Site Management Control, Efficiency and Productivity: Case Study of Construction Sites Within Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Measurements on a dozen sites have indicated that the degree of management control has a strong positive effect on productivity. (Lansley P.R. et aI., 1987). The central focus of this study is efficiency and productivity of construction sites, as a function of Site Management Control. Measures of progress and efficiency are discussed, since this can help managers to decide how to use the time and man-hours that remain to be spent on a project. The basic idea of the research was to come up with the characteristics of an 'ideal site'. Ideal means the optimum set up of construction site facilities taking in to consideration all of the surrounding constraints, physical and managerial and the methods of site management control aiming at increasing productivity on site. This was done by an examination of twenty construction sites. The target population in the study comprises all the professionally designed and managed building projects executed in Nairobi, during the time of study. The projects covered in the study were at various stages, their contract values ranged from 5.6 million to 300 millions. Chapter four contains the collection and analysis of the raw data from the field. This is arranged according to objectives. The data was collected from site managers using questionnaires and was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The questionnaires contained sixteen questions related to the various methods of control and were used during the site visits. The questions covered the following topics: management of labour, progress, preparation of various reports and their -frequency, preparation of cost reports, quality control and the management of safety, health and welfare on sites. ( Management,of construction projects is still being done in a traditional manner. Key managers do not exercise tight control of site operations; reports such as progress, cost, labour, materials, and equipment are prepared at monthly intervals. Most sites are very badly organized, have poor materials management and give little responsibility to site personnel. Although most industries in the country have benefited from the computer revolution, the construction industry remains, as contractors were unable to take full advantage of the potential benefits of computer applications.