A national survey of contractors has found those who use lean construction methods on their projects are more likely to complete their jobs on time and under budget and achieve other goals such as having safe jobsites and producing high quality work.

The survey, conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America, polled 336 contractors about how lean construction methods can be used to bring about better outcomes on various types of projects. The survey sought to identify specific ways in which lean methods could turn a typical project into an exceptional one.

Ashley Phelps, assistant director of supply chain management at Gilbane Construction, said during a virtual webinar on the survey results that working directly with employees to identify and solve problems on jobsites can lead to better results. The AGC’s survey found that 59 percent of the respondents who had worked on what they deemed exceptional projects had taken steps to engage their workers in problem-solving.

“Get those people involved in making decisions on the job, that will yield you better project outcomes,” she said.

The AGC’s survey collected responses from 187 general contractors or construction managers,  108 specialty contractors and 41 heavy civil firms. It asked the respondents to compare the results on their best projects with those from their typical projects in an attempt at identifying how lean construction methods can lead to improvements.

According to the results, 51 percent of the respondents’ best projects came in under budget, whereas only 23 percent of their typical projects did. Likewise, about three-quarters of the respondents’ exceptional projects were completed with zero safety incidents, whereas 48 percent of the typical projects had no safety incidents.

The survey also found that strong profits resulted from 60 percent of the high-intensity lean projects, but only from half of those on which lean methods were used sparingly.

Phelps said there were several practices that appeared to produce the best “bang for your buck.” Contractors, for instance, were most successful at avoiding injuries when they kept their jobsites clean. The survey found that cleanliness was a priority on 51 percent of the projects deemed exceptional but only on 35 percent of the typical projects.

Contractors who made early contributions to design work also delivered better projects. And those who talked to clients at the start of a project to try to understand what would make them happy were also more likely to complete successful projects.

Among the other steps that were found to be effective were:

• Adopting a Last Planner System, which can help a superintendent or foreman ensure workers have the tools they need to perform a task;
• Using Building Information Modeling software, or BIM, on projects;
• Making sure that project contingencies are managed with customers; and
• Conducting post-occupancy evaluation checks at regular intervals.

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