Impact of Weather on the Output of Masons in the Nigeria Construction Sites ( A Case Study of Abuja, North Central Nigeria)

Abstract

Labour productivity is not a new concept in the Nigerian building industry. What is new is the non-inclusion of environmental factors that influence the output of labour on construction sites. This has been a major bane to the productivity of artisans on the construction sites. This paper aims to examine the effect of weather (site temperature) on the output of construction operatives. The objective is to determine the mean output per day of a gang of masons working on blockwork operation in the substructure and superstructure. The area of study was Abuja, the Federal Capital of Nigeria. Seventy (70) operatives were purposively sampled in thirty (30) selected construction sites. The masonry works selected were limited to blockwork operations in the locations specified by Building and Engineering standard of Measurement. The operatives were observed on daily basis on site. Stopwatch and thermometer were employed to measure the time taken to execute a given task at a specific site temperature. The paired sampled T-test was employed to evaluate the extent of effect of the site temperature on the outputs of sampled masons. The results of the analysis show a probability value of 0.000 in wall operations to 0.0325 in pit operation which implies that there is a significant relationship between the site temperature and outputs of masons working on wall operation compared to operations in pit. Therefore, it was concluded that as site temperature increases, the output of masons on wall operations reduces. It is recommended that labour outputs recorded for categories of operations should be adopted by building professionals and contractors in the area of study rather than the continuous usage of labour standard inherited from British colonialist. In addition, construction activity should start early enough on daily basis on site in the sampled area before fatigue sets in.