2009 Court LEAN AGILE CONSTRUCTION TO IMPROVE HS LCJ pre-pub version.pdf (336.53 kB)
A lean and agile construction system as a set of countermeasures to improve health, safety and productivity in mechanical and electrical construction
journal contribution
posted on 2011-12-06, 12:21 authored by Peter F. Court, Christine L. Pasquire, Alistair GibbThis paper presents certain aspects of the findings of a research project to develop and
implement a Lean and agile mechanical and electrical (M&E) Construction System on a case
study project. The objective of the research project for the sponsor company is to improve its
projects site operations making them safer for the worker and improving efficiency and
productivity by overcoming the problems and issues that it faces in the M&E industry within
the UK construction sector.
The research finds that using the System on the case study project, and when compared to a
traditional method, a 37% reduction in onsite labour was achieved; no time slippage occurred
during onsite assembly to delay or disrupt other trades; less workers onsite were exposed to
lower health and safety risks from site operations leading to zero reportable accidents; good
ergonomics was achieved by focussing on workplace design thus improving workers
wellbeing; an improved quality of work was achieved for those required on site carrying out
simpler assembly tasks; productivity gains were achieved by eliminating process waste; a 7%
direct labour reduction was achieved leading to no labour cost escalation that otherwise could
have occurred further reducing the risk of labour cost escalation. Significantly, an overall
productivity of 116% was achieved using the Construction System which compares
favourably to the Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA) findings
of an average overall productivity of only 37% when compared to observed best practice for
the projects in that case study research. Also, no compression of the commissioning period
occurred with the built facility being handed over to the customer on time.
History
School
- Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering
Published in
Lean Construction JournalPages
61 - 76Citation
COURT, P.F., PASQUIRE, C.L. and GIBB, A.G.F., 2009. A lean and agile construction system as a set of countermeasures to improve health, safety and productivity in mechanical and electrical construction. Lean Construction Journal, pp. 61-76.Publisher
© Lean Construction InstituteVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publication date
2009Notes
This article was published in the serial, Lean Construction Journal [© Lean Construction Institute]. The definitive version is available at: http://www.leanconstruction.org/lcj/2009/LCJ_08_012.pdfISSN
1555-1369Publisher version
Language
- en