Constraints to Palestinian Construction Craftsmen Productivity

Adnan Enshassi¹

Abstract

The construction industry in Palestine is one of the most important sectors in the country’s economy whose level of activity is an indicator of the general economic performance of the country. The recent development in Palestine has led to a boom in construction activities leading to shortages of construction materials. Labour is the most important factor influencing the performance of the construction sector since it is basically labour intensive. The welfare of national economies, as well as that of individual enterprises, is widely regarded as being dependent on a country’s natural resources and on the ingenuity and productivity of its people. The objective of this paper is to identify and rank constraints factors on construction craftsmen productivity in Palestine according to their relative importance index. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire survey of 110 construction craftsmen. Results indicated that the five highest ranking problems are: lack of materials, safety, delay in payment, inspection delay, and lack of proper tools and equipment. The results revealed that the main reason for non-availability of materials was borders closure due to tense political situation. It was found that the greatest amount of rework is attributed to poor engineering drawings and design. By identifying the current weakness, it is hoped that the productivity should be improved. Training programs for both craftsmen and professionalism are essential for the improvement of productivity in the construction industry in Palestine.

Keywords

Craftsmen, improvement, productivity, performance, rework.

Files

Full Text

 

Reference

Enshassi, A. 2014. Constraints to Palestinian Construction Craftsmen Productivity , 22nd Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction , 1507-1517. doi.org/

Download: BibTeX | RIS Format