Access to and utilization of housing construction information by Professionals in selected public institutions in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

Housing construction is a technical process by which a house project is put together till a complete dwelling is realized. The housing industry development is driven by cumulative information and subsequent knowledge that is used by housing construction professionals. Housing information exists in wide range and types. Although the information is needed and used by housing construction professionals constantly, in Kenya, this information is scattered and not easily accessible. The environment of scattered information makes the consumer waste valuable time causing unnecessary delays in solving work related tasks. The aim of the study was to investigate Access to and Utilization of Housing Construction Information in Public Institutions in Nairobi, Kenya with the view of proposing a frame work for improvement. The objectives of the study were to: identify information needs and seeking methods and behaviours of key professionals in the housing construction sector in public institutions in Nairobi County, establish the role played by key professionals in the housing sector that warrants them to use information in the sector, establish the types and range of information that exists in the surveyed institutions, examine the extent to which the professionals in the sector use and are aware of the existing information of the sector, Determine the level of application of ICTs in managing and accessing housing construction information in studied institutions, identify factors hindering access to housing construction information in the institutions surveyed and to suggest a framework for improving information access in these institutions. This study was guided by Dervine‟s Sense Making theory on information seeking and Maslow‟s Motivational Needs model. Qualitative method using case study approach was employed to conduct the research. Semi structured interview schedule was used to gather data from 74 professionals in the public institutions with important roles in championing housing construction. Purposive sampling was used to select categories of respondents. Grounded theory method gave an insight in data analysis. Data was mainly presented in qualitative explanations. The findings revealed that; majority (97.2%) of the interviewed professionals needed and used information for work tasks. Access problems were found to be instigated by poor information systems and lax attitude on information management in the surveyed institutions. The study concluded that the problem of access and utilization of information in housing construction industry can be addressed by accumulation of relevant information in individual institutions to cater for professionals‟ information pegged on their information needs. Information should be organized, preserved and managed in user oriented systems. There is need to apply information management including proper records keeping. The study recommended creation of housing information data banks in the surveyed institutions and establishing of central database access point at the Ministry of Housing to enhance access and use of housing construction information.