ABSTRACT
Preliminaries in building construction contracts are allowed for the support services provided on to the main work. Some studies show that they account for as much as ten percent (10%) of the total cost of the contract. There has not been any precise approach to the determination of the total cost of what should consist of preliminaries. This study seeks to establish the variability in the total cost of preliminaries in building projects and that of the various items. The main objective was to establish the cost significant items of preliminaries and to provide guide to assist practitioners in the pricing and management of preliminaries in building contract. The method adopted involved the collection of primary data on completed projects and the administration of questionnaires. Sixty (60) completed projects were studied and sixty (60) questionnaires sent out. Forty five (45) of the questionnaires were completed and returned by respondents. The data collected were analysed using some statistical tools such as the measure of central tendency, test of significance and regression analysis. The results revealed that provision of preliminaries is very important in the execution of building contract and that the most appropriate method of pricing and valuing them is to consider the individual items. The study showed that there exists very high variability in the provision of preliminaries among various projects as well as among the various items of preliminaries. Strong positive relationship (r = 0.974 - 0.999) exist between the initial and final sums of the various preliminaries item. The study concluded that preliminaries are an indispensable part of construction contract execution for efficient delivery. The pricing of the various items that constitute the preliminaries can ensure adequate provision for this important element of a building contract. Therefore, it is recommended that consultants give detail information on the items so that they can be priced to reduce variability.