for producers of
local materials to adopt enhanced technology to improve their products.
Description:
A Dissertation in the Department of CONSTRUCTION AND WOOD TECHNOLOGY
EDUCATION, Faculty of TECHNICAL EDUCATION, submitted to the School of
Graduate Studies, University of Education, Winneba in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the award of Master of Technology (Construction) degree.
DECEMBER, 2017