CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1       Background to the Study
Approaches to the total cost management of construction works are now changing rapidly. The change imposes the necessity to change how the cost of construction work is conceived across domain. The term cost management connotes basically two related activities in costing that is, cost forecasting and cost control (Ashworth, Hogg and Higgs, 2013). This understanding suggests that, to be able to exert cost control yardsticks, the estimate of the cost implication must be known over defined stages in the project development cycle. Cost management of buildings were historically aimed at minimising the initial construction costs alone.  Opoku (2013) observed that the usual practice in the construction industry was to accept the cheapest initial cost, and this trend tend to discourage whole life cost consideration. However, during the 1930’s, many building users began to discover that the running costs of the buildings such as maintenance, energy, management cost, began to impact significantly on the occupier’s budget (Opoku, 2011).
Unfortunately, the lowest price frequently does not result in the lowest all-in cost or total cost of acquisition, operation and disposal. The resurgence of concern for energy consumed by buildings and the associated high maintenance cost have highlighted the need to reconsider whole life costing in building cost management. According to Bello, Ibrahim and Kolo (2013), buildings have long design life-spans, as a result, concerns dealing with the whole life of the building deserves considerate attention.
The application of whole life costing (WLC) technique is widely practiced in other industries; however, its use in the construction industry is marginal. The WLC approach encourages decision-making that takes account of the initial capital cost, running cost, maintenance cost, refurbishment requirements and disposal cost. However, recent government initiatives and the growing demand from the private sector for greater predictability in the running costs of buildings have increased the need to analyze life cycle costs from earliest stage of a project. Several reports, including those of “Constructing the Team” (Latham 1994) and “Rethinking Construction” (Egan 1998) have all strongly recommended the need to consider the long-term costs and economic performance of constructed assets. The construction industry is now recognized as an important contributor to sustainable development; that is achieving economic and social objectives while minimizing adverse environmental impacts (Addis and Talbot 2001). It is therefore essential that, the concept of whole life value is used as a criterion for procurement in the construction industry. The Egan report recommended that design should encompass whole life costs including cost of energy consumption and maintenance costs (Egan 1998). However, little has been written on the extent of application of WLC in the Nigerian construction industry. According to Chirugwui et al. (2010) and Olubodun et al. (2010), the concepts of whole life costing must be well understood to enhance wide application. This study therefore examined the depth of whole life costing knowledge in building design cost management in the Nigerian construction industry in Akwa Ibom State.