Search results
1 – 3 of 3Rex Asibuodu Ugulu, Andrew Arewa and Stephen Allen
The purpose of this paper is to establish the perception of tradespeople about project-specific constraints (PSCs) influencing construction productivity in Nigeria.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to establish the perception of tradespeople about project-specific constraints (PSCs) influencing construction productivity in Nigeria.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a qualitative descriptive survey comprising face-to-face semi-structured interviews and a purposive sampling method, views of eight groups of tradespeople and seven project managers on live construction projects in Nigeria were collected. The study used conventional content analysis with the aid of NVivo 12 pro computer software for the analysis.
Findings
The research evaluated the PSCs and their effect on construction productivity of tradespeople. The findings identified five key PSCs, namely: lack of promotions/reward system, unsafe/poor health condition of workers, delay in material availability, inadequate site amenities and an ageing workforce. These results support earlier research on constraints influencing labour productivity, however, the poor health condition of workers and material unavailability appear to be more unique when compared to other previous studies.
Research limitations/implications
The study focussed on the Federal Capital Territory Abuja and the Lagos State of Nigeria. It provides insight into the PSCs influencing the productivity of tradespeople in the Nigerian construction industry. Further research to identify the PSCs in depth, in the Eastern part of Nigeria is necessary.
Practical implications
The PSCs influencing tradespeople’s productivity was identified. The level of the relative impact of the PSCs is expected to guide the project team in addressing the PSCs in a method that is cost effective.
Originality/value
This study is original research that has underlined some areas of improvement in construction project performance.
Details
Keywords
Emmanuel Chidiebere Eze, Onyinye Sofolahan, Rex Asibuodu Ugulu and Ernest Effah Ameyaw
The purpose of this study is to assess the potential benefits of digital technologies (DTs) in bolstering the circular economy (CE) transition in the construction industry, to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to assess the potential benefits of digital technologies (DTs) in bolstering the circular economy (CE) transition in the construction industry, to speed up the attainment of sustainable development objectives.
Design/methodology/approach
A detailed literature review was undertaken to identify DTs that could influence CE transition and the benefits of these DTs in the CE transitioning efforts of the construction industry. Based on these, a survey questionnaire was formulated and administered to construction professionals using convenient sampling techniques. With a response rate of 49.42% and data reliability of over 0.800, the gathered data were analysed using frequency and percentage, mean item score, normalisation value, coefficient of variation, Kendall’s coefficient of concordance, analysis of variance and factor analysis.
Findings
This study found that the construction experts agreed that building information modelling, blockchain technology, RFID, drone technology and cloud computing are the leading DTs that have the potential to influence and speed up CE transition in construction. Also, six clusters of benefits of DTs in bolstering EC are quicken CE transition, proactive waste management, recycling and zero waste, data management and decision-making, enhance productivity and performance and resource optimisation.
Originality/value
Studies on the integration of DTs in CE transition are scarce and it is even lacking in the Nigerian context. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to assess the role of DTs in CE transitioning in the Nigerian construction industry.
Details
Keywords
Rex Asibuodu Ugulu and Stephen Allen
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how on-site blockwork craft gangs’ learning impacts productivity within the production environment on-site to optimise their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how on-site blockwork craft gangs’ learning impacts productivity within the production environment on-site to optimise their productivity.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is adopting a quantitative method with the observation of seven craft gangs’ blockwork with an average of five members in each gang, using the learning curve model application in a 17-storey tri-tower construction project in Nigeria. The linear regression method was employed in the analysis stage of this study using labour-recorded productivity time input as the dependent variables.
Findings
The paper provides empirical insights about the significance of on-site craft gangs’ learning. The overall blockwork craft gangs learning observed at the site level shows an average learning rate of 94.21 per cent resulting in 5.79 per cent improvement gains.
Research limitations/implications
Due to the nature of the study and the research question, the observations in this research study were limited to FCDA construction project in Nigeria. The limitation of this scenario is that the research results may lack generalisability. Therefore, there is the need for further study on the learning rate.
Practical implications
This research study includes the implications for the development of on-site blockwork craft gangs learning; the significant impact of learning rate of 94.21 per cent resulting in 5.79 per cent improvement gain can be used in the planning and to fast track the productivity of craft gangs’ construction.
Originality/value
This paper identified the need to improve construction productivity through craft gangs’ on-site learning with the application of the learning curve theory.
Details