Identification and analysis of factors affecting labour productivity in Iraq

Building and Construction Engineering Department, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq

^* Corresponding author: dr.nassar12@yahoo.com

Abstract

Productivity is a very important element in the estimation process in construction management. The objective of this research is to identify and analyze the factors which affect labor productivity in construction projects. In this research, 42 effective factors were collected from site survey, interview with engineers and experts, and previous research in the Arab world. These factors are grouped into Nine categories “Workforce, Leadership, Motivation, Supervisors, Safety, Project, Time, Material, and External”. A survey questionnaire of 70 respondents was distributed among different experts. A statistical analysis was done using SPSS and EXCEL packages. The Relative Importance Index was used to find out the most significant factors affecting the labor productivity in construction sites. The results accomplished from the survey revealed that the major factors negatively affect the labor productivity (ranked from the worst factor with Relative Importance Index values, respectively) namely, Availability Material (88.571%), Climate status “Weather” (88%), Religious occasions (86.29%), Number of working groups (86%), Ganger experience (85.714%), Workforce surveillance (84.857%), Ganger Age (84%), working at height (82%), Drawings and specifications alteration during execution (81.69%), and Sequence of floor (80.571%). Based upon these findings, this can help the construction professionals to improve the productivity and project performance in Iraq.