See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/257947267

Delay analysis for construction projects

Conference Paper · January 2008

CITATIONS READS

2 3,794

1 author:

Abbas M. Abd
University of Diyala
70 PUBLICATIONS   169 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Modern Alternatives for Building Material and techniques View project

Building Information Modelling in Construction View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Abbas M. Abd on 19 July 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Delay analysis for construction projects

Abbas mahde abd engineering college / Diyala University

Abstract
The completion of any project in its period of time, which listed in the contract is
one of the most difficult matter, that can not be achieved unless several activities
must be done during the project life cycle. The main factors that affected the
delay in project completion are investigated in this study, taking into account the
circumstances of each factor relative to the other. The direct investigation,
interviews with the team of project ( design, in situ office, consultant ) and the
questionnaire methodologies was used to collect data about the project stages and
problems.
The study illustrate the main factors that causes delay in project completion, the
extreme item was finance related, building materials related and project
management related factors. The rate of them to total delay were 22 %, 18.4 %
and 14.7 % respectively, and total delay caused by them was 55.1 % of total
project delay.
In finance the critical value was of delay in payment, weather; in the building
materials the critical one was of the delay in supplying materials, while for the
project management item the risk was in the fail in the in situ management.

Introduction
Delay in construction projects can be defined as the time difference between the
date of project completion stated in the contract and the date of the actual
completion.
It is in general for construction management, that the project may be regarded as
successful if the building is completed on time, within budget, and is of the desired
quality. It is commonly that whereas two out of those three can often be achieved,
three out of the three cannot because of the complexities involved in a
construction contract, and in particular the many different trades and professions
that are commonly involved.
Realistic construction time is now increasingly of the essential elements because it
often serves as a crucial benchmark for assessing the performance of a project
and the efficiency of the project organization. A fundamental specification of the
construction contract is the project period or time of project execution, which is
established prior to bidding. The successful execution of construction projects
and keeping them within estimated cost and prescribed schedules depend upon a
methodology that requires expert engineering judgment.
Project completion for the owner means that he can make use of his new assets on
time by habitation, renting, or selling. Any delay in project completion will
disturb his plans. The client will not be able to make use of the property, and his
business will be affected in almost all areas, especially finance. For the contractor,
any delay in completion of the project gives rise to indirect overhead expenses
and additional payments to the project staff and workforce. It also means that he
will possibly be subjected to compensation claims. His next project might be
 cancelled as a result of delays in the present project, and loss of future
opportunities will be made more likely by damage to his reputation and
credibility. The consultants and all other parties involved will also lose if the
project is delayed: they will at least lose time, which may mean losing money.
Despite the great effort that has been put into the evolution of construction
project planning and control during the last four decades, delay is still a very
common feature of construction projects, and most experience extensive delays.
These often result in adversarial relationships between construction stake holders
(clients, contractors, consultants, etc.): distrust, litigation, arbitration, cash-flow
problems, and a general feeling of apprehension towards each other.

Types of Delay:
There are several types of delay in construction projects according to the liability
of these projects, the occurrence of the delay and the effects of the delay. The
major delay types are a following (1):
1- according to the liability of the construction parties:
this type falls of delay into two major categories, excusable and non excusable
delay. It excuses a contractor from performing within the contract period and
justifies an extension of time to perform. This type of delay can also have an
impact on non-critical activities which need more detailed analysis to determine
whether additional time extension is warranted or if the reduction of float time
can be justified. Generally, whether delays are excusable depends on contract
provisions. Acts of God, unexpected weather, labor disputes, owner design
problems, owner-initiated changes and similar factors may cause excusable
delays.
Delays are generally excusable when another party caused but could have
avoided them, or when they were due to environmental factors
beyond the control or foresight of anyone. Excusable delays can be further
classified into compensable and non-compensable Excusable delay is "a delay to
completion which is caused by matters deemed to be outside the control of the
contractor"

A. Excusable compensable delays

Excusable compensable delays are caused by the owner or the owner's agents. A
compensable delay usually leads to a schedule extension and exposes the owner to
financial damages claimed by the contractor. However, “in some special
circumstances a compensable delay does not always mean that additional time is
due. Sometimes only additional costs will be compensable”. Examples of this
would be the late release of drawings from the owner's architect, failure of the
owner to hand over the site to the contractor or major changes in the scope of
work.

B. Excusable non-compensable delays

Excusable non-compensable delays are caused by third parties or incidents
beyond the control of both the owner and the contractor. In this case “the
contractor is entitled to a time extension without the recovery of associated cost of
damages”. Each party (owner and contractor) must pay his own part of the delay
cost. Examples typically include acts of God, unusual weather, strikes, fires and
acts of government in its sovereign capacity.
2-According to occurrence
Delays can be classified according to their occurrence into independent and
concurrent delays
A-Independent delays
An independent delay is a delay which occurs as a result of causes related to one
type of delay or one of the contractual parties, either the contractor or the owner.
It may be excusable, non-excusable, compensable or non-compensable. Common
examples of independent delays are delays made by the owner as a consequence
of the delays caused by the contractor due to bad management of the project.
B-Concurrent delays
Concurrent delay is a delay to completion where at least one of the causes of the
events which cause delay is at the contractor’s risk as to time. Concurrent delays
consist of two or more independent delays that occur at the same time as a result
of different causes. Causes of concurrent delays may be excusable, non-excusable,
compensable or non-compensable, the right to receive an extension of time or
delay damages will depend on which of these types applies. There are three
conditions of concurrent delays:

 If excusable and non-excusable delays occur concurrently, only a time

extension is granted to the contractor.
 If excusable compensable and excusable non-compensable delays occur
concurrently, the contractor is entitled to a time extension but not to
damages.
 If two excusable compensable delays occur concurrently, the contractor is
entitled to both a time extension and damages. However, it is generally the
case that the contractor has the right to receive a time extension but not
delay damages, and the owner does not receive liquidated damages.

3- According to effect

Delay in some activities may result in delay to the overall project completion and
in other activities it may have no impact upon completion. In other words, delay
can be classified into two major categories according to the effect on the time
schedule:

A. Critical delays
Delays that result in extended project completion times are known as critical
delays. In the case of excusable critical delays, the contractor will generally be
entitled to a time extension. Changing the type of structural steel members
while the contractor is erecting structural steel is a clear example of a critical
delay that is likely to delay the contractor’s overall completion of the project.

B. Non-critical delays
Non-critical delays are delays incurred off the critical path which do not delay
ultimate project performance. If the delay in this case is excusable, the contractor
does not have the right to receive a time extension, because this type of delay does
not have an effect on the overall completion of the project. However, non critical
delays may affect the contractor’s cost performance; in this case, the contractor
may have the right to receive additional performance costs. The types of delay are
classified as:
 Non-excusable: Construction company gets no time or money and pays
liquidated damages
 Excusable Non-Compensable: Construction company gets time, but no
money
 Excusable Compensable: Construction company gets both time and money
 Concurrent: Construction Company will not get either time or money and
no liquidated damages will be applied.

Causes of Delay:
The main causes of delay are (2):
1- Design-Related Delay
A. This is one of the most critical categories among the five delay categories
because all of the causes were identified as key delays, i.e. a delay is most likely to
happen due to a design-related problem. According to the survey, design-related
delays are considered to be excusable compensable delays.
2- Construction Related Delay
A. In the construction stage, the contractor always has the responsibility and the
construction company will get no time or money if a delay occurs. Delays due to
lack of inspections are the most common in this stage.

3- Financial/Economic-Related Delay
A Delayed payments were selected as the only key delay. According to the results,
delays rarely occur because of Financial/Economic reasons. The Owner of the
project always has the responsibility, which means that the delay will be
excusable compensable.
4- Management/Administrative-Related Delay
A Similar to the previous category, this also has just one key delay: Contract
Modifications. However, the two parties involved (owner and contractor) must
bear the responsibility depending on the cause of the delay. The type of delay is
also dependent on what caused the delay.
5- Regulations and Code-Related Key Delays
A. This category has the most influence on delay, especially on projects built in
coastal areas. Very often, the Government is responsible and, in this case, the
delays are considered excusable compensable.

Contractor related factors

The contractor is the party responsible for carrying out the work of the project,
and generally bears most of the responsibility for construction. Almost all
previous surveys conducted to examine responsibility for delay found that the
blame, for the most part, lies with the contractor. If truth be told, the contracting
profession is extremely complex and demanding compared to other professions.
All contractors are familiar with the difficulties of fluctuating work. The main
contractor is often expected to take full managerial responsibility, not only for his
own work and for safeguarding the owner from delay, but also for liaising with
other contractors; however, the level of contractor responsibility differs
according to the type of contract.
Many factors related to contractors may lead to project delay, and these factors
are subdivided into five major categories as follows (1):
1. Materials
2. Equipment
3. Manpower
4. Project management performance
5. Project finance

Consultant related factors

The owner may employ an external professional consultant to assist him in
managing the project. The obligation of the consultant may be to carry out the
design of the project (including architectural, structural, mechanical, and
electrical designs). He may also be responsible for the preparation of the project
documents (e.g. drawings, specifications, bills of quantities and tender
documents). In some cases, consultants undertake responsibility for project
planning, scheduling, cost estimation and quality control. However, our focus will
be on the tasks required during the construction phase, starting with reviewing
and approving the design drawings, then monitoring the performance of the
contractors and supervising the execution of the works (3).
Delays occurring in construction projects regarding consultant performance
include delays in the preparation of drawings or in the approval of contractor
submissions, accepting inadequate design drawings and delays in performing
inspection and testing. Such delays and more may came as a result of poor
qualifications and experience of the consultant engineer’s staff, or poor
communication and coordination with the other parties involved in the project.
From time to time during the project, contractors have many inquiries; slow
response by the consultant engineer may lead to a slowing down of the progress of
the work. In a case where a response is slow in coming, the contractors may
extemporize a solution for the problem they face and execute it. This solution may
not satisfy the consultant, which in turn results in doing the work again.
Therefore, consultants should attend pre-construction meetings with construction
contractors and respond promptly to them during construction (1).

Owner related factors

The client (or the owner) is the key to the whole construction production process
from inspection to completion and at times to post-occupancy maintenance . The
owner’s duties are onerous, since the nature of construction projects is complex
and requires a knowledgeable person or organization to manage the project.
Many owners that sponsor a number of projects have their in-house project
management teams to fulfill their responsibilities. Nevertheless, many, if not most,
clients for construction do not have the organizational capabilities to manage
their own construction projects themselves. Therefore, they employ an external
project manager to handle the project and act as owner’s representative(4).
One of the critical issues at the early stage of the project is determining the
contract duration. Many owners require fast completion, but a thorough study
must be made to determine the contract duration. Where an unrealistic contract
duration is imposed, this will obviously force the contractor either to accelerate
the progress of the works and neglect the desired quality, or to perform the works
as required but not on time.
Another significant matter is handing over the site. Failure of the owner to hand
over the site to the contractor on time will cause a delay in starting the work.
The involvement of the owner in the project may accelerate the project’s
progress. He should be able to take quick decisions on various matters, such as
changing order, approving work or responding to the contractor, during
construction. Such prompt action will avoid hold-ups and maintain the
momentum of production. However, his decisions or actions should not cause any
disruption to the progress of the works (4).
“The working relationship between an owner and a contractor is one of the most
crucial determinants of project success”. The owner’s involvement in the project
should be smooth and without disruption to the contractor’s project plan.
Financial aspects should also be considered; the owner must ensure that adequate
funds are available to meet progress and professional service payments. Shortage
of money or delay to payments may result in a slow-moving project and therefore
late completion (3).

Case study
For test the previous logical reasons of delay, The flats project in Diyala
university was taken as a case study. This project is one of the largest project
constructed on Diyala governorate. The project cost is more than three pillions ID
which equal to two millions US dollars. The time for completion is 9 months. This
project have been delayed about 100 % of actual period, the details of this period
of delay is distributed as in table( 1 ).

Cause of Delay Arrangement delay In situ delay

1 2
Item A B C D A B C D
1 10 14 45 3 25 20 6 20
2 3 8 10 10 10 8 4 10
3 7 6 5 7 15 6 10 10
Total 20 28 60 20 50 34 20 40
Over all Total 128 144

Table ( 1 ) detail of delay period

The detailed study of the delay causes consist of two main categories; the
arrangement delay causes which related to design related, construction related,
finance related, management related factors. All these factors should be take in
consideration to analyze the causes of delay in all project types. The second
category is the in situ delay causes which consist of building materials, Tools and
Equipments, Human resources and Project management.
The studying of these factors will surround the main resources of delay for the
project under consideration. The following factors are the main cause of delay
and they will discussed in details later and each item will symbol with character
to make the analyzing and tabling more easy. The details of these factors are
listed as below:

1- Arrangement delay causes:

A) Design related (1A)
which include the items that related to the design such as lack of details
(1A1), mistakes in design (1A2) and any conflict in the structural details
with other details as architecture or other details (1A3).

B) Construction related (1B)

This item include the difficulties in procurement of the design (1B1), lack of
skills (1B2) and lack of tools or methods for construct the activities (1B3).

C) Finance related (1C)

The finance problems can result in delay of a project by different ways as
the delay in the payment of the contracts (1C1), the liquid deficiencies (1C2)
or un adequate financial administrative(1C3) .

D) Management related (1D)

The main issues in the management include the firm management (1D1), job
management (1D2) and the activities management (1D3).

2- In situ delay causes, which also divided into:

A) Building materials (2A)
It is one of the main factors that can result in large period of delay in any
type of projects because of the lack of materials in markets or the delay in
supplying of materials (2A1), the wide increasing in materials price (2A2)
and finally the fails of materials to qualify the quality requirements(2A3) .

B) Tools and Equipments (2B)

This item is same as the previous one in lack of available choices (2B1),
increasing in price or renting rate (2B2) and the lack of skills and
experiences (2B3).

C) Human resources (2C)

Human factors is the most complicated factor because it is related to the
person skills (2C1)which is can not be measured only in the site and the high
wages for skilled and proficient workers and foremen (2C2)and the last
cause is the lack of arranging the working force in site(2C3) .

D) Project management (2D)

Management is the key to success or fail in the project according to the
method and concepts used in the project management during its life cycle,
the in situ management (2D1), cost management (2D2) and time
management(2D3) are the main factors which should be examine in any
study of project delay.
The results discussion and Conclusions

The project which taken as a case study exposed to accurate analyzing in all
direction; the contractor team , the in situ office staff and the designer team
and the consultant team. The data was collected from the real person who
mange the different stages of project via the direct participation with the
teams, interviews and questionnaire of opinions along the period of
construction.

To simplify the discussion of the results , histograms graphs will be used to

make the comparison more clearly and as below:

1, C1
45
40
35
30
25 1
20 2
1, B1
15 3
1, A1
10
1, D1
5
0
A B C D

Figure (1) : Arrangement delay causes

Figure (1) showed that the item 1C1 ( delay in payment ) is the most critical
item in project delay over all its life cycle. The accumulative delay is due to
finance related factors which represent 60/128 days or 46.9 % of total
arrangement delay.
 2, A1
25
2, B1 2, D1
20

15
1
2
10
3
2, C1

0
A B C D

Figure (2) : In situ delay causes

From figure (1), the extreme value is for the delay of the payment of the
contracts which may cause financial deficiencies that result in break the
continuity of work progress. This type of delay can consider as excusable
compensable delays and the contractor have the right to receive a time
extension, because this type of delay have an effect on the overall completion
of the project. However, this critical delays may affect the contractor’s cost
performance; in this case, the contractor may have the right to receive
additional performance costs. This type of delay represent 75% of finance
related causes as in figure ( 3 ), and about 35% of the arrangement delay
causes and finally about 16.5 % of total delay causes.

unadequate
financial admin.
8%
liquid deficiencies
17%

Delay in
payments
75%

figure (3) Financial Related causes

From figure (2), the second extreme value is for the delay in supplying of
materials. It is one of the main factors that can result in large period of delay
in any type of projects because of the lack of materials in markets or the delay
in supplying chain for the materials. Details of this item appear in figure (4).
This type of delay is considers as excusable non-compensable delays because it
cause by third parties or incidents beyond the control of both the owner and
the contractor. In this case if the owner have no problem in time “the
contractor is entitled to a time extension without the recovery of associated
cost of damages” ; otherwise; the contractor should pay the penalty of delay.

due to fial in quality

30%

increasing in materials Delay supplying of

price materials
20% 50%

Figure ( 4 ) Material related causes.

Finance Related
causes
22%
other causes
44.9%

Building Materials
Causes
Project 18.4%
Management
Causes
14.7%

Figure ( 5 ) Main delay causes.

 The delay in supplying the building materials represent about 50 % of building
materials delay causes as in figure ( 4 ) and about 17.4 % of in situ delay
causes, and about 9.2 % of total delay causes.

From other side of view, the three extreme causes of delay in the project are:
1- Finance related (1C) with rate of 22 % of total delay causes.
2- Building materials (2A) with rate of 18.4 % of total delay causes.
3- Project management (2D) with rate of 14.7 % of total delay causes.

The three factors above are represent about 55.1 % of total delay causes in the
project during its life cycle as showed if figure ( 5 ). So the brief result will be in
finance the critical value was of delay in payment, weather; in the building
materials the critical one was of the delay in supplying materials, while for the
project management item the risk was in the fail in the in situ management.

References :

1- Ibrahim Falaqi, “ Delay in project completion: a comparative study

of construction delay factors in Saudi Arabic and United
Kingdom.” thesis presented to KFU,2002.
2- UK office of Government Commerce, ”Common causes of project
failure.”www.ogc.gov.uk , 2005.
3- Sami M. Fereig and Nabil KKartam , “ construction delay in
international projects.” study presented to Building research
center, Kuwait University, Kuwait, 2005.
4- Howard L. Kellin, “ Ten ways to help avoid legal problems in
school construction.” National clearing house for educational
facilities , 2003.
 ‫تحليل التأخير في المشاريع اإلنشائية‬
‫عباس مهدي عبد‬
‫م‪ .‬مدرس‪ /‬كلية الهندسة‬
‫جامعة ديالى‬

‫الملخص‬

‫إن إنجاز أي مشروع إنشائي ضمن المدة المحددة في عقد المقاولة هو منن األمنور الصنعبة التحقينخ خصو نا‬
‫عندما تكون ظروف التنفيذ مختلفة عن الظرف الطبيعي للعمل‪ .‬وهذا بدوره أمر ال يمكن تحقيقه بندون إنجناز‬
‫عدد من الفعاليات خالل دورة حياة المشرع‪.‬‬
‫إن العوامل األساسنية المنثررة فني عنصنر التنأخير فني إنجناز المشنروع دند تنل التحقنخ منهنا فني هنذه الدراسنة‬
‫اخذين بنظر االعتبار الظروف المحيطة بكل عامل نسبة إلى بادي العوامل األخرى‪.‬حيث جرى اعتماد أسنلوب‬
‫التحقخ المباشر والمقابالت الشخصية مع فريخ التصميل والتنفيذ والفريخ االستشاري للمشروع إضافة إلنى‬
‫أسلوب االستبيان الذي شمل عدد من المهندسين ذوي االختصاص في الموضوع‪ .‬وذلك بهدف جمع البيانات‬
‫بأكبر ددر ممكن من الددة لتو يف األسباب المثدية إلى التأخير في إنجاز المشروع ضمن المدة المحددة‪.‬‬
‫خلصت الدراسة إلى تحديد العوامل الرئيسية المسببة في التأخير وكانت القيمة الحرجة فني ذلنك بسنبن عنصنر‬
‫التمويننل يليننه مننواد البنننا وأخيننرا عنصننر اإلدارة بالنسننن ‪ % 22‬و ‪ % 4..1‬و‪ % 41.1‬علننى التننوالي‪.‬‬
‫وكانت هذه العنا ر الثالرة تمثل نسبة ‪ %...4‬من مجمل التأخير الكلي للمشروع‪.‬‬
‫ومن بين فقرات عنصر التمويل كان تأخير تسليل دفعنات المقناول أهنل أسنباب التنأخير‪ ،‬أمنا فيمنا يخنص عنصنر‬
‫مواد البنا فقد كان تأخير تجهين منواد البننا الفقنرة األكثنر تسنببا فني التنأخير فني حنين كنان ضنمن عنصنر‬
‫اإلدارة فقرة إدارة المشروع هي الحرجة من حيث التأخير‪.‬‬

‫‪View publication stats‬‬