EFFECTS OF CONTRACTORS ATTITUDE TOWARDS RISK IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS DELIVERY IN GOMBE TOWN, NIGERIA

Despite heavy infrastructural development Gombe state is witnessing by the successive administrations, the indigenous construction project contractors in the state are yet to seize this opportunity as indicated by the list of active contractors by the state’s ministry of works and transport. Extant literature embodies several propositions relating to this phenomenon—some organizations see opportunity as threat; the downside of risk is what many contractors forecast, etc. Consequently, this study investigated the attitude of the construction contractors in Gombe town. The research was conducted using questionnaire survey, where 84 construction contractors participated in the study. These contractors were selected using simple random sampling technique, and the responses obtained were analyzed using SPSS packaged 21. The study found that the effect of contractor attitude towards risk in project delivery is ‘avoiding risk’ attitude. And with this attitude, only 22.3% of the subjects’ project performance were enhanced. Furthermore, there is large negative correlation (r= -.556) between this attitude of ‘avoiding risk’ by the Gombe-town construction contractors and their project performance. Considering these findings, it is recommended that attitudinal change must be shown by the contractors from just ‘avoiding risk’ to at least ‘exploiting’ and ‘sharing’ attitudes. Similarly, more effort is needed by the contractors to invest in project management knowledge area to enable them to devise ‘strategic approach’ to each project as this will enhance their attitude.