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Abstract
Good site management in construction must continually pursue the efficient utilization and
allocation of labour, material and equipment. These elements are all essential in the pursuit of
the Gulf Cooperation Councils (GCCs) vision for the future. Improvement of equipment
productivity should be a considerable concern for control of infrastructure projects. In GCC
countries, whilst the direct unit cost of equipment per hour in terms of cost rates paid may not
be significantly high, findings indicate indirect costs are significant include hiring, transporting,
storage, technical support, supervision and insurances.
Research findings indicate that construction equipment is used to perform essentially repetitive
operations, and can be classified according to its functions into: (a) that requiring operators such
as cranes and graders which stay within the confines of construction sites, and (b) haulers such
as dump trucks and ready mixed vehicles which transport materials to and from sites.
The aim of this paper is to identify and analyse major and common factors affecting equipment
productivity on construction projects. A comprehensive literature review and factors
recommended by authors from previous studies will be the foundation of the paper. The method
for the study was a quantitative questionnaire supported by exploratory qualitative interviews
with industry practitioners in GCC countries, and the survey findings indicates the major factor
impacting equipment productivity is rework due to external factors like design changes or/and
scope change.
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1. Introduction
Productivity in construction is often broadly defined as output per labour/equipment hour. Since
labour/equipment constitutes a large part of construction cost and the quantity of
labour/equipment hours in performing tasks in construction is more susceptible to the influence
of management than are materials or capital, this productivity measure is often referred to as
labour/equipment productivity. However, it is important to note that labour/equipment
productivity is a measure of the overall effectiveness of organization systems in utilizing its
resource and capital to convert into useful output, and is not a measure of the capabilities of
labour alone. For example, by investing in new equipment to perform certain tasks in
construction, output may be increased for the same number of labour hours, thus resulting in
higher labour productivity. An increase in productivity was noted prior to the mid-1960s in the
construction industry (Stall, 1983). Later, a decline in productivity became an issue of great
concern in the construction all over the world. In 1968, the Construction Roundtable was
established due to concern about the increased cost of construction resulting from an increase in
inflation and a significant decline in construction productivity (Thomas and Kramer, 1988). It
was necessary to implement, as far as possible, industry-wide principles of production
throughout the construction process. It was argued that careful adaptation would be required, to
implement knowledge and experience gained in manufacturing to construction (Alarcon and
Borcherding, 1991).
Past studies and research show that a number of factors affect productivity, but there are still
unidentified factors that need to be further studied even in developed countries
(Makulsawatudom and Emsley, 2002). A study by Polta and Arditi (2005) stated that policies to
raise productivity are not always similar in each country. Their study identified different factors
affecting labour productivity and grouped them according to their characteristics such as design,
execution plan, material, equipment, labour, health and safety, supervision, working time,
project factors, quality, leadership and coordination, organization, owner/consultants, and
external factors. Adrian (1987) classified the factors causing low productivity as industry-
related factors, labour-related factors, and management-related factors. Industry-related factors,
essentially, are the characteristics of the construction industry, such as the uniqueness of
construction projects, varied locations, adverse and unpredictable weather, and seasonality.
Labour-related factors included lack of training and learning for labour, and lack of motivation.
Management-related factors usually refer to a lack of management, and inappropriate use of
tools and techniques. Olomolaiye et al. (1998) classified productivity factors into two
categories: external factors are outside the control of organization management and internal
factors relate to productivity issues originating within the organization. Thomas and Sakarcan
(1994) developed ideas to describe factors affecting labour productivity. One study suggested
that scheduled overtime always leads to efficiency losses because of the inability to deliver
materials, tools, equipment, and information at an accelerated rate (Ginther, 1993). Productivity
in the construction industry is not only influenced by labour, materials and equipment.
However, most researchers and construction practice to date has primarily concentrated on
labour productivity, as though labourers performance is the sole contributor to increased
construction productivity (Alwi, 1995). Investigation conducted by (Alwi, 2002) concluded that
there was now concern over the high level of non-value adding activities within the construction
industry. The activities, known as construction waste (disposals), have been identified as major
factors affecting construction productivity. The foundation for this paper is built upon the work
of Abdelaal et al, (2014) which examined labour productivity in GCC countries.
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2. Literature Review
Productivity is the outcome of several interrelated factors. Discussed below are various factors
affecting construction productivity and are reviewed from past studies.
The Construction Industry Institute states that material and equipment currently comprise
50-60% of construction project costs (Materials Management Task Force, 2007). In addition,
lack of suitable equipment is considered one of the major causes of construction delays.
Good equipment management begins at the time the equipment is purchased/hired.
Purchasing/hiring the proper equipment that matches the need of assigned tasks, while
achieving the lowest costs, is necessary to attain suitable equipment management. Proper
record keeping provides information for planning maintenance/ replacement, ensuring that
they occur at the proper time. Managing equipment includes preventative maintenance,
planning maintenance, and replacement activities (OBrien et al 2007).
2.3. Communication:
When there are early delays in projects, compression of the overall time frame for later activities
is often used to compensate interruptions and to complete assigned tasks on schedule. From
a professional scheduling perspective, schedule compression may be possible without
accelerating individual work activities by utilizing float in project schedules; however in
many projects, schedules are not fully resource loaded. As a consequence, an updated
schedule reflecting delays may show the project finishing on time without shortening
individual activities (National Electrical Contractors Association, 1983).
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2.5. Working tasks types:
Accidents have high impact on labour productivity. Various accident types occur at sites,
and some may cause fatal injuries and result in total work stoppage for a number of
days. An accident that causes an injured person to be hospitalized results in a work decrease
of the crew for which the injured employee worked. Small accidents resulting from
protruding nails and steel wires can stop work and, thus, decrease productivity (Sanders and
Thomas, 1991).
Inefficiency of equipment, unskilled labourers and poor quality of raw material are
factors which cause low productivity. The productivity rate of inefficient equipment is
low. Old equipment is subject to a great number of breakdowns, and it takes a long time for
labourers to complete the work, thus reducing productivity. Poor-quality material used for
work is another reason for reducing productivity; also unskilled labourers causing rework,
which leads to low productivity.
Project manager skills and attitudes influence construction productivity. In many organizations,
productivity is low even though the latest technology and trained labour are made
available. Low productivity is often because of inefficient and immature management.
Advanced technology requires knowledgeable labourers who work under professionally
capable leaders.
A lack of labour experience is the factor which negatively affects labour productivity and
proves that, to achieve good productivity, labour plays a significant role. Contractors
should have sufficiently skilled labourers employed to be productive. If skilled labour is
unavailable and a contractor is required to complete specific tasks with less-skilled
labour, it is likely that productivity will be negatively impacted. Lack of compensation
and increased labourer age negatively affect labour productivity because labour speed,
agility, and strength decline over time and reduce productivity (Heizer and Render, 1990).
526
2.10. Motivation:
Construction projects often have design, drawings and specification changes as work
proceeds. If drawings or specifications are unclear, productivity may decrease since labourers
in the field are uncertain about what needs to be done. As a result, tasks may be delayed,
or have to be completely stopped and postponed until there are clear instructions. There can
be a 30% loss of productivity when work changes are being performed (Thomas et al., 1999).
Work inspection by supervisors is an essential process before proceeding to subsequent
stages. For example, contractors cannot cast concrete before an inspection of formwork and
steel work, thus affecting labour productivity (Zakeri et al, 1996).
Various natural factors affecting equipment productivity collected from previous studies
are weather conditions and geographical conditions. Others factors such as fuel, water, and
minerals also affect productivity to a certain extent. Productivity is found to be highly
affected if the weather is too extreme (too cold, heavy rainfall, or too hot, as in the case of
this study in GCC countries).
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3. Methodology
This research investigates important factors affecting equipment productivity in construction in
GCC countries. Understanding these factors is helpful for construction professionals who work
on all project phases, especially on the initial phase of construction planning, in order to
efficiently deliver project plans. The main goal of the research is to provide essential
information about factors affecting construction productivity. Factors which affect construction
productivity are a lack of required materials, disputes between the major parties, weather,
changes during construction, accidents, and other items. The research study aims to provide
knowledge of construction project-related factors that affect productivity. The data collection
instruments used in the research are a questionnaire survey, followed by interviews with
practitioners. The research passed through the following phases in figure 1:
Background of productivity
Design of questionnaire
Data analysis
Conclusion/Recommendations
The data collection process used in this research had the option of two basic methods:
questionnaires and personal interviews. A questionnaire was preferred as the best effective and
suitable data-collection technique for the study. The questionnaire was a self-administered tool
with web-design questions. A questionnaire in a web-survey format comparatively requires less
duration and saves cost for the researcher while permitting participants to respond to the
questionnaire at their convenience. However, for this approach the response rate is usually
lower as compared to face-to-face interviews. Data was collected for the literature review from
books, journals and articles. The population for the survey was employees from different
professions involved in construction in GCC countries.
Participants were asked to indicate to what extent factors affect equipment productivity
on infrastructure sites in GCC. Responses were scored as 1 not applicable; 2 does not affect
it; 3 somewhat affects it; 4 directly affects it.
Face-to-face discussions were conducted with ten construction practitioners. This procedure
improved the formation of the web-survey. A total of 130 questionnaires, were sent by e-mail to
contractors, architects, owners, project managers, and project engineers of various construction
528
organizations. In addition conducted collection process with qualitative interviews with
construction professionals.
The target groups in this study were professionals from the construction industry. A list of
550 building-construction organizations was obtained from the Construction Week online the
GCC magazine. The sample size can be calculated with the following equation for a 94%
confidence level (AlShahri, M et al., 2001; Moore et al., 2003):
!"
n= !" (1)
!!
!
Where, n = total number of population, N = sample size from a finite population, n = sample
size from an infinite population= S2/V, S2 = the variance of the population elements and, V = a
standard error of the sampling population (usually, S= 0.5, and V = 0.06). n'= S2 / V2 = (0.5)2 +
(0.06)2 = 69.44, for N=550, n = 69.44 / [1 + (69.44 / 547)] = 62, to obtain 94% of confidence
level, it was calculated to send the questionnaire to minimum of 62 participants.
To successfully achieve the objective of the study, one of the most important phases is
collection of accurate data. Data collection is a procedure of collecting crucial data records
for a certain sample or population of observations (Bohrnstedt and Knoke, 1994). shows the
participants characteristics: The characteristics of participants involved in the survey were
tabulated in Table 1. The average work experience of the participants involved in
construction industry is 15 years with managerial level and majority belongs to control
debarment. This indicates reasonably a high work experience profile within GCC
construction industry.
In order to facilitate the study, after the literature review and the focus interviews, a plan was
formulated for collecting field information and creating an evaluation process and numerical
values. It was necessary to provide straightforward communication to participants to ensure a
clear understanding of all the applicable definitions, procedures, and guidelines that were used
in collecting data.
529
3.5.1. Ranking
Ranking of the various factors according to their relative importance index (RII) for affect
ranges: (1 Not applicable; 2 Does not affect it; 3 Somewhat affects it; 4 Directly affects
it). RII for each factor as follows: !!!=W/A*N, where W is the weighting given to each factor
by the participants (ranging from 1 to 4), A is the highest weight (i.e. 4 in this case), and N is
the total number of participants. For the interpretation of the !!! values, !!! is ranked from the
highest to the lowest.
3.5.2. Analysis
530
Material storage location 0.58 29
5- Miscellaneous
Shortage of water and/or power supply 0.66 15
Working overtime 0.63 18
Power supply 0.63 18
Weather conditions 0.64 16
Accidents during construction 0.67 13
Project objectives are not well defined 0.67 13
Rework
Lack of experience
Implementation of standards, government laws & regulation payment delays
Lack of supervision
Availability of required equipment
Disloyalty
Lack of required construction materials or/and price increase.
Permits delays from authorities.
Complex designs in drawings. Incomplete drawings
The results show that clients, consultants, and contractors all agreed that the external group of
factors affecting productivity was the most influential. Resources group of factors were
considered the second most important factor affecting productivity in construction projects
followed by miscellaneous, operators and communication factors. In addition, the study showed
10 factors that affection productivity of excavator in infrastructure projects, that the top
influencing factor affecting excavator productivity using RII is soil characteristics. From
previous studies, it has been shown that the nature of the construction industry, usually involves
the separation of design and construction functions. This has affected construction productivity
through delays in drawings, design changes, and following rework. Clients have sometimes
delayed projects because of their lack of suitable knowledge about construction procedures.
Moreover, being an outdoor industry, construction performance is significantly affected by
weather conditions. In addition to the factors discussed, health and safety regulations, and codes
of practices are other external factors influencing task operations and productivity. Factors
531
internal to construction companies include management inadequacy resulting in a waste of
resources and consequent losses in productivity; adoption of modern technology and training for
labourers would increase productivity. This research was carried out in infrastructure
construction projects in GCC. It may be that the issues of the key factors, the model developed
and the alternative solutions here can provide guidance to the other studies and researchers.
Concepts such as waste and value are not well understood by construction personnel. They often
do not realise that many activities they carry out, do not add value to work. Waste is not only
associated with waste of materials in the construction , but also other activities that do not add
value such as rework, waiting time and delays. These issues contribute to a reduction in the
value of construction productivity.
5. Recommendations
Construction projects are high risk and often lead to a disputes and claims as work progresses,
which then subsequently further affects progress. The environment within construction
organisations should be suitable to successfully complete projects. In construction, it is
necessary to identify potential problems in advance, in order to avoid and overcome possible
impacts on cost or project time. Detailed below are recommendations which were found to
improve equipment productivity on the infrastructure projects in GCC countries:
Material delivery schedules should be provided for projects and monitored closely by
contractors. Using suitable materials and tools also has a positive effect on tasks and thus,
better labour productivity can be achieved. Material should be stored at appropriate locations
and should be easily accessible. Project managers should provide suitable logistic plans at
the initial phase of projects. Good equipment management begins at the time the equipment
is purchased/hired. Purchasing/hiring the proper equipment that matches the need of
assigned tasks, while achieving lowest costs is necessary to attain suitable equipment
management. Proper record keeping provides information for planning maintenance/
replacement, ensuring that they occur at the proper time. Organizations should make sure
sites are safe and undertake continuous safety training. Various external and natural factor
risks should be considered in budget estimations to minimize delays due to closures and
material shortages. There should be suitable contingency budgets to cover increased costs of
material. Motivation and training systems, should be implemented to create competition
among the employees, thus achieving better productivity. Complex designs and incomplete
drawings should be avoided and care should be taken to avoid confusion among the various
construction agencies. Absenteeism at work site can be reduced with inclusion of
appropriate paid time off and vacations to all employees.
6. Future Research
Further research should focus on the holistic barriers of implementing models for managing site
resources (labour, equipment and materials) in addition to construction waste management, and
development of a universal implementation framework that can fit into any construction
environment and type. In the same vein, further work should be undertaken on applying the
research in other developing economies. Similarly, additional research should be made in the
adoption of lean construction tools and techniques within GCC countries such as Location
Based Management Systems (LBMS) and Last Planner Systems (LPS) (Abdelaal, et al., 2015).
532
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