How to Measure Productivity on Construction Sites

You must measure and improve the productivity in your construction firm.

The construction industry is a vital part of the economy. More and more construction companies are competing to improve their management of construction sites and to enhance productivity. Measuring the productivity on construction sites is a complex task because there are no standard measuring tools do facilitate this. Many factors, metrics and indexes can be taken into consideration at any given time depending on the type of construction project as well as the intended use of the findings.

Instructions

1. Carry out a data envelopment analysis to measure productivity in the construction site. This is a relatively new method of collecting and relating input variables to the output results. This data-oriented approach for evaluating the performance of all the laborers takes into consideration variables such as additional work or re-work ordered by the client, formal education of both laborers and the site manager and employment time of the site manager and participation of workers in planning the construction process. These factors affect the productivity (output) in a construction site at any given time.

2. Calculate the labor productivity in construction by expressing labor productivity as functional units per labor hour for each type of construction task. Set up a system of accounting for labor productivity which can be used to track productivity trends over time and in varied locations. Develop productivity indices by collecting statistical data which include criteria such as the performance of major crafts, effects of project size, type and location and other project influences.

3. Examine non-productive activities to determine the actual hours against the budgeted hours put into a construction project. The labor hours spent on rework to correct unsatisfactory original work represent extra, non-productive time robbed from budgeted labor hours. Deduct labor hours directed to extra activities and non-activities from the budgeted labor hours to obtain the actual productive labor yield. To come up with a production rate, calculate the duration of time, the man-hours involved and an amount of work produced.

Tips & Warnings

• Measuring productivity in a construction site is most effective if done on an on-going basis. This will save money, determine loopholes and improve the management of the construction site. Site managers and foremen with a knowledge of productivity evaluation and measurement are best placed to come up with accurate results for benchmarking

References

• Nist: Metrics And Tools For Construction Productivity Project
• Project Management For Construction: Labor, Material And Equipement Utilization
• Bnet: Construction Pre-Qualfication Using Data Envelopemtn Analaysis
• Scitopics: Data Envelopment Analysis
• Construction Resource: Production Rates

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish