Factors influencing labour productivity in Bahrain's construction industry

Abstract

There are many challenges facing the construction industry in the Kingdom of Bahrain, but it can be reasonably argued that low labour productivity is among the most important. The primary objective of this investigation, therefore, is to identify, explore, and rank the relative importance of the critical factors influencing labour productivity in Bahrain's construction industry. To achieve this objective, a statistically representative sample of contractors was invited to participate in a structured questionnaire survey comprising 37 productivity factors, which were categorized under the following major groups: (i) management; (ii) technological; (iii) labour; and (iv) external. Using the relative importance index technique, the following factors are perceived as most significant in their influence on labour productivity: (1) labour skills; (2) coordination among design disciplines; (3) lack of labour supervision; (4) errors and omissions in design drawings; (5) delay in responding to requests for information; (6) rework; (7) stringent inspection by the engineer; (8) working overtime; (9) lack of incentive scheme; and (10) inclement weather. The results obtained fill a gap in knowledge of factors affecting labour productivity in the construction industry, which can be used by industry practitioners to develop a wider and deeper perspective of the factors impacting on the efficiency of operatives, and thus assist in achieving a reasonable level of competitiveness and a cost-effective operation.