Analysis of influential factors affecting workers’ productivity on highway construction projects during Covid-19 pandemic in Cagayan Valley Region, Philippines

In highway construction projects, labor-oriented work is an integral part of the management process, requiring analysis of factors affecting labor productivity during Covid-19 pandemic. This research identified 53 influential factors affecting construction labor productivity at selected cities and towns in Cagayan Valley Region, Philippines. Due to the pandemic, the construction industries incurred substantial profit losses. More so, the construction workers are too much affected because of the Enhance Community Quarantine (ECQ) imposed by the local government. Results indicated there was laxity on the Covid-19 protocols. No health worker in the project site ranked the highest in the health & safety factor group with an RII of 0.97 and ranked 1st among 53 factors on the different groups. Besides, no safety engineer was assigned to the projects and ranked 2nd with an RII of 0.93. Among the 7 groups of factors, the health and safety group ranked 1st with 0.81, followed by the schedule compression group with an RII of 0.78. Hence, these two groups of factors have a strong relationship, as evidenced by number of workers reduced. It was learned that the contractors’ strategy was to increase the number of working days to cope with their schedules. Hypothesis testing supported that there are various significant factors influencing labor productivity loss during the Covid-19 pandemic, as suggested by more than 50% of the respondents.

STUDI ANALISIS BIAYA DAN WAKTU MENGGUNAKAN METODE TIME COST TRADE OFF (TCTO) PADA PROYEK TELKOM MANYAR-SURABAYA.

Time cost trade off is a schedule compression to get projects that are more profitable in terms of time (duration), costs, and income. The aim is to compress the project to an acceptable duration and minimize the total project cost. The reduction in project duration is done by selecting certain activities. The analysis begins by preparing a network diagram (network diagram) using Microsoft Project. After that the crashing process is done using the addition of workers and additional hours of work contained in the critical path. Next do the calculations with the time cost trade off method to find the value of the crash cost and cost slope contained in the critical path. From the results of the analysis, the normal duration of the project is 639 calendar days after the process of crashing, adding work hours to 622 days and labor to 623 calendar days and the initial project cost of Rp. 250,320,084,731 after the process of crashing activities with an alternative addition to labor obtained a fee of Rp. 250,559,140,422 and additional working hours in the amount of Rp. 252,734,398,495. So that it can be concluded with the time cost trade off method there is a reduction in the duration and increase in costs.AbstrakTime cost trade off merupakan kompresi jadwal untuk mendapatkan proyek yang lebih menguntungkan dari segi waktu (durasi), biaya, dan pendapatan. Tujuannya adalah memampatkan proyek dengan durasi yang dapat diterima dan meminimalisasi biaya total proyek. Pengurangan durasi proyek dilakukan dengan memilih aktivitas tertentu. Analisa dimulai dengan melakukan penyusunan jaringan kerja ( network diagram ) dengan menggunakan microsoft project. Setelah itu dilakukan proses crashing menggunakan penambahan pekerja dan penambahan jam kerja yang terdapat pada jalur kritis. Selanjutnya melakukan perhitungan dengan metode time cost trade off untuk mencari nilai crash cost dan cost slope yang terdapat pada jalur kritis. Dari hasil analisa yang dilakukan diperoleh durasi proyek normal 639 hari kalender setelah dilakukan proses crashing kegiatan penambahan jam kerja menjadi 622 Hari dan tenaga kerja menjadi 623 hari kalender dan biaya proyek awal sebesar Rp. 250.320.084.731 setelah dilakukan proses crashing kegiatan dengan alternatif penambahan tenaga kerja diperoleh biaya sebesar Rp. 250.559.140.422 dan penambahan jam kerja sebesar Rp. 252,734,398,495. Sehingga dapat disimpulkan dengan metode time cost trade off terjadi pengurangan durasi dan peningkatan biaya.

Effect of Covid-19 Pandemic in Construction Labor Productivity: A Quantitative and Qualitative Data Analysis

This research aims to identify and analyze the various factors affecting construction labor productivity covering the period from December 9, 2020 - January 31, 2021, a year after it was declared Covid-19 a pandemic. Due to the pandemic effect, the local government units in four selected study areas imposed intermittent Enhance Community Quarantine on all places to control the Coronavirus spread in compliance with the health department protocol. Fifty-five questionnaires returned out of 63 distributed are tabulated according to each group-related factor. The correlation analysis resulted in the highest coefficient value of 0.89 between the CTDEO and contractor groups. Meaning, most respondents have the same perception of the factors affecting construction's low labor productivity. Besides, results depicted that the absence of health workers on the construction site ranked 1st in the health & safety provision factor group with an RII of 0.97, followed by no safety engineers on the construction project sites with an RII of 0.93. From all the seven groups of factors, the health and safety group-related factors ranked 1st with an RII of 0.81, next, the schedule compression group with an RII of 0.78. Hypothesis testing asserted that working six days per week was one of the significant factors affecting labor productivity on the contractor's side, suggested by more than 50% of the respondents. The workforce group-related factors with an RII of 0.77 demonstrated a slight difference with the schedule compression group-related factors. Thus, the Covid-19 pandemic has a significant effect on the essential factors affecting construction's low labor productivity.

Analysis of influential factors affecting workers’ productivity on highway construction projects during Covid-19 pandemic in Cagayan Valley Region, Philippines

In highway construction projects, labor-oriented work is an integral part of the management process, requiring analysis of factors affecting labor productivity during Covid-19 pandemic. This research identified 53 influential factors affecting construction labor productivity at selected cities and towns in Cagayan Valley Region, Philippines. Due to the pandemic, the construction industries incurred substantial profit losses. More so, the construction workers are too much affected because of the Enhance Community Quarantine (ECQ) imposed by the local government. Results indicated there was laxity on the Covid-19 protocols. No health worker in the project site ranked the highest in the health & safety factor group with an RII of 0.97 and ranked 1st among 53 factors on the different groups. Besides, no safety engineer was assigned to the projects and ranked 2nd with an RII of 0.93. Among the 7 groups of factors, the health and safety group ranked 1st with 0.81, followed by the schedule compression group with an RII of 0.78. Hence, these two groups of factors have a strong relationship, as evidenced by number of workers reduced. It was learned that the contractors’ strategy was to increase the number of working days to cope with their schedules. Hypothesis testing supported that there are various significant factors influencing labor productivity loss during the Covid-19 pandemic, as suggested by more than 50% of the respondents.

Analysis of influential factors affecting workers’ productivity on highway construction projects during Covid-19 pandemic in Cagayan Valley Region, Philippines

In highway construction projects, labor-oriented work is an integral part of the management process, requiring analysis of factors affecting labor productivity during the Covid-19 pandemic. This research identified 53 influential factors affecting construction labor productivity at selected cities and towns in Cagayan Valley Region, Philippines. Due to the pandemic, the construction industries incurred substantial profit losses. More so, the construction workers are too much affected because of the Enhance Community Quarantine (ECQ) imposed by the local government. Results indicated there was laxity on the Covid-19 protocols. No health worker in the project site ranked the highest in the health & safety factor group with an RII of 0.97 and ranked 1st among 53 factors on the different groups. Besides, no safety engineer was assigned to the projects and ranked 2nd with an RII of 0.93. Among the 7 groups of factors, the health and safety group ranked 1st with 0.81, followed by the schedule compression group with an RII of 0.78. Hence, these two groups of factors have a strong relationship, as evidenced by the number of workers reduced. It was learned that the contractors’ strategy was to increase the number of working days to cope with their schedules. Hypothesis testing supported that there are various significant factors influencing labor productivity loss during the Covid-19 pandemic, as suggested by more than 50% of the respondents.

Selection of the Optimal Actions for Crashing Processes Duration to Increase the Robustness of Construction Schedules

Both the construction clients and the contractors want their projects delivered on time. Construction schedules, usually tight from the beginning, tend to expire as the progress of works is disturbed by materializing risks. As consequence, the project’s original milestones are delayed. To protect the due date and, at the same time, avoid changes to the logic of work, the manager needs to the project progress and, if delays occur, speed up processes not yet completed. The authors investigate the problem of selecting the optimal set of actions of responding to schedule delays. They put forward a simulation-based method of selecting schedule compression measures (speeding up processes) and determining the best moment to take such actions. The idea is explained using a simple case. The results confirm that it is possible to find an easily implementable schedule crashing mode to answer schedule disturbances. The proposed method enables minimizing the cost of schedule crashing actions and the cost of delays as well as increasing the robustness of the schedule by reducing differences between the actual and the as-planned process starts. It is intended as a decision support tool to help construction managers prepare better reactive schedules. The lowest costs are achieved if the acceleration measures are implemented with some time lag to the occurrence of delays.

FACTORS CAUSING REWORK AND THEIR IMPACT ON PROJECTS’ PERFORMANCE IN EGYPT

The Egyptian construction industry suffers from severe delays and cost overruns. Rework is a prime cause of this challenge. Therefore, the objective of this study to identify the root causes of rework for Egyptian construction projects and their impact on the project duration and cost. An extensive literature review has been done to identify the most common factors affecting rework. Hence, eighty-seven factors were identified and categorised into ten groups. Structured interview technique was adopted to get the opinions of 67 Egyptian construct professionals for nineteen different construction projects. Total Importance Index of Rework Impact (T.I.I.R.I%) was used to analyse and rank rework factors. Accordingly, the most critical five rework factors are economic situation for the country, schedule compression, design changes, specifications change, and inadequate feasibility study. Based on the survey results, the project stakeholders should consider the critical rework factors during the planning stage and before the project execution, to eliminate or reduce the occurrence and impact of rework causes and to improve the performance of the projects. This paper provides state of the art for rework causes and their effects on construction projects performance, and it can be beneficial for both practitioners and researchers for future work.

Design information release under alternative design-construction modes

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of schedule compression under alternative project delivery methods (APDMs) on the design information release (DIR). The objectives are to understand the dynamics and the respective implications of the DIR under alternative design-construction (DC) modes (e.g. fast-track).Design/methodology/approachThe methodology of work includes: (1) identifying the relevant factors that may impact the release of design deliverables under APDMs, (2) representing the selected APDMs with corresponding DC sequencing modes and (3) conceptualizing the possible alternative dynamics of the released deliverables.FindingsThe findings reveal that in contrast to the traditional one-time packaging of design deliverables, multiple DIR – with less certainty on their scope, timing, frequency and coordination quality – are released under alternative DC modes. This uncertainty mainly emanates from the deduced impact of the identified factors (e.g. DC overlapping intensity and degree of pressure by the builder) on the design deliverables dynamics.Practical implicationsThis study can be of benefit to Architecture/Engineering (A/E) professionals as well as to project owners in better planning for their roles and responsibilities under each of the identified modes, as it helps raising their awareness on new issues brought about by APDMs. For instance, the presented analysis indirectly informs designers, design review professionals and project owners about a potentially increased liability exposure emanating from the reduced certainty on the DIR's coordination quality. Moreover, it informs design managers about the need for a design team's re-formation and/or re-structuring (i.e. of the involved staff) in order to accommodate for the hypothesized DIR dynamics.Originality/valueThis work offers a novel study that theorizes the impact of time-reduction-related factors, under alternative DC modes, on the release of design deliverables.