Analyzing the Impact of Early Warning Signs and Causes of Out-of-Sequence Work on Industrial Construction Project Productivity

This study examines the impact of the most prominent early warning signs and causes of out-of-sequence (OOS) work on the productivity of industrial construction projects. Relying on the opinions of 16 industrial construction professionals and using the fuzzy Delphi technique, the most relevant of these signs and causes were identified. Then, using Max-Max and Bayes rules, the impact of this signs and causes on the productivity of industrial construction projects was analyzed. The findings indicated a high level of agreement between the rankings of causes of OOS work and a moderate level of agreement between the rankings of early warning signs, as assessed using both the Bayes and Max-Max approaches. Combining the findings of the two approaches revealed that if any of the following six early warning signs are observed—regardless of which sign precedes the occurrence of any cause of OOS work—it can be expected to lead to substantial decreases in project productivity: increase in drawing revisions, Inexperience in key roles, trending away from baseline progress curve, inadequate transition planning from construction to commissioning, high percentage of rework, and float usage early in schedule. Additionally, among the most obvious causes of OOS work, lack of consideration of stakeholder requirements in project planning, change in design, poor communication between different project parties throughout the project, late delivery from vendors, unrealistic activities duration, and lack of access to full project, respectively, can cause the greatest damage to the productivity of construction projects.