Measuring performance: one of the greatest challenges faced by the construction sector

It is well known that the construction industry has struggled to measure performance improvement despite the increased adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and off-site construction. The CIRIA C792 report “Methodology for quantifying the benefits of off-site construction" has been the first major attempt to investigate the benefits of off-site construction. However, the report revealed that performance data is inconsistent within and between construction organisations and/or data is simply unavailable. As such, there is little clarity on the boundaries of the data needed for meaningful collection and analysis. Therefore, there is a need to clarify what, how and why to measure project performance. This foundational work will set a basis for meaningful micro and macro performance assessment efforts.

From performance data to decisions

The availability of a consistent dataset of performance data within and between organisations can be a valuable enabler for identifying areas for performance improvement, as well as national and international benchmarking. Even though many progress monitoring technologies have been deployed in the industry, transformational performance can only be achieved when decision-makers understand what is happening in the field, evaluate performance against benchmarks, and formulate strategies to radically transform their operations. The use of digital technologies will not be meaningful until data is collected and performance is measured consistently to support project success.

The project

A multidisciplinary group of researchers at the Laing O’Rourke Centre are working closely with industry partners aiming to develop new and improved methods for measuring the performance of major building and infrastructure projects. The objectives of this project are:

• Develop a Performance Measurement Framework with appropriate indicators for defining outcomes and value
• Develop a Digital Dashboard to visualise data and support enhanced insights and timely decision-making
• Develop a Digital Twin Construction ecosystem for collecting, interpreting, and visualising construction data
• Use large construction datasets to set up industry benchmarks, identify patterns in data and simulate and predict future scenarios.

Early Outcomes 

This project supports and works closely with the Construction Productivity Taskforce. The work is being presented to multiple key stakeholders, including developers, consultants, and Tier 1 and Tier 2  contractors, and has driven further engagement from the industry to trial the new methods on new live projects. The early results have identified two key metrics that simultaneously measure the speed of construction operations and the efficiency of labour utilisation. Moreover, the data has been presented using flowlines to visualise process waste and identify areas for improvement. The research team has provided feedback on the Taskforce’s guide entitled “Measuring Construction Site Productivity: A Seven-step Framework for Success” based on the preliminary findings. The work has been presented at academic conferences such as the CIB W78 conference in Melbourne, Australia, in June 2022 and the 31st Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction in Lille, France, in June 2023.