Determinants of construction labour productivity in Oman

Abstract

Notwithstanding the technological developments, construction continues to be a labour-intensive industry, and hence labour productivity remains the industry's predominant determinant of performance. One of the primary challenges facing the construction industry in the Sultanate of Oman is low labour productivity. Therefore, the objective of this study is to identify, explore and rank the relative importance of the cardinal determinants of construction labour productivity in Oman. A statistically representative sample of contractors was thus invited to participate in a structured questionnaire survey comprising 33 productivity factors. Using the relative importance index technique, the findings distinguish the following factors as most significant: (1) errors and omission in design drawings; (2) changes to orders during execution; (3) delay in responding to requests for information; (4) lack of labour supervision; (5) clarity of project specifications; (6) coordination level amongst design disciplines; (7) working overtime; (8) rework; (9) inclement weather; and (10) physical fatigue. The outcomes not only fill a gap in knowledge of the critical determinants of labour productivity in the Sultanate, but may also be used by academics and industry practitioners to develop a deeper and wider perspective on the factors influencing the efficiency of the construction labour force.

Keywords:

• construction labour productivity
• efficiency
• operatives
• contractors
• Sultanate of Oman

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.