Purpose: Despite the significance of the construction industry to the nation's economic growth, there is empirical evidence that the sector is lagging behind other industries in terms of productivity growth. The need for improvements inspired the industry's stakeholders to consider using emerging technologies that support the enhancement. This research aims to report augmented reality applications essential for contractors' productivity improvement.Design/methodology/approach: This study systematically reviewed academic journals. The selection of journal articles entailed searching Scopus and Web of Science databases. Relevant articles for reviews were identified and screened. Content analysis was used to classify key applications into six categories. The research results were limited to journal articles published between 2010 and 2021.Findings: Augmented reality can improve construction productivity through its applications in assembly, training and education, monitoring and controlling, interdisciplinary function, health and safety and design information.Originality/value: The research provides a direction for contractors on key augmented reality applications they can leverage to improve their organisations' productivity.

Purpose: Labour productivity in construction has fallen behind other industries in most of the world and has declined continuously for decades. Although several scholarly research projects have been conducted to salvage the prevalent low labour productivity in construction, contractors in the construction industry have continued to grapple with the devastating impact of low productivity. The purpose of this study is to determine key areas of focus necessary to promote productivity growth in construction.Design/methodology/approach: Bibliometric and scientometric assessments were conducted to map the existing construction labour productivity (CLP) studies and establish key focus areas in the research domain. The keywords “Construction Productivity” OR “Construction Labour Productivity” OR “Construction Labor Productivity” OR “Construction Worker Productivity”.Findings: Emerging trends in the CLP research field are reported. The study also determined the most productive authors and collaboration among authors, most productive journals, most active regions and publications with the highest impact in CLP research.Research limitations/implications: Documents published in the Scopus database were considered for analysis because of the wider coverage of the database. Journal and conference articles written in English language represent the inclusion criteria, while articles in press, review, book chapters, editorial, erratum, note, short survey and data paper were excluded from analysis. The study is also limited to documents published from 2012 to 2021.Practical implications: The study brought to the awareness of the industry practitioners and other construction stakeholders, the key knowledge areas that are critical to promoting productivity growth in construction.Originality/value: Except bibliometric analysis, previous research studies have used different approaches to investigate productivity in construction. The study presented future research directions through the emerging knowledge areas identified in the study.

Risk management (RM) is acknowledged as a key activity in project management in the pursuit to deliver successful construction projects. However, these projects are associated with various risks, which often jeopardise project performance, especially among small and medium construction enterprises (SMEs). Risk management practices (RMPs) have been developed, in order to curtail project risks. Nevertheless, there is no consensus on the practices that constitute RM for SME projects. Therefore, the main purpose of this research is to determine the RMPs that can be tailored for construction SMEs to manage risk in their projects, in order to achieve project success. An extensive review of relevant literature on RMPs was conducted and used to develop a structured questionnaire posted to construction SMEs who were conveniently sampled in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The empirical findings established nine RMPs that were reliable and valid for managing risk in projects undertaken by construction SMEs, namely organizational environment; defining project objectives; resource requirements; risk measurement; risk identification; risk assessment; communication approach and evaluation; risk response and action planning, as well as monitoring and review. It is important to note that the study was not conducted across South Africa; hence, the findings cannot be generalized. Despite the delimitation, the researchers recommend that these practices are for risk management in construction projects undertaken by SMEs in South Africa.

Collaboration is key to the success of construction project delivery. Several researchers have realised the importance of collaboration for health and safety (H&S) performance. The construction industry (CI) is affected by poor H&S performance exacerbated by lack of collaboration. The purpose of the article is to conduct a systematic literature review to identify factors of collaboration that will improve H&S performance in CI. A literature review method was adopted; identification test method was used to identify collaboration factors. Using Scopus and Google Scholar, a total of 758 papers were identified. 57 papers were found to be relevant for review through content analysis and were analysed in terms of source and year of publication, research method, country of origin, and research focus. The review identified 11 critical success factors of collaboration: trust, culture, commitment, communication, clear roles and responsibilities, resource/information sharing, mutual goals, conflict resolution, early involvement of key participants, competence, and continual improvement. These factors can influence H&S performance in construction projects. Focusing on these factors can facilitate collaboration, thus improving H&S performance. The limitation of this article is that the literature review covered a period between 2010 to 2019. Searches in other search engines might have provided additional information on collaboration. The findings of this study make way for future research into the impact of collaboration on H&S performance and provide an understanding that H&S performance can be improved by adopting collaboration. The review concludes that CI should adopt collaboration to influence H&S performance.

The construction industry (CI) continues to be the cause of injuries and illnesses to many workers worldwide. Collaboration between the construction health and safety agent (CHSA) and other built environment professionals may improve the impact of the CHSA on health and safety (H&S) performance. However, no study has identified the factors that determine CHSA collaboration on construction sites. A three rounds Delphi study was conducted to identify the factors that determine CHSA collaboration. A panel of 14 experts serving the CI were selected from four continents and were asked to identify additional factors and validate the factors identified from literature. Microsoft Excel 2016 was used to analyse the data; group medians were calculated to reach consensus, and open question responses were summarised qualitatively. The experts confirmed the existence of the factors identified in the literature. The factors that determine CHSA collaboration on construction projects include mutuality, trust, enabling environment, personal characteristics, common purpose, institutional support, and project context. Drawing from the findings, the study suggests that these seven factors can influence CHSA collaboration. The study is limited to 14 experts and more experts could have provided more information. The factors that determine CHSA collaboration identified in this study may not be exhaustive and another study may provide different factors. Further research could adopt other research methods such as the quantitative method, in order to determine the impact of these factors on CHSA collaboration. Factors that determine CHSA collaboration on construction projects should be identified, implemented, and monitored, in order to increase the influence of CHSA on H&S performance.

Purpose: The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal of ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for people of all ages underscores the vital role of public healthcare facilities (PHFs) in delivering essential healthcare services. However, these facilities often suffer from inadequate maintenance, exacerbated by the insufficient implementation of maintenance strategies. Recognizing the importance of PHFs in enhancing healthcare services, this paper investigates the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) in the maintenance strategies of PHFs in South Africa.Design/methodology/approach: Through semi-structured interviews with nineteen purposively selected maintenance personnel from the Limpopo Department of Health (DoH), this study identified and analyzed the CSFs to enhance maintenance operations in PHFs. Thematic content analysis was employed to derive key insights from the collected data.Findings: The study's findings highlight adequate maintenance planning and effective leadership as the two overarching CSFs in the maintenance of PHFs. These factors play a pivotal role in addressing challenges that hinder the current maintenance team from meeting maintenance requirements to the satisfaction of both staff and patients within PHFs.Originality/value: The study offers valuable insights for policymakers to improve the effectiveness of maintenance operations in PHFs. By addressing the identified CSFs, policymakers can enhance maintenance operations in PHFs, positively impacting healthcare service delivery and the well-being of both staff and patients.