Study on Fundamental and Application Theory of Lean Construction

Lean Construction, inspired from Lean Production, has been thought as a most efficient way to enhance the quality of construction product and the productivity of construction industry. This paper firstly establishes a brief overview of the fundamental theory of Lean Construction, and then analyzes the application theory of it from four aspects: maximizing value, minimizing waste, managing flow and project delivery. Then the paper concludes that Lean Construction is not a mature scientific theory currently and its foundation still needs more reinforcement. At present, most of the work has been dealing with the reduction of waste, a little work has been looking at Lean Construction principles and even less has addressed the issue of maximizing the value for the client. Finally future research fields are put forward.