Productivity in Construction

1 Productivity in Construction Dozzi, ; AbouRizk, NRCC-37001. The material in this document is covered by the provisions of the Copyright Act, by Canadian laws, policies, regulations and international agreements. Such provisions serve to identify the information source and, in specific instances, to prohibit reproduction of materials without written permission. For more information visit Les renseignements dans ce document sont prot g s par la Loi sur le droit d'auteur, par les lois, les politiques et les r glements du Canada et des accords internationaux. Ces dispositions permettent d'identifier la source de l'information et, dans certains cas, d'interdire la copie de documents sans permission crite. Pour obtenir de plus amples renseignements : Productivity in Construction Dozzi, and AbouRizk, , Construction Engineering and Management Civil Engineering Department University of Alberta Institute for Research in Construction National Research Council Ottawa, Ontario, Canada IRC-P-3547.

2 NRCC 37001. NR16-2411993E. ISBN 0-662-21134-0. Ottawa, December 1993. National Research Council Canada 1993. Preface NRC' Institute for Research in Con- struction i delighted to be instrumental in bringing thi important gujdebook to the con- truction profe ional of Canada. Thi CSCE- NRC project i a good example of lhe kind alliance that i increa ingly important in up- port of lhe Canadian Construction indu try as it strives to find internationally competitive ways to do bu. ine . The pairing of the counlry '. leading ource for Construction with the enior national profe ional a ocia- tion in civil engineering ha produced a defini- tive . tatement on the ubject of Productivity , which I commend to all reader . G. Seaden, Director General Jn titote for Research in Construction Productivity IN Construction . Foreword Contractors have often been heard to In response to this dilemma, the Con- say, "As long as we are as aggressive and effi- struction Division of the Canadian Society for cient as our usual competitors, we will always Civil Engineering (CSCE) developed and im- get our share of work.

3 " But in today's market- plemented a program with a view to improving place, being as efficient as one's neighbour Productivity . CSCE, with the assistance of the does not suffice. Competition is no longer lim- National Research Council, formed an alliance ited to contractors working in well defined geo- with the Construction Technology Centre At- graphical areas. The available work is being lantic Inc. (CTCA), according to which CSCE. sought by firms from other parts of the country would produce a manual about ways to im- or even of the globe. prove Productivity and CTCA would organize seminars. Such seminars on Productivity im- Canadian competitiveness, or rather provement have taken place across Canada the lack of it, has been in the headlines now for since September 1990, usually in collaboration several years. For example, a report in the 25 with the local Construction association.

4 June 1991 issue of The Economist, entitled "A. Survey of Canada," claims that: The Institute for Research in Con- struction has now decided to draw on the expe- "In general, the growth of Canadian produc- rience gained from the preparation of the tivity is declining; yet if Canada is to remain manual and presentations, and publish this doc- a high-wage economy, it has to be a high- ument, " Productivity in Construction ." I hope Productivity one. Annual Productivity that it receives the attention it deserves and that growth, which has been in 1946-73,fell every supervisor of Construction projects refers to in 1973-90. And the growth of Cana- to it frequently for guidance. dian manufacturing Productivity has slowed relative to all other members of the Group of Seven rich countries. Cost competitiveness relative to the United States has declined particularly sharply.

5 ". There are also signs of slowed produc- Stephen G. Revay, , tivity in Canada relative to Japan. Between Past President ( 1989-90) CSCE. 1986 and 1990, the Productivity of Construction labour in Japan increased by a year, while Canadian Construction Productivity rose by only . Productivity IN Construction . ~. Table of Contents 1 Introduction Crews and teamwork .. 23. Environmental factors ..23. Productivity : More Achievement Workspace ..24. per Resource .. 1 Job Site Planning ..24. What is Productivity ? .. 1 Job site planning considerations .. 24. Framework for Productivity Temporary electrical service ..24. Improvement in Construction .. 2 Temporary heating and hoarding ..25. Organization of this Publication .. 2 Miscellaneous systems .. 25. Offices, lunchrooms, and sanitary 2 Techniques for Measur- facilities .. 25. ing and Improving Safety Issues.

6 25. Productivity at Economic impact of accidents .. 25. Safety and Productivity .. 25. Construction Sites Introduction .. 5 4 Measuring Productivity Measuring and Interpreting from the Cost-Reporting Work and Crew Effectiveness .. 5. Field rating .. 5. System W ark sampling .. 5 Introduction .. 27. Five-minute rating .. 7 Data Collection and Processing .. 27. Field Surveys .. 7 Tracking Person-hours instead of Foreman delay survey .. 8 Costs in the Cost-reporting System .. 30. Craftsman questionnaire .. 8 Estimated 'percent complete' .. 30. The Method Productivity Delay Physical measurement .. 31. Model .. 9 Earned value ..31. Charting Techniques: Performance factors .. 31. Crew-Balance Charts ..12 Cost Reporting and Analysis Using Simulation Modelling and Analysis .. l2 Project Management Software .. 32. The basic phases of Construction process simulation.

7 12 5 Management Issues Building a CYCLONE .. 12. Experimenting, analyzing, and Introduction .. 35. simulating .. 14 Quality of Supervision .. 35. Simulation and Productivity .. 15 Material Management.. 35. Material management steps .. 36. 3 Human Factors and Responsibilities .. 36. Interfaces and their implications Productivity Improve for Productivity .. 37. ment Preplanning ..38. Introduction .. 17 Material control .. 38. Motivation .. 17 Procurement..39. Motivation and the Construction Material handling .. 39. industry .. 17 Constructability ..40. Factors affecting motivation .. l8 A traditional problem ..41. Motivators .. 19 Constructability concepts ..41. Demotivators .. 19 Change Management ..4 J. Absenteeism and turnover .. 2 1. Human Factors Related to 6 Conclusion Productivity .. 21. Macro- Versus Micro- Productivity .

8 43. The individual as a factor Miscellaneous Ideas for Improving affecting Productivity .. 21. Productivity in Construction ..43. Physical limitations .. 22. The learning curve ..22. Productivity IN Construction . 1 Introduction Productivity : More struction site. A Construction Industry Develop- Achievement per ment Council task force developed a question- naire of factors impairing Construction Resource Productivity (CIDC, 1984). It lists seven cate- Economists have been saying it, so gories and 95 factors. Table lists the most se- have constructors, organized labour- every- rious factors within each of the seven categories. body: to remain competitive, we have to Research findings by social scientists produce more for each dollar spent on con- and Construction researchers can be con- struction. And "we" is everybody - every tentious, due to the difficulty in accounting for worker at a job site can contribute to improved the many interdependencies.

9 The impact of Productivity . such factors as morale and satisfaction may be Productivity issues can be divided debatable, but that should not keep us from into macro- and micro-level. At the macro- thinking seriously about improvements in pro- level, one deals with contracting methods, ductivity. (The idea of improved Productivity labour legislation, and labour organization; at is too important to be allowed to stumble over the micro-level, with the management and op- academic arguments.) Although we may not eration of a project, mainly at the job site. know the precise effects of many of these fac- tors, we can observe the effects of combina- To improve Productivity , we must be tions of them. able to measure it. And we must be able to measure the effect of changes adopted on What is Productivity ? methods, effort, and systems.

10 The measured values of Productivity can then be compared Many terms are used to describe pro- either to those used to compile the estimate or ductivity in the Construction industry: perfor- to some production standards. Although no mance factor, production rate, unit person-hour formal industry standards exist in North Amer- (p-h) rate and others. Traditionally, productivi- ica, many sources of published Productivity ty has been defined as the ratio of input/output, data, as well as the databases of various com- , the ratio of the input of an associated re- panies, can serve as production standards. source (usually, but not necessarily, expressed in p-hs) to real output (in creating economic A number of complex and interdepen- value). To restate this definition for use in the dent factors can influence Productivity on a con- Construction industry: labour Productivity is the physical progress achieved per p-h, , p-hs Table factors seriously impairing Construction per linear metre of conduit laid or p-hs per Productivity cubic metre of concrete poured.