Factors Influencing Delay in Construction Projects

 

J.Chetan, G. Abhishek, D. Krishna Chaitanya, Dr. R. Venkatesan

National Institute of Construction Management and Research-NICMAR, Advanced Construction Management, Hyderabad.

ABSTRACT:

A construction project is successful only if the target(s) is/are achieved as per schedule and following the baseline to the core. Any variations from these cause a delay and by which the project cannot be completed within a planned time. Also the delay results in expense to all the parties involved in the completion of a particular project. This often end up in clashes between parties, arbitration/ litigation and in certain cases can lead to the total abandonment of project. There are several factors attributed to the delay. These scenarios grab more attention in many construction projects. This is a common issue faced all over the world and India is no exception. This paper tries to identify the various factors attributing to delay of construction projects and their effects in Indian construction Industry. The research methodology includes literature review and questionnaire survey to identify and collect data. The data are analysed using SPSS software to know the factors which are majorly effects for delay. A questionnaire and personal interviews have formed the basis of this research. Factor analysis and regression modelling were used to examine the significance of the delay factors. The construction delays were grouped under seven major factors and each of these major factors are explored with sub factors under them. Factor analysis will be carried out to identify the influence of the delay factors. These findings will be used to overcome the delays in Indian construction industry in controlling the time overrun and cost overrun in construction projects.

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

Construction industry is one of the most popular and labour intensive industries. Unlike others, these arecarried out in a more real time and dynamic environment. As a result it is more prone to effects of these environmental and human factors. The construction industry in India is an important indicator of the development of the country as it creates investment and employment opportunities across varied sectors. The occurrence of delay is common in most construction projects, due to various reasons and causes before or during construction phase. As the delay impact on time and cost overrun, analyzing of these delay(s) makes the organization to improve its system and fix responsibility to concern department/person.

 

This helps to avoid or minimize delays in further works. Construction projects in India are experiencing widespread delays. Due to a dramatic shift in the capacity and volume of the Indian construction sector over the last decade, the need of a systematic analysis of the reasons of delays and developing a clear understanding among the industry professionals are highly crucial. Using a selected set of 66 attributes, this research first identified the key factors impacting delay in Indian construction industry and then established the relationship between the critical attributes for developing prediction models for assessing the impacts of these factors on delay.

 

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE:

This research aimed to (1) Identify delay factors in construction projects; (2) Categorize delay factors in construction projects into seven major categories; (3) Quantify relative importance of delay factors and to demonstrate the ranking of factors and categories according to their importance level on delays  (4) Make recommendations in order to minimize or control delays in construction projects.

 

SCOPE:

Scope of the research covers study of delay and their influences related to construction projects which include some real-estate and infrastructure projects in around Telangana.

FOCUS:

Focus of the research is on the following aspects of delay and their influences on construction projects

·        Source of delay

·        Delay influences

·        Recommendations

 

LITERATURE REVIEW:

The literature review shows that various studies have been carried out valid by to investigate factors influence delay in construction project. List of few research studies along with the key aspects are listed below:

 

SL.No	Name of the Author	TITLE	Published at	KEY Aspects
1	Rahul Kolhe and Milind Darade	Detail Analysis of Delay in Construction Projects	IJISET - International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering and Technology	Many construction projects suffer from delay. Delays are divided into 4 types according to their intensity of effect Critical or non-critical delays, Excusable or non-excusable delays, Compensable or non-compensable delays, Concurrent or non-concurrent delays
2	Long D. Nguyen and William Ibbs	DELAY ANALYSIS CONSIDERING RESOURCE ALLOCATION	IACSIT -International Journal of Engineering and Technology	This research shows that schedule analysis without resource allocation practice significantly influences its results. The effect of resource allocation can either add to or reduce the impact of some delaying event. It illustrates that resource allocation can affect the results of a delay analysis.
3	N. Hamzah, M.A. Khoiry, I. Arshad,  N. M. Tawil and A. I. Che Ani	Cause of Construction Delay	The 2nd International Building Control Conference 2011	Delay can be defined as time overrun or extension of time to complete the project. There are two main type of delay: excusable delay and non-excusable Delay. The consequence of this study is to make a future study about the cause of delays in construction industry
4	Nuhu Braimah	Construction Delay Analysis Techniques—A Review of Application Issues and Improvement Needs	Buildings 2013, ISSN 2075-5309	This paper seeks to develop such knowledge and understanding (as part of a wider research work) via: an evaluation of the most common DATs (Delay Analysis Techniques). Questions that need to be answered here often include 1.   What was supposed to happen? 2.    What did actually happen? 3.   What were the variances? 4.   How did they affect the project schedule?

 

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

This research consists of six phases:

i.           The first one is the proposal for identifying and defining the   problems   and establishment of the objectives of the study and development of research plan. Literatures of the practical factors contributing to delay in the construction sector were reviewed.

ii.         The second phase of the research focused on the construction of the questionnaire design, through distributing the questionnaire to the experienced people in the organization.Thepurposeofthepilotstudywastoprovethatthequestionnaire questions are clear to be answered in a way that help to achieve the objectives of the study and based on its results the questionnaire was modified.

iii.       The third phase of the research was statistical analysis. The usage of statistical tool and processing the obtained data.

iv.       The fourth phase of research focused on data analysis and discussion. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 23) was used to perform the required factor analysis were prepared.

 

Fig.1 flow chart of methodology

In order to achieve research objective based on literature review and interaction with experts, the following are the major and sub factors explored:

1-Material related delay factors:

a)       Delay in approvals from Quality Control.

b)       Delay in some kind of regulatory issues from government in procurement

c)       Delay due to improper quality of materials.

d)       Delay in procurement submissions.

e)       Delay due to improper communication with stores and material department.

f)       Delay due to damages.

g)       Delay due to transportation problems in delivery of materials.

h)       Delay in delivery.

i)        Delay due to lack of transparency.

j)        Delay due to financial adjustments.   

 

2-External related delay factors:

a)    Delay due to public issues.

b)    Delay due to political issues.

c)    Delay due to land acquisition.

d)    Delay due to weather conditions.

e)    Delay due to sub surface conditions.

f)     Delay due to objections from nearby/local people.

g)    Delay due to prolonged rules and regulations by government

h)    Delay due to government changes.

i)     Delay due to Urban Local Bodies.

j)     Delay due to infringement (violating terms, agreements, law etc.)

 

3-Contractor related delay factors:

a)      Delay due to inefficient management.

b)      Delay due to inefficient technical staff.

c)       Delay in handing over drawings.

d)      Delay due to improper time management of all kind of workers and employees.

e)       Delay due to improper sub-contractors.

f)       Delay in handling works.

g)       Delay due to improper planning and scheduling.

h)      Delay due to financial issues of contractor.

i)        Delay due to sudden changes in group of technical, skilled, unskilled employees.

 

4-Client related delay factors:

a)       Delay due to sudden changes in scope.

b)       Delay due to improper communication.

c)       Delay due to improper supervision.

d)       Delay due to improper relationship between client, contractor.

e)       Delay due to wastage of time in reconstruction.

f)       Delay in promise (according to agreements).

g)       Delay due to strict and prolonged regulatory process leading to delays.

 

5- Labour related delay factors.

a)      Delay due to non-availability of skilled labour and unskilled labour

b)      Delay due to sudden strikes.

c)       Delay due to personal conflicts of labour.

d)      Delay due to improper health safety and maintenance of labour.

e)       Delay due to improper housing to labour.

f)       Delay due to work permits of labour and labour permits from different urban local bodies

g)       Delay due to low productivity of labour.

h)      Delay due to improper financial adjustment with labour.

i)        Delay due to conflicts between sub-contractor and labour

j)       Delay due to improper facilities provided to labour.

 

6-Equipment related delay factors.

a)      Delay due to improper maintenance by PandM department.

b)      Delay due to lack of worthy technical staff in PandM.

c)       Delay due to low productivity.

d)      Delay due to improper operators.

e)       Delay due to low efficiency of machinery.

f)       Delay due to lack of technology updation.

g)       Delay due to improper management in PandM.

h)      Delay due to improper allocation of budget.

i)        Delay due to improper inspections

j)       Delay due to improper tests and reports

7-Consultant related delay factors.

a)      Lack of proper technical team.

b)      Delay in inspections.

c)      Delay in approving changes.

d)      Delay due to improper guiding.

e)      Delay in producing documents.

f)       Delay in improper use of software’s.

g)      Delay in testing and their report submission.

 

In order to carry out third research objective i.e. Quantify relative importance of delay factors and to demonstrate the ranking of factors and categories according to their importance level on delays  ,the raking index is used are as follow

 

Rank index is found by RI= [_if_i] x100%/n.

Where

w_i = The weight for each rating given by the measurement scale divided by number of points in it.

f_i = The frequency of work

n = Total no. of responses

 

RESULT AND DISCUSSION FROM LITERATUREREVIEW:

Ø  Construction delay is a critical function in construction projects.

Ø  In general, the amount of time-delay and cost-increase (overrun), increased with an increase in the total cost of a residential project

Ø  Cost overrun and time overrun (elongation of project duration) were the two most frequent effects of delays which significantly affects the construction projects.

Ø  There are loss and expense claims arising from delay and fluctuation claims during the delay period which have significant effects on cost overrun.

Ø  Delays occur in every construction project and the magnitude of these delays varies considerably from project to project. Some projects are only a few days behind the schedule; some are delayed over a year. So it is essential to define the actual causes of delay in order to minimize and avoid the delays in any construction project.

Ø  The objective of this research was to identify the main causes of delay in construction project. A literature review was conducted to identify the causes of delay stipulated in the literature. From the literature review, the various factors influencing construction delay were identified

Ø  A detailed questionnaire is prepared based on the various factors influencing construction delay such as Financing, Material, Scheduling and controlling techniques, Planning, Contractual, Equipment, Governmental action, Labor, Design, External, Contractor, Consultant, Owner, Project, Engineer, Client, Operation factors are considered in this project

 

REFERENCES:

1        R. Gavhale and Hariharan “A journal on factors influencing delay in construction project: A case of Mumbai metro project”. IJISET - International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering and Technology

2        Nuhu Braimah “Construction delay analysis techniques-a review of application issues and improvement needs” Buildings 2013, ISSN 2075-5309

3        Rahul Kolhe and Milind Darade “Detail Analysis of Delay in Construction Projects” IJISET - International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering and Technology

4        Bryman, A. Bell, e (2007).Business research methods. Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

5        Study on the Quantification of Delay Factors in Construction Industry at IJISET- International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering and Technology by K. L. Ravisankar

6        A study on quantification of delay factors in construction industry at IJISET- International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering and Technology by Greeshma B Suresh.

7        Abd El-Razek, M. E., H. A. Bassioni, and A. M. Mobarak (2008) “Causes of Delay in Building Construction Projects in Egypt”, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, Vol. 134, No. 11, pp.831-841.

8        Ahmed, S. M., S. Azhar, P. Kappagantula, and M. Castillo (2003) “Construction Delays in Florida: An Empirical Study”, (http://www.scribd.com/doc/28215106/Construction-Delays-in-Florida-a-Study) Accessed on: 08/07/2010.

9        Alkass, S., M. Mazerolle, and F. Harris (1996) “Construction delay analysis techniques”, Construction Management and Economics, Vol. 14, Issue 5, pp 375-394.

10      Arditi, D., G. T. Akan, and S. Gurdamar (1985) “Reasons for Delays in Public Projects in Turkey”, Construction Management and Economics, Vol. 3, pp 171-181.

11      Arditi, D., and T. Pattanakitchamroon (2008) “Analysis Methods in Time- Based Claims”, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, Vol. 134, No. 4 pp. 242-252.

12      Arıkan, M. and İ. Dikmen (2004) “Construction Engineering and Management, Lecture Notes”, Middle East Technical University, Department of Civil Engineering.

13      Assaf, S. A., M. Al-Khalil, and M. Al-Hazmi (1995) “Causes of delay in large building construction projects”, Journal of Management in Engineering, Vol. 11, Issue 2, pp. 45-50.

14      Baldwin, J. R., J. M. Manthei, H. Rothbart, and R. B. Harris (1971) “Causes of Delay in the Construction Industry”, Journal of the Construction Engineering Division, Vol. 97, No. 2, pp. 177-187.

15      Barrie, D. S. and B. C. Paulson (1992) “Professional Construction Management: Including CM, Design-Construct, and General Contracting”, McGraw-Hill, USA.

 

 

Received on 25.10.2015            Accepted on 02.12.2015            © EnggResearch.net All Right Reserved Int. J. Tech. 5(2): July-Dec., 2015; Page 225-228 DOI: 10.5958/2231-3915.2015.00025.5