Factors Affecting Productivity in Construction Projects

Abstract

The construction industry being one of the largest and most profitable industries globally faces several problems. The main problems from which the construction projects suffer are cost, duration and quality of the construction. Cost, duration and quality mainly depend on the labor productivity. Several factors are involved in determining the efficiency of labor. Therefore, many researchers and experts have done research on the factors that are linked with the productivity of labors. But challenges and difficulties related to labor productivity still exist. The aim of carrying out this study is to identify the factors that affect the labor productivity in the construction industry and to determine the co-relation among the identified factors. To identify the factors affecting productivity, literature review was done in which more than 100 factors from several research papers were identified and were arranged based on Relative Importance Index (RII). Also, VosViewer was used in literature review to explore the topics of construction productivity that are being researched. 30 factors remained when pilot study was conducted with the help of experienced professionals. The questionnaire survey was then floated online and responses were collected. Stata and SPSS software were used to perform statistical analysis in order to determine the co-variance among the 30 identified factors. The results of the analysis provided 13 most influencing factors that were divided into three groups named as Consultant/Supervisor related factors, Human Resource (HR) related factors and Material, equipment and project related factors. Based on this research, some recommendations have been proposed to improve the productivity in the construction industry. This research and its recommendations can be used by project managers, contractors, consultants and supervisors in Pakistan as well as in the countries that possess similar work environment as of Pakistan for enhancing the construction productivity.