AN EMPIRICAL DETERMINATION OF LABOUR OUTPUT FOR WALL TILES

Productivity is one of the important elements in construction planning and scheduling. However, construction industries in Nigeria are currently lacking in data with regard to productivity of the building’s construction activities especially in tiling works. The focus of the study was to use work study approach to empirically establish labour output for wall tiles for the Nigeria construction industry as well as to establish relationship between the influential factors and productivity. A total of 46 gang sizes of tilers for wall tiles 400mm x 300mm x 5mm, width > 300mm long side horizontal,32 gang sizes of tilers for wall skirting 400mm x 50mm high and Riser 400mm x 150mm high were observed within Kaduna state and Abuja. Physical observations and measurement of work outputs were conducted through work study approach. The data collected were analyzed using inferential data analysis techniques. The inferential tools made use of analysis of variance (ANOVA) for multiple comparison, paired sample t-test to compare two groups that are related and independent t-test to compare two group that are not related due each activities to assess and examine the influence of the various labour productivity factors on the outputs of the workers observed.. The result of the analysis carried out established general average output values per day of; 25.11m2, 31.37m, 23.41m for wall tiles 400mm x 300mm x 5mm, width > 300mm long side horizontal with backing, wall skirting 400mm x 50mm high and riser 400mm x 150mm high ,Ceramic tile 5mm thick in tiling work respectively. However, the test of difference conducted in order to analyze and investigate the extent of influence of the productivity factor discovered that, even though differences existed between outputs for wall, skirting and riser in tiling, the tests conducted confirmed they were quite insignificant, the mode of employment of tradesman observed had a tremendous effect on their output, those on daily paid term produced more on site in their outputs. The research concluded by recommending the outputs established to Contractors so as to exploit the output figures extracted according to productivity factors in order to optimize the productivity of their workers and profitability.

1.1              Background to the Study

A building is one of man’s basic requirements after food and can be used to determine the development of any nation. Research has shown that the cost of building a house is high and principally depends on cost of labour and materials (Maloney, 1983, Omange, 2000).

Mohammed et al (2011) stated that the construction industry lagged due to insufficient research in the area of productivity. Methods for improving construction productivity to assist managers in identifying productivity barriers and offer solutions were limited. In contrast, there are few studies of enhanced productivity in the construction industry. In reality, increasing productivity benefits the stakeholders’ in several ways: Projects are completed more quickly; Project cost is lowered; the contractor can submit more competitive bids; and the project can be more profitable.

The construction of a house is capital intensive and seems to discourage some people from building personal houses. Government concerted effort at housing provision since independence in 1960 through the various national development plans seems not successful. Labour force in the building construction industry fall into skilled and unskilled. The financial implication of using any of the trades contribute to the cost of construction. The utilization of labour force in the construction industry accounts for a significant proportion of the cost of buildings (Udegbe, 2007).