Mark Reynolds, the executive chairman of Mace, warned that builders only use about two to three hours of a seven-hour workday on real building activity
Brickies are less productive than they were 50 years ago because they’re always on their phones, a UK construction boss has warned.
Mark Reynolds, the executive chairman of Mace, warned that builders only use about two to three hours of a seven-hour workday on real building activity, such as bricklaying.
Mr Reynolds said other issues facing productivity included the rising complexity of projects, more time spent on inductions to meet higher safety standards and a higher workforce turnover.
Productive work has plunged by 20% over the past five decades, although Mr Reynolds said the amount of time lost to smart phones is unmeasured.
He described it as ‘really not helpful’.
Mr Reynolds, who has been involved with projects including HS2, London Eye and 2012 Olympics, said: “The other problem we’ve had at some jobs is people on their phones.
“The problem that we’ve got in society, with everyone looking at their phones, is really not helpful.
“I’ve not measured it. But [we’re losing time to it].
“Everything is about balance, isn’t it?”
His comments come after a landmark report conducted by Mace on building site productivity analysed the company’s own data and statistics.
It discovered productivity has fallen by 20% since the 1970s in addition to a growing fragmentation of the industry, adding to project cost and complexity.
A staggering 98% of firms now employ fewer than 50 people which means a larger number of contractors and a bigger cycle of staff which causes delays as people have to be brought up to speed.
Mace calculated that, on a 2,000-person site, this leads to an average of £20,000 in lost output per hour – the equivalent of £34m per year.
Britain is also building at a slower rate than its peers – with the UK taking double the amount of time to build a block of high-rise flats compared to Australia.
Mr Reynolds said it was right that safety standards were higher than 50 years ago but stressed that modern construction sites needed to compensate for this by using standard designs for public works to improve efficiency.