Construction Projects DS12

Key Reasons for Delays in Construction Projects
Introduction
As per an objective definition, the delay in construction sector is defined as ‘time overrun
after the completion of a contract or beyond the date agreed upon by the parties for
delivery of the project’ (Kumar, 2006). A project’s success depends upon the most efficient
channelizing and utilizing of the resources available, and smart control of the sequential
activities to manage the deadlines; ensuring adherence to time duration, adequate use of
supplies and manpower. Even with the latest technology and project management
techniques, construction projects face delays and see the postponement of their completion
deadlines. This shows that time overrun is still is still critical and a significant problem. This
has become a global phenomenon and resides in both the developing and developed
countries. The problem of construction delays become a more crucial in countries where the
economic growth is significantly linked with the construction industry. Delays significantly
leads to poor cost performance of the projects; time extension incurs extended fixed
overheads, delay in prospectus earning from the project and extended timeline for credit
returns.
The paper reviews various studies and derives reasons for the delays in construction project,
they are of varying nature from country to country, while having numerous common factors
contributing to this cause as well. Studies generally focus their derivations on national basis
and considers large scale projects relative to the country’s economy and development. It is
noted that; financial problems, delay in payments, and rising inflation etc are the most
common factors contributing to the delays for developing countries, whereas changes in
specifications by clients, planning and calculation errors, delay in decisions on part of client
are the most common causes in developed countries (Assaf and Al-Hejji 2006, Pourrostam et al.
2011, Kumar 2016, Samarghandi et al. 2016, Tafazzoli and Shrestha 2017).Additionally, time and cost
overruns tend to be the most common delay factors seen in all countries irrespective of
development level (Sarıkaya 2010, Kikwasi 2012, Sunjka and Jacob 2013, Kuşakçı et al. 2017).
There are also delay factors that are shaped by localised conditions, owing to internal or external
factors contributing to that area. Here is a localised case of Turkey to shed light on rather few
outlying factors for the delay. September 2016 data shows that Thrace is the only region where
housing prices have appreciated by around 20% in Turkey (Sezgin and Aşarkaya 2017). Edirne is one
of the cities in that region. Rapid construction activities of the neighbouring cities have contributed
to the appreciation in Edrine, where investors and construction companies pumped money to
increase the construction activities. Figure 1a shows the comparison of number of building permits
for construction and the construction sector behaviour from 2007 to 2016. Consequently, the
number of building production in Edirne has spiked compared to the previous turnover in every
period in which the country's economy has shown positive improvement. However, it is observed
that the difference between the number of building permits and the number of occupancy permits is
increasing day by day (Figure 1(b)). The basic reason for this outcome is; the construction of the
buildings are not made in accordance with the relevant legislation, so the required changes take time
and thus the completion of the project is delayed (D. Aydin and E. Mihlayanlar,2018).
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Numerous inquiries have been done to overview the reasons for delay in development
wanders. Mansfield et al. (1994) jotted the reasons for delays and taken a toll attack in
development expands in Nigeria. The results concluded that the noteworthy factors are
financing issues and instalment for wrapped up works, destitute contact administration,
variations in location conditions, inadequacy of materials, and poor project planning.
Ogunlana and Promkuntong (1996) recognized reasons for delays in development expands in
Bangkok, Thailand and differentiated and diverse deferrals and fetched overpowers to
choose in the event that there are one of a kind issues that create delays. They sketched out
the reasons for delay within the development commerce as being in three issues .
 Inherent insufficiencies or deficiencies in business foundation, majorly the supply of
assets.
 Issues highlighted by the customers or advisors further adds to iterations.
 Problems put up by the contractual worker ineptitudes.
Mezher and Tawil (1998) has directed a review on the reasons for extensions of time in the
construction industry of Lebanon from the perspective of owners, contractors and design
companies. It was concluded that owners had more concerns over the monetary issues,
contractors viewed authoritative connections just like the generally significant, and
consultants put the project management issues to be the most important factors for delays.
Chan and Kumaraswamy (1998) reviewed the issues for construction delays in Hong Kong as
observed by customers, contractors and consultants, and inspected what may add to
lowered productivity. The review uncovered contrasts in perception of the relative
significance of elements including financing and instalments for finished works, poor
contract management, changes in site conditions, deficiency of materials, and inadequate
planning.
Al-Moumani (2000) overviewed the delaying factors on 130 public projects in Jordan, and
the outcomes showed that the basic driver of delays in construction of public projects
identify with designer, client changes, climate, site issues, delayed conveyances, and
budgetary matters.
Processes in Construction Management
Following is the general sequence that follows the end to end execution of a project.
Initiation Planning Execution Monitoring and Control Closing
Types of Delays
The small to large factors on instances could be categorised in varying types, to better assess
their impact and subsequent solutions to deter their effect on construction delays. So, it is
necessary to thoroughly understand the categories of delays, in order to effective approach
in mitigation of their effect and objectively devise solutions to avoid them.
 Concurrent delays.
 Excusable or non-excusable delays.
 Critical or non-critical delays.
 Compensable or non-compensable delays.
The delays can also fall into more than one category, so its imperative to accurately
characterize them to develop a better understanding of it. Like, excusable/non-excusable
could also be concurrent or non-concurrent. Furthermore, economic historian Robert E.
Wright proposes that construction delays are fundamentally caused by post contractual
market power, inaccurate information sharing, bid gaming or changes over artistry. Unless
these are fully resolved, the delays are bound to occur having negative cost implications.
Critical or non-critical Delays

A factor that is directly responsible to delay the time period is a critical delay. That could
encompass varying factor; unutilised labour or equipment, field overheads extensions,
damage liquidations, appreciation in labour or material costs etc.
However, delays that do not directly impact the delay in time and could be compensated are
non-critical delays. These commonly include rise in material or labour costs, idle labour or
equipment costs.
Excusable or non-excusable Delays

This is the kind of delay where the contractor is deserving of extension of time or
compensation, with adherence to the clauses in the contract. These are the ones upon
which the contractor has no control over and are external factors contributing to it. They
could be; natural disasters, terrorism, political unrest, social issues, delays from the client in
decisions or approvals etc.
However, where the contractor is directly involved in affecting the delay, they are called non-
excusable delays. The contractor is liable for compensation or penalties. They could be;
delay in sourcing material, delays in resource mobilisation, delays in submission of
documents, criticalities that are not communicated to the client over the time of contract.
Concurrent Delays
An event where more than one factor contributes to the delay, and they occur simultaneously to
impact the delaying of the project. However, these delays may or may not entitle a contractor to
claim for a compensation. More importantly, the causes should overlap, rather than the delay
itself.
Compensable or non-compensable
A delay where there is no share of the contractor or his contribution into extending of time
are compensable delays, external or natural factors contribute to cause compensable delays,
where the contractor is deserving of time extensions or monetary compensations. If the
contractor is solely responsible for the occurrence in delay, they are clearly non-
compensable delays. However, either of them may fall into critical or non-critical segments
or may or may not be concurrent in nature.
Causes of Delay
Inward Causes and Outward Causes

Inward causes are described as the causes contributed by the four segments of people
involved in the project. They constitute of; the owner, contractor, consultant, and the
designer. Of the delays that are not levied by these four, are called outwards delays. They
could be; administrative issues from the authorities, material or equipment providers,
climate change or natural calamities.
Consultant’s Duty
 Consulting site staff being absent
 Inadequate technical expertise on its behalf
 Inadequate administrative expertise
 Deficient supervision and direction of orders on site.
 Inaccurate reporting
Contractors Duty
 Inferior aptitude or work experience
 Lacking in site work
 Lower profitability of work
 Lower financial efficiency
 Deficient supplies and resources on site
 Delays in on site decisions
 Delaying of souring material
 Poor budget management
 Poor on site management
Owner’s Liabilities
 Working information being absent
 Delaying in decision making
 Delayed funding and payments.
 Poor coordination with onsite team.
 Frequent changes in design or other determinants of the work.
External Factors
 Material unavailable
 Absence of necessary equipment
 Site conditions being inappropriate (soil, area etc)
 Inadequate financial conditions
 Changes in regulations
 Unprecedented delays in transportation
Effects of Construction Delays

All the varying components collectively contribute to the delay in finishing the projects,
some falling under contractor’s obligation, some under the owner’s discretion or some
externally contributing to the delay. In most part, it is observed that the delay issues are a
reason for question, claim, exchange and deserting. However, the mere time delay causes
varying adversaries or losses.
 The extended overheads add up to the overall cost of the project; fixed labour costs,
pilling interest of credit financing, material going in waste and extra sourced to cater
the needs, higher consultancy fees, inflation contributing to fiscal inefficiency.
 It delays the profitability from that very project; if a project is finished earlier, it could
be sold out or rented out to gain revenue, increasing the return on investment of the
venture.
 It also restricts finances or labour that could be utilised for another project and reap
more economic benefits; labour stuck at a extended project could not be deployed
elsewhere, finances not returned could not be lent for another project, companies
engaged could not opt for another project meanwhile.
 Extended constructions have a larger environmental impact; continuous processing
and extra usage adds to the carbon emissions, continuous construction activity
contributes to air and land pollution.
 Extended activity negatively contributes to the well-being of site surroundings; raw
site may damage the surrounding infrastructure, deter movement and normal
activities around its site unless it is finished.
Conclusion
There could be numerous factors that are generalised in delaying of construction projects,
that overlap or coincide into making extensions in timelines, cost overruns and financial
inefficiencies. Then there is a pool of factors that is localised to economies, societies or small
areas where the project is being conducted. It could be concluded, that to enhance the
project efficiency and reduce the time, the associated people and researchers take an
accurate account of the generalised factors that could be anticipated, and what measures or
resources they may arrange for in order to deter their impact. If there may be cost overruns
due to criticalities in designs, they may arrange for extra finances to cater the issues, over
they may procure extra material to make the supplies sufficient.
Further, they may take an account of probable localised factors that could contribute to the
delay, those are relevant to the community or a nation they’re operating in; a political unrest
owing to an upcoming election, a change in season that may bring extensive rainfall, new
budgetary announcements expected etc. This would help them better plan for the
unprecedented events that would delay a project. Good statistical or a quantitative
approach can assist in minimizing the delays or its effects. However, there is no absolute
solution to this matter in hand and no accurate description of the reasons that may come
up.
References
 Sweis, G., Sweis, R., Hammad, A.A. and Shboul, A., 2008. Delays in construction
projects: The case of Jordan. International Journal of Project Management, 26(6), pp.665-
674.
 Abd El-Razek, M.E., Bassioni, H.A. and Mobarak, A.M., 2008. Causes of delay in
building construction projects in Egypt. Journal of construction engineering and
management, 134(11), pp.831-841.
 Alaghbari, W.E., Kadir, M.R.A. and Salim, A., 2007. The significant factors causing delay
of building construction projects in Malaysia. Engineering, Construction and
Architectural Management.
 Alaghbari, W.E., Kadir, M.R.A. and Salim, A., 2007. The significant factors causing delay
of building construction projects in Malaysia. Engineering, Construction and
Architectural Management.
 Haseeb, M., Bibi, A. and Rabbani, W., 2011. Problems of projects and effects of delays in
the construction industry of Pakistan. Australian journal of business and management
research, 1(5), pp.41-50
 D. Aydin and E.Mihlayanlar, 2018. Causes and Effects of Construction Projects
Delays: A Local Case.
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Construction Projects DS12

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Construction Projects DS12

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Key Reasons for Delays in Construction Projects

Processes in Construction Management

Initiation Planning Execution Monitoring and Control Closing

Critical or non-critical Delays

Excusable or non-excusable Delays

Inward Causes and Outward Causes

Effects of Construction Delays

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