Labor Waste in Housing Construction Projects: An empirical study

Nassri, Soraya and Talebi, Saeed and Elghaish, Faris and Koohestani, Keyvan and McIlwaine, Stephen and Hosseini, M. Reza and Poshdar, Mani and Kagioglou, Michail (2021) Labor Waste in Housing Construction Projects: An empirical study. Smart and Sustainable Built Environment. ISSN 2046-6099

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Abstract

Purpose - High-level labor waste is a major challenge in construction projects. This paper aims to identify, quantify and categorize labor waste in the context of Iranian housing construction projects.
Design/methodology/approach – This research uses a case study approach, with empirical data collected through direct observations and semi-structured interviews.
Findings – Having triangulated the findings from the literature review and empirical studies, a list of eight types of waste was derived for the thirteen observed laborers in ten case study projects. The empirical studies allowed the labor waste identified from the literature to be verified and refined by considering it in the context of the observed activities, and led to two new types of waste being identified which were not considered in the literature. Findings indicate that nearly 62% of laborers’ time is spent on non-value adding activities. It appeared that ‘unnecessary movement’, ‘waiting’ and ‘indirect work’ make up the highest labor waste.
Research limitations/implications - This research focuses only on onsite resource flows in a housing construction site. It does not include offsite flows such as material delivery to site.
Originality/value - The findings have provided substantial evidence on type and amount of labor waste and provide a solid basis to stimulate construction actors to participate in reducing labor waste and improving productivity.

Item Type: Article
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1108/SASBE-07-2021-0108
Dates:
DateEvent
1 October 2021Accepted
29 October 2021Published Online
Uncontrolled Keywords: Labor productivity, Labor waste, Waste measurement, Waste identification, Lean construction, Work sampling
Subjects: CAH13 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01-02 - building
Divisions: Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment > School of Engineering and the Built Environment
Depositing User: Saeed Talebi
Date Deposited: 05 Oct 2021 09:21
Last Modified: 29 Oct 2021 15:05
URI: https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/12256

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