The construction industry in Zambia grew rapidly in the last decade. The growth in infrastructure development
resulted in construction boom. The boom had catalysed increased demand for construction artisans. Hiring
artisans with the right skills, and experience has been an ongoing challenge. Contractors need good skilled
artisans to effectively deliver projects of high quality. The purpose of the study reported in this paper was to
develop a training model that enhances effective skilled labour supply to the Zambian construction industry by
establishing factors that lead to shortage of artisans and how that contributes to construction defects. During the
study, apprenticeship training was considered and evaluated as mitigation pathway of increasing number of
artisan labour in the industry. Interviews, a questionnaire survey and three case studies were used to collect data.
Stratified random sampling was used to treat biasness in sample selection. The study established shortage of
artisan in Zambia’s constructions industry among tilers, shop fitters, air-conditioners technicians, plasterers,
carpenters, plumbers, electricians, steel fixers, and steel fabricators. Identified causes of artisan shortages
included: low number of trade schools and unattractive conditions of service in the industry. The impacts of
artisan shortages were poor workmanship, low efficiency and reduced effectiveness of construction industry
workforce.
Apprenticeship Skills Flow Chart Model (ASFM) was developed and apprenticeship has been recommended as
a possible approach to alleviating artisan shortages. Implementation of ASFM could lead to more skillful artisan
labour availability in the industry and better productivity improvements in project delivery