In-housing or out-sourcing on-site materials handling in housing?

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discover whether on-site materials handling should be performed in-house or out-sourced. This is done by studying visible and hidden costs related to materials handling and of the managers' awareness of these costs. Design/methodology/approach: The data have been gathered through 15 interviews, a number of short discussions on construction sites, and direct observations on six occasions in four housing projects in Scandinavia. Findings: Indirect and waste costs for materials handling on construction sites are unknown and are often underestimated during budgeting, planning, scheduling and organizing construction projects. Practical implications: The short case-studies indicate that the benefits of out-sourcing on-site materials handling outweigh the costs. Originality/value: The solution for materials handling in practice studied in the paper is undergoing rapid development in Scandinavia.