Utilizing Earned Value Management for Tracking and Predicting The Performance of a Project at Nile University of Nigeria

The construction sector plays a significant role in providing the constructed infrastructure in an innovative and cost-effective manner. Over the years as technology and engineering keep evolving, construction is becoming more complex and sophisticated hence, the importance of managing projects, especially large scale and mega projects cannot be overemphasized. Scope creep and cost overruns are two of the many negative outcomes that can result from insufficient planning and management of a project. This has greatly affected a lot of projects in Nigeria causing them to be abandoned. Although project cost variations may occasionally be unavoidable owing to inflation and other unforeseeable circumstances, lack of proper planning and design have also made it difficult to create accurate projections of the cost of materials and the overall project's expense, yet projects can be finished on schedule, within budget, and to the required standards of quality and scope while still being considered to have failed. This research paper explains a project management technique which is the earned value management that will help provide solutions to these challenges. The research also aims to know the in-depth knowledge of earned value management in Abuja. The research employed a survey using questionnaires and a case study. From the analysis, the CPI and SPI turned out to be 0.92 and 0.55 respectively showing that the project is behind schedule and over budgeted. There could be some outstanding setbacks that could have contributed to this. The earned value management technique acts as a trigger warning, demonstrating how severely these setbacks can affect the project if they are not properly managed. The research recommends that professional organizations in Nigeria need to educate their members on the benefits of employing EVM by holding workshops, lectures, and conferences on the subject and government bodies should employ the technique more in construction projects.