A Study on Factors Affecting Labor Productivity on Building Construction Projects in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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Date
2016
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The objective of the study is to overview the productivity measurement practices in the Ethiopian
construction industry. It mainly aims to investigate and rank the critical factors affecting labor
productivity in building construction projects according to the rate given by respondents and to
compare the investigated critical factors affecting labor productivity in Ethiopia to that of other
studies in different countries. Furthermore, it describes approaches suggested by construction
practitioners to improve labour productivity on building projects.
The study result indicates that the performances of building construction projects are influenced by
the effect of poor labour productivity; however, most of the contractors do not have experience of
measuring labour productivity on their projects due to negligence, lack of awareness and believing
that measuring productivity is difficult to implement. Hence, contractors are recommended to
participate in trainings and workshops to increase their knowledge and level of awareness.
The top ten labour productivity influencing factors rated by their level of effect and frequency of
occurrence are rated and ranked as; 1)Shortage of material, 2)Delays in decisions making,
3)Incomplete and Inaccurate drawings, 4) Lack of follow up the work progress, 5) Financial
difficulties of the owner/Payment delay , 6)Incomplete facilities (water & power supply, and
sanitary facilities), 7)Inspection and Instruction delay, 8)Lack of Motivation, 9)Frequent damage of
equipments and 10)Change of work order/Variation. The result indicates that among the top ten
ranked critical factors five (50%), four (40%) and 1 (10%) of them lies under the responsibility of
Contractors, Consultants and Clients respectively.
Results of the comparative analysis show that the findings of each study are different from the others.
These differences indicate that the factors affecting construction productivity change based upon
different circumstances.
It is found that; timely supply of Material & Equipments, using work Plan (schedules) and
Continuous monitoring of the progress of the project, Acquiring complete drawing & specification,
Motivating labours, and Subcontracting works are labour improvement approaches suggested by the
respondents in the rank of their effectiveness.
Key words: Construction, Building, Productivity, Labour, Factors,
Description
Keywords
Construction, Building, Productivity, Labour, Factors