Measuring the production rate and costs in the construction of Concrete Block Walls and Plastering

Abstract

This research project studied the production rate and costs associated with the construction of concrete block walls and plastering since the construction industry depends on these benchmarks for cost budgeting and scheduling to produce successful results. Despite the widespread usage of concrete blocks and plastering in Uganda, no thorough study has been done to determine the production rate and costs associated with building a concrete block wall and plastering because these standards don't exist for the majority of construction projects. This study was therefore conducted through on field measurement of the production rate for a given day, observations on the competency of the crew involved in the construction of concrete walls and plastering i.e., masons and helpers and establishing the labour and material costs incurred during the construction of these wall components. It also involved carrying out a Montecarlo simulation in Matlab to find the total cost for blockwork and plastering. The study was carried out in Kampala district and a total of 20 building construction sites were visited to collect the data required for the study focusing on only construction sites that were using concrete blocks to construct walls and plastering it with mortar comprising of cement and sand on their respective projects. The findings of this study have informed on field measurements for the durations, production rate and costs in concrete block wall construction and plastering, leading to greater productivity, better budgetary estimates, and better planning for concrete block walling and plastering.