Application of Lean Construction principles in civil construction

Abstract

The Lean Construction philosophy is becoming more present at construction sites through civil engineers. This article sought to discuss the degree of application of the intrinsic principles to Lean Construction proposed by Koskela (2000) in civil construction sites. For this, it presented two analyses: the first one for punctual and specific aspects regarding Lean philosophy and the second analysis based on the technical terms of the Lean Construction, to assess the development and knowledge of engineers who act as managers in construction sites. The research was structured as exploratory research and used an evaluative questionnaire applied to engineers working in civil construction, focusing on the analysis of the five principles proposed by Koskela (2000). It was found that even though the two analyzes deal with the same theme, it was possible to approach different subjects when treated with technical terms and punctual and specific aspects. With the analysis of the results, it was concluded that although civil engineers who work as managers within the construction site apply the principles proposed by Koskela (2000), many of them are not aware of the technical term and theoretical concepts. Therefore, they unconsciously use Lean principles in their projects.