As per the Government of India, the construction sector is the second largest employer after agriculture. Approximately 44 million people worked in construction in 2017. Also, the CAGR projection for the construction sector in India is 11.7% for 2021-2025. With the increasing investments in the infrastructure sector, the demand for skilled labour is likely to increase proportionally to the sector growth.
The advancement of planning tools and the application of best project management practices and software-based services like 1mnt.in have made construction labour planning a statistics-based approach. The historical data, analysis tools and scientific methods are additional support to labour planning.
The current article shall serve as a guide for labour productivity in construction. Here, you get all the following details, which will surely help you understand the term ‘Labour Productivity in Construction.’
- What is labour Productivity in Construction?
- Importance of Labour Productivity in Construction
- How to Calculate Labour Productivity in Construction
- Labour Productivity Calculation for Different Construction Works
- Factors Affecting Labour Productivity in Construction
- How to Improve Labour Productivity in Construction
What is Labour Productivity in Construction?
Productivity: Productivity is a measure of the output vs. the input.
Labour Productivity in Construction: Labour productivity is the ratio of the work done to the number of labours deployed for the job. The labour productivity measurement is for a day, a week or a month. It is an indication of the efficiency of the workers. The estimation of labour productivity also helps in labour planning.
Importance of Labour Productivity in Construction
Labour productivity is a crucial metric in optimizing the cost of the project. Also, the productivity measurement identifies the weak areas of performance. The following points will clear the importance of labour productivity in construction.
01. Reduction in Project Cost
The labour cost is almost 25 – 40% of the project cost. The correct estimation of labour productivity reduces the surplus-labour therefore a reduction in the overall project cost.
02. Timely Completion of Job
The labour productivity identifies the performance backlogs. The replacement of lesser skilled labour with skilled labour ensures the timely completion of the job.
03. Enhanced Supervision
The low productivity jobs are specially monitored and controlled.
04. Quality of Work
Quality is one of the prime objectives of project management. The high-precision jobs are planned to be done by skilled and productive labours.
05. Labour Mobilization and Demobilization Plan
The requirement of labour is as per the project stages. The initial and closing phases need lesser workers. The mobilization and demobilization plans take care of the labour requirement and cost accordingly.
06. Manpower Histogram
Labour productivity and the activity duration are the basis for the labour requirement calculation. A histogram is a statistical tool for easy analysis of labour requirement versus availability.
07. Cash Flow Requirement
The Labour requirement histogram helps calculate the wages for the month.
08. Facilities For Workers
The labour productivity yields the labour requirement, which is the basis of labour accommodation and utility planning.
How to Calculate Labour Productivity in Construction
The simplest way for calculating labour productivity is to divide the output by the input. The output is the job done by the labour, such as shuttering; rebar cutting-bending work, concrete pouring work, etc. The following image shows the labour productivity equation –
The labour productivity calculated by the above formula is for the complete job. However, the daily, weekly and monthly productivity can also be calculated by modifying the labour productivity formula accordingly. The following image shows the labour productivity equation for daily and monthly labour productivity.
Similarly, the calculation of monthly labour productivity is possible by the above formula by putting monthly values.
Labour Productivity Calculations for Different Construction Works
Labour productivity calculations for different construction works are as follows:
- Labour Productivity for Excavation Work
- Labour Productivity for Reinforcement Works
- Labour Productivity for Shuttering Works
- Labour Productivity for Concrete Work
Let’s take a detailed look –
01. Labour Productivity For Excavation Works
Small-scale construction requires manual excavation works. The method is limited to excavation in soft soils with a maximum depth of 1.5-3 m. The excavation activity involves the measurement and marking of the pit, excavation up to desired depth, taking out the excavated soil of the pit, and disposal at a suitable dumping location.
The output of the excavation works is the soil excavation and its disposal. The unit of work is cubic meters (cum). The following image shows the labour productivity equation for excavation work.
02. Labour Productivity for Reinforcement Works
The reinforcement works include several activities such as-
- Rebar selection and transportation from store yard to the steelyard
- Rebar straightening
- Marking & cutting
- Bending in the desired shape
- Transporting to the worksite
- Placing & fixing in the member (footing, beam, column, slab, etc.)
A fitter (bar binder), helper and unskilled complete the rebar job. The labour productivity is calculated as per the rebar fixing, as it is the last activity for the rebar work. The rebar work productivity is in kg per man-day. The following image shows the labour productivity equation for rebar work.
For, large construction projects where a separate team cuts and bends the bar and a different team fixes the bar, the rebar work productivity for cutting-bending and fixing is calculated.
However, the diameter of the rebar plays an important role in defining labour productivity. The higher diameter bars (>20mm dia.) yield more labour productivity than the lower diameter bars (<20 mm dia.).
03. Labour Productivity for Shuttering Works
The shuttering work is a collection of multiple activities like-
- Board making and re-making
- Transporting the shuttering material at the work site
- Staging for the superstructure shuttering jobs
- Fixing of shuttering in place
- Applying the supports and props to the shuttering fixed
The following image shows the labour productivity equation for shuttering work.
The measurement of shuttering fixing is in a square meter. The unit for shuttering work productivity is square meters per man-day. The shuttering job employs carpenters, helpers and unskilled labours.
According to the research paper “Labour productivity Measurement method using 3D BIM of a Commercial Project” developed by ‘M Archana Menon, Shibi Varghese’, you may take the standard labour productivity for formwork of heights up to 10m as –
04. Labour Productivity for Concreting Works
A team of masons, helpers and unskilled labours complete the concreting work. The activities performed for the entire work are-
- Transporting of construction material from store to the mixing plant
- For manual works, the labour mixes the material, adds water to it.
- For batching plant, the labour helps the batching plant operator.
- Transportation from batching plant to the worksite
- Concrete pump operation and concrete pipeline work
- Concrete compaction or vibration
- Levelling and Finishing
The following image shows the labour productivity equation for concrete work.
The labour productivity of the concrete work is cubic meters per man-day.
The concrete mixing in batching plant and transportation by transit mixer significantly improves labour productivity. On the other hand, the Capex requirement is also higher.
According to the research paper “A Study on Construction Labour productivity Parameters in India” developed by ‘K Dasari, and Rao Rameshwara C B’, The standard labour attributes and their constants for 1, cum of RCC in building construction up to plinth level as per IS7272, Telangana State Building Data (TS), and CPWD are as follows –
Factors Affecting Labour Productivity in Construction
The labour productivity for the job depends upon the number of activities performed for each job. Provision for mechanical means for transportation, bending machine, concrete pump etc. improves labour productivity. According to the research paper “Construction Labor Productivity and its Improvement” developed by ‘C Thiyagu, and M Dheenadhayalan’, some of the factors affecting construction labour productivity are as follows –
- Labours’ Attributes: Age, nutrition and health condition.
- Site Management: Unclear drawings, lack of clear instructions, unbalanced gangs, lack of tools and tackles.
- Improper Supervision: Lack of work time measurement, wrong work allocation, inability to demonstrate the job.
- Lack of Motivation: Lack of training for workers, insufficient wages, poor living conditions.
- Material Related: A shortage of material, improper stacking of material, storage yard too far from the workplace.
How to Improve Labour Productivity in Construction?
If you have confusion that how to increase labour productivity then follow the below tips for improving labour productivity in construction; it will work well.
- Planning and ensuring the availability of the right tools for the work, particularly in this digital era.
- Facilitation of work with construction equipment like the crane, bar cutting machine, bar bending machine, and wheelbarrow for concrete transportation.
- Ensure the drawings are clear before handing them to the site workers. Discuss the working methodology with the carpenters, fitters and masons to reinforce the correct procedure. The methodology discussion reduces rework.
- Develop a safety culture at the site. The labours should have information on occupational hazards. The safety culture motivates the labour to focus on the work.
- Supervisors should behave impartially with the workers. The implementation of fair working culture should prevail.
- Time and motion study is a tool to identify the unnecessary movements by workers. It helps in reducing fatigue and timely completion of the job.
- Enhance the work site facility. General and job-specific lighting at night, rain protection, etc. should be kept handy.
- Recognize the good performers and make them role models for other workers. Also, encourage the workers to take ownership of their work.
- Reward the timely completion of work. It enhances labour productivity. Similarly, punish the non-performer at the right time.
Final Words
Labour productivity is a vast subject as it involves multi-disciplinary science. A well-versed resource manager has engineering, finance and sociological tools to handle the labour. The companies are putting in their best efforts to optimize their project cost. The labour cost being a major portion is under an overhaul too.
The workers’ issues should be periodically discussed with them. Sometimes, issues like site sanitation, hygiene, drinking water facility at the site etc. negatively impact labour productivity in construction. The safety induction, tool kit talks before the work start give a good head start to the day.
We hope this guide for labour productivity in construction proves helpful to you and smoothen your construction job. We also have some super helpful blogs for ease of your construction work. Take a look by clicking the below link-
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Author Bio
Shazeb Ali
