Impact of poor labor productivity on construction project cost

Abstract

Construction industry faces challenges with relevancy problems related to labor productivity. Numerous ways are implemented to quantify the damages which are resulted from poor labors productivity in construction. The aim of this paper is to spot the impact of poor labor productivity on the construction project cost. Using the measured baseline productivity and determining the difference between the actual cumulated times and the baseline estimation at the ending of the work period, the increase of the project cost is going to be determined. The data was collected, measured and investigated from a mega construction project in Egypt. The project consists of 18 apartment buildings with an area 1600 square meter for each building. The study is based on data which was taken through 69 daily works of labor celling steel fixer's productivity over a 6-month period. It was concluded that the final labor cost of the project was greater than the estimated cost as a result of the poor labor productivity. Finally, the time used by a construction laborer to complete the total quantities of the work in normal operating condition averages about 81% of the overall time used.