Discuss about the Case Study for Construction of an Apartment in Novena.
The construction industry is considered as the largest industry in the world. This industry is sited as a growth indicator for the economic conditions of a country. The main goal of the construction project is to build an apartment in Novena and the important resources, which are required for building, includes labour, material and money (Nenonen et al 2014). It is quite important to make the industry more effective as well as efficient for making the utilization of resources properly. According to Kucukvar, Murat, and Omer (2013), the planning as well as estimation of various activities on construction sites are unpredictable due to lack of data on the labour productivity.
This assignment focuses on various literatures in order to review as well as research on the labour productivity, which is considered as one of the important task for construction of an apartment in Novena. The paper also discusses the task of the project, human resource, productivity, factors affecting productivity and various productivity improvement techniques.
It is stated by Kanadasan et al (2015), that the construction industry is unique as the project associated with it is large and it is built on site. There are number of project task, which are required in for building an apartment, but structural work is considered as the most significant as it is time consuming (Wasilkiewicz et al 2016). Structural work comprises of number of tasks which includes concrete mixing, testing of the sample, concrete curing and many more. The duration that is needed for completing the task is not possible to estimate as the architectural works are generally unpredictable.
According to Sarhan and Andrew (2013), the main resource that is required for the construction of an apartment is the workers. The human resource literature is needed for completing the task which includes employee participation, employee involvement and employee empowerment. All this concepts are very much essential for engaging the employees in order to encourage them in their work.
Employee productivity is an assessment which is utilized in order to measure the efficiency of the workers. According to Brinkman et al (2015), productivity is evaluated in context with the output of an employee within a specific time-period. Productivity is defined as an average hours required by the labour for installing a unit of material. It is stated by Nasir et al (2012), that 1.0% productivity can be achieved by a construction project with 40 hour of workweek excluding all the planned holidays by the employees. The productivity of an employee is measured relative to an average for the workers who do the same work. This is because success of construction is fully dependent on productivity of the workplace (McCabe 2012). The construction productivity can be perfect or the achievement is 100% when there are no delays during the time of construction of the apartment, every worker can work safely, every resource fit with demand, the weather is 70 degree Fahrenheit and there is no litigation remained at the completion of the project.
Productivity of the construction project is dependent on various inter-related factors, which are discussed below:
When an early delay occur in the construction procedure of the apartment, compression for the entire time frame or activity helps in compensating the interruptions in order to complete the assigned task. According to Ilozor, Benedict and David (2012), in the perspective of professional scheduling, various schedule compressions can occur without accelerating the specific work activities of the individuals which helps in reflecting the delays. In many project, schedules are not provided for reloading the resources effectively. As a result, a properly updated schedule helps in reflecting the delays, which focuses on completion time of the apartment construction without shortening various activities of the individuals. It is argued by Yi and Albert (2013), that scheduling compression may result into various extra labour forces for completing the desired task by the contractor. This is because the shortening of the entire duration helps the contractor to complete the task on time (Hardin and Dave 2015). When it is linked with overtime, it causes productivity lossless due to shortage of various material tools as well as equipment for supporting the extra labour.
The attitude and skills of the managers have a crucial bearing on the productivity of the construction industry. For the construction of an apartment, the industry follows latest technologies as well as innovations for increasing their average productivity but due to some reasons their productivity does not increases. This is mainly due to the inefficient as well as indifferent techniques followed by the management of the organization (Nenonen et al 2014). Experienced as well as committed mangers help in enhancing the productivity of an organization. The job performances of the employees are fully dependent on their ability as well as willingness towards work. According to Kanadasan et al (2015), the management of the organization act as a catalyst in order to create both the ability as well as willingness among the workers of the organization which indirectly helps in increasing the productivity of construction industry. It is stated by Kucukvar, Murat and Omer (2013), that advanced technology needs labour who have knowledge about the recent technologies so that they can operate the equipments efficiently. It is only possible if the management of the organization is sound. Proper management also helps in securing both the optimum utilization of human as well as technical resources.
Construction of the apartment is dependent on some design, drawings as well as on several specifications. If the drawing or specifications provided are not clear then the productivity of the construction industry automatically decreases, as the workers of the project are fully dependent on the specifications or information provided to them. It can cause delay of the task or the task can be stopped completely or it can be postponed until clear instruction is provided to the workers. It is opined by Sarhan and Andrew (2013), that the productivity of the work decreases by 30% if the process of working is changed and therefore it is very much important for the supervisor of the project to keep an eye on the various processes that are followed for completing the project. For example, the contractor cannot start withhis job until an inspection on various resources is done effectively. It is the task of the supervisors to check whether the process of construction is proceeding as per the specifications and designs or not (Nasir et al 2012).The absenteeism of the supervisors can stop all the work which requires their attendance such as casting concrete, backfilling, delaying inspection and many more. Therefore, supervisors play a significant role in the construction procedure of the apartment.
Management plays an important role in improving the productivity of an industry. According to McCabe(2014), the management technique which followed by the construction project in order to improve the productivity is “Providing supplemental training and educational opportunities to the workers”. Managers of an organization are very much responsible for enhancing the productivity of the construction workforce (Hardin, Brad and Dave 2015). They help in providing different types of supplemental training as well as educational opportunities to its employees so that they accustomed with the new technological innovations which are introduced in the organization. Kucukvar, Murat and Omer (2013) stated that the procedures of training improve the style of working of the employees and therefore, the construction of the apartment is done as per the specifications provided. The managers of the organization also help in improving the productivity by planning, proper selection, by utilizing as well as controlling resources effectively. The managers generally commit to productivity and demonstrate them with the help of their actions.
The productivity of the construction project can also be improved by using the following techniques of field survey and work sampling. According to Kanadasan et al (2015), field surveys are generally organized for improving the productivity of the construction project as well as for improving the conditions of the project sites. By using the technique, one can easily identify the various obstacles that are present in the path construction success. Sarhan and Andrew (2013) stated that the technique also helps in identifying the specific reasons, which are associated with project delay or failure. If the obstacles of the project are known one can improve the processes and automatically it will have positive impact on the productivity of the industry.
Ilozor, Benedict and David (2012) stated that the method of work sampling is fully dependent on various statistical sampling theories and it is considered as one of the sophisticated procedure. It is applied for estimating the percentage of tie that is required by a labour in context with the productivity of the construction industry. This measurement is quite important for improving the success of the industry (Wasilkiewicz et al 2016). The process mainly involves identification of the current activity rating as well as the various sources of productive and non-productive modes. It can be analyzed subjectively by levelling the various details of the classification scheme adopted by the project.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that the research helps in identifying and assessing the various factors which increases the labour productivity and the research also helps in evaluating a management strategy for the structural framework of the labour productivity. The paper examines various techniques that are helpful in improving the productivity of the workers and this is ensured in order to avoid penalty of being late in various projects. It is found that managers play a significant role in improving the success of the construction project by increasing the ability and willingness of the workers towards job with the help of training and educational opportunities.
References
Brinkman, J., Bosch-Rekveldt, M., Hertogh, M. and Rook, L. 2015.Collaboration between subsidiaries with different disciplines in the construction industry. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 194 no:44-54.
Hardin, Brad, and Dave McCool. 2015 BIM and construction management: proven tools, methods, and workflows. John Wiley & Sons.
Ilozor, Benedict D., and David J. Kelly. 2012 “Building information modeling and integrated project delivery in the commercial construction industry: A conceptual study.” Journal of Engineering, Project, and Production Management 2, no: 1 23.
Kanadasan, Jegathish, AuniFilzah Ahmad Fauzi, Hashim Abdul Razak, ParamananthanSelliah, VijayaSubramaniam, and SumianiYusoff.2015 “Feasibility studies of palm oil mill waste aggregates for the construction industry.” Materials 8, no. 9:6508-6530.
Kucukvar, Murat, and Omer Tatari.2013 “Towards a triple bottom-line sustainability assessment of the US construction industry.” The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 18, no. 5: 958-972.
McCabe, Steven.2013 Quality Improvement Techniques in Construction: Principles and Methods. Routledge.
Nasir, Hassan, Carl T. Haas, Jeff H. Rankin, Aminah Robinson Fayek, Daniel Forgues, and Janaka Ruwanpura.2012 “Development and implementation of a benchmarking and metrics program for construction performance and productivity improvement 1 1 this paper is one of a selection of papers in this special issue on construction engineering and management.” Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering 39, no. 9: 957-967.
Nenonen, Suvi, MiimuAiraksinen, and Terttu Vainio.2014 “Finland–R&D functions in real estate and the construction industry.” KD Hampson, JA Kraatz and AX Sanchez,“R&D Investment and Impact in the Global Construction Industry”, Oxon: Routledge : 98-114.
Sarhan, Saad, and Andrew Fox.2013 “Performance measurement in the UK construction industry and its role in supporting the application of lean construction concepts.” Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building, The 13, no. 1: 23.
Wasilkiewicz, Kinga, EirikAlbrechtsen, and Stian Antonsen.2016 “Occupational safety in a globalized construction industry: a study on Polish workers in Norway.” Policy and Practice in Health and Safety: 1-16.
Yi, Wen, and Albert PC Chan. 2013 “Critical review of labor productivity research in construction journals.” Journal of Management in Engineering 30, no. 2 : 214-225.
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