Impact of team members’ composition on construction projects delivery in selected higher institutions in Nigeria Nathaniel Ayinde Olatunde Department of Quantity Surveying, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria Deji Rufus Ogunsemi Department of Quantity Surveying, Federal University of Technology Akure, Akure, Nigeria, and Ayodeji Emmanuel Oke Department of Construction Management and Quantity Surveying, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of team members’ composition on cost and time of completion of construction projects in selected higher institutions with a view to improving construction project delivery in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach – The study used the purposive sampling technique to select two higher institutions out of six in the study area, and census survey was used in selecting 35 completed construction projects executed by the institutions within the time frame 2000 to 2013. A total of 191 questionnaires were distributed to obtain information from construction team members (quantity surveyors, architects, structural/ civil engineers, services engineers, contractors and clients) who participated in the selected construction projects. Mean item score and Kendall’s test were used in examining team members’ composition, while the relationship between team members’ composition and construction cost and time was tested using t-test and eta-squared. Findings – The results revealed that construction team members’ composition has a significant impact on the completion time of construction projects, though with small magnitude, while the impact of construction team members’ composition on construction cost is not significant. Also, it was revealed that some team members did not play any team role due to the fact that the main criterion for team members’ composition was knowledge, skill and abilities (KSA). Practical implications – The study finally recommended that a deliberate effort should be made in studying and ascertaining the team role every construction team member will play before appointing them to be member of a team, as improper team members’ composition could hamper effective construction project delivery in terms of completion time. Originality/value – The study is an attempt to discourage the traditional construction team members’ selection system which was based on KSAs, which is deficient under team environment. Keywords Nigeria, Construction projects, Higher institutions, Team members’ composition Paper type Research paper Introduction A project team in the construction industry is a group of construction professionals and stakeholders from one or more organizations who combine to fulfil the necessary design, Construction projects delivery 355 Received 20 April 2016 Revised 18 July 2016 Accepted 5 September 2016 Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology Vol. 15 No. 3, 2017 pp. 355-377 © Emerald Publishing Limited 1726-0531 DOI 10.1108/JEDT-04-2016-0028 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/1726-0531.htm