Cost of concrete placement for contractors

RMC is an important construction material and the cost of placing this material is significant for a contractor. Previous research studies to minimise this cost have centred upon the cost of plant and labour, without consideration of the other costs that comprise the RMC system. The aim of this research is to define the costs that should be reduced to minimise the contractor cost in the RMC system and identify a method(s) of achieving this minimisation. The costs and the contributor(s) to these costs were identified through consultation with industrial practitioners. A quantitative analysis was performed on a data set collected from UK construction projects to determine the significance of each cost and the contributor(s) to each cost. The significant costs were the RMC material, plant hire, idleness of plant and on-site labour (placing team) and truck mixer surcharges. These costs should be reduced. A systemic cost reduction would include all of the significant costs identified and produce a larger reduction in the cost of RMC placement for contractors than focusing on plant and labour costs alone. Such a systemic would require a fundamental re-management of the RMC system such as a reconfiguration of the resource supply chain coupled with production control methods aimed at reducing plant and labour costs.