Awareness and Compliance with Builders’ Risk Insurance among Construction Professionals in Gombe State, Nigeria (Published)
Builders’ Risk Insurance (BRI) is an important risk-transfer mechanism for protecting construction projects against specified losses during the construction period. However, awareness of insurance requirements does not necessarily translate into sustained compliance. This study investigates this awareness–compliance gap among construction professionals in Gombe State, Nigeria. The study pursued two objectives: to assess the level of awareness of BRI and to determine the level of compliance with BRI requirements. A quantitative cross-sectional survey design was adopted. The study population comprised 400 construction professionals, from which a sample of 196 was determined using the Krejcie and Morgan approach. Structured questionnaires were administered to architects, builders, civil engineers and quantity surveyors, yielding 191 valid responses and a 97.4% response rate. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and simple linear regression. The results indicate relatively high awareness of BRI (grand mean = 3.71), particularly regarding its existence (M = 4.21), purpose (M = 4.15) and mandatory nature (M = 4.08). However, compliance was comparatively weaker (grand mean = 3.62), with particularly low scores for continuous policy renewal (M = 3.08) and regulatory verification of insurance certificates (M = 2.94). Regression analysis further indicates a significant positive association between awareness and effective construction risk management (β = 0.64, R² = 0.410, p < 0.001). The findings reveal that the principal implementation problem is not simply lack of awareness but the conversion of knowledge into sustained compliance. The study contributes context-specific evidence by demonstrating an awareness–compliance implementation gap in Gombe State and proposes a lifecycle-oriented approach to BRI implementation.
Keywords: Compliance, Nigeria, Risk Management, builders’ risk insurance, construction professionals, construction risk, insurance awareness