Competency Framework for Project Managers in the Nigerian Construction Industry: A Study Across Six Geopolitical Zones

A context-specific competency framework for project managers in the Nigerian construction industry is essential for professional development, recruitment standards, and performance benchmarking. This study develops and validates a competency framework for construction project managers across Nigeria's six geopolitical zones. A mixed-methods design will be employed, with qualitative data from 30 expert interviews and six focus groups across the zones generating competency domains, and quantitative validation through a survey of 300 project managers from the Nigerian Institute of Building and the Nigerian Society of Engineers. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses will validate the framework structure. Competency domains are expected to include technical project management skills, contextual Nigerian regulatory knowledge, cross-cultural communication, stakeholder management, and resilience in resource-constrained environments. This study responds to the absence of a Nigerian construction-specific competency standard and will directly contribute to the Project Management Institute of Nigeria's professional certification framework development. Keywords: competency framework, project managers, Nigerian construction industry, professional development, certification