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1
CHALLENGES OF CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRIES IN INDIA: LESSONS FORM UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
By
AKSHAY GOEL
A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
2016
2
© 2016 Akshay Goel
3
To my loving family
4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express deepest gratitude to the committee chair, Dr. Raymond
Issa for the continuous support as the research would not have been possible without
his guidance. I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Rui Liu and Dr.
Costin. The thesis would also not have been possible without the support of Nathan
Blinn because of the valuable inputs and support throughout the research. I would also
like to acknowledge my parents, brother and friends for their unequivocal support and
encouragement. I am grateful to my parents for the indispensable sacrifices they have
made for my education in their entire life.
5
TABLE OF CONTENTS page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... 4
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 7
LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... 8
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................. 9
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 10
CHAPTER
1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 12
Objective of the Study ............................................................................................. 12
Research Methodology ........................................................................................... 13 Organization ........................................................................................................... 13
2 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................... 15
Differences in Construction Practices ..................................................................... 16 Project Delivery Method .......................................................................................... 19
Population Difference.............................................................................................. 20 Bidding scenario ..................................................................................................... 22
Bonds ............................................................................................................... 22 Insurance .......................................................................................................... 22
Energy Efficiency .................................................................................................... 23
Construction safety ................................................................................................. 24
Labor Wages .......................................................................................................... 25
Construction Industry Development ........................................................................ 27 India’s National Economy ....................................................................................... 28
3 RESEARCH METHODOLGY ................................................................................. 30
Survey Questionnaire Design ................................................................................. 30 Construction Practices in India ............................................................................... 31 Construction Practices in United States of America ................................................ 34
4 RESULTS AND ANALYSIS .................................................................................... 38
Industry Survey Analysis ......................................................................................... 38 Construction Practices in the United States of America .......................................... 49
5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................... 59
6
Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 59 Recommendations .................................................................................................. 60
APPENDIX
A INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD APPROVAL .................................................... 62
B QUALTRICS SURVEY ............................................................................................ 63
LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................................................... 69
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ............................................................................................ 71
7
LIST OF TABLES
Table page 2-1 High rise building in USA .................................................................................... 17
2-2 High rise building in India ................................................................................... 17
2-3 OSHA Inspections in 2014 ................................................................................. 24
2-4 Comparison of Labor Rates in India and USA .................................................... 26
2-5 Investment in the Construction Industry ............................................................. 28
4-1 Type of work performed by the respondent’s company ...................................... 42
4-2 Analysis of Company Size. ................................................................................. 43
4-3 Analysis of Importance of usage of Information Technology .............................. 45
4-4 Percentage of project cost spent for Safety Equipment ...................................... 47
4-5 Hourly Rate of Unskilled Labour ......................................................................... 48
4-6 Factors for the betterment of the industry ........................................................... 49
4-7 Type of work performed by the company ........................................................... 52
4-8 Analysis of Company Size .................................................................................. 53
4-9 Importance of Information Technology in construction ....................................... 54
4-10 Analysis of the Percentage of project cost spent for safety equipment. .............. 57
4-11 Hourly rate of unskilled labor in their company. .................................................. 58
4-12 Additional Factors included in Construction Management Curricula ................... 58
8
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure page 2-1 Tunnel Boring Machines used in DMRC (New Delhi) ......................................... 18
2-2 Large Precast Piers used for Bridges ................................................................. 18
4-1 Part of the world the company operates in (n=48) .............................................. 39
4-2 Primary region of operation (n=22) ..................................................................... 40
4-3 Primary Role within the company (n=22) ............................................................ 41
4-4 Years of experience in the construction industry (n=22) ..................................... 42
4-5 Type of work performed by the respondents’ company ...................................... 43
4-6 Type of Delivery Method (n=22) ......................................................................... 44
4-7 Type of Software for Planning Phase (n=22) ...................................................... 45
4-8 Inclusion of Worker’s Compensation (n=22) ....................................................... 46
4-9 Use of Sustainable practices (n=22) ................................................................... 47
4-10 Primary Region of operation (n=26) ................................................................... 49
4-11 Primary Role within their Company (n=26) ......................................................... 50
4-12 Number of years working in the construction industry (n=26) ............................. 51
4-13 Type of work performed by the company (n=26) ................................................ 52
4-14 Type of Delivery method used by the company (n=26) ...................................... 54
4-15 Software used for Planning Phase (n=26) .......................................................... 55
4-16 Inclusion of Worker’s Compensation (n=26) ....................................................... 56
4-17 Use of sustainable practices in the company (n=26) .......................................... 56
9
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
BIM Building Information Modelling
BOCW Building and Other Construction Worker Act
DMRC Delhi Metro Rail Corporation
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GNP Gross National Product
GOI Government of India
IGBC Indian Green Building Council
LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Department
OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration
PFAs Personal Fall Arrest System
UFIRB University of Florida Institutional Review Board
10
Abstract of Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfilment of the
Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Construction Management
CHALLENGES OF CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRIES IN INDIA: LESSONS FORM UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
By
Akshay Goel
December 2016
Chair: R. Raymond Issa Co-Chair: Rui Liu Major: Construction Management
The construction industry everywhere faces problems and challenges. However,
in the developing countries, these difficulties and challenges are present along a
general situation of social and economic stress and long term resource shortages. The
construction industry as a whole is the world’s largest industrial employer, with an
estimated 111 million employees, accounting for approximately 28% of all industrial
employment. The Indian economy has witnessed a remarkable progress in the past few
decades. The Construction industry of India is an important indicator of the development
as it creates investment opportunities across various related sectors. The technology
which has been in construction industry for about 35 years in United States of America
is still something very new to the Indian Industry. For example, use of Building
Information Modeling (BIM) is very prominent in the Construction Industry of the USA. In
India, there are software like Estimator, Staad Pro or AutoCAD being used but to a very
limited segment of the works. The research looks into the challenges faced by the
11
construction industries in developing nations mainly India and will conclude some of the
technologies for the betterment of the industry.
12
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
Construction is the second largest economic activity after agriculture in India. It
accounts for 11% of India's GDP and has generated employment for about 33 million
people in the country (Ramaswamy et al., 2015). The initiatives taken for infrastructure
development in past decades, has provided an opportunity for the construction industry
to undertake a number of large projects. In the path of development, the industry dealt
with chronic problems such as time and cost overruns, low productivity, poor worker
safety, inferior working conditions, lack of skilled manpower etc. The issues associated
with the construction industry have, so far, only been discussed to a significant extent in
terms of developed countries. The research addresses some of these issues and
analyzes them in context of developing countries. The aim of the study is to improve the
construction standards of developing nations and India in particular.
The paper begins with stating some key factors of construction industry of India
that makes it lag behind its international competitors. In the penultimate section, the
analysis is done based on a survey questionnaire with a consideration of further analysis
by researchers.
Objective of the Study
The study is aimed at improving the level of the construction standards of
developing countries to that of the developed countries helping in the economy’s
appraisal by creating a positive effect on employment growth.
The scope of the study is to improve industrial standards in the construction
industry and the impact of these changes on the quality of employment in the industry of
developing countries. The coverage of the report is limited to mainly two countries i.e.
13
data and examples have been drawn from United States of America and India. The
report is limited to construction practices only and factors like political issues and
inflation are not included.
Some of the questions that this study will attempt to answer, in order to satisfy
the aim are:
How many years would it take India to match the industry standards of developed countries?
What all techniques can India adopt to make the industry standards high?
What training methods need to be applied for betterment of construction industry workers?
Research Methodology
The methodology adopted for the study is quantitative which includes the
statistical analyses of the responses recorded. To conduct new research it is important
that we look at the research done in the past on similar topics. The sections of the
survey are studied by analysing different aspects/phases of construction. The study
encompasses the following phases:
An overview of publicly available information in developed countries like United States of America about the industry and related areas;
A survey of sector enterprises by means of questionnaire surveys using UF Qualtrics WWW based software;
Analysis of all information and identification of change factors in the industry;
Assessment of the training needs in the industry for its upraise in future.
Organization
The research is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 gives a brief introduction
about the study. The objective and the scope of the study is also included in this
section.
14
Chapter 2 includes an extensive literature review that has been conducted for the
research. The literature review includes some major differences between the
construction practices of the United States of America and India
Chapter 3 includes the methodology adopted for conducting the survey. The
survey includes twenty-seven questions and is distributed throughout United States of
America and India to the industry professionals.
Chapter 4 provides the detailed analysis of the results of the survey mentioned in
the previous chapter. The results of the anonymous responses are analyzed statistically
and represented graphically using MS Excel. Correlating the responses for different
question was important in the achieving the aim of the research.
Chapter 5 includes the conclusions inferred from the detailed analyses of the
survey conducted in previous chapter and presents recommendations for future
research studies in the several areas.
15
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
The challenges in the construction industry are not uniform throughout the world,
especially, in developing countries which use labor intensive techniques that leads to a
number of fatalities on the construction site. The reasons behind the number of fatalities
include governmental instability, lack of equipment, and shortage of skilled labor.
Extensive literature review was done to better understand the existing information
technology in the both the countries i.e. India and USA. The scope of research work
being done on challenges has been limited to mostly developed countries. Currently,
there is very little documentation on the research conducted on this topic for the Indian
Construction industry.
The modern world can be divided into three different parts on the basis of Human
Development Index (HDI) (World Health Organization, 2016). The Human Development
Index (HDI) is a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and income per capita
indicators. The first part consists of developed countries like United States of America,
Japan, and Canada having very human development ratio. The second part consists of
developing nations that have medium human development index. The third part consists
of the under developed nations that need extensive developments among the countries
and have very low human index. For this study, the countries of the first two parts are
referred to as developed nations and the countries that come under the third category
are referred to as developing nations.
A lot of waste has been generated in the Indian construction industry. Policies
have to be reformed in order to recycle the waste generated in the construction sector in
India. Ramaswamy (2015) found that the total cost of waste calculated as a percentage
16
of project cost, varies from 5.38% to 14.70% among the six ongoing projects taken up
for the study. From research by Burati (1992), the deviation cost of quality in advanced
economies has been found to be at least 12% of the total project cost.
Hence, a considerable amount of waste is generated on Indian construction sites and
there are still opportunities to improve the project performance by implementing lean
principles.
An extensive literature review of the references stated at the end of the paper
yielded some of the important differences in construction practices between the USA
and India:
Differences in Construction Practices
The first difference one observes by just going through a general visit both countries is
the elevation of the buildings. The highest buildings in the USA range from an elevation
of about 1100 to 1700 ft. and are not limited to any particular region of the country. Where
as in India the highest buildings have a maximum elevation of about 600 to 800 ft. and
are mostly limited to a very few cosmopolitan cities like Mumbai and Delhi. Table 2-1
shows some high rise buildings in United States of America. Table 2-2 shows some of
the high rise buildings in India.
New technologies and advancements are more prominent in a developed country
like the USA but are very difficult to bring into the Indian construction Industry. For
example the use of Tunnel Boring Machines dates back to 1982 in the USA in Little
Skull Mountains in Nevada however it still remains something very new to the Indian
construction industry. Its usage started very lately in India in Some Himalayan tunneling
projects, Hydro projects and the metro rail project. The technology which has been
there for about 35 years is still something very new to the Indian Industry
17
Table 2-1. High rise building in USA
Building Name Location Height Number of floors
One World Trade Center
New York City 1776 ft. 104
Willis tower Chicago 1451 ft. 108
432 Park view New York City 1396 ft. 96
Trump International Hotel and Tower
Chicago 1389 ft. 98
Empire State building
New York City 1250 ft. 102
Table 2-2. High rise building in India
Building Name Location Height Number of floors
Imperial Tower 1 Mumbai 833 ft. 61
Imperial Tower 2 Mumbai 833 ft. 61
Ahuja Towers Mumbai 817 ft. 55
World Crest Mumbai 732 ft. 57
DB Enclave Mumbai 689 ft. 52
Large-size precast piers are used in construction of flyovers that are to be closed
or dismantled for the construction work over flyover (Figure 2-2). These massive
structure are transported through large cranes so as to prevent restriction to flow of
traffic (Figure 2-2).
18
Figure 2-1. Tunnel Boring Machines used in DMRC (New Delhi) (Source: www.iitk.in)
Figure 2-2. Large Precast Piers used for Bridges (Source: www.iitk.in)
Use of Building Information Modeling (BIM), drones for scanning, high end
software like Autodesk Revit and Navisworks Manage are very prominent in the
Construction Industry of the USA. In addition, special focus on planning and project
control using proper scheduling techniques and software like Primavera P6 is done to
empower the construction process. However the case is not similar in India. There are
software being used like Estimator, Staad Pro or AutoCAD but to a very limited segment
of the works.
19
Availability of labor resources is a very big difference between the ways things
are done in the two countries. India has a total population of 1.22 billion as compared to
a population of 317 million in the USA. Thus, India has an ample amount of labor
available for construction work at cheap cost. However the scenario is completely
different in the USA with low population and good wages.
Despite abundance of financial resources, construction of residential housing has
become difficult in India and other developing regions due to lack of space. Due to
dense population, random urbanization has taken place leading to reduction in
agricultural land. Land speculation is quite high in some areas of India.
The labor rates for a mason in USA is about $25 to $30 per hour as compared to
merely of a maximum of $7 to $10 a day. This results in increased construction cost in
the USA but also in turn the difference in the construction methods. Thus, a lot of work
is done using machinery like equipment to carry materials on site which on the other
hand in India it is done by the labor due to easy availability and low cost. Thus,
technology occupies a bigger part in the construction industry in the USA while this is
not the same in India.
Project Delivery Method
The major Project Delivery methods used in USA are either Design-Bid-Build or
Design-Build.
The Design-Bid-Build method includes different entities that are responsible for
doing the Designing and the construction part of the project (Desai et al. 2016). This
means the owner needs to hire a consultancy firm or an architectural firm for the design
part of the project and bids are solicited from Contractors for doing the construction
20
project. This method is used most prominently in both countries. This method is good as
experts do their job and the owner’s responsibility is reduced to a bare minimum.
The Design Build method of project delivery is a method where both the design
and the construction part falls in the domain of the contractor (Construction industry
institute 2012). This means the contractor is given the task to both design the project
and then commence with the construction part of the same. This method of project
delivery is usually seen in case where the Owner has some previous good experiences
with the General contractor and is sure about the efficiency of the contractor (Desai et
al. 2016). This case is more efficient less people are involved in the decision making so
the decisions and amendments are made easily and quickly. The method is being
practiced more in India.
Population Difference (Koehn et al. 2001)
The Indian government stated that 21.9% of the total population in India is below
its official poverty limit. In addition, the available land area is one third the land of the
United States of America. Thus, 267.18 million people below the poverty line are almost
equivalent to the total population of the USA. With such a large human resource
available, India has a large number of workforce available at cheap rates for any type of
industry. The construction industry in India provides jobs for a lot of this skilled and
unskilled manpower. Due to its economical and abundant labor force, most of the work
on a construction site is done by hand by the labors which should otherwise be done
using machines such as forklifts or cranes as done in the USA. This is also the main
reason for the huge difference in the labor rates in the two countries. This scenario does
not even seem to be changing in the near future as the population growth of India still
remains a big issue for the government to deal with. Though, the laws have been made
21
by the Government of India but are less followed by the people of India (Koehn et al.
2001).
India is a more labor intensive country. It involves 2.5 to 10 times as many
workers per activity compared to other developed countries (Koehn et al. 1995).
Workers are almost unskilled, illiterate, and migrate in a group, with or without families,
across the country in search of employment (Koehn et al. 1995).
Research has been done in educating the large population and Toole et al.
(2002) made the conclusion that the proper training in fields of safety would decrease
the number of fatalities that occur on the construction site. By education and training,
attitude and behavior may be improved to some extent in safety management in the
work place. Periodic educational and training programs upgrade the necessary
knowledge and skills of employees at work. This may make a successful safety program
(Toole 2002; Tam et al. 2004; and Fang et al. 2004). Many researchers emphasize
education as the most powerful strategy to improve construction safety (Laukkanen et.
al. 1999; Jaselskis et al. 1996; Wilson 1989).
With only 3% of total teaching in the country addressing the direct needs of the
construction engineering and management aspects required in the construction
industry, the14th Engineering Congress on Human Capital Development (Seminar on
Human Capital Development in Engineering for Global Competitiveness in January
2002) observed that “in time to come, India will not have sufficient quality civil engineers
even to undertake basic infrastructure work.” Urgent steps are to be initiated to reverse
this trend of severe shortage of technical manpower.
22
Bidding scenario (Nihas et al. 2013)
The bidding scenario is pretty much the same in the two countries. There is a
proper set of documentation required before and during the bid process. The
requirements include:
Bonds
Bonds are written documents that describe the conditions and obligations relating
to the agreement. Under the terms of the bond, the owner is compensated for actual
damages sustained from any default of the contractor.
Types of bonds –
Bid Bond: ensures that if a contractor is awarded the bid within the time specified, the contractor will enter the contract and provide all other specified bonds.
Performance Bond: Guarantees the owner that, within limits, the contractor will perform all work in accordance with the contract documents. This is about 100% of the total amount of the project.
Labor and Material Bond: Guarantees the payment of the contractor’s bill for labor and materials used or supplied on the project.
Subcontractor Bond: Subcontractors may be required to provide the GC payment and performance bond to save the GC from any losses due to the subcontractor’s faults in turn reducing the GC’s risk.
These bonds are also a major requirement in India for the bid package and they go by
the name of guarantee. The most common guarantees are the bank guarantee and
performance guarantee.
Insurance
The General contractor is required to provide a certificate of insurance which
generally include Labor insurance, Material and Equipment Insurances. The only type of
insurance that is unique to the USA Construction industry is Worker’s Compensation
23
insurance. It is a type of premium paid to the government by the GC for the worker
which will compensate the worker in the case injury. Another good thing about the
Worker’s Compensation is that the United States Department of Labor also provides a
lot of benefits to federal workers (or dependents) like wage replacement benefits,
medical treatment, vocational rehabilitation etc. There are also a lot of other benefits for
laborers in the USA. One of those is Unemployment Compensation, which is given to
the workers in case of unemployment by the government. Such schemes though also
exist in India but the benefits most often end up not going into the hands of the workers
and the amount is also very insignificant as the number of workers is very huge. “A
good contract document should have fairness of equity to either parties to the contract,
clarity or un-ambiguity of all items of work, avoidance of redundancy due to lack of
knowledge or in-attention to details and general and detailed specification (Saha,
2003)”.
Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency is another major difference in the construction culture of the
two countries. However the myth that Green construction increases the cost of the
project prevails in both the countries, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Development) has been used to continuously improve this construction scenario in the
USA. It provides certification to buildings with efficient design structure as in case of
Rinker Hall building at the University of Florida. These efforts have helped to change the
viewpoint of people about the cost effectiveness of green buildings. However in India
people still consider making a green building a waste of time but the LEED inspired
IGBC (Indian Green Building Council) is also making some significant efforts in
changing the mindset of the Indian society (USGBC Press Release, 2014). As a result
24
there are some Green and energy efficient buildings coming up in the country for good.
Some examples being – ITC Green Center, Gurgaon and Olympia Technology Park,
Chennai which is LEED certified (Verma and Tiwari 2015).
Dilipkumar (2012) conducted a comparative study between the Occupational
Safety and Health Act (OSHA), (1970) of the United States and the Building and Other
Construction Workers Act (BOCW), (1996) of India. The study concluded that unlike
OSHA, the BOCW act is not properly propagated. The reason stated by the author was
the lack of availability of the documents in the public domain in the form of a separate,
independent, and well organized website.
Construction safety
Construction is, by its very nature, a hazardous undertaking, especially in
developing countries. There are a lot of labor and site safety laws in both the countries
but the presence of a body like OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)
creates a need for construction safety in the minds of the General contractors. The
possibility of regular site visits and citations for any violations pushes the contractors to
ensure a safety culture on the job site. The frequency of visits and citations is very low,
thus implying a very careful attitude when it comes to site safety.
The number of citations stated below for the year 2014 have been retrieved from
the Occupational Safety and Health Administration website.
Table 2-3. OSHA Inspections in 2014 (Source. www.osha.gov.in)
FY 2014 Total Federal Inspections 36,163
FY 2014 Total Federal Inspections 47,217
25
However, safety is not at all a big concern in the minds of the Indian contractors.
Thought the safety laws prevails in the India Construction Industry but very often
charged with a citation in India. The labor laws in India are rather primitive were
established in 1949 under the Factory Act. No clear data is available about the total
number of deaths as only few percentage of accidents on construction sites are
reported over the years but the number is probably in high thousands per year. In the
USA, PFAS ( Personal Fall Arrest system) and hard hats are mandatory for every body
and this can be seen easily seen when one walks by any construction site in USA but
this is not the case in India unfortunately. Some high end government projects though
have started establishing a safety culture in India as well. This has been seen on DMRC
sites for Delhi METRO projects, which is of course a late but good start to the idea of
construction safety.
Labor Wages
The labor wages in most developing countries is much lower than the wages
being paid to labor in developed countries. India being on the high population side has a
large income group falling below the poverty line. The income of the laborer in India is
approximately 8000 Rupees per month ($133 per month) which is a weekly wage of $33
(Koehn et al. 1995). Although, the cost of living standards is minimal in India the salary
paid to laborers is much less than the salary paid to laborers in developed nations. This
is also an important factor for low productivity rates in developing regions. Because of
the lower wages, contractors in India, if possible tend to use labor rather than
purchasing expensive equipment. Even if the equipment is available, workers on site
tend to use standard tools for work because of the lack of training.
26
Table 2-4 compares the wage rates of various activities performed by workers in
India with those in United States of America, a developed nation (Koehn and Reddy,
1999). In Table 2-4, it is also noted that the average salary in India is $0.84 per hour.
This implies that construction workers fall below the poverty line and thus do not have
enough funds to purchase proper food. Improper sustenance cause lethargy among
workers. Thus leading to low productivity and high accident rates on construction site.
Table 2-4. Comparison of Labor Rates in India and USA (Koehn and Reddy, 1999)
Building Construction Trades US Wage
Rate/ Hour ($) India Wage
Rate/Hour ($)
Asbestos Workers / Boiler Makers 25.75 / 26.28 1.24 / 1.24
Brick Layer / Brick Layer Helpers 23.57 / 18.58 0.83 / 0.62
Carpenters / Stone Masons 22.91 / 23.79 1.04 / 0.83
Cement Finishers / Roof men 22.76 / 25.31 0.83 / 0.83
Electricians / Elevator Contractors 26.26 / 27.14 1.04 / 1.04
Equipment Operators - heavy / Pile Drivers 24.43 / 23.02 1.04 / 1.25
Equipment Operators - medium / Equipment’s Operators - light
23.47 / 22.47 0.93 / 0.83
Marble Setters / Mosaic and Terrazzo Workers 23.62 / 23.10 0.73 / 0.73
Painters (Ordinary) / Painters (Structural Steel) 21.47 / 22.26 0.62 / 0.73
Plasterers / Plasterer Helpers 22.28 / 18.75 0.83 / 0.62
Plumbers / Plumber Helpers 26.79 / 18.89 1.04 / 0.83
Roofers / Roofer Helpers 20.90 / 15.13 0.83 / 0.73
Sheet Metal Workers / Pipe Filters 25.93 / 26.91 0.83 / 1.04
Structural Steel Workers / Structural Steel Welders
25.55 / 25.55 0.83 / 0.83
Tile Layers / Tile Layer Helpers 22.94 / 18.31 0.73 / 0.62
Trade Average 22.39 0.84
27
Construction Industry Development
Nowadays, the Indian economy is currently facing difficulties because of the
lower commodity prices, increasing energy cost, fluctuation in exchange rates and
increasing inflation. Ofori (1993) suggested that the construction industry of developing
regions should do well irrespective of the critical constraints in its work environment.
Since the construction industry is the second largest economic activity in India, it should
also help the national economy to recover and contribute in easing the social problems.
Ofori (1993) also suggested some ways that the construction industry can
contribute to expand the country’s economy. Firstly, the construction industry of
developing nations should act as a supportive hand in the country’s economy by
creating job opportunities in all parts of the country and encourage business relations
with other sectors of the economy. This can only be done by developing and
implementing new strategies which are satisfactory for the developing nation. Secondly,
the construction activities should place the foundation of the infrastructure of the
developing nation. With extreme shortage of public funding, different possibilities should
be realized to structure the funding strategies and strengthen the economy (Ofori 1993).
Foreign investment should be encouraged that strengthens the immediate investment
for the formulation of the major projects in the country.
Ofori (1991) suggested that the corporate culture should also be introduced in
the construction industry of the developing nations. The construction industry of the
developing regions should include companies that are set for the investment in the
human resource, heavy equipment and also intensive research and development that
would increase construction productivity. Nevertheless, the construction firms in the
developing regions are famous for its lack of knowledge i.e. unskilled labor on site, short
28
term goals and inefficient construction. They are unable to employ qualified workers or
unable to afford qualified personnel. Thus, an effective management plays a key role in
construction firms in the developing regions.
India’s National Economy
Currently, the annual expenditure budget of India is Rs 438,795 Crores
compared to the total Gross National Product (GNP) of the country of about Rs
2200,000 Crores or more (retrieved from www.indiabudget.nic.in, 2004). It has been
determined that more than half of the budget is being spent on construction in India
(retrieved from www.indiabudget.nic.in, 2004). Table 1 shows the investment being
done in the construction industry over the years. Continuous efforts over the years by
the Indian construction industry and the Planning Commission has led to assigning
industry status to construction in India today (Das 2003). Table 2-5 shows the
increment in the annual expenditure in Civil Engineering construction. This indicates the
emphasis being made for the improvement in the infrastructure of the country.
Table 2-5. Investment in the Construction Industry (Swarup and Mahajan, 2001)
Amount (in multiples of Rs. 100 Crores)
Year 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Residential Construction
Public 43 46 65 75 77
Private 47 49 85 100 103
Total 90 95 150 175 180
Non-residential Construction
Public 56 58 55 60 65
Private 104 107 95 110 120
Total 160 165 150 170 185
29
Table 2-5. Continued
Amount (in multiples of Rs. 100 Crores)
Year 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Civil Engineering Construction
Public 1350 1480 1690 1900 2155
Private 500 530 640 755 880
Total 1850 2010 2330 2655 3035
30
CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLGY
The objective of the study is to improve the level of the construction standards of
developing countries which would help the economy of developing nations to expand by
increasing the country’s GDP and creating a positive effect on employment growth in
other sectors. In the initial phase of the study, the existing literature was reviewed to find
the basis of comparison between techniques used in the construction industry of the
United States of America and India. Challenges faced by the developing nation were
reviewed and included in the literature review conducted for the research paper. This
helped in providing solutions for the betterment of the construction industry in future.
To evaluate the opinion of the industry experts, statistical analysis was applied to
the data retrieved from the online survey platform of Qualtrics software. The survey
included 27 questions that took less than 10 minutes to complete. The online survey
collaboration features makes it easy to build and share a survey with the target
population. The survey would be conducted in multi-stages. The data collected from the
survey were analyzed using various statistical techniques and conclusions were
derived.
Survey Questionnaire Design
The survey questionnaire has been included in Appendix C at the end of the
research paper. The survey questionnaire starts with the location of the respondent
followed by two sections. The first section solicits information on the construction
practices in India. The second section solicits information on the construction practices
in the United State of America. Both sections start with demographic information. The
very first question uses the ‘skip logic’ feature available in Qualtrics (2016). Based on
31
the response to the first question, the skip logic directs the respondent to the desired
section of the survey. The survey questionnaire was administered anonymously, in
accordance with the policy of the University of Florida Institutional Review Board
(UFIRB-02). A detailed description of the questionnaire and its correlation with objective
of the study is provided in the following section.
Question 1: What part of the world does your company operate in? The
purpose of the question was to categorize the respondent’s location as a developing
region or developed region. The question was most important during the analysis of the
data and provided relevance to Sections 1 and 2.
Construction Practices in India
The section defines the construction practices used in the Indian construction
industry.
Question 1: What region do you primarily operate in? The purpose of the
question was to identify the demographic location of the respondent in India
participating in the study. The question was helpful for the analysis of the data and
provided relevance to the questions further in the section.
Question 2: What is your primary role within the company? The question
identified the respondent’s occupational role. This would help in categorizing the
respondent within the construction industry. The options were also designed keeping in
mind the hierarchy of corporate culture in India.
Question 3: What is the number of years you have been working in the
construction industry? The purpose of this question was to determine the relevance
between the numbers of years the respondent has worked in the construction industry
of India compared to their opinions in response to the previous questions.
32
Question 4: What type of work does your company typically perform? The
question was posted in order to identify the sector of the construction industry of India,
the respondent worked in. The question assisted in better understanding of the
construction practices used in different sectors of the country.
Question 5: What is the average cost of the projects that your company
completes? The question was posted to analyze the average cost of the projects that
the respondent’s company completes annually in India. The responses to this question
was helpful in analysing the data from other questions in the section. This would also
help in comparing the construction industry size of a developing nation to that of a
developed nation.
Question 6: What is major delivery method used by the company? The
purpose of this question was to analyze the respondent’s company involvement in the
delivery methods used for construction in India. The data from Question 4 helped in
establishing a relation between the types of work a company performs to the delivery
method used by it and comparing that to the delivery methods used in the USA.
Question 7: On a scale of 1-5 (1 being least important and 5 being the most
important), how would you rate the importance using “Information Technology”
in your company? This is a Likert scale (Likert1932) question addressing the use of
information technology in construction by the respondent’s company in India. The
response is on scale of 1-5 (1 being least important and 5 being the most important).
The question is also important in determining the construction industry of India’s
acceptance and adaptability to new available software.
33
Question 8: What types of software does a company include in its planning
phase? The intent of this question was to determine whether the companies considers
planning as important part of the construction in India. The percentage of companies in
India using effective software’s for planning on their project is critical in understanding
the current status of the technology. This question also has relevance with Question 5
as it helps to know the importance of planning phase inclusion to the respondent’s
company size.
Question 9: Does the company include “Worker’s Compensation” as a part
of insurance during the bidding process? The intent of this question is to identify the
importance of the employees at the lower level in respondent’s company operation in
India. This would also define the safety of the workers working in the company by
assuring them with such bonds.
Question 10: Does your company use sustainable practices in its projects?
This question will help in determining the respondent’s company adaptability towards
sustainable practices in their projects operating in India as it would help in making the
environment more eco-friendly. The question would also help in understanding the
company acceptance in adopting effective techniques in the construction of their
projects.
Question 11: What percentage of the project cost, does the company spend
on the safety equipment? The purpose of this question was to analyze the extent to
which the respondent’s company operating in India is willing to spend on safety
equipment. Using the data from Question 5 of the Section, helps in comparing the size
of the projects with the amount the company spends on safety equipment.
34
Question 12: What is hourly rate of unskilled labor in your company? The
question would help us in better understanding the wages earned by laborers to the
basic earnings required by a person living in India. This would help in comparing the
work ethics to the respondent’s company size operating in India willing to incorporate
“equal pay” culture in its company to the companies of developed regions.
Question 13: According to you, what should be considered for inclusion in
future construction management curricula for betterment of the industry? The
intent of this question was to determine any additional information that the respondent
working in India construction industry would like to share for the betterment of future
construction management curricula. This question was key in understanding the
effective techniques that could be incorporated for the betterment of the Indian
construction industry.
Construction Practices in United States of America
The section defines the construction practices used in United States of America’s
construction industry.
Question 1: What region do you primarily operate in? The purpose of stating
the question was to differentiate the respondents working in the construction industry of
United States of America to the respondents operating in the construction industry of
India. The question was further helpful in the analysis of the other questions in the
respected section.
Question 2: What is your primary role within the company? The aim of this
question was to identify the primary role of the respondents operating in the United
States of America. The hierarchy of the options were designed according to the
35
corporate culture of the construction companies operating in the United States of
America.
Question 3: Number of years you have been working in the construction
industry? The question was relevant in stating the relationship between the numbers of
years the respondent has worked in the construction industry of United States of
America compared to the primary role in their respected companies.
Question 4: What type of work does your company typically perform? The
importance of this question was to understand the majority of work been done in the
United States of America. It also helped to identify the sector of the construction
industry of United States of America, the respondent belongs to. The question assisted
in better understanding of the construction practices used in different sections of the
country.
Question 5: What is the average cost of the projects that your company
completes? The question aimed at the better understanding of the size of the
construction firms operating in the United States of America. The question also had the
relevance with the type of work performed by the respondent’s company.
Question 6: What is major delivery method used by your company? The raw
data obtained from this question helped in comparing the results obtained from the
construction companies in India. Thus analysing the different techniques used in the
United States of America and need for changes in construction sector of India.
Question 7: On a scale of 1-5 (1 being least important and 5 being the most
important), how would you rate the importance using “Information Technology”
in your company? The data obtained from this question helped in analysing the results
36
obtained in Question 7 from Section 1 of the survey. This question was the basis to
compare the importance of Information Technology in the construction industry of India.
Question 8: What types of software does the company include for its
planning phase? The intent of this question was to identify the need to shift to new
software used in planning phase by the construction industry of India. The percentage
of companies in USA using effective software for planning on their project is critical in
understanding the current status of the technology. This question also has the
relevance with Question 5 as it helps to know the importance of planning phase
inclusion based on the respondent’s company size.
Question 9: Does the company include “Worker’s Compensation” as a part
of insurance during bidding process? The raw data from this question was
compared to the data obtained from the construction companies operating in India.
Thus, analysing the importance of workers in companies of developed regions.
Question 10: Does your company use sustainable practices in its projects?
This question will help us to know the respondent company adaptability towards
sustainable practices in their projects operating in USA as it would help in making the
environment more eco-friendly. This question would also help us to understand the
company acceptance in adopting effective techniques in the construction of their
projects.
Question 11: What percentage of the project cost, does the company spend
on the safety equipment? The purpose of this question was to analyze the extent to
which the respondent’s company operating in USA is willing to spend on safety
37
equipment. Using the data from Question 5 of the Section, helps in comparing the size
of the projects with the amount spent on safety equipment.
Question 12: What is hourly rate for unskilled labor in your company? The
question would help us in better understanding the wages earned by laborers to the
basic earnings required by a person living in the USA in monetary terms. This would
help us in comparing the work ethics to the respondent’s company size operating in
USA willing to incorporate “equal pay” culture in the company.
Question 13: According to you, what should be considered for inclusion in
future construction management curricula for betterment of the industry? The
intent of this question was to determine any additional information that the respondents
working in USA’s construction industry would like to share for the betterment of future
construction management curricula. This question was key in understanding the
effective techniques that could be incorporated for the betterment of the USA’s
construction industry.
38
CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
A significant amount of research has been done in the field of new technologies
associated with construction but there is no clear implementation of these new
technologies in the developing regions. The Government of India (GOI) has reformed its
policies but the lack of proper awareness makes them difficult to implement during
construction. Big companies like Delhi Land $ Finance Limited (DLF), Larsen and turbo
(LnT) has reformed their construction policies but small companies are still struggling
with construction methods improvement. Thus, most of the work on-site is being
handled by the workers instead of using new equipment available in the construction
industry of the developed regions which increases the number of fatalities to a large
extent.
Industry Survey Analysis
The survey was kept open for a period of 30 days. The survey questionnaire
design was explained in Chapter 3 and the survey consent form has been attached in
Appendix A. There were a total of 50 respondents to the survey, of which only 45
completed the whole survey. Out of the 45 respondents who managed to complete the
whole survey, 25 respondents belonged to the construction industry of United States of
America and 20 respondents belonged to the construction industry of India. The five
incomplete responses out of a total of 50 responses were excluded. As explained earlier
in Chapter 3, the very first question of the survey has skip logic (defines the section
according to the response to the previous question) followed up by the section
according to that response. of the very first question. The following section contains the
analysis of the survey described in Chapter 3. Statistical analysis was used for each of
39
the survey questions. In addition to the statistical analysis, responses to some the
questions of the survey were cross tabulated and interpreted with the responses of the
other questions of the survey so to define the relevance between the respective
responses. The raw data obtained from the survey using Qualtrics software were
exported to an MS Excel file for statistical analysis. The results obtained are described
in the next section.
The very first question of the survey was used to analyze the part of the world,
the respondent belongs to. Both the sections starts with the demographic survey to
analyze the respondents and their responses on the basis of the professionalism in the
construction industry and the company size the respondent is working for. The
demographic questions were included in the survey for the effective analysis of the
remaining question in the two sections.
Question 1: What part of the world does your company operate in? This was
the first question of the survey and all the 48 complete responses include responses to
this question. As shown in Figure 4-1, a large majority of respondents, and 26 (57%)
operated in the construction industry of United States of America.
Figure 4-1. Part of the world the company operates in (n=48)
22
26
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
India
United States of America
Number of Respondents
Par
t o
f w
orl
d c
om
pan
y o
per
ates
40
Construction Practices in India
The questions in this section focuses on demo*graphic information of the
respondent working in the construction industry of India. In addition to the demographic
information, the question also focuses on the construction practices used in India
Question 1: What region do you primarily operate in? The question was
followed up by the ‘Skip Logic’ that defined the subsequent section and the respondents
working in India had an access to this section. For this question, 22 complete responses
by the respondents working in the construction industry of India were recorded as
shown in Figure 4-2. A large majority of the respondents, 10 (45%) operated in Northern
India.
Figure 4-2. Primary region of operation (n=22)
Question 2: What is your primary role within the company? Twenty Two
complete responses were recorded, as shown in the Figure 4-3. The options for this
question were decided keeping in mind the hierarchy of corporate culture of the
10
4
6
2
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Northern India
Southern India
Western India
Eastern India
Number of respondents
Pri
mar
y R
egio
n o
f o
per
atio
n
41
construction industry of India. Project Engineer was highest recorded response at 32%
(7), followed by Project Manager at 18% (4). The number of respondents that worked as
General Manager was three and Estimator was two each. The data also include one
student and one Planning Engineer assuming that they were associated with
construction industry.
Figure 4-3. Primary Role within the company (n=22)
Question 3: Number of years you have been working in the construction
industry? As shown in the Figure 4-4, there were 20 responses recorded for this
question. There were 4 (20%) respondents that had an experience of four years. A
majority of the respondents 13 (65%) had an experience of less than five years which
can also be related to responses to Question 2 in this Section as the majority of the
respondents worked as a Project Engineer. Thus, the data correlates to responses for
the role of the respondent in his/her organization.
3
1
4
3
7
2
1 1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
GeneralManager
DeputyGeneralManager
ProjectManager
ChiefEngineer
ProjectEngineer
Estimator Other,(PlanningEngineer)
Other,(Intern)
Nu
mb
er o
f R
esp
on
den
ts
Primary Role
42
Figure 4-4. Years of experience in the construction industry (n=22)
Question 4: What type of work does your company typically perform? There
were 22 responses recorded for this question as shown in the Table 4-1. Forty five
percent (10) of the respondents replied that there company performed residential
construction. Of the remaining 12 responses, five respondents’ companies performed
Commercial construction, two respondents’ companies performed industrial
construction and four respondents’ company performed Heavy Civil construction. Only
4.5% (1) of the respondents indicated that their company performed work in two sectors
i.e. residential and commercial construction as shown in Figure 4-5.
Table 4-1. Type of work performed by the respondent’s company
Type of work performed Number of responses Percentage of total
Residential 10 45.5
Commercial 5 22.7
Industrial 2 9.1
Heavy Civil 4 18.2
Residential and Commercial 1 4.5
Total 22 100
1
2
1 1
2
6
2 2 2
3
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
16 15 17 6 7 4 3 2 2 Upto 1
Num
ber
of
respondents
Number of years of experience
43
Figure 4-5. Type of work performed by the respondents’ company
Question 5: What is the average cost of the projects that your company
completes? The response to this question was analyzed using the MS Excel’s Analysis
Tool Pak as shown in the Table 4-2. Total of 22 responses were recorded for this
question. The information generated from this question was key in relating the type of
work being performed by the respondent’s construction company.
Table 4-2. Analysis of Company Size.
Question 6: What is major delivery method used by the company? Twenty-
two responses were recorded for this question as shown in Figure 4-6. Nine out of a
45%
23%
9%
18%
5%
Residential
Commercial
Industrial
Heavy Civil
Residential and Commercial
Parameter Value (Rs.)
Number of response (n) 22
Average 91,26,75,315.38
Standard deviation 125,34,67,756.07
Median 30,00,00,000
Minimum 2,00,000
Maximum 600,00,00,000
44
total of twenty-two responses indicated that their company used Design-Build as a
delivery method for the projects. Six respondents replied that their company used
Design-Bid-Build and four responded Construction Manager as a delivery method. The
respondents who indicated that their company used design-build as a delivery method
performed residential and industrial construction.
Figure 4-6. Type of Delivery Method (n=22)
Question 7: On a scale of 1-5 (1 being least important and 5 being the most
important), how would you rate the importance of using “Information
Technology” in your company? This is a Likert scale question and the respondents
had to rate the use of Information Technology in their company. This helped to analyze
the extent to which information technology was being used in developing nations. A total
of 22 responses were recorded as shown in Table 4-3. The mean of the total twenty
responses were 1.71 which indicated the need to spread the awareness of information
technology in the construction industry of India.
9
6
4
3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Design Build
Design Bid Build
Construction Manager
Other, (bid build)
Number of Respondents
Del
iver
y M
eth
od
45
Table 4-3. Analysis of Importance of usage of Information Technology
Variable Value
Count (n) 22
Minimum 0
Maximum 3
Mean 1.71
Standard Deviation 0.79
Variance 0.81
Question 8: What types of software does the company use for its planning
phase? A total 22 responses were recorded for this question as shown in Figure 4-7.
Out of twenty two responses, 12 (54%) responses indicated the use of MS Planner as a
Planning software by their company. Six indicated the use of MS Excel and four
indicated the use Primavera-P6 software for Planning in their company. This indicates
that there is a need to spread awareness of the latest software in the Indian
construction industry.
Figure 4-7. Type of Software for Planning Phase (n=22)
4
12
6
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Primavera-P6 MS Project Planner Other, (MS Excel)
Nu
mb
er o
f re
spo
nd
ents
Software used for Planning
46
Question 9: Does the company includes “Worker’s Compensation” as a
part of insurance during bidding process? This question was framed to determine
the importance of worker’s employed by the construction industry in India. A total of 22
responses were recorded for this question as shown in Figure 4-8.The majority of the
responses 73% (16) indicated the non-inclusion of Worker’s Compensation in their
Company. Only 27% (6) of the respondents indicated the inclusion of Worker’s
Compensation by their company. This could be related to the company size such that
only large companies included Worker’s Compensation. Thus, there was very low
security to the workers working in the developing regions.
Figure 4-8. Inclusion of Worker’s Compensation (n=22)
Question 10: Does your company use sustainable practices in its projects?
Seventeen respondents indicated that their company does not use sustainable practices
during construction as shown in Figure 4-9. The reason behind the majority saying ‘No’
is the lack of awareness of benefits in the Indian construction industry of using
sustainable practices. This indicates the scope of improvement needed in construction
practices in India.
6
16
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Yes No
Nu
mb
er o
f re
spo
nd
ents
Inclusion of worker's compensation
47
Figure 4-9. Use of Sustainable practices (n=22)
Question 11: What percentage of the project cost, does the company spend
on the safety equipment? As shown in the Table 4-4, the statistical analysis of the
response to this question yielded the mean value of the 22 responses as 2.85% of the
project cost used for safety equipment. Thus, indicating a very low dependence on
highly equipped equipment in the construction industry of India.
Table 4-4. Percentage of project cost spent for Safety Equipment
Percentage of project cost for safety Equipment Value
Count (n) 22
Minimum 0
Maximum 30
Mean 2.85
Standard Deviation 7.97
Variance 56.24
Question 12: What is hourly rate of unskilled labor in your company? This
question was analyzed using the MS Excel Analysis Tool Pack. The total of twenty-two
responses recorded for this question gave a mean value of Rs285.26 (Table 4-5) i.e. $4
5
17
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Yes
No
Number of respondents
Use
of
Sust
ain
able
pra
ctic
e
48
per hour which is very less than the minimum earnings required for a person in India for
survival. Thus, the results indicated the quality of life of construction workers working in
India. This question also has a relevance to the Question 9 of the Section i.e. the
majority of the companies not including the Worker’s Compensation in their bids had
earnings below poverty level.
Table 4-5. Hourly Rate of Unskilled Labour
Parameter Value
Count 22
Minimum 250
Maximum 360
Mean 285.26
Standard Deviation 111.53
Variance 1256.35
Question 13: According to you, what should be considered for inclusion in
future construction management curricula for betterment of the industry?
This question was an open response question and the respondents were
required to type in what should be included in future construction management curricula
for the betterment of the Indian industry. A total of 20 responses were recorded as
shown in the Table 4-6. The majority of the respondents (45%) wanted site visits and
equipment operation to be included in the construction management curricula. Further
analysis stated that 10% (2) of the respondents wanted to focus more on bidding
scenarios and 15% (3) wanted emphasis on sustainable practices for the improvement
of the Indian construction industry.
49
Table 4-6. Factors for the betterment of the industry
Addition Information Number of Responses Percentage of Total
Focus on bidding scenario 2 10
BIM 6 30
Emphasis on sustainable practices 3 15
Site visits and equipment operation 9 45
Total 20 100
Construction Practices in the United States of America
The questions in this section relate to construction practices used in the United
States of America. The section starts with the demographic information of the
respondents working in the United States of America.
Question 1: What region do you primarily operate in? The question was
followed up by the ‘Skip Logic’ and the respondents working in the United States of
America was followed up by this question. A Total of 26 responses were recorded for
this question as shown in Figure 4-10. The majority of the 18 (69%) respondents
worked in Southern part of the United States of America. Five (19%) responses were
recorded by the respondents working in Northeast (Mid Atlantic) region of the United
States of America.
Figure 4-10. Primary Region of operation (n=26)
1
5
1
18
0
1
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Northeast (New England)
Northeast (Mid Atlantic)
Midwest
South
West (Mountain)
West (Pacific)
Number of respondents
Pri
mar
y re
gio
n o
f o
per
atio
n
50
Question 2: What is your primary role within the company? The question
was only allowed to be responded to by the respondents working in the United States of
America. A total of 26 responses were recorded for this question as shown in Figure 4-
11. The majority of the respondents for this question worked as an Assistant Project
Manager in their company i.e. 23% (6). The options were decided keeping in mind the
hierarchical structure of the construction industry of the United States of America. The
question was also responded to by the Energy Modeler a shown in the Figure 4-11. The
data recorded for this question also included BIM/VDC Specialist in his/her respected
company. The question differentiates the Indian Construction Industry with inclusion of
specialists in their firms.
Figure 4-11. Primary Role within their Company (n=26)
Question 3: Number of years you have been working in the construction
industry? This question was mandatory for the respondents working in the construction
industry of United States of America. A total of 25 responses were recorded as shown in
the Figure 4-12. There were 7 (27%) respondents who had an experience of three years
in the construction industry. This could also be analyzed from the previous question as
3
6
2
3
2
1
2
5
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Nu
mb
er o
f re
spo
nd
ents
Primary Role
51
the majority of the respondents worked as an Assistant Project Manager in their
respective firms. A majority of the respondents 19 (73%) had an experience of less than
five years as shown in the Figure 4-12.
Figure 4-12. Number of years working in the construction industry (n=26)
Question 4: What type of work does your company typically perform? A
total of 26 responses were recorded for this question as shown in the Table 4-7. Thirty
eight percent (10) of the respondents replied that their company performed commercial
construction. Of the remaining 16 responses, six respondents’ company performed
residential construction, two respondents’ company performed industrial construction
and four respondents’ company performed Heavy Civil construction. Only 12% (3) of the
respondents indicated the company performed work in two sectors i.e. residential and
commercial construction as shown in Figure 4-5.
21
4 4
7
4 4
0123456789
101112
10 8 6 4 3 2 Upto 1Num
ber
of
respondents
Number of years of experience
52
Table 4-7. Type of work performed by the company
Type of work performed Number of responses
Percentage of total
Residential 6 23
Commercial 10 38
Industrial 2 8
Heavy Civil 5 19
Residential and Commercial 3 12
Total 26 100
Figure 4-13. Type of work performed by the company (n=26)
Question 5: What is the average cost of the projects that your company
completes? The analysis of the responses recorded was done by the MS Excel
Analysis Tool Pack. Twenty six respondents answered this question as shown in Table
4-8. The response to this question was relevant for the Question 4 of this Section. From
the responses to this question indicated that the companies with big turnover performed
Heavy Civil construction. Thus, a lot is being spent on infrastructure construction in the
developed region but it is a completely different scenario in the India.
23%
38%
8%
19%
12%
Residential
Commercial
Industrial
Heavy Civil
Residential and Commercial
53
Table 4-8. Analysis of Company Size
Parameter Value
Number of response (n) 26
Average $154,321,845.85
Standard deviation $193,486,205.58
Median $120,000,000
Minimum $500,000
Maximum $800,000,000
Question 6: What is major delivery method used by the company? The total
number of responses recorded for this question were 26 as shown in the Figure 4-14.
The majority of the respondents i.e. 42% (11) stated that their company used the
Design-Bid-Build delivery method for its project which is a very high percentage as
compared to the responses received by the respondents of the construction industry of
India. This also indicated the competitive nature of the construction industry in United
States of America. Seven respondents stated the use of Design-Build delivery method
for their projects followed by five responses for the construction management delivery
method in their projects. This question could be related to the type of work performed by
their respected company as the majority of the respondents for this question performed
Heavy Civil and commercial construction.
54
Figure 4-14. Type of Delivery method used by the company (n=26)
Question 7: On a scale of 1-5 (1 being least important and 5 being the most
important), how would you rate the importance of using “Information
Technology” in your company? The question required the respondents to rate the
importance of the use of Information Technology by their respective companies. The
total of 26 responses were recorded by the respondents operating in the United States
of America as shown in the Table 4-9. The mean value of the 26 responses by the
respondents of United States of America came out to be 4 as compared to the mean
value of 1.71 by the construction companies operating in India. This clearly states the
importance of using Information Technology in the construction industry of developed
nations.
Table 4-9. Importance of Information Technology in construction
Variable Value
Count (n) 26
Minimum 2
Maximum 5
Mean 4
Standard Deviation 0.81
Variance 0.6
7
11
5
3
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Design Build
Design Bid Build
Construction Manager
Other, (bid build)
Number of Respondents
Del
iver
y M
eth
od
55
Question 8: What types of software’s does the company includes for its
planning phase? In total, 26 responses were recorded for this question as shown in
Figure 4-7. Each respondent could select any number of options from the given list. Out
of twenty five responses, 17 (65%) responses indicated the use of Primaviera-P6 as a
Planning software by their company as compared to the 18% responses by the
respondents operating in the Indian Construction Industry. Eight indicated the use of MS
Project Planner and one indicated the use of MS Excel software for Planning in their
company. This indicates that there is a need to shift to latest software’s in the planning
phase by the Indian Construction Industry so as to assure quality.
Figure 4-15. Software used for Planning Phase (n=26)
Question 9: Does the company includes “Worker’s Compensation” as a
part of insurance during bidding process? The 25 respondents as shown below in
Figure 4-16 were those who had responded that their company included Worker’s
Compensation. This is evident from the fact that the governmental policies have made it
mandatory irrespective of the size of the company in United States of America.
Comparing it to the Indian Construction Industry, the percentage of respondents
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8
1
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Primavera-P6 MS Project Planner Other, (MS Excel)
Nu
mb
er o
f re
spo
nd
ents
Software used for planning
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including Worker’s Compensation was only 27%. Only 4% of the respondents said that
they did not included the Worker’s Compensation in their company.
Figure 4-16. Inclusion of Worker’s Compensation (n=26)
Question 10: Does your company use sustainable practices in its projects?
There were 22 (85%) respondents who stated that they used sustainable practices in
their projects as shown in Figure 4-16. Comparing this to the respondents operating in
India, the percentage of respondents who stated the use of sustainable practices in their
projects was nearly 23%. Fifteen percent of the respondents indicated that their
company did not use the sustainable practices.
Figure 4-17. Use of sustainable practices in the company (n=26)
25
1
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Yes No
Nu
mb
er o
f re
spo
nd
ents
Inclusion of worker's compensation
22
4
0 5 10 15 20 25
Yes
No
Number of respondents
Use
of
sust
ain
able
pra
ctic
es
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Question 11: What percentage of the project cost, does the company spend
on the safety equipment? As shown in the Table 4-10, the statistical analysis of the
response to this question indicated the mean value of the 26 responses as 6.7% of the
project cost used for safety equipment. This is very large percentage compared to the
mean value of 2.85% by the 22 respondents working in the construction industry of
India.
Table 4-10. Analysis of the Percentage of project cost spent for safety equipment.
Percentage of project cost for safety Equipment Value
Count (n) 26
Minimum 0
Maximum 20
Mean 6.7
Standard Deviation 8.54
Variance 76.95
Question 12: What is hourly rate of unskilled labor in your company? The
question was analyzed using the MS Excel Analysis Tool Pack. The total of twenty six
responses were recorded for this question gave a mean value of $15.4 as compared to
the twenty responses mean value of $4 per hour by the respondents working in India.
As noted by Koehn (1995), the minimum pay of the workers in the Indian construction
industry was not enough for even the necessities of life.
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Table 4-11. Hourly rate of unskilled labor in their company.
Parameter Value
Count 26
Minimum 8
Maximum 20
Mean 15.4
Standard Deviation 13.12
Variance 1028.6
Question 13: According to you, what should be considered for inclusion in
future construction management curricula for betterment of the industry? This
question was an open response question and the respondents working in construction
industry of United States of America were required to type in the solution that can be
included in future construction management curricula for the betterment of the industry.
A total of 26 responses were recorded as shown in the Table 4-12. The majority of the
respondents (35%) wanted the internship to be mandatory in the construction
management curricula. Further analysis stated that the respondents wanted to the
increase the use of Building Information Modelling in the construction management
curricula for the betterment of the industry of United States of America.
Table 4-12. Additional Factors included in Construction Management Curricula
Addition Information Number of Responses
Percentage of Total
Better documentation, online updation of drawings
2 8
Focus on practical training 5 19
Emphasis on sustainable practices 7 27
Mandatory Internship 9 35
More Building information modelling 3 12
Total 26 100
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CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Conclusions
The use of latest technologies prevailing in the construction industry of
developed countries are still limited in the construction industry of developing countries.
Software’s like Building Information Modelling (BIM), Primavera - P6, Onscreen
Takeoffs have become prevalent in the construction industry of United States of
America. Regular research is being conducted for the effective application of the new
technologies in the construction industry of developed countries. In addition, some of
the researchers are concerned with new technologies in making it cost effective. There
is being large gap between the people working in the construction industry of India and
United States of America. Thus, awareness should be created among people working in
the construction industry of the developing countries about the benefits of the new
technologies. This research aimed at analyzing these challenges and clearing some of
these issues.
The majority of the respondents (56%) of the United States of America were
working in Heavy Civil and Commercial construction. The delivery method used by
these respondents were Design-Bid-Build for their projects. These indicated the
competitive nature of the construction industry in United States of America. The
competitive nature of the construction industry assures the quality of projects completed
in United States of America. Since the majority of the work done was Heavy Civil and
Commercial construction, thereby improving the infrastructure of the country. Unlike
India, the majority (40%) of work was related to Residential construction and the
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delivery method used for the projects were Design Build. Thus, low grade materials
were used in the construction industry of India.
Very few respondents of construction industry of India indicated dependence on
Information Technology in the construction Industry and rated the importance as 1.67
out of 5. Unlike India, the respondents of construction Industry of United States of
America rated the importance of Information Technology as 4 out 5. Therefore
awareness needs to be raised among people of construction industry of India about the
benefits of Information Technology. Even the use of sustainable practices were limited
in the construction industry of India as compared to the construction industry of United
States of America.
Only 30% respondents of Indian Construction industry indicated the inclusion of
Worker’s Compensation as compared to 96% respondents of United States of America.
This could also be inferred from the low percentage (2.96%) of the project cost included
for safety equipment compared to the higher percentage (6.46%) of the construction
industry of United States of America. Hence, safety was considered less important to
the workers working in the construction industry of India. Several factors including BIM,
emphasis on sustainable practices, and improvement in bidding scenario were cited by
the respondents of India to improve the future construction management curricula.
Recommendations
Limited studies in regard with the application of new technologies have been
conducted. These studies include both the applicability and financial feasibility of using
the new technologies. Yet, a large number of the construction professional are doubtful
about the use of these new technologies in developing regions. Future study of the
challenges of using new technologies in construction needs to be conducted, that
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includes one-to-one interviews with professional of the construction industry in
developing nations.
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APPENDIX A INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD APPROVAL
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APPENDIX B QUALTRICS SURVEY
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65
66
67
68
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Akshay Goel received his undergraduate education from Jaypee University of
Information and Technology, earning a Bachelor in Civil Engineering. Upon completion
of the bachelor’s degree in 2015, Akshay started his graduate school at the M.E. Rinker,
Sr. School of Construction Management at the University of Florida. Akshay did his last
semester of undergraduate education at the M.E. Rinker, Sr. School of Construction
Management. After studying for the exchange semester at the University of Florida,
Akshay realized the difference in the construction technique’s being used in United
States of America and India. Thereafter, Akshay began his thesis work on the
challenges faced by the construction industry in India. Akshay graduated in fall 2016
with the degree of Master of Science in Construction Management (MSCM). He dreams
of improving the construction standards in the developing nations of the world.