A preliminary proposal for a waste-based management approach to improve performance in construction

Abstract

The 20th IGLC Conference held in San Diego revealed that waste is a key concept of lean production philosophy which has not been stressed enough in construction management. However, the concept of waste has been widely addressed in the last 20 IGLC Conferences, and studies so far have been mainly focused on identifying and classifying different types of waste and its consequences, although only a few of them refer to quantifying, controlling and removing waste. Therefore, the concept of "waste-based management" and a preliminary approach for its implementation will be introduced to fill some of these gaps. Regarding this fact, we will emphasize the importance of identifying the driving forces of waste and its root causes in early stages of the project; and then, quantifying and controlling waste in order to take quick decisions across the organization. We will also introduce the concept of "waste direct cost" during the execution phase, expressed in monetary terms, as a key indicator to control the cost of waste.