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EXAMINING THE NON-VALUE ADDING ACTIVITIES IN THE

CONSTRUCTION PROCESS IN RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS IN


VISAKHAPATNAM, INDIA

By
Patchigolla Harsha

A thesis proposal submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the


degree of Master of Science in Construction Engineering and Infrastructure Management

Examination Committee:

Dr. Djoen San Santoso (Chairperson)


Dr. Chotchai Charoenngam (Member)
Dr. Bonaventura H.W. Hadikusumo (Member)

Nationality: Indian

Asian Institute of Technology


School of Engineering and Technology
Thailand
February 2016

Table of Contents
Chapter

1.

2.

3.

Title

Page

Title page

List of tables

iii

List of figures

iv

Introduction

1.1 Background

1.2 Problem statement

1.3 Objectives

1.4 Scope of the study

Literature Review

2.1 Overview

2.2 Lean construction

2.3 Waste definition

2.4 Flow in construction process

2.5 Waste in construction

2.6 Brickwork and reinforcement process in construction

12

Research methodology

17

3.1 Introduction

17

3.2 Method of research

18

3.3 Data collection

19

3.4 Data analysis

20

References

22

Appendix

24

ii

LIST OF TABLES
Table

Title

Page

Construction waste and its effects

Sources and causes of construction waste

Categorization of waste elements

11

Causes of waste elements

12

iii

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure

Title

Page

Flow process in production

Categorization of waste

10

Brick work process

13

The preconditions for a construction tasks

14

Reinforcement process in construction

16

Overview of research

17

Method of research

18

Data collection process

19

primary Data collection process

20

Research methodology framework

21

10

iv

Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 Background
The second largest economic activity after the agricultural industry is construction.
Construction industry contributes about 11% to the total GDP in India by creating
employment opportunities of approximately 33 million people. Despite its huge
contribution and success the construction industry also faced some problems such as poor
productivity and safety, lack of skilled labour etc. Apart from these, considerable amount
of waste is also generated in the construction sites. The poor productivity is due to lack
of proper planning and proper method statements implemented during the construction.
Few researchers found out that there are a lot of non-value adding activities in the
construction process resulting in low productivity and increase in the cost overruns. Many
construction companies in India has implemented different policies and techniques to
reduce waste generation in construction activities. There is a tremendous amount of
research that explains about waste minimization during the construction. Many
practitioners and contractors focus on the waste as the physical waste (material waste)
that is generated from construction. Although the physical waste generated directly
affects the cost and duration of the project, there are many wastes that indirectly affect
the cost and duration of the project. Such types of waste are termed as process waste or
non-value adding activities. This term is derived from the principles of lean construction.
Koskela et al. (2002) defined the lean construction in the view of production paradigm as
the method to eliminate wastage of materials, human effort and time in order to increase
the final value of the product. The main objective of lean construction is to maximize the
value and reduce the wastage. The process waste affect the productivity of the project by
increasing the time taken for the completion of a particular activity. Koskela (1982) has
found that about 2/3rd of the total working time is used for the non-value adding activities
on site as shown in the table1.
Table 1: Construction waste and its effects

Source: Koskela (1992)

Formoso et al. (1999) defined the waste as any losses that are generated during the
construction activities will result in increase of direct and indirect costs but does not add
any value to the product. Serpell et al. (1995) and Ishiwata (1997) defined construction
waste as in relation with the delays, rework, unnecessary transportation of materials onsite, inappropriate choice of management methods, equipment, poor constructability
techniques. Alwi et al. (2003) simplified and divided these into three main categories:
1. Unproductivity of labour leading to waste
2. Wastage in the materials
3. Equipment waste.
Many researchers have found out that there are many non-value adding activities in the
construction process. The non-value adding activities are divided into two types 1)
Avoidable activities 2) Unavoidable activities. Avoidable activities are those activities
which can be avoided without affecting the construction process. Whereas unavoidable
activities are those activities that does not add value but cannot be avoided. Serpell et al.
(1995) stated that there are many factors that affect the construction process resulting in the
generation of different types of waste. It is imperative to remove all the non-value adding
activities in the construction process. In order to remove all the avoidable non-value adding
activities we must first identify the non-value adding activities in the construction process.
By eliminating the non-value adding activities we can improve the construction process
sequence and as a result improve the performance of the construction projects.

1.2 Problem Statement:


The increase in the population is associated with the economic boom in India, there is a
huge demand in the construction industry. In order to satisfy one of the basic needs there
are a huge number of on-going construction projects in India. Due to the increase in the
demand for the construction industry huge amount of waste is been generated in the
construction sector.
This waste does not only include the material waste that is generated in the construction
industry but also waste due to the unnecessary human effort, unnecessary movement of
workers and material transportation, waiting time etc. Although the physical waste that is
generated in the construction sites directly effects the cost of the project, the non-physical
waste indirectly affect the cost as well as the time of the project.
The non-physical waste can also be termed as non-value adding services in the
construction process sequence. According to Taylor (1913) the economic loss caused by
the material waste is much bigger than the waste due to the inefficiency of the human work
in the construction project. Carlos et al. (2002) have also stated that anything that does not
add value to the final or end product can be termed as waste. Recent survey revealed that
there is a need to improve the efficiency in the construction process. To improve the
efficiency all the waste (Physical and non-physical waste) must be eliminated. In order to
cut down the non-physical waste one must identify all the waste in the construction
process.

1.3 Objectives:
This study aims to examine all the non-value adding activities (also called as waste) in the
construction process. To identify the non-value adding activities two repetitive process
(Brickwork and reinforcement work) are considered that are involved in the building
construction. The main objectives of this study are
1) Examining the process involved in brickwork and reinforcement work and
categorizing the work into value added and non-value added work.
2) Analysing the various non-value adding work in the brickwork and
reinforcement work and finding the causes for these wastes.
3) Developing a process mapping model for the brickwork and reinforcement
work.

1.4 Scope of the study


In this study a detailed understanding of all the steps is done that are involved in the
completion of the two of the most important activities such as brickwork and
reinforcement work involved in the medium rise residential buildings. Qualitative analysis
approach is been used which involves direct observations, video recording along with the
interviews are conducted during the construction of the residential buildings. Safety
practices and procedures are not considered in the activities. Based upon the collected data
a process mapping model is been developed for the Brickwork and reinforcement work. No
software is been developed from this study.

Chapter-2
Literature Review
2.1 Overview
Construction industry is considered as most complicated and complex environment as it
involves proper communication and coordination between various stakeholders and
interacting functions (Hampson, 1997). The major challenge faced by the project
managers is to improve the efficiency of the project process by innovative methods. In
order to improve the efficiency of the project process a detailed study must be done to
identify the problems related to the project process. Numerous reports and studies have
revealed the poor performance of Indian construction industry and identified several
problems such as poor planning and design, Weak performance management, Low
prevalence of lean principles etc. (Nihas et al, 2013).
Alwi et al.,(2002) stated that in the year 1982, the business roundtable have identified
several factors that affect the construction process such as inadequate planning, material
management, improper scheduling and poor quality control and assurance. Major failures
in the projects is due to delays, cost overruns, quality problems and many more. Oglesby
et al. (1989) has stated that performance includes all the aspects in the construction
process including the on-site activities.
The wastes are generated due to improper planning and scheduling. Many contractors and
project managers tend to focus on material waste that are damaged or lost in the
construction sites. Other wastes also include improper usage of the available resources by
the contractors and subcontractors. The waste of resources is unavoidable if the work is
commenced before receiving complete and adequate information about the project.
Graham and Smithers (1996) has classified the sources of wastes in the construction
projects such as design stage, material handling, procurement stage, operation and others.
2.2 Lean Construction
The basis for lean construction is been derived from the lean production. Previously the
concept of lean is been rejected by the construction industry as it is a method for
manufacturing assuming that construction is different from manufacturing. The lean
production involves the detailed look on the project. The waste in construction and
manufacturing is generated from the same activity centred thinking process that is
keeping intense pressure for production of activity resulting in reduction of cost and
time for each step. According to Koskela (1992) there are 11 important concepts or
principles that are essential for the lean philosophy they are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Minimizing the non-value adding activities ( which is also considered as waste)


Maximizing the output value to meet the customer requirements
Reducing variability
Reducing the cycle time.
Decreasing the number of steps for completing the process
Increasing the output flexibility
Increase the process transparency
4

8. Having a better control on the complete process


9. Improving the process continuously.
10. Balancing flow improvement with conversion improvement
11. Benchmarking the process for continuous improvement.
From these principles it was suggested that lean principles focus on process involved for
the completion of the particular work. Shah and ward (2007) explained the lean production
as an integrated socio-technical system whose main goal is to eliminate the waste by
concurrently reducing or minimizing supplier, customer and internal variability.
Womack and Jones (1996) summarized the guiding principles for lean thinking they are
1. Value: Value is the final product meeting the customer requirements. If the final
product does not meet customer satisfaction then there is no value to the final
product. Customer is considered as all downstream operations.
2. Value stream: There are three types of actions along the value stream they are:
First, activity creating value, second, activity that does not create a value but cannot
be avoided, third, activity that does not create a value but can be avoided.
3. Flow: The main aim of the guideline is to move the concept to the customer
without interruption or delay. It can be done by eliminating the unnecessary
activities and to make a remaining process steps flow.
4. Pull: This principle is closely related to the pull system from the Toyota production
system. The end users pull the production system so that it is only produced to suit
the other requirements.
5. Pursue perfection: The elimination of all the non-value adding activities in the
process so that all the remaining activities creates value in the stream. The lean
concept is associated with continuous improvement so that it is useful to identify
the hidden wastes and can be eliminated.

2.3 Waste Definition


Womack and jones (1996) defined the waste as anything that absorbs resources but does
not create value to the final product. There are many wasteful activities involved in the
construction process that does not add value to the final product. Such activities are called
as non-value adding activities. The term non-value adding activities is derived from the
lean production paradigm explained by the Koskela (1992). The lean production is a
manufacturing principle that is also known as new production philosophy. Koskela
differentiated the lean production from the conventional production on the basis of the
managing of the production process. In the conventional production the production
process is managed by the conversion of input to output whereas in the lean production
philosophy the process is managed by the production of input to output and also considers
the flow of the input through conversion to output. Horman et al., (1997) stated that the
lean production philosophy is an efficient method to maximize the value of the output.
Love et al., (1997) defined the waste as all those activities that consume money, time and
resources but does not add value to the final product is termed as waste. These wastes are

measured as a function of the cost. Other types of waste are related to the efficiency of
the construction process and equipment.
According to the lean production philosophy, waste is defined as any inefficiency that
results in the over usage of the equipment, materials, labours or capital in larger quantities
than the original value in the execution of the process or an activity. For many people the
concept of waste generated on the sites is directly related with the removal of waste
generated from the site and disposed of into the landfills. Taylor (1913) stated that the
financial or monetary loss caused by the inefficiency of the human work is larger than the
ones related to the material waste. Ford (1927) also stated that the prevention of waste
also depends upon the human work, since the value of materials depends on the work that
has been spent on them.
Skyoles (1976) explains the difference between direct and indirect material waste. Direct
waste involves of a complete loss of material whereas indirect waste implies monetary
loss due to usage of excess material during construction. For example, Waste due to
constructing a concrete slab thickness larger than specified in the design.
Another type of waste includes the waste that is created by the non-value added services.
Carlos et al.(2002) has defined the concept of waste is related to the notion that the use
of resources that do not add value to the final or end product. There are two approaches
for improving the processes. One can improve the efficiency by removing all the nonvalue adding services and the other method is by improving the value adding activities.
Ohno (1988) explains the waste due to inefficiency of human work based upon the
unnecessary movement of workers. Waste is the movement that contributes to nothing
often called as unproductive work. Generally the work includes both the value adding and
non-value adding activities. Womack and Jones (1996) describes the waste as any human
activity that absorbs the resources but does not create any value such as mistakes that
need rectification, production of unnecessary items, unnecessary movement of
employees.
Ohno (1988) identifies several categories of waste that are observed in the Toyota
production system: (1) Excessive movement of people that leads to waste of human
energy; (2) Employees waiting time for process equipment to finish its work (3) defective
products (4) Over production of goods that are not required; (5) Long term storage of
goods that needs to be processed (6) Unnecessary processing; (7) unnecessary transport
of goods.
Carlos et al., (2002) defined the waste as any activity that generate direct and indirect
cost leading to loss of resources, time and capital but does not add value final product as
proposed by Ohno (1988) the incidence of waste is associated with any inefficiency
that results in the use of resources in larger quantities than those considered necessary.
In order to control the waste generated during the construction process one must
identify the waste during the execution of the process. Waste is generally classified into
two types 1) avoidable waste 2) Unavoidable waste. The waste in the construction
process is classified into different types based upon a study in Brazilian building sites
they are
6

Overproduction: This type of waste is seen when there is an excess production


of materials than required in the construction sites. This may lead to wastage in
the materials due to inventories and waste in the man-hours or in the usage of
the equipment finally resulting in the wastage in the time and cost of the project.
An illustration for this type of waste is the excess production of mortar that
cannot be used on time.
Substitution: This waste occurs when the material or the equipment is
substituted by the more expensive ones resulting in the monetary waste. This can
be illustrated by a simple example that is by using an over-qualified worker to a
simpler tasks or by using an expensive and sophisticated equipment to a simple
process.
Waiting time: Waiting time relates to the time that has been wasted without
doing any productive work. To simply define the waiting time, it is the idle time
caused by the workers waiting for the materials, instructions and equipment
during the construction. One of the major source for waiting time is the
completion of the preceding activity. This idle time is caused due to lack of
synchronization between the pace of work by different groups or equipment and
lack of work and material for a specific group of workers.
Transportation: This section involves all the internal transportation of
resources on-site including materials, manpower, equipment etc. The major
source of this kind of waste includes excessive handling of materials, use of
inappropriate and inadequate equipment. The resulting consequences of this type
of practice is the wastage in man-hours, wastage of space on-site and there is a
high probability of material wastage during transportation.
Processing: This mainly includes the nature of the processing activity. This
waste depends upon the construction technology that is currently in use. For
instance a certain amount of mortar is generally wasted during the plastering
work done by humans and this can be reduced by using plastering machine.
Inventories: This type of waste relates to unnecessary storage which results in
the material and monetary loss due to the capital that is tied up. This might be
due to lack of proper planning or improper material estimation.
Movement: this includes unnecessary movement of people on-site. This might
be due to improper equipment, poor arrangement of working place and
ineffective working methods. For instance unnecessary movement is caused by
the worker if he forgets some materials which relate to the activity. This finally
results in the delay of that particular activity.
Production of defective or inappropriate products: This waste is caused
when the end product does not meet the quality specifications resulting in the
rework. This may be due to the improper planning and control, poor designs or
due to poor performance by the unskilled workers etc.

2.4 Flow in the construction process


From the lean perspective, flow is defined as shortening of the elapsed time from raw
materials to the finished goods as stated by liker (2004). In order to maintain a proper
flow we need to remove the waste such as waiting times, transportation times etc. Process
7

mapping method is an efficient tool which can be used to identify what are value added
services and what are non-value added services. The importance of flow is explained by
Polat and Arditi (2005) materials account for a significant proportion of total cost and
duration of the project hence proper management of these flows can be beneficial to the
contractors.
The first main principle of the flow concept is the introduction of time as a resource in the
process. The flow concept mainly focuses on amount of time that is consumed by the total
transformation into a final product. The second core principle of the flow concept is the
time taken for the overall production of flow which are transformation activities and nontransformation activities. Gilbert (1922) categorized the non-transformation activities as
transfer, delay and inspection as shown in the figure 1. The flow process in production
mainly consists of three steps namely moving, waiting and inspection. Due to these steps
a lot of time is been wasted during the production of the product which results in low
productivity of the process.

Fig. 1: Flow process in production


In construction the flow process is of assembly type, where different material,
information and human resources are connected to the final process. Koskela (2000) found
out different flows in construction they are 1) Material flow 2) location flow and 3)
assembly flow. In general there are 7 resource flows that must be combined in order to
complete a given task.
Construction productions are subjected to more sources of variability and the insight
gained is that construction consists of assembly tasks involving a high number of input
flows. Planning and controlling production becomes very important and tasks and flows
have to be considered in parallel in production management because: realization of tasks
heavily depends on flows, and progress of flows in turn is dependent on realization of
task (Koskela, 2000)
2.5 Waste in Construction
In recent years, measuring and reducing the waste generated in the construction industry is
been a subject for researchers around the world (Formoso et al., 1999). Skoyles and
Skoyles (1987) stated that all the unnecessary activities involve the construction process
also contribute to the waste. These include designers, contractors, quantity surveyors, site
managers etc. Bossink & Brouwers (1996) has identified the waste occurring from
different phases of the project as shown in the table 2. Apart from these, the wastes are also
caused due to variations in design, last minute client requirement resulting in the rework
etc. Recent research also revealed that waste will also be through careless inspection

procedures and variations orders during the construction process finally resulting in the
rework.

Table 2: Sources and causes of construction waste

Source: Bossink & Brouwers (1996)


Waste in the construction does not only mean the material waste but also related to the
several activities such as waiting time, overproduction, excess movement of workers,
processing and material handling during the construction phase of the project as explained
by the Formoso et al., (1993). Alarcon (1995) stated the main categories of wastes in the
construction process such as delays, poor material allocation, repairs and rework,
unnecessary material handling and transportation etc. Recent research in Chile from the
year 1990 to 1994 has stated some of the factors that affect the productive time in
construction.
In recent years there is a tremendous amount of research have been done to classify the
construction waste based upon the quality, kind etc. Senaratne and Wijesiri (2008)
mentioned some of the common waste in every projects such as excess materials, delays,
defects and rework. Many researchers define the construction waste as any kind of solid
waste that is generated during construction. Whereas, Formoso et al. (2002) defined the
construction waste that is generated during the construction process such as waiting times,
transportation times etc. Such wastes only occur during the construction process and is the
basis for lean construction approach. Koskela (1992) stated that identifying the non9

physical wastes within the construction process is not been done by the construction
practitioners until the implementation of lean concepts in the construction.
Abbasian et al., 2015 has categorized waste related to the construction site, external factors
and construction process as shown in the fig. 2. Lean construction mainly focus on
eliminating the process waste in the construction. The construction process waste is again
divided into two categories 1) Waste due to nature of the process 2) waste due to non-value
adding works in the process.

Figure 2: Categorization of waste (Source: Abbasian et al., 2015)


Serpell (1995) categorized the waste in relation to the working process they are
1. Productive work ( value added activities/ work)
2. Contributory work: These works are categorized under non-value added
activities but they are essential for the conversion process. These include
transportation, giving instructions, measuring etc.
3. Non-contributory work: These are the non-value added activities that are
generally observed during the construction process such as waiting times,
reworks, travelling time etc.
Waste in the construction process is been categorized into 3 categories namely direct
conversion waste, contributory wastes and non-contributory wastes time wastes. The
wastes are derived from the previous studies conducted by Serpell et al. (1995). The waste
elements are shown in the following table which includes wastes due to transportation,
waiting periods, over allocation of resources and the wastes of time and materials that are
occurred due to reworks in the construction.

10

Table 3: Categorization of waste elements

S.no
1

Direct conversion wastes


Over allocation of unnecessary
materials on-site

Over allocation of unnecessary


equipment on-site

Allocation of excess workers


for the construction process

Waiting for the materials


to be delivered on-site

Unnecessary protocols and


working procedures

Material loss or stolen from the


site during the construction
periods
Material deterioration or
material damage during the
construction process
Mishandling or errors in the
construction application or
installation

Waiting for the


clarification and
confirmation by the
client and consultants
Time for rework/ repair
works or defective works

Materials for rework/ repair /


defective works

Accidents on-site

Non-contributory wastes
Waiting for others to
complete their works
before the execution of
other works
Waiting for the
equipment to be
delivered on-site

Contributory wastes
Time wasted for
supervising and
inspection of the
construction works
Time for instructions and
communication among
different tiers and trades
of workers
Time for transporting
workers, equipment and
materials

Time for workers resting


during construction
Waiting for the Unskilled
workers to reach the site
Waiting for the
instructions

Source: Alwi et al., (2002)


Several waste causing factors are also found out by the studies conducted by serpell et al.
(1995). These waste causing factors are categorized into 5 main groups they are
Communication and information factors, human factors, Administration factors and
management factors and material factors. These factors are shown in the following table

11

Table 4: Causes of the waste elements

Source: Serpell et al., (1995)

2.6 Brickwork and reinforcement work in construction


This study deals with all the non-value or waste activities in the building construction. In
order to identify such activities first we must have a clear understanding of all the steps or
events involved for the completion of the brickwork and reinforcement works in the
building construction. There are many parameters that must be considered during the
execution of a particular activity. A few of them are construction design, components and
materials, number of workers required for the completion of the process, equipment, site
space, predecessors activity and external conditions as shown in fig. 4.

12

Start

Estimating the amount of


material required
No

Place
order

Material transport

Preparation of
work area

storage

Marking

Preparation of
mortar
No
Marking

Testing

YES
Marking

Laying the brick

Finish

Fig 3. Brick work process (modified Dawood et al.,1999)


13

The time taken for the completion of these activity depends upon these 7 parameters. For
instance poor site layout can lead to unnecessary movement of workers, materials and
equipment thus by increasing the time taken for the completion of the activity. Likewise
there are many non-value adding activities that effect the duration of the task or an activity.

Fig. 4: The preconditions for a construction tasks (Koskela, 2000)


From the view of the lean construction principles there are many non-value added
activities involved in the brickwork and reinforcement works in the building construction.
Steps involved in the brickwork process
According to Dawood et al., (1999) the various steps involved in the brick work are
1. The first step is to estimate the amount of material and manpower required for the
completion of the brickwork in a single day. This is generally estimated by the
construction planners or the contractors involved in the construction.
2. After estimating the material quantity, an order is placed by the site engineer and
the materials are delivered to the site.
3. Materials such as bricks, cement, sand are stored temporarily on the site before the
execution of the work
4. The floor area will be marked by the surveyor as per shop drawings by pacing
wooden boards and tying thin wires in the floor area.
5. Hacking or chipping is done in the marked portion to add a binding agent as mortar
before laying the brick.
6. The mortar is prepared by mixing sand, cement and water as per specific proportion
to meet the given specification by the designer.
7. After preparation of the mortar, a sample is tested by the engineer or the inspector
whether the mortar is matched with the specification.
8. The brick is laying process is done by the unskilled worker by keeping a small
amount of mortar on either sides of the brick and laying it down.
9. After the completion of the brickwork curing is done with water to attain the
desired strength of the mix.
14

Steps involved in the Reinforcement process


According to Abbasian et al., (2015) the various steps involved in the reinforcement work
are
1) The bar bending schedule is prepared by the contractor before cutting the rebar
to the specific length. The bar bending schedule involves the length of the
rebar, diameter of the rebar and the quantity required for the work.
2) The rebar is marked according to the length given in the bar bending schedule
with the help of the measuring tape.
3) After marking the bars are cut and bent to a certain angle as mentioned in the
bar bending schedule.
4) The materials are transported to the particular floor and are stored temporarily
on the site.
5) After the relay of the instructions by the site engineer the rebar is installed as
per shop drawings.
6) A thorough inspection of the work takes place before proceeding to the concrete
work.

15

Start

Ordering

No
Delivery

Storage of the material

Preparation of bar
bending schedule

Marking the cut length


with measuring tape

Cutting the bars as


per marked length

Installing formwork

Placing the rebars as


per shop drawings

Inspection

Finish

Fig. 5: Reinforcement process in construction (modified Abbasian et al., 2015)


16

CHAPTER-3
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
This chapter explains about the step by step procedure for data collection and analysis.
Methodology is the systematic approach that is followed for achieving the desired
objectives. The research progress includes a sequence of steps which are done to prove the
objectives in the research.
The two activities that are considered for this research are Brickwork and reinforcement
work .Qualitative method approach is been adopted for the collection of the primary data.
Exploratory case study is been adopted because there is no prior research that explain
process of brickwork and reinforcement work in detail. Video recordings and direct
observations for the process of brick laying and reinforcement work are done on site
followed by the interview with the experienced people such as project managers, site
engineer, contractors etc. During the process of brick laying and reinforcement work video
recording for the process is done in order to know the time taken for each step for the
completion of the process.

Literature
review

Identifying the problem and defining the


objectives for the study

Data
collection

Case study method is used for data


collection

Data
analysis

Conclusions

Fig. 6: Overview of research

17

3.2 Method of Research


The main purpose of this study is to identify the non-value adding activities in the
brickwork and reinforcement work during the construction of a medium rise residential
apartments. To identify the non-value adding activities in a construction process, we must
have a detailed understanding of all the steps involved in the construction process. Video
recordings and direct observations are done on the site for clear understanding of the actual
steps involved in the brick laying and reinforcement work in the buildings. Koskela (1992)
has stated that approximately 2/3rd of the time has been consumed due to the non-value
adding activities present in the construction process. This study investigates all the nonvalue adding activities that are present in the construction process. Case study method
approach is been adopted for achieving the objectives of the study. Exploratory case study
method is adopted because there is no previous research that focus on identifying the nonvalue adding activities in the construction process. Work sampling tool is used to identify
and categorize the work into three types 1) value adding work 2) non-value adding
necessary work 3) non-value adding unnecessary work.

Study

Understanding
the practice
Selection of
analysis method

Data collection

Analysing data
Fig. 7: Method of research
Process study preparation
A detailed study upon the process is done in order to understand the material and process
flow in the construction activity. Each process consists of a general template to collect the
background information of the process flow. This is done to understand in detail about the
process with regard to the operational steps involved in the construction process. The
general information such as working hours, number of crew involved for that particular
activity are obtained from the secondary data.

18

Understanding the practice and method selection


All the steps involved in the brickwork and reinforcement work are observed and are
categorized into value added activities, non-value added but necessary activities and nonvalue added unnecessary activities. Duration of each step is taken on the spot during the
construction. The duration of each step was recorded to judge whether the activity is value
added or non-value added activity. The video recordings can be used for a more detailed
analysis on the process.
3.3 Data Collection
A qualitative research approach is been adopted to achieve the objectives. The main
objective of this study is to identify all the non-value added activities that effect the
efficiency of the construction process. The second objective is to find out the cause for
occurrence of these activity. Lastly, a process mapping model is developed to for the
brickwork and reinforcement work involved in the building construction. To achieve these
objectives we must first observe the process on-site in order to identify all the non-value
adding activities involved in the brickwork and reinforcement work in the residential
buildings. The major purpose of choosing brickwork and reinforcement operations is that
they are major repetitive process involved in the building construction. Although these are
the simple processes, there are many hidden activities that affect the duration of each
activity. In order to identify the activities involved in the construction process direct
observations and time study is done in the 3 buildings sites. Since it is a repetitive activity
a particular section or a floor in the building is chosen for direct observations and video
recordings are taken to provide a mean for more detailed analysis.
Primary data

Selection
of a
building
site for
case study

Making an
appointm
ent for
briefing
the study

Video recording,
direct
observations,
Interviews and
discussion notes

Secondary data
Bar charts, work
programs and
method
statements

Fig. 8: Data collection process


19

Organizing
and
reviewing

Data
analysis

For collecting the data in the construction companies a case study protocol was developed
to ensure the completeness of data collection process as explained in the fig. 8. The case
study protocol consists of the following steps:
1) Selection of an appropriate building site for the collection of primary and secondary
data.
2) Making an appointment with the construction company to explain in brief about the
study.
3) Visiting the site for the collection of the primary and secondary data. The primary
data consists of video recordings and interviews with the project personnel such as
project managers, site managers, and contractors. The secondary data consists of
weekly schedules and general information about the construction company.
4) The primary data is organized for identifying the non-value adding activities in the
construction process.
The primary data is collected by following the series of steps as shown in the fig. 9. Firstly,
observation of the process and video recording is done simultaneously. After direct
observations and video recording of the process, all the steps that are involved in the
construction process is identified and categorized into value added, non-value added
necessary activities and non-value added unnecessary activities. The method used for the
categorization of the all the activities is that those activities which have value to the client
from the clients point of view is considered as value added activity. Further, those
activities that does not create value to the client but support the value added activities are
categorized under non-value added but necessary activities. Finally the activities that does
not add value to the client and does not support the main activity in any way is considered
as non-value added unnecessary activities. Lastly, face to face interviews are conducted to
the project personnel to find out the causes for these non-value adding activities.

Observe the
process

identify all
the steps in
the process
along with
duration of
each step

Identifying
the non-value
adding
activities

Interviewing
the key
personnel
involved in
the process

Fig. 9: primary Data collection process


20

Finding the
source of
non-value
adding
activities

3.4 Data analysis


The main purpose of data analysis is to combine and integrate the results obtained from
various case studies in order to complete the objective of the study. As per Yin (2003)
explanation building is a kind of narrative form of data analysis that explains the details of
occurrence of certain phenomenon and explanation building approach was incorporated to
analyse the data collected. Cross case analysis is been used finding the non-value adding
activities in the process and for finding the sources of these wastes.
The video recordings done on the site acts as a major source for the primary data
collection. The video recordings can be used for identifying the steps involved in the
construction process with the duration of each step. After identifying all the steps in the
construction process, they are categorized into value added activities, non-value added but
necessary activities and non-value added unnecessary activities. In depth interviews are
conducted with the project personnel to identify the causes for these non-value added
activities.
There are some important parameters that need to be considered for analysing the video for
brickwork and reinforcement work
1. Repetitive work must not be considered as a step while identifying the steps from
the video recordings.
2. Safety practices and procedures are not considered as a step during the video
analysis.
3. All those steps which add value to the client or the customer is considered as value
added activity.
4. The activities which support the value added activities either directly or indirectly
are considered as non-value added but necessary activities.
5. All those activities which does not have value either directly or indirectly are
considered as non-value added unnecessary activities.
After categorizing all the steps from video recordings into value added, non-value added
but necessary and non-value added unnecessary activities in-depth interviews are
conducted with the project personnel. Firstly the categorization of activities are verified by
the project personnel and then the causes of the non-value added unnecessary activities are
found out from the project personnel. This process is repeated for all the case studies and a
comparison of all the three case studies are done. All the common non-value added
unnecessary activities are identified from the three case studies and a process mapping
model is been developed for brick work and reinforcement work.

21

Conceptual Stage

Published articles,
Papers and books

Previous
Researches

Problem
Statement

Literature
Review

Primary data

Data Collection

Internet
& URLs

Related
Documents

Objectives
of the study

Secondary data

Video recording

Project reports

Interviews

Conclusion &
recommendation

Data Analysis

Direct observations

Analysing the result obtained


from the case studies

Developing a process
maps

Conclusions

Fig. 10: Research methodology framework

22

Objective 1 & 2

Objective 3

References
Salem, Solomon, Genaidy, & Luegring, 2005; Senaratne & Wijesiri, 2008; Wu, Feng, &
Zhong, 2012)Alarco?n, L. (1997). Lean Construction, 508.
http://doi.org/10.1002/9781444341102.ch8
Al-Sudairi, A. a. (2007). Evaluating the effect of construction process characteristics to the
applicability of lean principles. Construction Innovation: Information, Process,
Management, 7(1), 99121. http://doi.org/10.1108/14714170710721322
Al-Sudairi, A., & Diekmann, J. (1999). Simulation of construction processes: traditional
practices versus lean principles. Proceedings , 3950.
http://doi.org/10.16953/deusbed.74839
Alwi, S., Hampson, K., & Mohamed, S. (2002a). Non Value-Adding Activities in
Australian Construction Projects. Proceedings International Conference on
Advancement in Design, Construction, Construction Management and Maintenance
of Building Structure, 270278.
Alwi, S., Hampson, K., & Mohamed, S. (2002b). Waste in the Indonesian Construction
Project. Proceedings of the 1st International Conferences of CIB W107 Creating a
Sustainable Construction Industry in Developing Countries, 305315.
Aziz, R. F., & Hafez, S. M. (2013). Applying lean thinking in construction and
performance improvement. Alexandria Engineering Journal, 52(4), 679695.
http://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2013.04.008
Bossink, B. a. G., & Brouwers, H. J. H. (1996). Wate Quantification and Source
Evaluation.pdf. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management.
Dawood, N., Hobbs, B., & Fanning, A. (1999). STANDARDIZATION OF BRICKWORK
CONSTRUCTION: PROCESS IDENTIFICATION, 2(September), 395404.
Formoso, C. T., & Hirota, E. H. (1999). Method for Waste Control, (JANUARY), 325
334.
Josephson, P., & Saukkoriipi, L. (2003). Non Value-Adding Activities in Building
Projects: a Preliminary Categorization. 11th Annual Conference of the International
Group for Lean Construction., 112.
Picchi, F. A., & Granja, A. D. (2004). Construction Sites: using lean principles to seek
broader implementations. 12 Th Conference of the International Group for Lean
Construction.
RAVLO, A. (2003). Construction management.
Salem, O., Solomon, J., Genaidy, a, & Luegring, M. (2005). Site Implementation and
Assessment of Lean Construction Techniques. Lean Construction Journal, 2(2), 221.
Retrieved from http://www.leanconstruction.org/lcj/V2_N2/LCJ_05_V2N2.pdf.
Senaratne, S., & Wijesiri, D. (2008). Lean Construction as a Strategic Option: Testing its
Suitability and Acceptability in Sri Lanka. Lean Construction Journal, 3448.
Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=35866286&site=eh
23

ost-live
Wu, P., Feng, Y., & Zhong, Y. (2012). Identification and reduction of non-value adding
activities in the precast concrete construction projects in Singapore. Procs 28th
Annual ARCOM Conference, 3-5 September 2012, Edinburgh, UK, Association of
Researchers in Construction Management, (September), 763773.

24

APPENDIX
EXAMINING THE NON-VALUE ADDING ACTIVITIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION
PROCESS IN RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS IN VISAKHAPATNAM, INDIA

PART-1
Basic information

1) Name of the respondent: _______________________________________________


2) Age of the respondent: ______
3) Respondents position in the company:
a) Contractor

b) Consultant

c) Project manager

d) Site engineer

e) If any other, please specify ____________________


4) Work experience:
a) 5-10 years

b) 10-15 years

c) 15-20 years

e) Above 25 years.

25

d) 20-25 years

Part-1
Based upon your experience and knowledge in the brickwork process please answer
the following questions

Q1) What are the value added activities involved in the brick work process?
A1) Step 1:

Step 6:

Step 2: ...

Step 7: ...

Step 3:

Step 8:

Step 4:
Step 5: .
Q2) Please explain the Sources and reasons for the following non-value adding activities
that are observed in the construction process
1) Activity 1:
Source: .
Reason:

How it can be eliminated?


....................................
.
.
2) Activity 2:
Source: .
Reason:

How it can be eliminated?


26

....................................
.
.
3) Activity 3:
Source: .
Reason:

How it can be eliminated?


....................................
.
4) Activity 4:
Source: .
Reason:

How it can be eliminated?


....................................
.
5)

Activity 5:
Source: .
Reason:

How it can be eliminated?


....................................
27

6) Activity 6:
Source: .
Reason:

How it can be eliminated?


....................................

28

Part-2
Based upon your experience and knowledge in the reinforcement process please
answer the following questions

Q1) What are the value added activities involved in the reinforcement process?
A1) Step 1:

Step 6: ..

Step 2: ...

Step 7: ..

Step 3:

Step 8: ..

Step 4:
Step 5: .
Q2) Please explain the Sources and reasons for the following non-value adding activities
that are observed in the construction process
1) Activity 1:
Source: .
Reason:

How it can be eliminated?


....................................
.
.
2) Activity 2:
Source: .
Reason:

How it can be eliminated?


29

....................................
.
.
3) Activity 3:
Source: .
Reason:

How it can be eliminated?


....................................
.
4) Activity 4:
Source: .
Reason:

How it can be eliminated?


....................................
.
5)

Activity 5:
Source: .
Reason:

How it can be eliminated?


....................................
30

6) Activity 6:
Source: .
Reason:

How it can be eliminated?


....................................
.

31

Table form for recording all the steps involved in the brickwork process

S.no Activity

Description

Classification

32

Start End

Duration

Table form for recording all the steps involved in the reinforcement process

S.no Activity

Description

Classification

33

Start

End

Duration

34

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