A new framework from the University of Cambridge aims to help organisations unlock the value of data and use it to understand how construction productivity can be improved
The Cambridge Framework for Construction Productivity: Measure · Benchmark · Improve has been developed by a research team based at the University of Cambridge Laing O’Rourke Centre, using data from more than 25 projects gathered over the last three years from leading companies in the UK construction sector.
The unique framework gives industry a practical, consistent approach to understanding and improving productivity at the project, work-package, and activity levels.
A new accompanying software tool, Camentis, is currently undergoing pilot testing.
Helping construction teams identify when issues and blockers arise
By connecting production rates, labour productivity, production flow, variability, and the factors affecting delivery, the framework helps construction teams understand where inefficiencies arise, identify blockers, and determine where intervention can have the greatest impact on productivity.
For construction clients, the framework can build confidence in project programmes and outcomes by providing access to more consistent, evidence-based benchmarks across projects.
Productivity measurement should be more widely embedded across construction
The framework was developed by Dr Danny Murguia, Dr Ashan Asmone, Dr Asitha Rathnayake and the late Professor Campbell Middleton, who highlighted the potential for a consistent approach to productivity measurement to become embedded more widely across industry.
“To really shift the dial, we believe that this framework should be embedded within the procurement process, with clients requiring the collection of productivity data as a matter of course during project delivery. This could be one of the most consequential shifts the industry can make,” they stated.
A consistent approach to improving metrics across the whole business
The framework is particularly timely in the context of the upcoming PAS 4010:2026, Improving productivity in infrastructure development and delivery, which sets out requirements for a productivity management strategy to manage, assure and continuously improve productivity.
The Cambridge framework supports this ambition by providing a consistent approach to measuring key productivity metrics, identifying blockers, and turning project data into actionable insights to measure, benchmark, and improve performance.
Dr Danny Murguia, assistant research professor at the University of Cambridge Laing O’Rourke Centre and lead author of the framework, explained: “The framework is about using data when it can make a difference: during project delivery, when teams still have an opportunity to intervene and improve outcomes.
“But it is also about learning from every project, building an organisational evidence base so that the next one can be planned, scheduled, priced and risk-assessed using better information than the last.”
From framework to implementation
The research team is developing Camentis, a software tool designed to operationalise the Framework on live construction projects.
The software is currently being piloted on live construction projects, marking the next stage of the research and supporting its continued development towards wider implementation.
The longer-term vision is for Camentis to support better project controls, benchmarking and more advanced analytics, including AI, helping teams make more evidence-based interventions to improve productivity.
The wider ambition is to help construction move from fragmented, retrospective productivity reporting to a more consistent, evidence-based approach to delivery, creating a stronger foundation for continuous improvement across projects and organisations.
