An Empirical Study of Major Factors Affecting Productivity of Construction Projects

Author(s):  
Saurav Dixit ◽  
Kaaraayaarthi Sharma
2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-129
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Mahamid

This study is conducted to establish the effect of design quality on project delay in building projects. It aims at: 1) investigating the major factors of design quality, 2) identifying the main delay factors in building projects, 2) establishing the relationship between design quality and delay in building projects. To achieve these objectives, a questionnaire survey is performed. Seventeen (17) factors that might affect design quality, and 15 delay factors are listed in a questionnaire form. Sixty (60) contractors and 40 consultants are asked to identify the severity of the identified factors. Results indicate that the top factors affecting design quality are: delay in payments by client for design services, staff allocation for many projects at the same time, copying and modifying from previous work to minimize time and cost, tight design schedule, lack of designer knowledge with techniques and materials available in the market. The study also concludes that the top five delay factors include: payments delay, poor labor productivity, lack of skilled manpower, frequent change orders and rework. Regression analysis for data collected from 36 building projects shows a good correlation between design quality and delay in projects. This study is the first one that addresses the problem of design quality in the West Bank in Palestine. Furthermore, it is the first study that addresses the effect of design quality on project delay in Palestine and the neighboring countries. It is hoped to be helpful for researchers and professionals to understand the impact of design quality on schedule delay.


Buildings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Alsaedi ◽  
Sadi Assaf ◽  
Mohammad Hassanain ◽  
Abdullatif Abdallah

One of the critical decisions taken by contractors is whether or not to bid for a project. This is due to the complexity and uncertainty surrounding this decision, which is influenced by many factors. Given the above challenge, this study aimed to uncover the critical factors affecting the contractors’ bidding decisions in Saudi Arabia-based construction projects. A questionnaire survey, which consisted of 31 factors, was distributed to first-, second- and third-grade contractors. In total, 67 responses were obtained. Median and relative importance index (RII) techniques were adopted for ranking the most critical factors. Based on the received responses, the top six critical factors were “size of the job”, “type of the job”, “company’s strength in the industry”, “designer/design quality”, “rate of return”, and “project cash flow”. The least significant factors were “job start time” and “labor environment (union/nonunion/cooperative)”. The findings of this study show a level of agreement among all contractors about the critical factors. The findings would benefit contractors and subcontractors by increasing their understanding of the major factors affecting the bidding decision process. Contractors armed with such valuable information will be better able to enhance their bidding decision-making process in terms of efficiency and effectiveness.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lina Ghazi Gharaibeh ◽  
Sandra T. Matarneh ◽  
Mazen Arafeh ◽  
Ghaleb Sweis

PurposeThe problem of design changes in the construction industry is common worldwide, and the Jordanian market is no exception. The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors causing design changes in construction projects in Jordan in both the public and private sectors. Furthermore, this research will examine the effect of these factors on project's performance during the construction phase.Design/methodology/approachThis research commences by identifying the factors causing design changes in construction projects worldwide through an intensive literature review. The identified factors were then filtered to those applicable to the Jordanian construction market based on the results obtained from a questionnaire survey and real case construction projects. In total, 252 professionals from the Jordanian construction industry and 10 completed and/or ongoing construction projects in different parts of Jordan were compared.FindingsThe results find that the top major factors affecting design changes are owner's requirements; design errors and omissions and value engineering. The research also studies and documents the impacts of design changes on project cost, schedule and quality.Originality/valueThe results obtained from this research will assist the construction professionals representing owners, consultants and contractors in applying control measures to minimize the occurrence of the identified factors causing design changes and to mitigate their sever impacts on projects in terms of cost, schedule and quality.


2018 ◽  
Vol 162 ◽  
pp. 02032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tareq Khaleel ◽  
Yasser Nassar

Productivity is a very important element in the estimation process in construction management. The objective of this research is to identify and analyze the factors which affect labor productivity in construction projects. In this research, 42 effective factors were collected from site survey, interview with engineers and experts, and previous research in the Arab world. These factors are grouped into Nine categories “Workforce, Leadership, Motivation, Supervisors, Safety, Project, Time, Material, and External”. A survey questionnaire of 70 respondents was distributed among different experts. A statistical analysis was done using SPSS and EXCEL packages. The Relative Importance Index was used to find out the most significant factors affecting the labor productivity in construction sites. The results accomplished from the survey revealed that the major factors negatively affect the labor productivity (ranked from the worst factor with Relative Importance Index values, respectively) namely, Availability Material (88.571%), Climate status “Weather” (88%), Religious occasions (86.29%), Number of working groups (86%), Ganger experience (85.714%), Workforce surveillance (84.857%), Ganger Age (84%), working at height (82%), Drawings and specifications alteration during execution (81.69%), and Sequence of floor (80.571%). Based upon these findings, this can help the construction professionals to improve the productivity and project performance in Iraq.


2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 169-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Mwanaki Alinaitwe ◽  
Jackson A. Mwakali ◽  
Bengt Hansson

Poor productivity of construction workers is one of the causes of cost and time overruns in construction projects. The productivity of labour is particularly important especially in developing countries, where most of the building construction work is still on manual basis. This paper reports on a survey made on project managers of building projects in Uganda, where an increase in productivity is being sought. Respondents were required to rate using their experience how 36 factors affect productivity with respect to time, cost and quality. The survey was carried out by a questionnaire and responses received over a period of 3 months. The ten most significant problems affecting labour productivity were identified as incompetent supervisors; lack of skills from the workers; rework; lack of tools/equipment; poor construction methods; poor communication; inaccurate drawings; stoppages because of work being rejected by consultants; political insecurity; tools/equipment breakdown; and harsh weather conditions. Although lack of materials is ranked highest with regard to average rating on loss of time, it was not ranked among the top ten using the importance index that takes into account time, cost as well as work quality. The policy makers and researchers should focus on the identified major factors in order to improve productivity.


2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 273-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li-Yin Shen ◽  
Jian Li Hao ◽  
Vivian Wing-Yan Tam ◽  
Hong Yao

Construction sustainability performance is indispensable to the attainment of sustainable development. Various techniques and management skills have previously been developed to help improving sustainable performance from implementing construction projects. However, these techniques seem not being effectively implemented due to the fragmentation and poor coordination among various construction participants. There is a lack of consistency and holistic methods to help participants implementing sustainable construction practice at various stages of project realisation. This paper develops a framework of sustainability performance checklist to help understanding the major factors affecting a project sustainability performance across its life cycle. This framework enables all project parties to assess the project sustainability performance in a consistent and holistic way, thus improving the cooperation among all parties to attain satisfactory project sustainability performance.


Author(s):  
Mohammed Algahtany

Public construction projects in Saudi Arabia have been suffering from low performance for the past decade. Cost overrun is one of the most important issues in project’s performance and is nearly associated with most of public projects. The aim of this study is to identify and assess the major factors leading to cost overruns in education construction projects in the Northern Province of Saudi Arabia to minimize the risks’ effects in future projects. The research methodology started by identifying cost overrun factors through literature review, project’s documentations, and experts’ interviews. Professionals who worked at the construction projects undertook a questionnaire survey to investigate the importance of the cost overrun factors. The top factors of cost overrun were identified through the analysis of the factors’ occurrence and severity. The study main results included the top causes of cost overrun which are delay in contractors’ progress payment by client, difficulties in financing project by contractor, delays in sub-contractor’s work, additions of quantities such as excavation, backfill, and concrete works, and bid award for lowest price. The investigated risks in the study should be evaluated and mitigated in future projects to minimize their effects and enhance the industry performance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 587-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Suresh ◽  
R.B. Arun Ram Nathan

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify, analyse and categorize the major factors affecting lean procurement (LP) in a construction project of a company in India using total interpretive structural modelling (TISM) approach. The readiness factors identified help the managers to recognize the areas that lack, i.e. purchase, stocks and receipts, and provide importance to the successful implementation of LP in those areas. This study further intends to examine the hierarchical interrelationships among the factors identified using dependence and driving power. Design/methodology/approach Ten factors were identified from literature review, and expert opinions were collected from the organization which is in construction phase in India. Scheduled interviews were conducted based on questionnaire survey in the organizations to identify the relevance of the relations among the factors. Matrix impact cross-multiplication applied to classification analysis uses dependence and driving power to understand the hierarchical relationship among the factors identified. Findings Results indicate that supplier selection is the key readiness factor for LP. The manager needs to concentrate more on readiness factors to formulate execution process of LP for the betterment of the construction project undergoing organization in India. The readiness factors help the manager to identify the target area for LP execution. Practical implications This study would be useful for researchers and practitioners to understand the readiness factors before starting the implementation process of LP in construction projects. The managers of companies undergoing construction project can use the outcome of the present study to implement LP in a competent way. Basing the priorities of attention on the ten readiness LP factors in the appropriate order of importance, as suggested by this study, can give project managers a more scientific basis in which to specify the level of attention required for each of the factors to implement readiness in LP. Originality/value The present study identifies the readiness factors related to LP, especially for construction project. None of the researchers have studied readiness factors of LP for organizations undergoing construction projects. This is the first attempt made to analyze the relationship between LP readiness factors and TISM approach in construction project organization.


2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 619-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan Fazliani ◽  
Chotchai Charoenngam

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to investigate the factors affecting the claim negotiations in Iranian oil and gas construction projects. The findings of this paper give better understanding of claim negotiations in Iranian oil and gas projects. Design/methodology/approach – The research methodology for this study involved the use of Delphi technique, conducted with non-Iranian stakeholders being involved in Iranian oil and gas construction projects more than five years and determined the major factors, affecting claims negotiations. Subsequently, factors’ weightings were derived using analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Findings – In total, 13 affecting factors identified in three categories of: external, cultural and personal behavioral. Finally, the weights of factors were identified. Research limitations/implications – This research was conducted in the context of Iranian oil and gas projects. This industry has high standards and its employees are well chosen and have frequent in job training. All these affect the organization, working and people’s culture and behavior compared to other sectors of construction business. Therefore, the results of this research are specific to the oil and gas industry. Practical implications – The findings of this paper can be considered as a practical guide for dealing with Iranian counterparts during claims negotiations to ensure amicable settlement. Also, it is useful for Iranian stakeholders to have better understanding of concerns of non-Iranian stakeholders. Originality/value – The paper is the original work of the authors, and to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper has for the first time introduced the factors affecting claims negotiations. The findings of this paper provide useful insight into effective claims negotiations of Iranian oil and gas projects.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Son Ngoc Nguyen ◽  
Nazrul Islam

Inspired by the fact that local partners acquire substantial knowledge from foreign consultants, an empirical study has been conducted on four metro construction projects in Vietnam to assess the knowledge transfer in practice. The process and results have been recorded in this article. A two-stage model has been developed and tested by using data obtained from 130 respondents. The first stage demonstrates that there are at least six factors affecting the knowledge transfer from foreign consultants to local partners. The second stage shows that acquired knowledge helps to improve the performance of the local partners. In addition to well-known determinants such as the transferor's willingness, capacity to transfer, the learner's intent and capability to learn, the results of the study provide the evidence to confirm the important roles of knowledge-related factors and environment-related factors. Furthermore, this study enriches the literature on knowledge transfer by adding a look into a specific context of consulting services.


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