Empirical Determination of Labour Output for Floor Screed and Tile Finishes for Construction Work in Abuja
Chapter One
Aim and Objectives
Aims
This study aims to empirically determine the output for floor screed and tile finishes in the Nigerian construction industry to improve the accuracy of the construction cost estimates.
Objectives
The specific objectives were:
- To identify factors and operations affecting floor and tile finishes
- To analyze the effect of productivity factors on labour output.
- To empirically determine the labour outputs of five selected floor and tile finishes work items.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Construction Industry in Nigeria
The construction industry structured in Nigeria evolved from the Public Works Department
(PWD) which metamorphosed into the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. The major client of the industry is the Federal, State and Local government awarding 70 percent of construction work. The remaining 30 percent of construction works is awarded by private sector (Seeley, 1996). Accordingly, the economy of any nation depends on the quantities of construction that is going on. Over the years, government has a crucial role in determining demand for the construction for the construction industry output and its growth prospect, because public authorities buy about one-half of its output and because general economic measures have a powerful influence on the demand for private housing and industrial and commercial building. A steading, rather than widely fluctuating growth of demand is particularly important for the industry if it is to plan its work ahead, make sure of adequate supplies and deploy its resources efficiently.
In Nigeria, like most developing countries, the construction industry plays a dominant role in the economic activities of the country. According to CBN (2009) cited in Abdullahi et.al, (2010) the construction industry still accounts for about 70 percent of the fixed capital investment; its contribution to the national economy in recent years has reduced to just about 3 percent of the GDP. Furthermore, Husseini (1991) stated that the construction industry contributed about half of the stock of fixed capital investment opportunities which place it second to the government in the employment of labour.
All over the world and most especially in developing countries such as Nigeria, the construction industry is characterized by reported delays and cost overruns due to lack of adequate and accurate cost information. It has been bedeviled by myriad of problems ranging from prohibitive cost of construction and actual construction period and leading to outright abandonment of projects (Olatunji et. al., 2000). Productivity is one of the most important factors affecting the overall performance of any organization whether large or small. The construction sector has a strategic role in developed and developing countries. Productivity improvement in the construction industry may have a significant impact on improving GDP. Since economic progress depends upon the investment of the capital for the future production, the rate of construction activity has a significant effect upon the economic health of the nation and its future growth. This implies that when the economy booms the construction industry also flourishes (Enshassi et al., 2007).
Selected Standards Used in Nigerian Construction Industry
It is worthy of note that the influence of the colonization still has impact on the national activities both in the construction industry. This inferred that virtually all standards used in Nigerian construction industry are of British adopted standard;
The Standard Form of Contract (SFC): JCT (1963; 1967; 1980; 1984; 2005 and 2007) are used for building procurement and administration in building industry while ICE (1973) is used for civil engineering works. However, Nigeria published contract Standard to be used for contract procurement and administration for construction works. The Standard Form of Building Contract in Nigeria (SFBCN1990).
The Standard Method of Measurement (SMM): This is used for both buildings works and civil engineering works. These are measurement standards to provide the uniform basis for measurement and evaluation of construction works and associated trades. There are several editions for both building and civil engineering measurement published by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) respectively. These documents have been British Standards until in 1988, Nigerian Institution of Quantity Surveyor (NIQS) published an adopted standard from the British based-standard, the first edition of SMM was published in 1996, this edition was reproduced to suit Nigerian culture and method of construction and then later metamorphosed into Building and Engineering Standard Method of Measurement (BESMM) in 2003 and reproduced 2008 to be using for both building and civil engineering works. The standard has become universally accepted in the tertiary institutions of higher learning and practicing Quantity Surveyors for preparation of BOQ for construction works.
British Standard (BS): There are publications issued by British Standard Institutions. BS set out minimum performance standards which goods and services must conform to. These recommendations are not legally enforceable, but the building regulations referred to some and accept them as deemed to satisfy minimum provision (Bamisile, 2004). The requirements and expectations of this standard are covered in the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON).
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
Ibrahim and Abdullah (2008) referred to research methodology as the way a researcher goes about doing the research, unfolding a particular style and employing different techniques for collection. It therefore follows that research methodology is an expression of detailed research plan to provide an acceptable answers to questions in a logical design procedure and sequence. This chapter depicts every detail of how the research was conducted, that is research design, study population, research sample and sampling techniques, validation and reliability of the instruments used, pilot survey, procedure for data collection, instrument used for data collection, and instrument for data analysis.
Research Design
Research design is an action plan for getting from “here” to “there” where „here‟ may be defined as the initial set of questions to answer and there is some set of conclusions (answers) about the questions (Mostafa, 2003). The research design is the logical sequence that connects the empirical data produced by researcher to the study initial research questions and ultimately to its conclusion (El Sawalhi, 2002). The research design for this study is a descriptive form of research design aimed at collecting data for the purpose of describing and interpreting the existing conditions regarding the productivity of workers on sites. It involved the survey of hundred construction sites to identify the operation of ten block work items. This research design method was adopted for this study due to the nature of the research was purely “quantitative” developed to study the natural phenomena of the productivity level of construction operatives. Therefore, absolute numerical quantitative data were collected through site observation and structural questionnaire and statistically analyzed through deductive approaches to draw conclusions. Research sequence can be presented simply by the chart indicated below.
Study Population
The research population is described as „all conceivable elements, subjects or observations relating to a particular phenomenon of interest to the research that is, it is a totality of items objects, persons issues or observations who share at least a common attributes or characteristics on which the research is centered (Abdul-Maliq, 2006). The main objective of a study population is to define the scope of the proposed study (Olufemi, 2007). The research population of interest considered in respect to this research study is the “construction sites” engaged in floor finishes. These construction sites ranging from small, medium to large constituted mostly of building projects such as residential, industrial and commercial for both public and private owners in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. The research also captured the age distribution, gender, educational background, and all other relevant information of the population of interest.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
Introduction
The chapter evaluates the output value of workers on general basis setting down five (5) major parameters of the productivity influencing factors of workers on site operations. It is expected that data on the following productivity influencing factors; gender, age of workers, qualification of workers, mode of employment and experience of workers as relate to the operatives outputs were to be recorded. However, data were not recorded for gender of the workers. it was observed that no female operative was found in the 250 numbers of gangs observed as relate to floor and tile finishes .That submits that 100% of the observed workers were male, which indicates the discriminatory nature of the labour construction market. Perhaps location, cultural and religious backgrounds are the basis for that.
The data collected were quantitative records of observed time per day. These observations were done at two different periods; four hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon. This strengthened the validity of the research results, since researchers have observed obvious deviations between outputs at different time period (Adnan et al., 2002).
The productivity influencing factors recorded in the data presentation were;
Age of Workers: This was aimed at determining the impact of age group on the labour output. The three categories of age groups are age group below 20 years, age group, and range from 20 to 30 years and age group, 36 years and above.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary of Major Findings
The study revealed significant effect on mode of employment, experience of workers and periods of observation for floor screed and only revealed significant different on mode of employment and period of observation for tile finishes. These are in agreement with Onyeagam (2014); Enshassi et al., (2011); Abdullahi et al., (2010); Abdullahi (2009) and Rojas et al., (2003).
Work in compartment has not been distinctly specified in floor finishes of BESMM as observed its preponderance of 52 percent in the construction site and Onyeagam (2014) confirmed productivity impact as a result of work in compartment on the workers. The study also revealed that there is output difference within the group factors. There are significant output differences between the classes of thickness for cement and sand floor screed finishes justifying the influence of thickness on the output of floor screed finishes. Also, there is influence on sizes of tiles on the outputs of the tillers
The output production of Ceramic floor tile finishes increases as the unit area (0.16m², 0.18m², and 0.09m²) of floor tiles increases, however, the outputs increase is not directly proportional to the unit floor tile area.
The chapter concludes by giving general recommendation as to how the findings of the research can help in the production of fair and accurate Bills of Quantity which is nondetrimental to either party. It also highlights the areas of contention especially as relate to BESMM compliance between the results obtained and those of previous work.
Conclusion
The study conclude that each specified work item has distinct productivity effect on the operative outputs and it professional important that to adhere and strictly comply with the work items specified in (M10) cement: sand screed finishes of the BESMM.
There is ardent need to distinctly categorize work in compartment in the floor finishes of BESMM because of its anticipated productivity impact on the workers.
The determined labour outputs are at variance with the currently used labour output in preparation of construction estimates.
The study also concludes that mode of employment and period of observation have significant impact on labour output for screed and tile floor finishes.
Recommendations
Based on the findings of the research, the following recommendations are put forward for implementation.
A mason should cover a minimum of the following work items
Table 5 1:Recommended Outputs
Gang size Determined Output PerDescription of Work Items Output Per Hour (m²/h) S/No Day(m²)
- The contractor should exploit the output figures extracted as relate to productivity factors so as to maximize the productivity of their workers. iii.The output of workers on floor screed finishes of various thicknesses should use the determined output as a base to pro-rata the expected output.
- More study be conducted on output of floor tile finishes to validate the established output hence the finding is not at congruent to sizes.
- For exigency reason, employer should employ workers on the term of negotiated agreement.
- Similarly output should be investigated on the basis of standard gang size formation using activity sampling techniques
- Study on comparison of categorized work in compartment be carried out to determine the productivity impact of operative of floor finishes.
- In compliance to BESMM, the NIQS in collaboration with NJIC should sponsor a research on determination of labour outputs in all trades as a way to ensure uniformity in estimating construction project.
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