Factors Affecting labor Productivity in building Construction projects in eastern province of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The construction industry is one of the most important industries in mostcountries. Productivity considered as main factors that affect theconstruction industry growth , which is mostly linked to the labor.Labor Productivity is an important factor in the construction projectsspecially in the cost estimating stage and to identify the duration of anyconstruction project.The labor cost comprises a high percentage of the overall project cost inmost countries, therefore the labor productivity will reflected on economicsuccess of country .There are many challenges facing the construction industry in Saudi Arabiaand the low productivity of labor is one of those challenges .The study was determined to Identify the most factors affecting laborproductivity in building construction projects in eastern province ,SaudiArabia , and to Rank them according to their importance.The required data were collected through a questioner which was sent to theprofessional construction contractors in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabiacontain number of 42 factors , classified under five groups : ManagementFactors, Design and technical Factors , Site Factors, Human or labor factors,and Environmental factors . After exploring the factors , the most ten factorsaffects the labor productivity was obtained and classified as follow ; (1)Delay of payment, (2) High humidity, (3) high and low temperature (4)Sand storm (5) Skill of labor,(6) Rework (7) shortage of material, (8)Unrealistic scheduling and expectation of labor performance, (9) Latearrival, early quit and frequent unscheduled breaks (10) Lack of tools. Thefinding of the study could be useful for construction companies ,construction manager and professionals in the field to improve theproductivity in their projects and to achieve a high level of success.