Track: Lean

Abstract

The construction industry is heterogeneous and enormously involved with projects that are exposed to an uncertainty found in design and planning, presence of various interest of stakeholders, availability of resources, environmental factors, the economy of the country and statutory regulations. However, most activities of the industry have negative impacts on the environment by generation of construction and demolition wastes. Lean Construction (LC) technique gives the opportunity to more but with less of everything, lean use less of human effort, equipment, time, and space. This study seeks to appraise the benefits of LC technique based on professionals’ opinion in the South African Construction Industry. Well-structured questionnaire was prepared to collect data from respondents which include Quantity Surveyors, Architects, Construction Managers, Project Managers and Civil Engineers. Result of the analysed data revealed that clients, consultants and contractors agreed that the most significant benefits of adopting LC technique are waste reduction, efficient administration of materials and improved whole-life cost of construction projects. This implies that management of construction waste is one of the important management processes necessary to achieve project objectives. Recommendation was made that companies should use LC to identify and analyse waste to improve productivity, minimise time and accidents, improve reliability, improve quality and ensure more client satisfaction.