RESEARCH ARTICLE


Factors Affecting Construction Productivity for Steel Rebar Work in Hot Climate Country



Mohammed Aldahash1, Othman Subhi Alshamrani1, *
1 Department of Building Engineering, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia


Article Metrics

CrossRef Citations:
0
Total Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 1837
Abstract HTML Views: 546
PDF Downloads: 680
ePub Downloads: 273
Total Views/Downloads: 3336
Unique Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 1071
Abstract HTML Views: 400
PDF Downloads: 383
ePub Downloads: 213
Total Views/Downloads: 2067



Creative Commons License
© 2022 Aldahash and Alshamrani

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Building Engineering, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia; E-mail osalshamrani@iau.edu.sa


Abstract

Introduction:

Construction industry is increasingly emphasizing productivity due to its effect on key performance indicators such as schedule, budget, and quality of work. This study aims to identify and rank the factors affecting the productivity of steel rebar work in construction projects in a hot climate. Among the activities involved in structural reinforced concrete work, fabricating and placing reinforced steel on a construction site is considered the most labor-intensive, outdoor, and time-consuming.

Methods:

In this paper, an intensive qualitative literature review is conducted to identify the factors affecting the productivity of steel rebar work in concrete construction. Initially, forty factors were identified from the literature affecting the productivity of steel rebar work in Saudi Arabia. Final list of thirty-seven factors was used in the questionnaire survey. The identical nature and core content of these factors are clustered and grouped into five categories: technical, labor, management, external, and financial. As part of this study, fifty contractors working in the Saudi Arabian construction industry are recruited to participate and complete a structured pilot study questionnaire.

Results:

The results of the questionnaire are weighted using the pairwise comparison method and then ranked based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process technique. The analysis of the thirty-seven factors results in a top ten list of the leading factors that directly impact the productivity of steel rebar work in concrete construction projects in Saudi Arabia. These factors are (1) humidity, (2) delay of salary, (3) sandstorms, (4) payment delay by client, (5) labor's low wage, (6) lack of financial incentives, (7) labor work experience and skills, (8) completeness of drawings, (9) poor labor relations, and (10) labor absenteeism. The general trend in these studies is that the factors tend to vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, from one construction project to another, and are directly related to the zone or country of construction.

Conclusion:

These findings benefit stakeholders working in the concrete construction industry in Saudi Arabia, particularly project managers, project planners, cost estimators, and civil design and site engineers working on construction projects.

Keywords: Productivity factors, Steel rebar, Concrete housing, Analytic hierarchy process, Ranking, Construction.