Analysis of On-site productivity constraints and improvement techniques in uganda.

Abstract

The predominant decline in on-site construction productivity in the Ugandan construction sector is a result of internal and external factors, which constrain the achievement of set building project objectives. This leads to contractors investing in a lot of money and getting less returns on investment. The main objective of this study is to identify the key constraints to on-site construction productivity based on the views of project managers, contractors and subcontractors in the Ugandan construction industry. Qualitative data collected through pilot interviews formed the basis for questionnaire surveys conducted among the target populations. Pareto analysis was used to identify priority factors that stake holders should focus on to improve on-site productivity on construction sites while the multiple regression technique was used for the tests of the research hypotheses for objective three. Feedback from the respondent interviews revealed 26 on-site construction productivity constraint factors, which were grouped under four broad categories: project finance, workforce, technology/process, unforeseen events, and other external forces. Results of the analyzed questionnaire surveys showed that reworks and late payments among project finance factors, material shortage at site and delay in delivery of materials under material related constraint factors were the most occurring constraint factors and accounted for 80% of on-site construction productivity as assumed by pareto principle. workforce turnover under workforce constraint factors also were among the 20% constraint factors accounting for 80% of the problems in on-site construction productivity. Hypothesis was tested to reveal the dependence of category constraints on on-site construction productivity(efficiency). The hypothesis revealed that material, project finance and work force related constraints had a significant effect on time productivity and had no significant effect on satisfaction of work or quality of works done on site. Suggestions for improving on-site construction productivity included application of new technologies and adequate planning that had a bigger percentage, proper risk management strategies, proper site management and increasing labor wages were other improvement techniques that were suggested.