Construction Project Management Services and Construction Books
  • Construction Home
  • About Paul Netscher
  • +Construction Books
    • Successful Construction Project Management
    • Building a Successful Construction Company
    • Construction Claims
    • Construction Project Management: Tips and Insights
    • Construction Management: From Project Concept to Completion
    • An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses
    • The Successful Construction Supervisor and Foreman
    • Designing your ideal home
  • Construction Management Services
  • Book Reviews
  • Contact
  • Blog | Construction Management
  • Site Map
  • Blog | Home Improvement
  • Index of construction articles
  • Useful Links
  • Index Home Improvement

Construction productivity

12/11/2020

3 Comments

 
Picture
​Is your crew 100% productive? Is all the equipment on your project 100% productive? Now many project managers and supervisors will answer that of course their crew and equipment are productive. But how productive?
​
Consider this, if your crew works 10 hours a day and they’re paid 10 hours, but in this time they have a 30 minute lunch break and two 15 minute tea breaks, then straight off they are only working 9 hours. Now the breaks are pre-set and may have nothing to do with the project manager or supervisor. But let’s consider more. Are workers at their work stations at the start of the shift? Almost definitely not! There’s tools and materials to collect, prestart meetings, time for a chat, then a walk to the job site. At least 15 minutes is lost – and that’s on a good project, because it’s often more like 20 to 30 minutes. What about each side of the rest breaks? Inevitably workers start drifting to the toilets and eating areas 5 minutes before the start of the rest break. Then, afterwards they straggle back to the work site, taking 5 to 10 minutes to start work again. At least 30 minutes has been lost over the 3 rest and meal breaks!. Then the end of the shift. On many projects workers are all washed up and queued at the project gates at the end of the shift. To do this they’ve left their work station 15 minutes earlier so they could walk to the store, return tools and clean up. A 10 hour shift has been reduced to 8 hours and they haven’t even started to work!

How productive is your construction crew?

PictureImage by mrandolph from Pixabay
​But what happens while they’re working? Inevitably there’re interruptions. A chat with other workers, toilet visits, waiting for cranes, stepping aside so that others can do work, equipment breakdowns, walking back to the store to get other materials, waiting for instructions from the supervisor, and more. Then when one task is finished they have to move to another task, fetch new materials and equipment for that task and familiarise themselves with the new task. Before you know it the work day is 7 hours. But, this’s probably a good day. I regularly factored in 70% productivity in a work day when I priced projects.
​
So imagine if your workers takes 10 minutes to return from their rest breaks instead of the 5 minutes I allowed above. Suddenly they’ve lost another 15 minutes. 15 minutes on 7 hours is a loss of 3.5%. Now most construction companies only price 10 to 15% profit on their projects. So losing 3.5% of production every day would reduce a 10% profit on labour to only 6.5% – which is a 35% reduction in profit. Now nobody would be happy with that. 

PictureImage by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
​​To continue with the discussion, we have a crew that’s physically working on the job site for 7 hours – are they actually producing what they should, working at maximum production? Now I’ve worked in several different countries and it amazes me how production varies between countries. But production also varies between projects, supervisors and work crews.

In this instance, let’s say the estimator assumed a carpenter could erect 1 square metre of concrete forms per hour. In 7 hours that’s 7 square metres. But if your crew is only completing 6 square metres in the day then they’re producing only 86% of what the price allowed. In other words, for every square metre of formwork it’s costing the company 15% more than they’re being paid to erect the formwork. In fact, if your company has a 10% profit margin for the item, then they’re losing money!
​
Of course it works the other way as well. If your crew is erecting 8 square metre of forms versus the 7 allowed, then your crew is making an additional 14% profit. If the company has a 10% profit margin on the item, suddenly your crew is making the 10% plus an additional 14%, which is a huge increase in profits.

In future articles we look at what impacts productivity, and equipment productivity.
Read How to improve construction productivity

Do you want to learn how to manage construction projects successfully?

Picture
Click on picture to view books on Amazon
​Paul Netscher has written several easy to read books for owners, contractors, construction managers, construction supervisors and foremen. They cover all aspects of construction management and are filled with tips and insights.
Visit to read more.

The books are available in paper and ebook from most online stores including Amazon.
construction management construction project management
3 Comments
cleaning Hobart link
23/11/2020 07:48:41 am

Thank you for sharing this awesome information about constructions. Your post is quite interesting...

Reply
deck builders in vaughan link
21/10/2021 11:19:30 pm

I find the best way to improve a crew's motivation and productivity is to constantly express and show your appreciation for their hard work. Something as simple as "great job today" or getting them timbits and coffee will go a long way to get them to do their job properly and efficiently. Because if they have a boss who shows they care and treats them like family rather than a number, they will appreciate that and in turn, show their appreciation.

Reply
chimney repair link
22/7/2022 10:29:56 am

Great breakdown of how productivity can affect a company's bottom line. I think this blog is relatable to every industry even outside of construction.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    June 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    September 2023
    July 2023
    May 2023
    March 2023
    January 2023
    October 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014

    ​Note: We welcome genuine comments, especially comments that add additional information to the subject matter in the article. We however reserve the right to remove inappropriate comments, which includes comments that have nothing to do with the subject, comments that include inappropriate language, and comments that are an advertisement for a product or company, or which include an advertising link. Comments must be in English. We will not enter into discussion on why a particular comment was removed.

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

    Copyright 2016 - The attached articles cannot be reproduced for commercial purposes without the consent of the author.
    The opinions expressed in the attached articles are those of the writer. It should be noted that projects are varied and different laws and restrictions apply which depend on the location of the contractor and the project. It's important that the reader uses the supplied information taking cognisance of their particular circumstances. The writer assumes no responsibility or liability for any loss of any kind arising from the reader using the information or advice contained herein.
    Picture
    "I have what I consider some of the best books on construction management."

    Books are available from:
    Amazon.com
    Amazon.co.uk
    takealot.com

    kalahari.com
    Amazon.in
    Amazon.de
    Amazon.fr
    Amazon.it
    Amazon.com.au
    Powell's
    Fishpond
    uread
    bokus
    Amazon.ca
    Amazon.es
    Other retail stores

    Available in paperback or on Kindle
    Picture
    ​"28 YEARS OF CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE, DEVELOPING SUCCESSFUL CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGERS AND BUILDING SUCCESSFUL CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES"
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

Construction Books

Successful Construction Project management
Building a Successful Construction Company
Construction Claims: A Short Guide for Contractors
Construction Management: From Project Concept to Completion
Construction Project Management: Tips and Insights
​
Build and Renovate Your Home With Your Eyes Wide Open
Book Reviews

Construction services

Construction Management Services
Paul Netscher
Construction Management Blog
​Home Improvement Blog

Contact
Developing Successful Construction Project Managers.

Building Successful Construction Companies.
30 years of construction project management experience
  • Construction Home
  • About Paul Netscher
  • +Construction Books
    • Successful Construction Project Management
    • Building a Successful Construction Company
    • Construction Claims
    • Construction Project Management: Tips and Insights
    • Construction Management: From Project Concept to Completion
    • An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses
    • The Successful Construction Supervisor and Foreman
    • Designing your ideal home
  • Construction Management Services
  • Book Reviews
  • Contact
  • Blog | Construction Management
  • Site Map
  • Blog | Home Improvement
  • Index of construction articles
  • Useful Links
  • Index Home Improvement