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construction productivity

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Construction Physics has a deep dive on construction productivity around the world. We hear about the overall slowdown in productivity growth worldwide since the 1970s or so, but in the construction industry the trend is essentially stagnation even compared to other industries. The U.S. is a historical leader in absolute productivity but has actually managed a productivity decline compared to modest growth in most other countries studied. That said, there are no countries where the growth is particularly spectacular. Developing countries have managed to grow productivity faster, but that is essentially catching up. It talks a lot about the challenges of measuring productivity, suggesting that just focusing on cost might be the better way to go.

This article doesn’t go deep into potential solutions. Prefabrication of components in factories is talked about a lot, because manufacturing productivity gains have been much more dramatic than construction, which on its face is manufacturing in a much less controlled environment. But prefabrication and modularity have been worked on for a long time and delivered only modest gains. More competition and less corruption in procurement are certainly good things, but these too seem to deliver only modest improvement. Many developed countries in Asia and the Middle East use labor from developing countries, and this seems to work for them but doesn’t deliver large gains I suppose because the lower-wage workers are less skilled and less productive. Streamlining permitting and regulation is always talked about, and tends to fit certain political agendas, but there don’t seem to be enormous gains there. So governments and project teams seem to just pursue an all-of-the-above salad approach and the result is incremental gains or no gains at all. I’ve probably said this multiple times, but I think AI should be very good at construction scheduling. Add in real time inspection and comparison to the original plans using cameras and drones, and it should be possible to really reduce down time and waste in construction. I think there might be substantial potential gains on the horizon here. If I were in government, I might focus R&D funding, targeted procurement, and regulatory/financial incentives on this particular aspect.

Another thought though, is that low construction productivity is not a reason not to do construction. Both housing and infrastructure construction have long-lasting economic and quality of life benefits that go beyond just the immediate economic activity they generate in the construction sector itself. So maybe we should just pony up what they cost now, keep plugging away to try to make the modest gains, and stop worry so much about this.

porous paving for all new commercial parking lots in New Orleans

The headline pretty much says it – New Orleans is requiring porous pavement for all new commercial parking lots. This is a pretty old technology that U.S. construction companies are still not very familiar with, so they think it is new, expensive, difficult, and unproven. Well, it is expensive and difficult when done only on a very small scale, so requiring it across the board will solve that problem. And it is proven to work when installed by contractors and construction managers that know what they are doing, and proven not to work when they don’t. So requiring it across the board will solve that too. Notice there is nothing here about requiring it on streets or highways. Well, one step at a time.

3D model builder for construction sites

Here’s a technology to build 3D (digital) models of what is happening on construction sites over time using data from cameras mounted on workers’ helmets. If you have a 3D model of what is supposed to be built ahead of time, you can imagine this providing the chance to compare what is being built to what was planned, giving you the ability to catch and correct mistakes in real time.

construction productivity

The construction industry has languished in terms of productivity growth for decades. But there are ideas, some of which are mentioned in this white paper from UK firm Balfour Beatty. Many are organized around the idea of prefabricating as many components as possible offset, then bringing them in for assembly. Another way of looking at it is that construction is basically a form of (inefficient, risky and very site-specific) manufacturing, and can try to learn some lessons from other manufacturing industries.

…we know this is an industry that lives on thin margins, is plagued by time and cost overruns and inherently operates in one of the higher risk environments of any sector – risk in terms of cost, time and, above all, human safety. But do we also think of this as an industry with one of the largest opportunities of any sector to transform its model? Can we think of many industries where the size of the prize is to shift 25% of current output to a solution that radically improves speed, quality and safety – all while creating (not destroying) jobs?

Today a new generation of industrialised construction methods, including offsite and modular building techniques, are increasingly being recognised as the best way for the UK construction industry to boost productivity and plug skills shortages. And moving to these methods drives better outcomes for all stakeholders: for the customer, reducing onsite construction times and waste; for the construction supply chain, by improving quality, repeatability (and
therefore output) of infrastructure; for the workforce above all, by raising safety performance and securing long-term employment.