Rathnayake, A and Middleton, C (2023) Systematic review of the literature on construction productivity. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 149(6): 03123005, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Productivity, defined as output per input, is a key performance indicator. Construction is one of the least productive industries, and in this paper we explore how productivity measurement can be improved. The findings are based on a review of more than 100 studies. First, we summarize the indicators and data sources used to measure productivity at the macro (economic) and micro (more detailed) levels. Then we explore industry-level productivity trends. Contrary to popular belief, US construction productivity has not declined or stagnated over time. Also, the US has consistently outperformed the UK, Germany, and France. Next, we identify the most critical factors affecting construction productivity. These are related to labor, equipment and technology, construction site, schedule, supervisors, and materials. We also discuss new technologies that can help improve productivity: off-site construction, building information modeling, material tracking technologies, and automated productivity monitoring. Finally, we discuss challenges in this area: the unsuitability of labor productivity as an indicator, issues with activity-level productivity analysis, the disconnect between macro and micro levels, and the lack of micro-level productivity databases.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction; factors; measurement; productivity; review |
| Index terms: | Germany, construction site, new technology, productivity, labour productivity, off-site construction, database, systematic literature review, monitoring, France, supervisor, building information modelling, construction productivity, key performance indicator, critical factor |
| Subjects: | research evaluation and metrics, Geography, management, practitioner, control systems, data management, risk assessment, information systems, work location, operations management, building construction, project delivery, innovation and technology management |
| Topics: | Geographical Context, Business Strategy, Risk Management, Engineering Principles, Roles and Professions, Site Management, Construction Technology, Research Practice, Project Management, Digital Applications |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here