70

Int. J. Struct. & Civil Engg. Res. 2014 Ryad Tuma Hazem Al-Kinani and Pramila Adavi, 2014

FACTORS AFFECTING LABOR PRODUCTIVITY

ON CONSTRUCTION PROJECT

Ryad Tuma Hazem Al-Kinani¹* and Pramila Adavi1

Construction projects suffer from various problems and complex factors which affect eachphase of the project life cycle. Construction labor productivity has become a big problem inconstruction industry in most countries, hence it is necessary to see how the human factors willaffect the labor productivity in construction projects. Labor productivity is one of the least studiedareas within the construction industry. Productivity improvements achieve higher cost savingswith minimal investment. Due to the fact that profit margins are small on construction projects,cost savings associated with productivity are crucial to becoming a successful contractor. Inconstruction, the output is usually expressed in weight, length, or volume, and the input resourceis usually in cost of labor or man-hours. There are many standards available in the constructionindustry for contractors as reference values for purposes of construction cost estimation. Thesestandards may vary in values but most are similar in principle. The paper attempts to highlightsome of the methods to study Labor productivity, its importance and most factors which affectlabor productivity on construction project.

1 MIT College, Pune, India.

*Corresponding author:Ryad Tuma Hazem Al-Kinani � ryadtuma@gmail.com

ISSN 2319 – 6009 www.ijscer.com

Vol. 3, No. 4, November 2014

© 2014 IJSCER. All Rights Reserved

Int. J. Struct. & Civil Engg. Res. 2014

Research Paper

Keywords: Labor productivity, Importance, Factors, Construction

INTRODUCTION

For every project, productivity, cost, quality, andtime have been the main concern. Betterproductivity can be achieved if projectmanagement includes the skills of educationand training, the work method, personal health,motivational factors, the type of tools,machines, required equipment and materials,personal skills, the workload to be executed,

expected work quality, work location, the typeof work to be done, and supervisory personnel.

CONCEPT OF LABOR

PRODUCTIVITY

What Is Labor Productivity?

The term “productivity” expresses therelationship between outputs and inputs.

The measure of the rate at which work is

71

Int. J. Struct. & Civil Engg. Res. 2014 Ryad Tuma Hazem Al-Kinani and Pramila Adavi, 2014

performed is called “productivity”. It is a ratioof production output to what is required toproduce it. The measure of productivity isdefined as a total output per one unit of a totalinput. Labor productivity usually relatesmanpower in terms of labor cost to the quantityof outputs produced.

What Is the Importance of LaborProductivity?

Productivity has a great importance inconstruction. Labor productivity constitutes asignificant part of production input forconstruction projects. In the constructionindustry, many external and internal factors arenever constant and are difficult to anticipate.This factor leads to a continuous variation inlabor productivity. It is necessary to make surethat a reduction in productivity does not affectthe plan and schedule of the work and doesnot cause delays. The consequences of thesedelays could result in serious money losseswhen any of those external and internal factorsbecome out of control in any constructionproject.

Productivity is the outcome of severalinterrelated factors. There are many factorsthat affect the productivity of labor inconstruction Discussed below are variousfactors affecting labor productivity:

1. Time

2. Schedule Compression

3. Type of Project

4. Safety

5. Quality

6. Managerial Factors

7. Manpower Group

8. Motivation

9. Supervision

10. Material/Tools

11. Project Management Factors

12. Natural Factors

13. External Factors

TIME

There are many tasks which cause a loss ofproductivity. Past study shows productivitydecreases with working overtime. The mostfrequently stated reasons are fatigue;increased absenteeism; decreased morale;reduced supervision effectiveness; poorworkmanship, resulting in higher rework;increased accidents. Working overtime mayinitially result in increased output, butcontinuing overtime may lead to increasedcosts and reduced productivity, time used bya construction laborer on productive activitiesaverages about 30% of the total time available.

Scheduling of extended work days orweeks exceeding a standard eight-hour workday or 40-hour work week, lowers work outputand efficiency through physical fatigue andpoor mental attitude.

Schedule Compression

When there are delays in a project,compression of the overall time frame for alater activity are often the way to compensateinterruptions and to complete the assignedtask on schedule. From a professionalscheduling perspective, schedulecompression may be possible withoutaccelerating individual work activities byutilizing float in the project’s overall schedule.However, on many projects, schedules are not

72

Int. J. Struct. & Civil Engg. Res. 2014 Ryad Tuma Hazem Al-Kinani and Pramila Adavi, 2014

fully resource loaded. As a consequence, aproperly updated schedule reflecting thedelays may show the project finishing on timewithout shortening individual activities.Schedule compression may result inemploying extra labors for the desired task bythe contractor because of shortening of theoverall duration, allowing the contractor tocomplete the total remaining work. Schedulecompression, when linked with overtime, oftenresults in major productivity losses due toshortages of material tools or equipment tosupport the extra labor, resulting in difficulty inplanning and coordinating the task, andunavailability of experienced labor.

Types of Project

To accomplish substantial productivity, everymember of a crew requires adequate spaceto perform a task without being affected with/by the other crew members. When morelabors are allotted to perform a particular task,in a fixed amount of space, it is probable thatinterference may occur, thus decreasingproductivity. Additionally, when multiple tradesare assigned to work in the same area, theprobability of interference rises andproductivity may be reduced. Interferenceamong the various crews and laborers is dueto mismanagement on construction sites.

The types of activities and constructionmethods also influence labor productivity.

Safety

Accidents have high impacts on laborproductivity. Various types of accidents occurat the site. An accident causing death will beresulting in a total work stoppage for a numberof days. An accident that causes an injuredperson to be hospitalized results in decrease

in productivity of the crew for which the injuredemployee worked. Even a small accidentresulting from nails and steel wires can stopwork. Even insufficient lighting showsdecreased productivity because sufficientlighting is required to work efficiently andbecause insufficient lighting has negativeeffects. Employing a safety officer helps laborsto recognize the required safety regulationsand to follow them, which can reduce thenumber of accidents, thus increasingproductivity.

Quality

Inefficiency of equipment and poor quality ofthe raw material are factors which cause lowproductivity. The productivity rate of inefficientequipment is low. Old equipment is subject toa great number of breakdowns, and it takes along time for the laborers to complete the work,thus reducing productivity. Poor-qualitymaterial used for work is the other factorbecause poor materials generally lead tounsatisfactory work and can be rejected bysupervisors, thus reducing the productivity.

Mangerial Factors

Managers’ skill and attitudes have a crucialbearing on productivity. In many organizations,productivity is low even though the latesttechnology and trained manpower are madeavailable. Low productivity is because ofinefficient and indifferent management.Experienced and committed managers canobtain surprising results from average people.Employees’ job performance depends on theirability and willingness to work. Managementis the catalyst to create both. Advancedtechnology requires knowledgeable laborerswho, in turn, work productively under

73

Int. J. Struct. & Civil Engg. Res. 2014 Ryad Tuma Hazem Al-Kinani and Pramila Adavi, 2014

professionally qualified managers. It is onlythrough sound management that optimumutilization of human and technical resourcescan be secured.

Manpower Group

Construction Literature shows that a lack oflabor experience is the factor which negativelyaffects labor productivity and proves that, toachieve good productivity, labor plays asignificant role. Contractors should havesufficiently skilled laborers employed to beproductive. If skilled labor is unavailable and acontractor is required to complete specific taskwith less-skilled labor, it is possible thatproductivity will be affected. The absence ofany crew member may impact the crew’sproduction rate because workers will, typically,be unable to accomplish the same productionrate with fewer resources and with differentcrew members. Misunderstanding amonglaborers creates disagreements aboutresponsibilities and the work bounds of eachlaborer, which leads to a lot of work mistakesand decreases labor productivity. Lack ofcompensation and increased laborer agenegatively affect labor productivity becauselabor speed, agility, and strength decline overtime and reduce productivity.

Motivation

Motivation is one of the important factoraffecting construction labor productivity.Motivation can best be accomplished whenworkers' personal ambitions are similar tothose of the company. Factors such aspayment delays, a lack of a financialmotivation system, non-provision of propertransportation, and a lack of training sessionsare influenced directly on workers’ performance.

In the long run, the most direct route by whichlabor productivity affects living standards isthrough real wages, that is, wages adjustedfor the cost of living. Economic theory holdsthat at the aggregate level the growth of realwages is determined by labor productivitygrowth, a relationship mediated by the labour’sshare of output and labour’s terms of trade (theprice of output produced by workers relativeto the cost of living).

Supervision

Generally, projects come across some design,drawings and specification changes duringconstruction. If drawings or specifications arewith errors and unclear, productivity isexpected to decrease since laborers in thefield are uncertain about what needs to bedone. As a result, task may be delayed, or haveto be completely stopped and postponed untilclear instruction are received. Work inspectionby the supervisor is an essential process toproceed. For example, the contractor cannotcast concrete before an inspection of theformwork and steel work, thus affecting laborproductivity . With non-completion of therequired work according to the specificationsand drawings, supervisors may ask for therework of a specific task. Supervisors’absenteeism stops the work totally for activitiesthat require their attendance, such as castingconcrete and backfilling, further delayinginspection of the completed work which, inturn, leads to delays in starting new work.

Material/Tools

Material management is one of the mostimportant factors in construction industry.Productivity can be affected if requiredmaterials, tools, or construction equipment for

74

Int. J. Struct. & Civil Engg. Res. 2014 Ryad Tuma Hazem Al-Kinani and Pramila Adavi, 2014

the specific task are not available at the correctlocation and time. Selection of the appropriatetype and size of construction equipment oftenaffects the required amount of time it is,therefore, essential for site managers to befamiliar with the characteristics of the majortypes of equipment most commonly used inconstruction. In order to increase job-siteproductivity, it is beneficial to select equipmentwith the proper characteristics and a size mostsuitable for the work conditions at aconstruction site. Laborers require a minimumnumber of tools and equipment to workeffectively to complete the assigned task. If theimproper tools or equipment is provided,productivity may be affected (The size of theconstruction site and the material storagelocation has a significant impact on productivitybecause laborers require extra time to moverequired materials from inappropriate storagelocations, thus resulting in productivity loss.

Project Management Factors

Improper scheduling of work, shortage ofcritical construction equipment or labor, mayresult in loss of productivity. Improper planningof project-initiation procedures generally leadto lost labor productivity. Additionally, poor sitelayout can contribute to a loss of productivity.Laborers have to walk or drive a long way tolunch rooms, rest areas, washrooms,entrances, and exits, affecting overallproductivity.

Natural Factors

Various natural factors affecting laborproductivity collected from previous study areweather conditions of the job-site andgeographical conditions. Others factors suchas fuel, water, and minerals also affect

productivity to certain extent. Productivity isfound to be highly affected if weather conditionsare too be extreme (too cold, heavy rainfall,too hot).

External Factors

Weather conditions are significant factor toconsider for completion of any constructionproject. Adverse winter, winds and rains,reduce productivity, particularly for externalwork such as formwork, T-shape work,concrete casting, external plastering, externalpainting, and external tiling. Adverse weathersometimes stops the work totally.

CONCLUSION

In today’s world, the construction industry isaffected by many factors which cause greatlosses to the economy of many countries. Oneimportant factor which affects the constructionindustry is “Labor Productivity” and this factorin turn influenced by a range of factors leadsto significant losses.

Study and knowledge of constructionproductivity are very important because theycause losses to the governing agencies andalso influence the economics of theconstruction industry. Prior knowledge of laborproductivity during construction can savemoney and time. Investments for theseprojects are very high and because of thecomplexity in construction, various factors canhighly affect overall productivity, thus the projectcan end up adding even more time and moneyin order to be completed.

This paper is intended to explain the causesof probable factors affecting labor productivityin building construction. For example: takinginto account the conditions of the workers and

75

Int. J. Struct. & Civil Engg. Res. 2014 Ryad Tuma Hazem Al-Kinani and Pramila Adavi, 2014

improving their skills will help increase laborproductivity at any construction project and thesame thing will happen if the project partners(Client, Contractor and Consultant) will makemore efforts to enhance all the other factorsthat will help improve labor productivity whichwill result in saving more money and time.

The basic idea of the paper is to studyvarious factors affecting labor productivity onconstruction, to focus more on the factorsmentioned in this paper, to get the higheststandards of economic benefit and enhancethe income of workers in the constructionindustry, especially construction companiesand the sector in general.

In additional, this paper focused on the somany references as (mentioned) to obtain fullideas based on that references in severaltypes of projects in order to make as surveythrough these references to see how theimportance various factors are impacted onthe labor productivity in construction projectsand all these are studies from the mentionedreferences had shown the various factors indifferent countries.

REFERENCES

1. Abdul Kadir M R, Lee W P, Jaafar M S,Sapuan S M and Ali A A (2005), “FactorsAffecting Construction LabourProductivity For Malaysian ResidentialProjects”, Struct. Surv., Vol. 23, No. 1, pp.42–54.

2. Adrian J (1990), Improving ConstructionProductivity Seminar, Minneapolis, MN.

3. Alum J and Lim E C (1995), “Constructionproductivity: Issues encountered bycontractors in Singapore”, International

Journal of Project Management, Vol. 13,No. 1, pp. 51-58.

4. Association for the Advancement of CostEngineering (AACE), InternationalRecommended Practice No. 25R-03(2004). Estimating Lost LaborProductivity in Construction Claims.

5. Bernstein, Harvey M and Lemer A C(1996), Solving the Innovation Puzzle:Challenges Facing the U.S. Design andConstruction Industry, New York, Vol. 35,No. 1, pp. 37-50.

6. Bohrnstedt G and Knoke D (1994),Statistics for Social Data Analysis, 3rdEdition, F E Peacock Publishers, Inc.,Itaska IL.

7. Borcherding J D and Liou F S (1986),“Work sampling can predict unit rateproductivity”, Journal of ConstructionEngineering and Management, Vol. 112,No. 1, pp. 90-103.

8. DeCenzo D and Holoviak S (1990),Employee Benefits, Prentice Hall, City,New Jersey, pp. 55-56.

9. Harris F C, Holt G D, Olomolaiye P O andZakeri M (1996), “A survey of constraintson Iranian construction operatives’productivity”, Construction Managementand Economics, Vol. 14, No. 5, pp. 417-426.

10. Heizer J and Render B (1990),Production and Operations Management“Strategic and Tactical Decisions”Prentice Hall, NJ.

11. Hinze J W (1999), ConstructionPlanning & Scheduling, Prentice Hall,Upper Saddle River, NJ.

76

Int. J. Struct. & Civil Engg. Res. 2014 Ryad Tuma Hazem Al-Kinani and Pramila Adavi, 2014

12. Horner R M W and Talhouni B T (1995),

Effects of Accelerated Working, Delays,

and Disruptionson Labor Productivity,

Chartered Institute of Building, London.

13. Mahsh M Gundecha (2012), Web survey

( study the factors) papers - September

2012.

14. National Electrical Contractors

Association (1983), Rate of Manpower

consumption in Electrical Construction,

Electrical Construction Peak WorkforceReport, 2nd Edition, p. 5.

15. Sanders S R and Thomas H R (1991),“Factors affecting masonry productivity”,Journal of Construction EngineeringManagement, Vol. 117, No. 4, pp. 626-644.

16. Thomas H R, Riley D R and Sanvido V E(1999), “Loss of labor productivity due todelivery methods and weather”, Journalof Construction Engineering andManagement, Vol. 125, No. 1, pp. 39-46.