Assessment of the impact of the last planner system on waste management in Uganda’s construction industry

Abstract

The study intended to study the impact of the Last Planner System in Uganda’s construction industry. Different specific objectives were used that is to say; determining the percentage of wastage in the construction industry of Uganda, determining the applications of Last Planner System LPS in Uganda’s construction industry, determining the relationship between Last Planner System LPS and wastage control and proposing recommendations to support construction stakeholders in implementing the Last Planner System LPS. The study used descriptive cross-sectional study design. Both methods of data collection that is to say quantitative and qualitative approaches were applied. The primary data was obtained from construction sites with in Kampala. The data was analyzed at two levels that is to say uni-variate and bi-variate analysis Results indicated that the percentage of wastage in the construction industry of Uganda was high as the majority of the respondents acknowledged that the percentage of wastage was between 25-50%. Steel and tiles were wasted more highly as the respondents claimed for 75-50% on wastage for these items in the construction industry. The researcher assessed the causes of wastage in the industry and revealed that, poor supervision (64%), poor workmanship and operations (100%), poor handling of construction materials (82%), Lack of information on drawings (84%), Lack of information about construction during design activities (70%), Frequent design and client`s changes (100%), Poor storage of materials (100%), Use of incorrect materials (100%), poor site control (100%), Poor strategy for waste minimization (60%), rework due to work`s mistakes (100%) and Poor quality and non-availability of equipment (100%) as the causes of wastage in the construction industry of Uganda. The researcher identified that the majority (72%) of the respondents were knowledgeable about the Last Planner System. Respondent`s agreement about the applicability of LPS had a high percentage since majority of them agreed about having a good working condition in their company (100%), that management in their company is accountable for anything that occurs during operation including all facilitations needed (52%), their company had a design team (74%) and they often meetings at least weekly (74%). All invested companies had foreman as 100% of the respondents acknowledged it. Therefore, the researcher recommends stakeholders to better understand the major challenges (barriers) that could hinder the implementation of LPS during the construction stage of a project and identify what could be done to tackle these challenges (what to do).