An Assessment Tool to Measure the Lean Construction Maturity Level

Abstract

The past two decades have witnessed a rapid increase in construction projects within developing countries in the Middle Eastern Gulf region. Despite this, construction companies still face many challenges, including completing projects on time and within budgets. The negative impact of these challenges has been confirmed through (1) data collected from documents concerning completed construction projects in which the author has been professionally involved; (2) the author’s experience in the field of construction project management in the Middle East and risk management in particular; and (3) extensive study of the literature in this domain. To that end, the objective of this study is to create a Lean Construction Assessment Tool. To achieve this objective, the research work (a) investigates the linkages between Lean and risk management; (b) reviews the concept of Lean and its application to the construction industry in developing countries (c) analyses the barriers and success factors; and (d) identifies the benefits of Lean Construction within construction organisations in developing countries. Among the main findings of this research is the lack of future strategic plans for the construction industry in terms of managing waste and risks in general and specifically in developing countries. It is hoped that the outcomes of this research study will have theoretical and practical significance for successful Lean implementation in construction organisations in developing countries.