Financial Constraints and Risk-Sharing Practices in Building Project Delivery: Evidence from Bauchi State, Nigeria

Financial constraints and risk-sharing arrangements are closely embedded in construction project delivery, yet state-level evidence from conventional building projects in Nigeria remains limited. This study examined the major financial constraints experienced by building-project stakeholders and assessed prevailing risk-sharing practices in Bauchi State, Nigeria. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted within an accessible population of 200 construction practitioners. Of 132 questionnaires administered purposively to eligible respondents, 84 usable responses were analysed, representing a usable response rate of 63.6%. Twenty-one financial-constraint indicators were measured on a five-point agreement scale and fourteen risk-sharing practices on a five-point frequency scale. Descriptive statistics, Relative Importance Index (RII) and Cronbach's alpha were applied. The financial-constraint and risk-sharing measures demonstrated good internal consistency (α = 0.845 and 0.905, respectively). Commercial-bank interest rates emerged as the leading financial constraint (M = 4.43; RII = 0.89), followed by political and policy uncertainty (M = 4.38; RII = 0.88), while delayed client payments and bureaucratic disbursement bottlenecks were also highly rated. Contractual flexibility ranked first among risk-sharing practices (M = 3.91; RII = 0.78), followed by stakeholder trust and commitment, financial risk-sharing mechanisms and collaborative decision-making. Conversely, transparency of risk clauses and formal contractual allocation ranked comparatively lower. The findings indicate that building-project delivery in Bauchi State combines substantial financial pressure with strong reliance on adaptive and relational risk-governance practices. The results are exploratory and context-specific because the purposive, single-state design does not support population-wide statistical generalisation.