Construction, like every other industry, has spent decades trying to improve productivity with new technology, better software, Modern Methods of Construction, and much more.
And yet, according to Mace Construct’s recent Build Smart, Build Better report, UK construction productivity is roughly 20% lower today than it was in the 1970s. Between 1997 and 2022, productivity improved by only around 1%, compared with 182% in manufacturing.
That is a surprising statistic. And a big question is what if the problem isn’t how hard construction works but how much of that work actually creates value?
The difference between the two sits at the heart of lean thinking, which originated in manufacturing. Its central principle is straightforward: maximise the activities that create value for the customer, while systematically identifying and removing activities that do not.
In construction, there are 8 types of waste activity that can be eliminated to maximise productivity.
The 8 Types of Waste in Construction
Lean thinking typically identifies eight categories of waste. A useful mnemonic is DOWNTIME:
DEFECTS
Defects are one of the most obvious forms of waste because their effect is immediate: work must be corrected, repeated, or replaced.
In construction, defects can originate from installation errors, incomplete information, poor coordination, interface clashes, or late design changes. The cost extends beyond the remedial work itself. Defects can disrupt follow-on trades, alter sequences, add logistics, and consume management time.
OVERPRODUCTION
Overproduction occurs when work is completed earlier, faster, or in greater quantities than the next stage requires.
On a construction project, that could mean materials arriving before there is space to install them, components being manufactured before information is fully resolved, or work progressing ahead of dependent activities.
This can create congestion, additional handling, storage requirements, and increased risk of damage. A process may appear efficient in one area while making the wider project less efficient.
WAITING
Waiting is one of the largest and most familiar sources of lost productivity.
Workers may wait for information, access, preceding trades, inspections, permits, materials, or plant. These delays don’t necessarily mean poor site performance. They often result from weaknesses elsewhere in the delivery system.
This is where programme acceleration becomes as much a design and planning issue as an installation issue. The more effectively information, production, logistics, and access are aligned, the more consistently work can progress.
For Comtec, this is a key focus area. Early design support, production planning, and delivery methodology can help remove avoidable constraints before they affect site activity.
NON-UTILISED TALENT
Construction projects contain a great deal of practical knowledge, but that knowledge is not always captured or applied early enough.
Installation teams, supervisors, designers, manufacturers, and specialist contractors often understand where complexity will emerge because they have seen the same problems before. When that expertise enters the process late, opportunities to improve the solution may already have narrowed.
Lean thinking places greater value on using people’s experience to improve the process itself.
In construction, this supports earlier specialist involvement and closer collaboration between design and delivery teams. Practical knowledge can influence detailing, sequencing, access, manufacture, and installation while there is still time to make meaningful changes.
TRANSPORTATION
Every unnecessary movement of raw materials adds time and complexity.
Components may be unloaded, moved into storage, relocated, transported to a work site, and handled again before installation. Each movement adds labour, plant requirements, and the potential for damage or delay.
The primary objective is to create a more controlled material flow from production to installation.
INVENTORY
Excess inventory can be easy to overlook because stock on site often feels like certainty.
In practice, too much material can occupy valuable space, restrict access, increase handling, and tie up working capital. It can also make problems harder to see because delays and poor sequencing are masked by stock buffers.
MOTION
Motion refers to unnecessary movement by people.
Walking long distances for materials, searching for tools, repeatedly changing work areas, moving access equipment, or navigating congested environments all reduce productive time.
These losses often appear insignificant at task level. Repeated across dozens or hundreds of operatives over a long programme, they become material.
EXTRA PROCESSING
Extra processing covers activities that consume effort without improving the required outcome.
This could include duplicated information, repeated approvals, unnecessary fabrication stages, overly complex assemblies, or site-based work that could have been simplified through better engineering.
This is where design and production thinking can have the greatest influence. Comtec’s AlphaRiser system’s standardisation, modularisation, and design for manufacture and assembly can reduce the number of interfaces and operations required on site.
CONCLUSION
Lean thinking gives project teams a practical lens through which to examine where time and resources are being lost. The eight wastes make those losses easier to identify, discuss, and improve.
For Comtec, the principle fits closely with a delivery model that connects design support, production innovation, logistics, and installation methodology. Each stage creates an opportunity to remove waste, reduce constraints, and protect the construction programme.
As the industry continues to face pressure on labour, cost, and delivery certainty, that ability will become increasingly important. Greater productivity will come from better-designed systems of work, with fewer interruptions, fewer unnecessary activities, and a more direct route from design to production to installation.
Recent projects delivered by Comtec have enabled significant acceleration of the delivery programme and huge reductions in the amount of rework, whilst ensuring full health and safety through early void protection and complete compliance for fire and legal requirements.
The question now is can you risk staying with the same traditional approach to riser delivery and see productivity drop, margins erode, and programmes delayed? We invite you to engage with us for early technical consultations and see how AlphaRiser could accelerate success for your next project.
