Effect of socioeconomic conditions and work environment on labour productivity in bricklaying and plastering walls for single-storey house

The productivity of most daily-paid and seasonal construction workers is declining since they cannot reach the required targets in construction projects, particularly in bricklaying and plastering. The level of worker productivity is likely to be influenced by socioeconomic conditions and work environment. This study aimed to gain insight into how the two factors impact on worker productivity and wage coefficient. Data were obtained through a survey with questionnaires, interviews, and observation of each work type and daily output. The results showed that the worker productivity in bricklaying, plastering walls, and plastering corners are significantly affected by the following socioeconomic aspects: work experience, formal education, vocational training, wage, storage of building materials, and the distance between storage areas and work site. Another element that exerts a decisive effect on productivity is work environment including work situation of one operation to another, construction material availability, adequacy of auxiliary equipment, briefing by supervisors to workers, work methods, weather conditions, duties of workers, and manual for construction projects. The determining factor in productivity is the wage coefficient of construction personnel including unskilled labourers, artisans, site supervisors, and project managers; the lowest and highest wage coefficient for a 7-hour workday is 0.0011 and 0.2649, respectively.