Abstract:
Improvement of productivity in construction has been a major industry challenge given its high impact on project results. It has received increased attention from construction researchers promoting different enhancement actions, being the analysis of factors affecting labor productivity an instrumental part in this process. This paper focuses on identifying and understanding the productivity factors affecting projects in a Chilean construction company, based on questionnaires administered to both direct workers and mid-level employees. Analysis of questionnaire results allowed for finding of organizational and managerial weaknesses, and also for comparison of findings against previous productivity studies. The results proved to be useful in coming up with recommendations for productivity improvements. The main findings indicate that the critical areas affecting construction productivity were related to Materials, Rework, Equipment and Truck availability, and Tools, as well as the workers motivational dynamics. These results are similar to those obtained in previous studies in the U.S. and in Chile. Salary expectations were found to be the main reason for turnover in the studied company, which was an aspect not mentioned in previous studies. Finally, additional analyses seem to show that some factors affecting productivity are common to construction projects across boundaries, therefore validating data aggregation and the possibility of learning from experiences in different locations and even separated in time of occurrence. Login or signup to follow this paper Followers (0)
