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The literature propounds that facilities management (FM) differs from other building support services (BSS) because it features a significant strategic content. However, research indicates that this deep seated strategic and value-adding practice is mostly unavailable except in the most matured markets. The purpose of this paper is to compare the strategic content of the functions performed by FM practitioners with that of other BSS providers in Lagos, the commercial hub of Nigeria. This is to determine if the content of the FM functions is comparatively more strategic and invariably more value-adding than that of other BSS providers as indicated in literature and also to identify required areas of improvement, both for practice and training.

A survey was carried out through self-administered questionnaire directed to a sample of 123 BSS providers that work with office buildings in Lagos, Nigeria. The data collected were analyzed using frequency counts, means, χ² test and Wilcoxon signed rank test.

Rather than the strategic tasks, the FM group as with the non-FM group were more regularly involved with the less specialized facilities operations/maintenance and facilities support service tasks such as, security, fire, emergency management, cleaning and waste management. Specialized FM support service tasks such as mail services, reprographics, catering and travel services, were least often performed by both groups. The study found that facilities managers were slightly more involved than the non-facilities managers in performing the strategic group of tasks. This was indicated by the higher cumulative mean values and ranking of the level of involvement. The facilities managers also ranked higher in their involvement in the individual strategic tasks. The study also shows that FM practitioners use the more strategic ways to determine the needs of users. These findings imply that FM presents a slightly more strategic edge, which is, however, insufficient.

Although the FM practitioners may feature a slightly more strategic content of functions than their non-FM counterparts, the edge is insufficient to add significant value to clients’ business as postulated in literature. Lagos FM practitioners must become more involved in strategic functions in order to enhance FM’s value-adding edge and hence distinguish it better from other BSS practices.

The study positions the Nigerian FM practice in the light of expectations in literature and re-affirms the supposition that the practice is relatively strategically immature. It also identifies the contingent needs of local and multinational organizations that may require or intend to provide FM and other BSS in the Nigerian context, invariably allowing for international comparisons.

Literature established that applicable parameters must be used in determining facilities management (FM) performance in any market; otherwise, findings could be confusing and misleading. This is particularly relevant to Nigeria where FM application is in its infancy and seriously constrained by particular socio-economic conditions which make it prone to crises situations such as frequent power outages and surges, abundance of fake and adulterated construction materials and equipment, heavy presence of unqualified artisans, poor transparency and terribly chaotic and unpredictable traffic to mention a few. Hence, this research aims to identify contextual parameters for evaluating performance of FM service in office buildings in Lagos, reflecting these peculiarities.

The research adopts survey design, using self-administered questionnaires that were served on building occupants. Means and standard deviation were used in the analyses. Factor analysis was used in identifying the important factors or constructs and to confirm the practical significance of the measures.

The study developed a multi-item scale of 41 measures for evaluating performance of facilities managers in offices in Lagos, Nigeria. The scale comprises three major dimensions, i.e. “financial”, “quality of service” and “crises response and management”. Using factor analysis, the study identified five important factors, two of which (comprising ten new measures) have not been featured in previous studies.

The developed performance measurement scales (PMS) can be applied to FM performance evaluation, management and control in the Nigerian context. The PMS and identified factors would also aid FM policy formulation, resource allocation and facilities review.

The research is considered the first to develop a PMS for FM in office facilities in Lagos, Nigeria. The new factors and measures that were uncovered in the study makes it possible to evaluate the Nigerian facility manager’s ability to manage the near-crises challenges imposed by the peculiar socio-economic context. Furthermore, the scale adopts simplistic financial success criteria, which makes it relevant and easy to use for the poor financial record disclosing and research-averse Nigerian audience. It is also more relevant to the less strategic and more operational task-based Nigerian FM context and by extension, to the context of other developing countries with similar socio-economic features.

The purpose of this paper is to examine benchmarking barriers among Nigerian facilities management (FM) practitioners.

Data collection were through semi-structured interviews with 34 FM heads from three selected cities in Nigeria. Out of this number, 16 were from Lagos, ten from Abuja while eight managers were from Port Harcourt, respectively. These managers were selected using purposive sampling based on their experience in the field of FM across the various sectors of the economy. The interviews were analysed with Nvivo 10 software qualitative computer software.

Those that do informal benchmarking face challenges with data, employees lack of confidence in new initiatives and poor support of senior management, the companies that use best practice benchmarking face constraints of access to information and employees unwillingness to change and comply to company set standards, unwillingness of benchmarking partners to understand the usefulness of the project, and problems that emanate from the quality of data obtained.

The results therefore suggest that to improve the practice of best practice benchmarking there is need to improve both quantity and quality of data for the exercise and enhance standard practice.

The study established a new category of benchmarking barriers called the market category of benchmarking barriers and further distinguished benchmarking barriers based on two forms of benchmarking which is informal and formal benchmarking. Also there are limited studies on benchmarking barriers in developing countries.

Benchmarking in FM practice although understood and applied globally, little is known about the practice in Nigeria. The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework to guide the use of benchmarking.

The research adopts a cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires on FM organizations in Lagos metropolis, Abuja and Port Harcourt. The results of the survey were supplemented with interviews with FM unit heads in the study areas. The framework was validated using a focus group discussion with ten FM industry experts.

A framework which serves as a guide for the use of best practice benchmarking was developed. It showed that there is a relationship between best practice benchmarking and location.

The evaluation of the framework was limited by the number of participants involved and being that it has not been put to use.

This study develops a multi-sector framework to guide the use of best practice benchmarking in facilities management (FM). The framework explains the relationship between organizational characteristics and best practice benchmarking. In addition, there are limited empirical benchmarking frameworks in FM literature.

To address the phenomenon of inaccuracy in real estate valuation successfully, it is imperative to ascertain the sources and how valuers are influenced. The purpose of this paper therefore is to identify and assess both the predictive and relative importance of the factors that significantly influence inaccuracy in residential property valuations in Lagos metropolis.

Data obtained from 250 firms of Estate Surveyors and Valuers were analyzed by a combination of descriptive and inferential statistics including factor analysis, and correlation/regression analysis.

The study identified: valuers' knowledge and experience; valuers' approach to valuation; and individual characteristics of valuers and valuation firms, in that order, as having significant influence on valuation accuracy in the study area.

If valuers know the factors that significantly influence inaccuracy and understand how they are affected, it would be possible to reduce the incidence of inaccuracy, together with its potential grave consequences to the housing market in particular, and the economy as a whole.

Urban crop farming as a variant of urban agriculture is a rising phenomenon in food and income generation especially in the developing countries. It is useful in fresh food supplies, recycling of urban wastes and poverty alleviation. However, as an informal activity, the greatest challenge it faces is accessibility to land. This tends to undermine the numerous contributions it can make to a city's development in terms of social, economic and environmental developments particularly its influence on climate change, fresh air supply and healthy living of the teaming urban population. There is therefore an urgent need to examine the potentials and risks associated with urban crop farming in order to identify factors that can enhance its productivity and economic viability by improving practitioners’ access to land. The purpose of the paper is to do this.

The study therefore conceptualized that land accessibility among urban crop farmers can be predicted from identified constraint variables. Respondents in some locations where urban crop farming was found to be thriving well within the Lagos Metropolis were randomly selected and administered with structured questionnaires.

The data collected were analyzed using factor (principal component) analysis which enabled the construction of a constraints analysis equation or regression equation.

The study identified five constraints affecting land accessibility among urban crop farmers with the most critical factors being affordability and security of tenure.

The paper aims to examine benchmarking challenges among Nigerian Facilities management (FM) practitioners.

Data collection was through self-administered questionnaires sent to 120 FM organizations in Lagos metropolis, 50 in Abuja and 15 in Port Harcourt. Also, interviews were conducted on six facilities managers to ascertain challenges faced by organizations that use best practice benchmarking. The survey achieved a total response rate of 74 per cent in Lagos, 66 per cent in Abuja and 93 per cent in Port Harcourt, respectively. Grand mean scores and relative importance index were used to ascertain ranking of the challenges. One-way analysis of variance and t-test were used to establish whether organizations’ characteristics bring about significant differences in the types of benchmarking challenges encountered.

Overall, the top four challenges of benchmarking were “unwillingness of employees to change”, “inadequate understanding of the exercise of benchmarking”, “inadequate access to data from other organizations” and “poor execution of-the benchmarking exercise”. Also, FM organization location result in a significant difference in benchmarking challenges.

The implication of the study is that it will assist in identifying impediments to benchmarking and barriers faced during benchmarking and, thus, enable recommendations to be made to minimize such challenges.

There are limited empirical studies on the problems of benchmarking in developing countries.

This paper aims to examine common environmental practices and strategies for implementing sustainable FM among Nigerian FM practitioners.

A review of the literature on sustainability and environmental management was undertaken. Data collection was through self‐administered questionnaires directed to a sample of 150 facilities managers who are members of the International Facility Management Association (Nigeria Group), Lagos, Nigeria. Structured interviews with five top facilities management professionals were also conducted. The data collected were analyzed using frequency counts, means, z‐test, repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and relative importance index. The survey achieved a response rate of 30 percent.

The survey revealed that many of the practitioners put a premium on achieving energy efficiency as a very vital environmental practice within their organizations. A strategic management procedure is more important for the implementation of environmental management in the Nigerian FM industry.

There is a paucity of literature in sustainability within facilities management in Nigeria. An integration of sustainability considerations into FM practice is required to promote the development of suitable environmental initiatives and practices within Nigerian cities, as many facilities managers are employed by companies whose activities harm the environment.

This paper seeks to adopt an investigative approach to post‐occupancy evaluation using major technical and functional criteria of performance on the facilities of a postgraduate hostel at the campus of the University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria.

Data collection was based on a survey through self‐administered questionnaires in which users of the building were asked to report on their perceptions and experience of the facility. The user satisfaction survey was developed based on the students' feedback on their experience with 29 identified performance criteria obtained from a review of the literature and an interview with a member of the university's hall management committee. Data at the organizational level were collected by personal interviews with the facilities manager and co‐ordinator of hostels of the university.

The user satisfaction survey identified areas of deficiency, particularly in maintenance, and facilitated the assessment of the overall performance of the building.

This study demonstrates how universities in Nigeria can assess the management of hostel facilities by hostel administrators and facilities managers. Apart from the results of the user satisfaction survey being useful as evidence to access funds for the improvement of student hostel facilities, the feedback will be helpful in the design and management of new hostel facilities.