Parviz Ghoddousi - Associate Professor, Iran University of Science and Technology
Behzad T. Alizadeh - Civil Engineer, MSc, Iran University of Science and Technology
M. Reza Hosseini - PhD candidate, University of South Australia, Adelaide
Nicholas Chileshe - Senior Lecturer, University of South Australia, Adelaide,

Labor productivity is one of the determinants of success for any construction project. As a result, project managers should be supplied with methods to measure the productivity level on their sites in order to compare it against acceptable baselines. This would be the first step towards controlling and eventually improving the labor productivity on construction sites. Yet, the available methods for measuring labor productivity of activities on construction sites are scarce. One of the most well-known methods for the mentioned purpose is the Theoretical Model of International Benchmarking for Labor Productivity (TMIBLP). Drawing upon a critical review of the literature this study presents a framework to improve the effectiveness of TMIBLP. Afterwards, the study outlines the findings of the first study on benchmarking of construction activities deploying the proposed framework utilizing the data collected from steel structures erecting activities in six building projects in Tehran, Iran. The discussions will present practical guidelines for construction project managers regarding benchmarking labor productivity. Besides, the paper concludes with putting forward some suggestions for future research opportunities.

Benchmarking, Labor productivity, Project, construction, Steel structures, Tehran, Iran