PUBLIC PERCEPTION AND TECHNICAL KNOWHOW AS DETERMINANTS OF THE ADOPTION OF PREFABRICATED BUILDING TECHNOLOGY: A CASE OF NATIONAL HOUSING CORPORATION, NAIROBI COUNTY

Abstract

The current practice of adopting prefabrication methods improves building durability while reducing costs, which defeats the concept of on-site construction, due to heightened understanding and perception of the various cost constraints in the innovative approach in the prefab construction model. A rise in the prefab-technology adoption benefits the construction industry, hence the need to gauge the determinants of the level of adoption of this innovative construction technology in the housing sector is needed. This survey sought to find out how public perception and technical know-how affects the adoption of prefabricated building technology in the case of the National Housing Corporation in Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive research design on a sample of 71 users of prefabricated construction technology and 12 prefab experts registered at the NHC. Structured questionnaires were used for data collection, and the qualitative and quantitative data was analyzed through SPSS, while OLS regression was done to ascertain the relationships among the variables under study. The study found that technical know-how and public perception showed a positive statistically significant relationship with the level of adoption of prefabricated building technology. The study therefore confirmed that improvement in technical know-how and public perception would result in an improvement in the level of adoption to prefabricated building technology. The study suggests that this topic should be further researched in a bid to widen its generalizability and allow further research on the topic to unearth even more determinant factors, hence this study suggests further study of this topic in different and wider geographical zones. The current practice of adopting prefabrication methods improves building durability while reducing costs, which defeats the concept of on-site construction, due to heightened understanding and perception of the various cost constraints in the innovative approach in the prefab construction model. A rise in the prefab-technology adoption benefits the construction industry, hence the need to gauge the determinants of the level of adoption of this innovative construction technology in the housing sector is needed. This survey sought to find out how public perception and technical know-how affects the adoption of prefabricated building technology in the case of the National Housing Corporation in Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive research design on a sample of 71 users of prefabricated construction technology and 12 prefab experts registered at the NHC. Structured questionnaires were used for data collection, and the qualitative and quantitative data was analyzed through SPSS, while OLS regression was done to ascertain the relationships among the variables under study. The study found that technical know-how and public perception showed a positive statistically significant relationship with the level of adoption of prefabricated building technology. The study therefore confirmed that improvement in technical know-how and public perception would result in an improvement in the level of adoption to prefabricated building technology. The study suggests that this topic should be further researched in a bid to widen its generalizability and allow further research on the topic to unearth even more determinant factors, hence this study suggests further study of this topic in different and wider geographical zones.