Poor productivity of construction workers is one of the causes of cost and time overruns in construction projects. The productivity of labour is particularly important especially in developing countries, where most of the building construction work is still on manual basis. This paper reports on a survey made on project managers of building projects in Uganda, where an increase in productivity is being sought. Respondents were required to rate using their experience how 36 factors affect productivity with respect to time, cost and quality. The survey was carried out by a questionnaire and responses received over a period of 3 months. The ten most significant problems affecting labour productivity were identified as incompetent supervisors; lack of skills from the workers; rework; lack of tools/equipment; poor construction methods; poor communication; inaccurate drawings; stoppages because of work being rejected by consultants; political insecurity; tools/equipment breakdown; and harsh weather conditions. Although lack of materials is ranked highest with regard to average rating on loss of time, it was not ranked among the top ten using the importance index that takes into account time, cost as well as work quality. The policy makers and researchers should focus on the identified major factors in order to improve productivity.

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Abstract. Construction industries, especially those in developing countries, face the problems of low productivity. It comes about partly due to organizational ineffectiveness. The major attributes of organizational effectiveness are identified from literature. Means to achieving greater organization effectiveness and higher productivity are identified under the major headings of cohesion and morale of workers, adaptability, information communication, and planning. Using a structured questionnaire survey on building craftsmen in Uganda, results suggest that most workers are not satisfied with the financial reward, level of status is not able to achieve personal goals. Workers are not satisfied with the level of training. The variables are weak points in organizational effectiveness. In addition, workers are not satisfied with the level of participation in decision-making. There is a need to dwell on these grey areas in order to improve the organizational effectiveness of building firms, especially in developing countries.

Industrialisation is seen as one of the philosophies that can be employed to be able to increase the productivity of the construction industry. There are many forms and classifications of industrialisation and these have to be put in the context while seeking improvement of productivity by industrialisation. A systems approach is used to analyse the players and factors for industrialisation of the construction sector. Case studies were used to study industrialisation in the construction sector in a developing country. Performance metrics are suggested and used to measure the extent of industrialization in Uganda. It is concluded that the level of industrialisation in Uganda seems to be low. However, there is a need for a wider comparison in order to come up with generic indicators.

To improve the utilisation of timber in building construction and enhance the market value of Ugandan timber species, especially the lesser known, strength properties of 17 species were studied. Small clear specimen tests were conducted in bending, compression and shear parallel to grain using the standard procedures of the American Society for Testing and Materials, ISO 8905:1988, AS/NZS 2878 and BS 373:1957. Results showed significant differences in strength properties of the investigated timbers. A positive relationship was found between bending strength and stiffness. It was recommended that the timbers be grouped on the basis of the variability in their strength properties.