Nanayakkara, L (2012) Site layout: how it is perceived to affect productivity in public sector construction projects in Sri Lanka. PhD thesis, Oxford Brookes University, UK.
Abstract
Improved productivity in the construction industry (Cl) can have an important role in improving national competitiveness and achieving a satisfactory growth rate in developing countries. The Sri Lanka (SL) State Engineering Corporation, SL Building Department, SL Port Authority and SL Labour Department have experienced that most of their projects are affected by low productivity. Most projects have also suffered from serious setbacks, and in certain cases even termination, of contracts: productivity is believed to be low compared to other developing countries and the Asian sub-continent in particular. The construction site layout plan (SLP) is one of the focal factors which strongly influence construction productivity. This research aims to investigate how productivity could be improved in the Sri Lank.an public sector building CI through effective SLP. The main objective of this research is to develop an empirically grounded framework for understanding the relationship between SLP and site productivity in the Sri Lankan construction industry (SLCI). The semi-structured interview was chosen as a main research instrument for data collection. 60 site staff members were randomly selected from 15 construction sites within the context of construction projects commissioned by the Sri Lankan public sector. The findings from the study show that the employers in Sri Lanka are aware of the supposed advantages of efficient SLP in Cl. However, construction SLP in the developed regions in the Sri Lankan CI is not vastly different from SLP in remote regions in the Sri Lankan Cl. Effective and efficient SLP in SLCI would contribute to improving their productivity considerably. The study contributes to the body of knowledge on productive construction site layout and also presents a SLP framework for improving construction productivity in the SLCI. The implementation of this SLP framework could give a new dimension and benefits to the SLCI. If successfully implemented this same framework, could be applied in other industries such as manufacturing. It could also be used in other developing countries - particularly in the Asian sub-region.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | competitiveness; construction site; developing countries; interview; productivity; public sector; site layout; site staff; Sri Lanka |
| Index terms: | construction site, interview, developing country, site layout, body of knowledge, construction project, productivity, public sector, dimension, public sector building, construction industry, construction productivity, implementation, site staff, Sri Lanka, competitiveness |
| Subjects: | market analysis, Geography, production management, development economics, contractual arrangements, knowledge management, site logistics, operations management, practitioner, construction type, industry analysis, administrative law, management, health monitoring assessment and metrics, work location, data collection methods |
| Topics: | Procurement, Health and Safety, Geographical Context, Project Management, Legal Issues, Roles and Professions, Construction Technology, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Information Management, Site Management, International Construction |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
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