Distribution of Rework Issues in Various Reinforced Concrete Building Components

Abstract

The need to avoid rework or rectification, even before a facility is put into operation, cannot be overemphasized. Rework can be studied from two points of view: (1) its root causes, focusing on individual managerial issues such as worker training, coordination issues, and so forth; and (2) its distribution in the various components of the facility being constructed. Although the former has been studied quite extensively, little information is available about the latter. Addressing this gap and concentrating on building construction, this study presents the relative ranking of and the correlation among four activity-specific causes of rework, namely rework arising due to inappropriate concreting, reinforcement placement, shuttering, and scaffolding in five components of reinforced cement concrete construction in buildings, i.e., beams and slabs, columns, walls, staircases, and footings. The analysis was based on responses from more than 100 professionals and the use of statistical tools like relative importance index, the margin of error, ANOVA, Spearman’s coefficient of correlation, and structural equation modeling. It was found that whereas columns are the most critical components for rework for inappropriate concreting, beams and slabs were identified as the most critical component for rework due to inappropriate reinforcement placement, inappropriate formwork placement, and scaffolding work. Furthermore, the correlation studies exhibited poor correlation among the different building components and different activity-specific causes of rework, which implies that stakeholders need to develop activity-specific strategies for every component to reduce rework. In the future, the conclusions obtained from the study can be verified by recording and analyzing the events of rework in building construction projects.