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Causes and Effects of Delays in Construction of Medium Scale Drinking Water

Supply Projects in Sri Lanka

Article · January 2012

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Annual Transactions of IESL, pp. [151-159], 2012
© The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka

Causes and Effects of Delays in Construction of

Medium Scale Drinking Water Supply Projects in
Sri Lanka
W.D.A. Perera and R.U. Halwatura

Abstract: Most of the infrastructure developments are carried out on project basis. Construction
projects frequently suffer from delay, though there are many sophisticated tools and techniques
available for construction project management. This paper presents the results of a questionnaire
survey conducted to identify and rank the causes and effects of delays in construction of medium
scale drinking water supply projects in Sri Lanka. Both Severity Index (SI) and Frequency Index (FI)
were used to rank the importance of the factors and the findings of the study indicate that inclement
weather conditions, contractors’ financial difficulties, shortage of labour, rules and regulations of road
authorities, delays in sub contractors’ work, material import delays and ineffective planning and
scheduling of projects by contractors are among the most important factors causing delay in
construction of medium scale drinking water supply projects. Moreover, time overruns, cost overruns,
funding difficulties, development of unfair relationships among the parties and disputes are the most
important effects due to delay. Delays are costly for both clients and contractors and often result in
disputes and claims. Therefore in order to improve the situation and avoid /mitigate delays in
construction of medium scale water supply projects, several prescriptions are recommended for
clients and contractors.

Keywords: Water supply projects, Causes and effects of delays, Ranking of delay factors

tasks to be performed and a defined time

1. Introduction
In Sri Lanka, a considerable amount of the
national budget on infrastructure development
is channelled to water supply sector and at
present only around 37 percent of the
population have access to pipe borne water [1].
The demand for pipe borne water is growing
continuously with the increased level of
urbanization, change in lifestyles and
expansion of commercial and industrial
activities. National Water Supply & Drainage
Board is responsible for supplying pipe borne
drinking water to the nation. The operation
and maintenance of existing water supply
schemes and the implementation of projects to
construct new schemes to meet the growing
demand due to urbanization are among the
major tasks of it. In recent past, number of
water supply projects that had been planned to
supply water to developing areas in and
around major cities of the country has failed to
meet the time targets due to various reasons
and affected the socio-economic development
of the country.
Most of the infrastructure developments are
carried out on project basis. Every construction
project has a defined goal or objective, defined
1
frame and also every construction contract
considers time as the essence of the project.
Delay is a situation when the contractor and
the project owner jointly or individually
contribute to the non-completion of the project
within the original or the stipulated or agreed
contract period [2]. Delays in construction
projects are frequently expensive, as they are
usually involved with construction loans
which charges interest, management staff
dedicated to the project whose costs are time
dependent and ongoing inflation in wage and
material prices [3].
Some projects are susceptible to delay due to
their nature and water and sewerage projects
are in this category with several influential
factors causing delays. These factors include;
the projects are taken place in public roads and
streets where special precautions are required,
high uncertainty associated as they require
Eng. W D Anuruddha Perera, B.Sc.Eng.(Hons),
M.Sc.(CPM), C.Eng., MIE(Sri Lanka), Chief Engineer,
National Water Supply & Drainage Board, Avissawella.
Eng. (Dr.) R U Halwatura, BSc Eng. (Hons), PhD,
CEng., MIE(Sri Lanka), AMSSE, Senior Lecturer, Civil
Engineering Department, University of Moratuwa.

151
excavation and trenching works in varied soil
and site conditions, works are heavily
dependent on equipment and machineries,
which are susceptible to repairs and need to
get approvals from various authorities [4].
Further, the procedures in issuing of approval
certificates for excavation for trenching from
government authorities are complex and time
consuming due to lack of coordination and
various other reasons [5]. There are different
perceptions among the major parties involved
in projects regarding the causes of project
delays. Both contractors and consultants agree
that owner interference, inadequate contractor
experience, financing and payments, labour
productivity, slow decision making, improper
planning and sub-contracting are among top
ten causes of construction delays in traditional
contracts [6]. In most of the developing
countries, infrastructure development projects
are implemented through the major
government authorities that still act as
traditional organizers and strictly bound to
follow government rules and regulations on
procurement. There are a lot of criticisms on
the inefficiencies of these government
institutions regarding project implementation.
The Contractor’s improper planning is the
major cause of delay in Malaysian construction
industry [7]. According to this study,
contractors often fail to come out with a
practicable and workable “work program” at
the initial planning stage and this failure is
interrelated with lack of systematic site
management and inadequate contractor’s
experience towards the projects. On the other
hand, the significant factors causing delays in
Hong Kong construction projects are: ‘poor
site management and supervision’,
‘unforeseen ground conditions’, low speed of
decision making involving all project teams’, ‘
client – initiated variations’ and ‘necessary
variations of work’ [8]. Further, the most
significant problems causing construction
project delays in Thailand includes lack of
resources, poor contractor management,
shortage of labour, design delays, planning
and scheduling deficiencies, change orders
and contractors' financial difficulties[9].
Moreover, delayed payments, financial
processes and difficulties on the part of
contractors and clients, contract modification,
economic problems, materials procurement,
changes in drawings, staffing problems,
equipment unavailability, poor supervision,
construction mistakes, poor coordination on
152
site, changes in specifications and labour
disputes and strikes were found to be the
major causes of schedule delay in road
construction projects in Zambia [10].
Both the project owners and contractors suffer
from the delays. The owner loses his money
due to increased overheads for supervision,
contract administration and also delaying the
use of the final product or result of the project
[4]. On the other hand, the contractor losses
may be the lost opportunities for new projects,
increased overheads, etc. But, most of the
construction projects suffer from delay, though
there are many tools and techniques available
for project management.
However, there are only few previous studies
available on this topic and related to our
construction projects. Therefore, there is a
need for more efforts to identify the causes and
effects of delays in different types of
construction projects in Sri Lanka and made
awareness of the relevant parties involved to
avoid or minimize them and complete the
projects successfully.
2. Objectives of the Study
· To identify and rank causes and effects of
delays in construction of medium scale
drinking water supply projects in Sri
Lanka.
· To study the difference in perceptions of
the two major parties involved in
construction of drinking water supply
projects namely clients and contractors on
causes and effects of delays in construction
of medium scale drinking water supply
projects.
· Propose measures to mitigate delays in
construction of medium scale drinking
water supply projects.
3. Research Methodology
A detailed literature review was carried out to
identify the previous studies in the research
area and found the major causes and effects of
delays in projects in Sri Lanka and other
counties. Then, a careful identification of the
factors related to the study were done and a
survey questionnaire was developed to assess
 the perceptions of contractors and clients who
were involved in construction of medium scale
water supply projects on the relative
importance of causes and effects of
construction delays. The questionnaire
consisted of four parts; part I- respondents’
details, part II–causes of delays, part III–effects
due to delays, part IV– mitigation actions. The
first part of the questionnaire requested the
respondents’ general details while the second
part of the questionnaire consisted of thirty
nine causes of delay that were categorized
under seven major groups:
i. Project related: Inadequate project
duration, Improper contract formulation
(large Nos. of contracts for a single project,
intake civil construction work included in
a pump contract, etc.),type of project
bidding and award (tendency in awarding
the contracts to lowest bidder)
ii. Owner/consultant related: Delay in
progress payments by owner, delay in
handing over the site to the contractor,
delay in approval of shop drawings and
samples, delay in inspection and testing of
works, Inadequate Liquidated damages,
too many change orders, slow decision
making, poor contract management of
owner/consultant.
iii. Contractor related: Contractors financial
difficulties, mistakes during construction
and rework, shortage of project staff with
required experience, Poor
coordination/communication by the
contractor with other parties, Ineffective
planning and scheduling of project by
contractor, improper construction methods
implemented by contractor, delays in sub
contractors’ work, insufficient delegation
of power to the site management team.
iv. Design related: Delays in producing
construction drawings, unclear and
inadequate details in drawings, mistakes
and discrepancies in drawings and bills of
quantities, inadequate specifications for
materials.
v. Materials related: Shortage of construction
materials in market, changes in material
types and specifications during
construction, restrictions on issuing
permits to transport materials, rejection of
imported materials due to non-compliance
with the contract specifications.
vi. Equipment and Labour related: Frequent
equipment breakdown, shortage of
equipment and hiring delays, low
productivity and efficiency of equipment,
153
low productivity level of workers,
shortage of labour, labour union actions.
vii. External factors: Inclement weather
conditions, delay in obtaining permits,
services, etc. from local authorities and
other organizations such as electricity
board, traffic/security problems, changes
in government regulations and laws, rules
and regulations of Road Development
Authority(RDA), Provincial Road
Development Authority (PRDA) and local
government authorities (PS) on road
excavation work approvals.
The third part of the questionnaire consisted of
the effects due to delay checklist: Time overrun
cost overrun, dispute, arbitration, litigation,
total abandonment, funding difficulties, delay
in commissioning other related projects and
develop unfair relationships with other
organizations such as RDA, PRDA, PS, etc. The
last part of the questionnaire is for getting the
respondents prescriptions to reduce delays in
construction of medium scale water supply
projects. For each cause/effect two questions
were asked: what is the frequency of
occurrence for this cause? and what is the
degree of severity of this cause on project
delay? Both frequency of occurrence and
degree of severity were categorized on a four
point scale. Frequency of occurrence was
categorized as: Rarely, Sometimes, Often and
Always. Similarly, degree of severity was
categorized as: Little, Moderate, Great and
Extreme.
In Sri Lanka, almost all the medium scale
drinking water supply projects are carried out
by the National Water Supply and Drainage
Board and the contractors are involved in
these developments. The questionnaire was
distributed among the professionals of the
above two groups and the sampling method
used in this study was convenience and
snowball sampling that comes under the class
of non-probability sampling techniques [7].
3.1 Ranking of delay factors
The ranking of causes and effects of delays
from the viewpoints of three parties involved
in construction projects; owners, contractors
and consultants can be done using three
indices; frequency index, severity index and
importance index [11]. The similar method was
applied in the study and the following
equations were used for the calculation of
three indices. Frequency index (FI) is a formula
used in the study to rank causes of delay based 4.2 Data Analysis
on frequency of occurrence as identified by the The responses to the questionnaires were
participants. : analyzed from client’s, contractor’s and overall
perspectives based on severity and frequency
(FI) (%) = ∑a (n/N)*100/4 (1) of occurrence of the causes and effects to
identify the most important causes and effects
where, a is the constant expressing weighting of delays. The ranking indices were calculated
given to each response (ranging from 1 for using the three formulas stated under
rarely up to 4 for always), n is the frequency of methodology and are presented in Tables 3
the responses, and N is total number of and 4.
responses. Severity Index (SI) is a formula Table 2 - Respondent’s Qualifications
used in the study to rank causes of delay based Basic No. of
on severity as identified by the participants. Category Qualification Respondents %
Dip. 11 25.6

(SI) (%) = ∑a (n/N)*100/4 (2) B.Sc. 20 46.5

Client
M.Sc. 12 27.9
Ph.D. 0 0.0
where a is the constant expressing weighting Dip. 10 25.0
given to each response (ranges from 1 for little B.Sc. 25 62.5
Contractor
up to 4 for severe), n is the frequency of the M.Sc. 5 12.5
responses, and N is total number of responses. Ph.D. 0 0.0
Importance Index (IMPI) of each cause is Dip. 21 25.3
B.Sc. 45 54.2
calculated as a function of both frequency and Total
M.Sc. 17 20.5
severity indices.
Ph.D. 0 0.0

(IMPI) (%) = (FI) (%) *(SI) (%) (3)

5. Discussion of Results
4. Data analysis This section discusses the results obtained in
the analysis. First, the results obtained by
4.1 Sample Characteristics analyzing the causes of delay in construction
The questionnaires were distributed to a of medium scale water supply projects were
sample of professionals of the two major discussed and compared the client, contractor
parties (clients and contractors) involved in and overall perspectives. Then, the results
the construction of medium scale water supply obtained by analyzing the effects due to delay
projects by hand delivery, regular mail and were discussed.
also via internet. The survey was carried out
over the period from August 2010 to October 5.1 Causes of Delay
2010, and the response rate and the basic The importance of the identified thirty nine
qualifications of the sample were as shown in causes of delay in construction of medium
the Tables 1 and 2. scale water supply projects were depended on
both the severity and frequency of occurrence.
Table 1- Questionnaire Response Rate Severe delay factors
The results of the analysis show that the
Hand Regualr Via clients’ ranked ineffective planning and
Category Questionnaire sent Total
delivery mail Internet scheduling of the project by contractor
Nos. of participants 36 15 21 72 (SI=87.79), contractor’s financial difficulties
Client Nos. of respondents 28 12 3 43 (SI=84.30) and rejection of imported materials
Response rate% 77.78 80.00 14.29 59.70 (SI=83.72) as the most severe causes of delay
Nos. of participants 35 15 20 70 while the contractor considers weather
Contractor Nos. of respondents 30 4 6 40
conditions (SI=90.00), delays in sub
contractors’ work (SI=89.38) and delay in
Response rate% 85.71 26.67 30.00 57.14
progress payments by owner (SI=88.13). This
Nos. of participants 71 30 41 142
shows that there is a disagreement between
Total Nos. of Respondents 58 16 9 83 the two parties regarding the most severe
Response rate % 81.69 53.33 21.95 58.5 causes of delays. In Sri Lanka, almost all the
medium scale water supply projects are
implemented through National Water Supply
& Drainage Board and funded by either the
capital budget or foreign donor funds.
4

154
Table 3 - Ranking of Causes of Delay
Factor Description
Causes of delay
Project related
1 Inadequate Contract duration
2 Improper contract formulation
3 Tendency in awarding the
contracts to lowest bidder
Owner/consultant related
4 Delay in progress payments by
owner
5 Delay in handing over the site to
the contractor
6 Delay in approval of shop
drawings and samples
7 Delay in inspection and testing of
works
8 Inadequate application of
Liquidated damages
9 Too many change orders
10 Slow decision making
11 Poor contract management of
owner/consultant
Contractor related
12 financial difficulties
13 Mistakes during construction and 52.3 54.1 28.3 27 56.9 51.9 29.5 31 54.5 53.0 28.9 32
rework
14 Shortage of project staff
15 Poor coordination/
communication
16 Ineffective planning and
scheduling of project
17 Improper construction methods
18 Delays in sub contractors’ work
19 Insufficient delegation of power to 56.4 52.9 29.8 24 59.4 60.6 36.0 29 57.8 56.6 32.7 29
the site
Design related
20 Delays in producing construction 70.3 43.6 30.7 21 73.1 67.5 49.4 22 71.7 55.1 39.5 26
drawings
21 Unclear and inadequate details in
drawings
22 Mistakes and discrepancies in
drawings and BOQ
23 Inadequate specifications for
materials
Materials related
24 Shortage of construction materials 66.9 43.6 29.2 26 55.6 65.0 36.2 28 61.4 53.9 33.1 28
25 Material import delays (Pipes,
fittings, etc.)
26 Changes in material types and
specifications
27 Restrictions on issuing permits to 56.4 80.2 45.2 13 77.5 85.6 66.4 17 66.6 82.8 55.1 13
transport materials.
28 Rejection of imported materials
Equipment and Labour related
29 Equipment breakdown
30 Shortage of equipment and hiring 52.3 56.4 29.5 25 65.6 74.4 48.8 23 58.7 65.1 38.2 27
delays
31 Low productivity and efficiency of 47.7 55.8 26.6 29 61.9 61.3 37.9 26 54.5 58.4 31.9 30
equipment
32 Low productivity level of workers 57.6 73.8 42.5 17 78.8 87.5 68.9 12 67.8 80.4 54.5 14
33 Shortage of labour
34 Labour union actions
External factors
35 Inclement weather conditions
36 Delay in obtaining permits,
services, etc.
37 Traffic/security problems
38 Changes in government
regulations and laws
39 RDA, PRDA, PS. rules and
regulations
Client Contractor
Rank
Rank
Imp.
Imp.
Inde
Inde
SI
FI
SI
FI
SI
64.5 47.1 30.4 22 86.9 84.4 73.3 5 75.3 65.1 49.0 16
63.4 34.9 22.1 34 60.0 42.5 25.5 36 61.7 38.6 23.8 35
51.7 77.9 40.3 18 68.1 76.9 52.4 21 59.6 77.4 46.2 17
76.2 56.4 43.0 16 88.1 84.4 74.4 4 81.9 69.9 57.3 11
77.3 72.1 55.7 8 81.3 78.1 63.5 19 79.2 75.0 59.4
51.7 50.0 25.9 31 76.9 88.1 67.7 15 63.9 68.4 43.7 20
52.9 44.8 23.7 32 80.0 85.0 68.0 14 66.0 64.2 42.3 22
59.9 66.3 39.7 19 56.9 38.8 22.0 38 58.4 53.0 31.0 31
72.7 75.6 54.9 9 80.6 83.8 67.5 16 76.5 79.5 60.8
62.8 41.3 25.9 30 78.1 89.4 69.8 10 70.2 64.5 45.2 19
62.2 37.2 23.1 33 83.1 82.5 68.6 13 72.3 59.0 42.7 21
84.3 83.1 70.1 2 79.4 86.9 69.0 11 81.9 84.9 69.6
63.4 74.4 47.2 12 64.4 56.9 36.6 27 63.9 66.0 42.1 23
64.0 79.7 50.9 11 64.4 46.3 29.8 30 64.2 63.6 40.8 24
87.8 92.4 81.2 1 73.8 56.9 41.9 25 81.0 75.3 61.0
54.7 55.2 30.2 23 58.1 45.6 26.5 34 56.3 50.6 28.5 33
75.6 77.3 58.4 7 89.4 88.8 79.3 2 82.2 82.8 68.1
55.8 50.6 28.2 28 87.5 80.0 70.0 9 71.1 64.8 46.0 18
52.3 85.5 44.7 14 78.1 90.0 70.3 7 64.8 87.7 56.8 12
56.4 34.3 19.3 37 57.5 51.3 29.5 32 56.9 42.5 24.2 34
76.7 78.5 60.2 6 81.9 86.3 70.6 6 79.2 82.2 65.1
59.9 35.5 21.2 36 57.5 44.4 25.5 35 58.7 39.8 23.4 37
83.7 44.2 37.0 20 81.9 53.8 44.0 24 82.8 48.8 40.4 25
55.8 79.1 44.1 15 72.5 81.3 58.9 20 63.9 80.1 51.2 15
80.2 84.3 67.6 3 82.5 85.0 70.1 8 81.3 84.6 68.8
51.2 28.5 14.6 39 56.3 31.3 17.6 39 53.6 29.8 16.0 39
72.7 86.0 62.5 4 90.0 91.3 82.1 1 81.0 88.6 71.8
64.0 84.9 54.3 10 75.6 85.0 64.3 18 69.6 84.9 59.1 10
44.2 48.3 21.3 35 51.3 51.9 26.6 33 47.6 50.0 23.8 36
51.7 31.4 16.2 38 62.5 38.1 23.8 37 56.9 34.6 19.7 38
75.0 82.6 61.9 5 83.8 90.6 75.9 3 79.2 86.4 68.5
Table 4 - Ranking of Effects due to Delay
Overall
Contractor's view Client's View Overall view
Imp.
Rank
Inde
No Effects due to delay
Index
Index
Index
FI
Rank
Rank
Rank
Imp.
Imp.
Imp.
SI
FI
SI
FI
SI
FI
1 Time overrun 78.8 90.0 70.9 1 80.2 86.6 69.50 1 82.8 88.3 73.10 1
2 Cost overrun 84.4 81.9 69.1 2 79.7 76.2 60.66 2 81.9 78.9 64.65 2
3 Dispute 36.3 85.0 30.8 7 34.9 89.5 31.23 5 44.0 88.6 38.94 5
4 Arbitration 68.1 51.9 35.3 5 63.4 47.1 29.84 6 70.5 51.8 36.51 6
5 Litigation 82.5 39.4 32.5 6 79.7 34.3 27.32 8 81.0 36.7 29.77 7
6 Total abandonment 96.9 28.8 27.9 8 94.8 29.1 27.55 7 88.6 28.9 25.61 8
9
7 Funding difficulties 83.8 81.3 68.0 3 66.3 75.0 49.71 3 72.9 78.0 56.86 3
Delay in commissioning other
8 41.9 42.5 17.8 9 48.8 37.8 18.46 9 45.5 34.9 15.89 9
related projects
Develop unfair relationships with
9 other organizations such as RDA, 69.4 65.6 45.5 4 60.5 72.1 43.59 4 59.0 69.0 40.72 4
PRDA, PS,etc.
Source: calculated from survey data
8
There is a high competition in the industry and
most of the contracts are awarded to lowest
2
bidders who are normally having a little profit
margin. There are delays in monthly progress
payments to the contractors due to the
financial difficulties faced by the client. Hence,
the work progress can be delayed.
7
Frequent delay factors
5 Frequency of occurrence of delay factors is also
a significant aspect, which uses to determine
the importance of causes of delay. The client
ranked Ineffective planning and scheduling of
project by contractor (FI 92.44) as the most
frequent factor causing delays in construction
of medium scale water supply projects while it
is ‘inclement weather conditions’ for both
contractor’s (FI 91.25) and overall (FI 88.6)
rankings. The inclement weather conditions
badly affect the construction of water supply
6 projects and in sometimes it will cease the
construction activities until the weather
becomes normal [12]. This supports the
findings of the research and reconfirms that
inclement weather is a frequent cause of delay
in construction of water supply projects and
the project teams should draw special
attention to the inclement weather conditions
at the planning, design and construction stages
of the medium scale water supply projects.
3
Further, the delay factors such as RDA, PRDA,
and PS rules and regulations on road
1
excavation work approvals, material import
delays (pipes, fittings, etc.) that occur due to
the nature of water supply projects are
identified by clients as well as contractors as
4 frequent causes of delay and ranked within
first ten positions. Moreover, both the clients
and the contractors ranked the delay factors
155
‘labour union actions’ and ‘changes in
government regulations and laws’ as very rare Table 5 - Important Delay Factors
causes of delay in construction of medium Contractor’s Overall
Client’s view
scale water supply projects although in some view view
other sectors in Sri Lanka ‘union actions’ are 1 Ineffective Inclement Inclement
very frequent. One of the reasons for this is planning and weather weather
less opportunities in the construction industry scheduling of conditions conditions
to organize for bargaining for their benefits. project by
contractor
But in the recent past the union actions of
2 Contractors Delays in sub Contractors
clients professional staff had been affected financial contractors’ financial
project activities and there had been delays in difficulties work difficulties
extra work approvals, tender evaluations, 3 Shortage of RDA, PRDA, Shortage of
tender awarding, and etc., which caused labour and PS rules labour
delays in construction of water supply and
projects. regulations on
road
The construction of water supply projects excavation
work
requires getting various types of approvals
approvals
from government institutions. Due to 4 Inclement Delay in RDA,
improper coordination with these weather progress PRDA, PS.
organizations, it has been facing difficulties in conditions payments by rules and
getting these approvals on time. The delays in owner regulations
getting approvals for road excavation that on road
requires for pipe laying in public roads have excavation
been identified as a frequent causes of delay in work.
construction of water supply projects. Further, 5 RDA, PRDA, Inadequate Delays in
PS. rules and contract sub
the introduction of new rules and regulations
regulations on duration contractors’
of Road Development Authority (RDA) on road excavation work
road reinstatement after trenching has severely work approvals
affected the implementation of water supply 6 Material import Material Material
projects, as it requires some time to adjust to delays (Pipes, import delays import
new requirements and take necessary policy fittings, etc.) (pipes, fittings, delays
decisions to develop relevant systems to carry etc.) (Pipes,
out the works. Therefore early attention fittings, etc.)
should be drawn in this regard and develop 7 Delays in sub Mistakes and Ineffective
contractors’ discrepancies planning
some effective and efficient systems to handle
work in drawings and
RDA requirements and provide necessary and bills of scheduling
provisions in contracts to do the temporary as quantities of project by
well as permanent road reinstatement. contractor
8 Delay in Shortage of Too many
Important delay factors handing over labour change
The results of the analysis show that there are the site to the orders
several important factors underlying causes of contractor
delay in construction of medium scale water 9 Too many Unclear and Delay in
change orders inadequate handing
supply projects in Sri Lanka. Ten most
details in over the site
important delay factors as identified by clients,
drawings to the
contractors and overall view are presented in contractor
Table 5. 10 Delay in Slow decision Delay in
obtaining making obtaining
Contractors ranked inclement weather permits, permits,
conditions first, whereas the clients ranked it services, etc. services, etc.
fourth. The construction of medium scale from local
water supply projects normally includes authorities and
other
construction of head works, laying of
organizations
transmission and distribution systems and
such as
construction of office, stores and other Electricity
facilities. Board.

156

The inclement weather affects most of these
works, and especially for pipe laying works
and intake construction works. Contractor’s
ineffective planning and scheduling of the
project will make worse the situation if he does
not consider or fails to predict the weather
pattern at the initial planning.
Skills and experience of workforce,
management, job planning, workers
motivation, and material availability were the
major drivers of productivity of water and
waste water treatment plant construction
works [13]. It is essential to draw special
attention to these factors and apply in
construction of medium scale water supply
projects as this will help to speed up of the
works and also help to expedite the delayed
works due to various causes identified in this
study.
Agreement among groups
The degree of agreement between the clients
and contractors on causes of delays in
construction of medium scale water supply
projects was calculated using spearman’s rank
correlation coefficient. The equation, rs = 1-
(6∑d2/N(N2-1)) was used to calculate this
coefficient when there are no tied links [14].
Where rs = Spearman’s rank correlation
coefficient, d = the difference in ranking
between the clients and the contractors and N
= the number of variables. The spearman’s
correlation coefficient calculated was 0.55 for
the causes of delays ranked by the clients and
contractors. Spearman’s rank correlation
coefficient equals to +1 means that two
variables are having perfectly positive
correlation while -1 gives perfectly negative
relationship. The somewhat low value of rank
correlation coefficient (0.55) indicates low
agreement between clients and contractors on
the ranking of the factors. This low agreement
has created disputes between the parties and
the most delays occur at the project
construction phase.
5.2 Effects due to Delay
Clients as well as contractors ranked, total
abandonment as the most severe effect due to
delay in construction of medium scale water
supply projects and the severity indices
calculated for them are 94.8 and 96.9,
respectively. But they ranked it as a very rare
effect due to delay and the frequency indices
are 29.1 and 28.8, respectively. This depicts
that though there are delays in construction of
7
157
medium scale water supply projects due to
many reasons, the relevant organizations have
taken measures to complete the projects
without abandonment. Further, the clients and
contractors agreed that time overruns and cost
overruns are among the most severe effects
due to delay. These effects may lead to other
effects such as disputes, funding difficulties,
delay in commissioning related projects, etc.
On the other hand, both clients and contractors
agreed that time overruns, cost overruns and
disputes are the most frequent effects due to
delay in construction of medium scale
drinking water supply projects in Sri Lanka.
Most of the delay factors, which were
categorized under seven sections in this study,
affect the completion of the projects and cause
time overrun, cost overrun and disputes.
Similar effects have been identified as the most
frequent effects due to delays in Nigerian
construction industry through a study carried
out concentrating the building construction
industry [15]. This study mainly
recommended providing sufficient
contingency provisions in total cost estimates
to handle the project uncertainties. As the
construction of water supply projects also
faces a lot of uncertainties due to their nature
[4], it is better to consider this recommendation
and decide contingency percentages wherever
necessary after carefully considering the
requirements rather than providing fixed
percentages from the contract value.
The importance of the effects due to delay the
same as the importance of causes of delay is
determined by considering both severity and
frequency of occurrence. Hence some effects
due to delay, which were having higher
frequency indices with low severity indices,
were ranked as the lesser important factors. As
an example, “Disputes” has the highest
frequency index of 88.6% and the least severity
index of 44.0% as per the overall view, were
ranked at 5th as per the importance with
38.94% importance index. Therefore the
identification of these effects due to delay
based on the above three indices will help the
project management to select the causes of
delay, which requires more attention based on
their consequences.
6. Conclusions and
Recommendations
There are delays in construction of medium
scale drinking water supply projects in Sri
Lanka. As per the overall view inclement
weather conditions, contractors’ financial
difficulties, shortage of labour, rules and
regulations of road authorities and delays in
sub contractors’ work are the first five
important factors causing delays in
construction of medium scale water supply
projects. Further, both clients and contractors
agree that rules and regulations of road
authorities and inclement weather conditions
are among the most important delay factors.
On the other hand, as per the overall view
inclement weather conditions, mistakes and
discrepancies in drawings and bills of
quantities, rules and regulations of road
authorities, delay in obtaining permits services,
etc. and contractor’s financial difficulties are
the most frequent causes of delay while
rejection of imported materials due to non-
compliance with contract, delay in sub-
contractors ‘ work, delay in progress payments
by owner, contractors financial difficulties and
shortage of labour are ranked as the most
severe causes of delay.
On the other hand, time overruns, cost
overruns, funding difficulties, disputes,
arbitration, litigation, delay in commissioning
related projects, total abandonment and
develop unfair relationships with road
authorities are the effects due to delay in
construction of medium scale water supply
projects. Both clients and the contractors felt
that time overruns, cost overruns, funding
difficulties and develop unfair relationships
with other organizations appear to be the most
important effects due to delay in construction
of medium scale water supply projects. As per
the overall view, disputes and time overruns
are the most frequent effects while total
abandonment and time overruns are the most
severe effects due to delay.
A proper understanding of these causes of
delays and their consequences will help the
relevant project professionals to better manage
delay situations in construction of medium
scale water supply projects.
Further, based on the study, the following
prescriptions are recommended for clients and
contractors to avoid/mitigate delays in
158
construction of medium scale drinking water
supply projects.
Prescriptions for Contractors
· Contractors must consider their financial
capabilities before bidding projects and
should employ a qualified staff for the
financial management of projects.
· Contractors should not take up the job in
which they do not have sufficient
expertise.
· Contractors should employ qualified and
well experienced site staff during the
project period.
· The planning and scheduling of the project
should be done properly and the revision
of the schedules has to be done as
required.
· When employing sub-contractors it has to
be done after considering his capabilities
and by entering into a formal agreement.
· Contractors should keep site records
properly.
· Contractors should submit their claims as
per the requirements given in the contract.
Prescriptions for Clients
· Contractors should not be selected based
only on the lowest bid. The client should
consider contractor’s experience in similar
works and his technical and financial
capabilities, before awarding the contracts.
· It is necessary to decide realistic project
durations by the client considering various
aspects.
· The client should take necessary measures
to use qualified and experienced
professionals for planning and designs of
projects.
· The clients must take necessary actions to
handover the possession of site to the
contractors without delay.
· The client should employ a capable and
well experienced project staff for the
construction stage. They have to closely
monitor the progress of work and propose
necessary steps to expedite the works to
the contractor if the progress is behind the
schedule.
· Appropriate total cost estimates should be
prepared at the initial stage of projects and
the client should settle the contractors’
claims without delay.
· Enforcing liquidated damage clauses and
offering incentives for early completion.
 · Minimize change orders during
construction to avoid delays.
· The client should coordinate with other
organizations such as local authorities, road
authorities and various other government
organizations at various stages of projects.
6.1 Recommendations for Future Studies
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of infrastructure development projects such as
road development projects, telecommunication
projects, power generation projects, etc. and
compare the similarities and differences of
causes and effects of delays in these projects.
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