How Cambridge University hopes it can solve construction’s productivity problem

Image: University of Cambridge

The Cambridge Framework for Construction Productivity: Measure · Benchmark · Improve has been developed using data from more than 25 projects gather over the past three years from UK construction companies to inform the framework.

It connects production rates, labour productivity, production flow, variability, and factors affecting delivery.

The aim is to allow construction teams to understand where the inefficiencies and blockers arise in their projects and determine what intervention can have the greatest impact.

The framework was developed by Dr Danny Murguia, Dr Ashan Asmone, Dr Asitha Rathnayake and the late Professor Campbell Middleton.

The research team is also developing Camentis, a software tool designed to operationalise the framework on live construction projects.

Currently, Camentis is undergoing pilot testing and the longer-term vision is for it to support better project controls, benchmarking, and more advanced analytics to help teams make more evidence-based interventions to improve productivity.

Dr Danny Murguia, assistant research professor at the University of Cambridge Laing O’Rourke Centre and lead author of the framework, said, “The framework is about using data when it can make a difference: during project delivery, when teams still have an opportunity to intervene and improve outcomes. But it is also about learning from every project, building an organisational evidence base so that the next one can be planned, scheduled, priced and risk-assessed using better information than the last.”

Meanwhile, the late professor Cameron Middleton, who passed away in March this year, advocated embedding a consistent approach to productivity measurement across the construction industry.

He said, “To really shift the dial, we believe that this framework should be embedded within the procurement process, with clients requiring the collection of productivity data as a matter of course during project delivery. This could be one of the most consequential shifts the industry can make.”

To access the full Cambridge Framework for Construction Productivity: Measure · Benchmark · Improve, click here.