Determinants of productivity on construction sites

e economy of the country. In Europe, the construction industry is facing a difficult time and the signs indicate that this crisis will not come to an end in the near future. The low level of productivity within the construction industry is related to a number of factors and the productivity level within a construction firm is of direct interest to the management. This thesis identifies and investigates the most significant factors that influence the productivity levels on construction sites. A process model of productivity has been developed to evaluate the likelihood of a construction sites having a high level of productivity. The model identifies which determinants have the most significant influence on productivity. An exploratory research was conducted in London using four project managers, four site managers and two general foremen. A literary search was carried out using the factors that influence productivity on construction sites. The complexity of the issues raised included site manager/project manager characteristics, resource management, management systems, issues related to wastage, delay and disruption on site, and the effect of dissatisfying and motivating factors on the workforce. Other closely related determinants of productivity were also investigated in the thesis. After the exploratory interviews and literature review, a pilot questionnaire was composed which included 55 questions, which incorporated ten themes of the most significant determinants of productivity within the construction site. This led to the development of a hypothesis and sub-hypothesis. 16 case studies with a high level of productivity and 16 case studies with a low level of productivity were investigated in the London area. All of the construction firms who participated in the case studies are involved in providing homes for Housing Associations. In order to test the hypothesis and sub-hypothesis the following technique was used: Data from the 32 case studies was fed onto a spreadsheet containing all the information that is related to site productivity. The relationship between influencing factors and the productivity level is tested using the correlation co-efficient and the chi-square test. Output from the analysis was tabulated and highly significant factors affecting productivity was ranked. The research findings were then interpreted by going back to the 32 case studies to find out the combination of causes, which led to a high or low productivity level (i. e. the group of factors). This was performed using the factor analysis of the SPSS package. Finally Linear regression method was used to investigate the possible linear relationship between the factor grouping and construction site productivity. The analysis offers several recommendations, which includes important suggestions for improving construction productivity with a productivity model for improving productivity on site. The analysis results confirmed that pre-construction activities, site/project management characteristics, management factors, management system, labour characteristics, resource management and motivating and hygiene factors are strong influential factors in improving construction site productivity. After completion of the study conclusion, a number of recommendations were put forward.