Impact of Change’s Timing on Labor Productivity
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 131, Issue 11
Abstract
There are many types of construction changes and each type can have an effect on labor productivity. To a certain extent though the specific type of change is not as important as the mere presence of the change and, as analyzed in this paper, the timing of that change. The research reported in this paper reaffirms that project change is disruptive and detrimental to labor productivity. Data from 162 construction projects were statistically analyzed and a series of three curves are presented in this paper, representing the impact that change has on the labor productivity for early, normal, and late timing situations. The projects are a representative sample of the industry, involving a wide range of sizes, different delivery systems, and industry sectors. Late change is more disruptive of project productivity than early change, all other things being equal. The implications and benefits of this research are clear: if changes are necessary, they should be recognized and incorporated as early as possible. Practitioners can use these data and curves for either forward pricing or retrospective pricing of changes. Other researchers can use these findings to test their own findings and to explore timing issues in further detail.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Business Roundtable (1974). “Effect of scheduled overtime on construction projects.” Coming to Grips with Some Major Problems in the Construction Industry. Rep. New York.
Coates Industries (1999). “Coates industries piping.” VABCA No. 5412, 99-2 BCA ¶ 30, 479, 150, 586.
Diekmann, J. E., and Nelson, M. C. (1985). “Construction claims: Frequency and severity.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 111(1), 74–81.
Finke, M. R. (1997). “Claims for construction productivity losses.” Public Contract Law J., 26, 311–317.
Geneni, Jr., A. J. (1996). Circular No. 25-1-244, Dept. of the Army, U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers.
Grimm, C. T., and Wagner, N. K. (1974). “Weather effects on masonry productivity.” J. Constr. Div., Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 100(3). 319–335.
Hanna, A. S., Russell, J. S., Gotzion, T. W., and Nordheim, E. V. (1999a). “Impact of change orders on labor efficiency for mechanical construction.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 125(3), 176–184.
Hanna, A. S., Russell, J. S., Nordheim, E. V., and Bruggink, M. J. (1999b). “Impact of change orders on labor efficiency for electrical construction.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 125(4), 224–232.
Hester, W. T., Kuprenas, J., and Chang, T. C. (1991). “Construction changes and change orders.” Source Document 66, Construction Industry Institute, Univ. of Texas, Tex.
Ibbs, C. W., et al. (1994a). “Project change management.” Construction Industry Institute Special Publication 43-1, Austin, Tex.
Ibbs, C. W., et al. (1994b). “Quantitative effects of project change.” Construction Industry Institute Special Publication 42-2, Austin, Tex.
Ibbs, C. W. (1997). “Quantitative impacts of project change: Size issues.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 123(3), 308–311.
Ibbs, C. W., and Allen, W. E. (1995). “Quantitative impacts of project change.” Source Document 108, Construction Industry Institute, Univ. of Texas, Tex.
Ibbs, C. W., Kwak, Y. H., Ng, T., and Odabasi, M. (2003). “Project delivery systems and project change: Quantitative analysis.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 129(4), 382–387.
Ibbs, C. W., Lee, S., and Li, M. (1998). “Fast-tracking’s impact on project change.” Proj. Manage. J., 29(4), 25–31.
Jones, R. M. (2001). “Lost productivity: Claims for cumulative impact of multiple change orders.” Public Contract Law J., 31(1), 1–46.
Jones, R. M. (2003). “Update on proving and pricing inefficiency claims.” Constr. Lawyer, Summer, 3–11.
Koehn, E., and Brown, G. (1985). “Climatic effects on construction.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 111(2). 129–137.
Leonard, C. A. (1988). “The effects of change orders on productivity.” MS thesis, Concordia Univ.
Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCA). (1986). Labor estimating manual, Rockville, Md.
Moselhi, O., Leonard, C., and Fazio, P. (1991). “Impact of change orders on construction productivity.” Can. J. Civ. Eng., 18(3), 484–492.
National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA). (1976). Manual of labor units, Bethesda, Md.
National Research Council, Building Research Board, Committee on Construction Change Orders (NRC), (1986). Construction contract modifications: Comparing the experiences of federal agencies with other owners.
Semple, C., Hartman, F. T, and Jergeas, G. (1994). “Construction claims and disputes: Causes and cost/time overruns.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 120(4), 785–795.
Thomas, H. R. (2000). “Schedule acceleration, work flow, and labor productivity.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 126(4), 261–267.
Thomas, H. R., and Napolitan, C. (1995). “Quantitative effects of construction changes on labor productivity.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 121(3), 290–296.
US Army Corps of Engineers (1979). Modification impact evaluation guide, EP 415-1_3,
US Census Bureau (2003). “Corporate financial statistics.” http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/econ97.html (July 3, 2003).
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Oct 23, 2003
Accepted: May 16, 2005
Published online: Nov 1, 2005
Published in print: Nov 2005
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.