An Exploratory Study on the Measurement and Analysis of Making-Do in Construction Sites

Abstract

Making-do has been pointed out as a major cause of waste in the construction industry. It refers to a situation in which a task starts without having available all the inputs required for its completion. Those inputs refer not only to materials, but also to other resources, such as machinery, tools, personnel, external conditions, information, etc. By contrast, the literature points out that improvisation is a ubiquitous human practice even in highly structured business organisations, and play an important role when rules and methods fail. This paper presents the concept of making-do as a form of waste, and proposes a method of measuring it as well as identifying its main causes, and its main impacts in the performance of construction projects. Data from two exploratory case studies carried out in construction sites are used to illustrate the utility of that concept. In those studies, making-do waste was identified, and categorized according to their causes and main impacts. This was done by interviews with construction workers and foremen, direct observation of construction processes on-site, and participant observation in planning meetings. The results provide some insights on the limitations of planning systems in avoiding making-do, and also pointed out the high negative impact of this type of waste in site safety.

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