A Framework for Trade-Level Labour Productivity Measurement for Building Projects: A Systematic Review

Trade-level productivity plays a major role in evaluating the overall performance of building projects. Thus, significant attention has been given by researchers and practitioners to identify the key trades of building projects. However, very few studies have comprehensively investigated this body of knowledge. Therefore, this study aims to analyse the literature on building trades and propose a framework to support trade-level labour productivity (LP) measurement for building projects. To achieve this aim, a systematic literature review is carried out and bibliometric and in-depth content analysis is used for the analysis. Data are retrieved from Scopus, Google Scholar and Government sources. In total 72 publications are shortlisted for detailed review after several levels of screening including duplication, title and abstract checking and skim reading. The results of the bibliometric analysis mapped the yearly publication trend and publications by country/region. In-depth content analysis of the selected papers summarised the building trades identified in the literature from different perspectives of the trades. The proposed framework contributes to a better understanding of building trades and LP and also guides practitioners to achieve effective and detailed trade-level LP measurement for building projects.