In the construction industry, onsite labour is one of the most variable and costly factors which affect project profits. Due to the variable nature of construction labour and its correlation with profits, construction managers require a comprehensive understanding of the activities of workers onsite. For project success, it is important that workers are spending the majority of their time installing materials which advance the project. This material installation time is known in the construction industry as “direct-work” or “tool time”. Site management should continuously seek to improve the direct-work rate through the life of the project. A review of the literature indicates that no workface assessment method exists in the literature which provides: (1) a detailed description of worker activities, and (2) a continuous productivity improvement process to help management identify productivity inhibitors affecting site labour, to develop a plan to reduce or eliminate these issues, and to measure improvements as a result of these changes. In response to this need, this research has focused on the development of a workface assessment method called activity analysis. Activity analysis is a continuous productivity improvement process which efficiently measures the time expenditure of workers onsite and identifies productivity inhibitors that management must reduce or eliminate to provide workers with more time for direct-work activities. Six case studies were conducted to verify the feasibility of the activity analysis process. Further, cyclical data from two major construction firms was collected and statistically analyzed to validate the hypothesis that activity analysis can improve direct-work rates. It has been concluded that activity analysis, as a continuous productivity improvement process, is both feasible and when continually applied to a construction site, can significantly improve direct-work rates through the life of a project.

In the construction industry, onsite labour is one of the most variable and costly factors which affect project profits. Due to the variable nature of construction labour and its correlation with profits, construction managers require a comprehensive understanding of the activities of workers onsite. For project success, it is important that workers are spending the majority of their time installing materials which advance the project. This material installation time is known in the construction industry as “direct-work” or “tool time”. Site management should continuously seek to improve the direct-work rate through the life of the project. A review of the literature indicates that no workface assessment method exists in the literature which provides: (1) a detailed description of worker activities, and (2) a continuous productivity improvement process to help management identify productivity inhibitors affecting site labour, to develop a plan to reduce or eliminate these issues, and to measure improvements as a result of these changes. In response to this need, this research has focused on the development of a workface assessment method called activity analysis. Activity analysis is a continuous productivity improvement process which efficiently measures the time expenditure of workers onsite and identifies productivity inhibitors that management must reduce or eliminate to provide workers with more time for direct-work activities. Six case studies were conducted to verify the feasibility of the activity analysis process. Further, cyclical data from two major construction firms was collected and statistically analyzed to validate the hypothesis that activity analysis can improve direct-work rates. It has been concluded that activity analysis, as a continuous productivity improvement process, is both feasible and when continually applied to a construction site, can significantly improve direct-work rates through the life of a project.

This thesis is focused on increasing productive actions in construction by a procedure known as Activity Analysis. Activity Analysis is a continuous productivity improvement tool for identifying barriers to site productivity with the goal of decreasing them and thereby increasing the direct work rate. A preceding study validated this approach, however it had two limitations. No reevaluation was conducted on projects in Canada by the authors, and not enough resources or data were available to understand behaviour of the activity rates in absolute value terms across many projects. Based on three case studies and data collected over 17 days by the author and a colleague, Activity Analysis was validated as being applicable in Canadian conditions. A desired value, known as a target rate, was then studied in order to be able to set expectations with respect to the productivity to be achieved in each cycle. The premise behind setting a “target rate” is that 100% direct work is neither possible nor desirable, since some time must always be spent on communications and planning. However, a higher direct work rate is generally better than a lower rate. Thus, a target rate is needed. A mathematical model called ANFIS was developed as a means of setting the desired level of activities. Through consideration of a variety of factors that affect labour productivity, the developed model was trained based on 65 data points. The model was found to be easy to use and flexible enough to be appropriate for all of the factors considered. Based on the data points available from 5 different past projects and 3 recent projects and the experience associated with these projects, three additional methods of defining the target rate were developed. The impact of these results is that companies now have appropriate methods and an initial data set for industrial construction in order to establish target rates for direct work and supporting activities. This should help reduce project costs and improve productivity.

This thesis is focused on increasing productive actions in construction by a procedure known as Activity Analysis. Activity Analysis is a continuous productivity improvement tool for identifying barriers to site productivity with the goal of decreasing them and thereby increasing the direct work rate. A preceding study validated this approach, however it had two limitations. No reevaluation was conducted on projects in Canada by the authors, and not enough resources or data were available to understand behaviour of the activity rates in absolute value terms across many projects. Based on three case studies and data collected over 17 days by the author and a colleague, Activity Analysis was validated as being applicable in Canadian conditions. A desired value, known as a target rate, was then studied in order to be able to set expectations with respect to the productivity to be achieved in each cycle. The premise behind setting a “target rate” is that 100% direct work is neither possible nor desirable, since some time must always be spent on communications and planning. However, a higher direct work rate is generally better than a lower rate. Thus, a target rate is needed. A mathematical model called ANFIS was developed as a means of setting the desired level of activities. Through consideration of a variety of factors that affect labour productivity, the developed model was trained based on 65 data points. The model was found to be easy to use and flexible enough to be appropriate for all of the factors considered. Based on the data points available from 5 different past projects and 3 recent projects and the experience associated with these projects, three additional methods of defining the target rate were developed. The impact of these results is that companies now have appropriate methods and an initial data set for industrial construction in order to establish target rates for direct work and supporting activities. This should help reduce project costs and improve productivity.