CAUSES OF DELAY IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Department of Civil Engineering
MSc in Construction Technology and Management
Course Name: - Research and Research Methods

ASIGNMENT 1: CAUSES OF DELAY IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN BANGLADESH

SMESTER II

MELKAMU AMARE ID-PRAMIT/212/11

Submitted to: ALEMAYEHU CHUFAMO (Dr.-Ing)

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Contents
1. INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................................1
1.1 Back ground of the study……………………………………………………………………………………………………1
1.2 Statement of the problems…………………………………………………………………..1

1.3 Purpose of the study…………………………………………………………………………..3

1.3.1 Specific purposes…………………………………………………………………………...3

1.3.2 Research question...................................................................................................................3

2. Literature Review............................................................................................................................4
2.1 Significance of the study..............................................................................................................4
3 Research Method............................................................................................................................5
3.1 Sampling Method..............................................................................................................................6
3.2 Data collection instrument...............................................................................................................6
3.3 Research approach (design)..............................................................................................................7
3.4 Source of data....................................................................................................................................7
4. Procedure for analyzing data........................................................................................................7
5. Research Ethics........................................................................................................................9
6. Communicating the result........................................................................................................9
7 TIME SCHEDULE …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..10
8 Budjet SCHEDULE ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………10
9. REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................11

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Abstract: Construction delay is a common problem worldwide, which is considered as one of the
main reasons for project failure. Bangladesh construction industry is no exception. This study
will investigate the main causes of delay in large building construction projects in Bangladesh. A
questionnaire survey will be conducted to determine the causes of delay from owners,
consultants, and contractors of large building construction projects. Selected respondents will be
participated in the survey. Using the importance index analysis, the study will identify most
important causes of delay from a list of different causes. Furthermore, Kruskal-Wallis test will
be done to identify that whether there is significant variation exists among the three group of
respondents, ie owners, consultants and contractors

Keywords: Bangladesh, Construction Delay, Developing Countries, Important Index

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1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Back ground of the study
Construction project delay can be defined by as “the time overrun either beyond completion date
specified in a contract, or beyond the date that the parties agreed upon for delivery of a project”
[1]. It has significant consequences as it would affect project performance [2]. For project
owners, delay means loss of revenue; as for contractors it means loss of money [3]. Delay also
creates caustic situation between owner and contractor such as dispute, ligation, arbitration, and
some time total abandonment of the project [3; 4; 5].

Bangladesh is a developing country with high investment in construction industry, particularly

commercial, residential, and multipurpose building projects etc., Almost 2.4 million people are
working in this industry, which contributes about 20% to the national GDP [6]. Delay in
delivering projects has serious drawback in this industry [3]. However, very few researches have
been conducted to analyze the causes of delay in construction projects in Bangladesh. Salam et
al. [7] studied the causes of delay, but focused in residential projects in Bangladesh. Ashen and
Gunawan [8] focused on identifying the factors of time and cost performance in infrastructure
development projects funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB) in several Asian countries
including Bangladesh. There for ,this paper aims to identify the cause of delay of building
construction projects in Bangladesh, and the important causes of delay in large building projects.

1.2 Statement of the problems

Construction project delay can be defined by as “the time overrun either beyond completion date
specified in a contract, or beyond the date that the parties agreed upon for delivery of a project”
[1]. It has significant consequences as it would affect project performance [2]. For project
owners, delay means loss of revenue; as for contractors it means loss of money [3]. Delay also
creates caustic situation between owner and contractor such as dispute, ligation, arbitration, and
some time total abandonment of the project [3; 4; 5].

1.2.1 Types of delays:

Delays can be grouped in the following four broad categories according to how they operate
contractually:

Non-excusable delays
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Excusable non-compensable delays

Excusable compensable delays

Concurrent delays

1.2.1.1 Non-excusable Delays

Non-excusable delays are delays, which the Contractor either causes or assumes the risk for.
These delays might be the results of underestimates of productivity, inadequate scheduling or
mismanagement, construction mistakes, weather, equipment breakdowns, staffing problems, or
mere bad luck. Such delays are inherently the Contractor’s responsibility and no relief is
allowed. These delays are within the control of the Contractor or are foreseeable; however, it is
not necessary that they be both.
1.2.1.2 Non-compensable Excusable Delays:
When a delay is caused by factors that are not foreseeable, beyond the Contractor’s reasonable
control and not attributable to the Contractor’s fault or negligence, it may be “excusable”. This
term has the implied meaning that neither party is at fault under the terms of the contract and has
agreed to share the risk and consequences when excusable events occur. The Contractor will not
receive compensation for the cost of delay, but he will be entitled for an additional time to
complete his work and is relieved from any contractually imposed liquidated damages for the
period of delay.
1.2.1.3 Compensable Excusable Delays
In addition to the compensable delays that result from contract changes by Change Notice, there
are compensable delays that can arise in other ways. Such compensable delays are excusable
delays, suspensions, or interruptions to all or part of the work caused by an act or failure to act
by the Owner resulting from Owner’s breach of an obligation, stated or implied, in the contract.
If the delay is compensable, then the Contractor is entitled not only to an extension of time but
also to an adjustment for any increase in costs caused by the delay.
1.2.1.4 Concurrent Delays
Concurrent delays occur when both Owner and the Contractor are responsible for the delay.
Generally, if the delays are inextricably intertwined, neither the Contractor can be held
responsible for the delay (forced to accelerate, or be liable for liquidated damages) nor can he
recover the delay damages from the Owner.

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Until the development of CPM schedule analysis, there was no reliable method to differentiate
the impact of Contractor caused delays from Owner-caused delays. With the sophisticated
computerized techniques now available, however, it has become possible to segregate the
impacts of apparently concurrent Owner and Contractor delays.
In analyzing a delay claim, an analysis based on a comparison of the Contractor’s approved
CPM schedule with the as-built CPM schedule should be performed to apportion proper
responsibility for delay. Because the critical path may shift as the job progresses, it is updated
based upon contractually required input from the Contractor.
Therefore, the aim this paper will be to identify the causes of delay of building construction
projects in Bangladesh, and the important causes of delay in large building projects.

1.3 Purpose of the study

The proposed study tries to assess the causes of delay of building construction projects in
Bangladesh, and the important causes of delay in large building projects.

1.3.1 Specific purposes

The specific purpose of the proposed study will be

 To identify the causes of delays in construction in syihet Province of Bangladish.

 To test the importance of the causes of delay between each two groups of parties.

 To study the differences in perceptions of the three major parties delay in constructions
, namely, owners, con-tractors and consultants
1.3.2 Research question
 What are the causes of delays in construction in syihet Province of Bangladish?
 Is there a differences in level of importance of the causes of delay between each two
groups of parties?
 Is there a differences in perceptions of the three major parties in constructions delay ,
namely, owners, con-tractors and consultants?

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2. Literature Review

Construction industry is a multi-party business and numerous complexities turned it high-risk

trade sector[9]. This industry deals with various contract documents to ensure all parties
agreement.

The attributes of construction delay are well known but its fundamental factors and subsequent
impacts are not understood by the experts. For this reason, many construction projects in
different parts of the world are suffering by schedule overrun which subsequently increases the
project cost and reduces profit [9; 10; 11]. Delay may start from feasibility study and end by the
delivery of the project. The key players, ie owner, A/E or consultant, and contractor, are
involved in schedule overrun of construction projects [1; 12; 13; 14]. Study by Assaf and Al-
Hejji [1] identified 73 causes of delay in construction project of the Eastern Province of Saudi
Arabia. They include: shortage of labors, unqualified work-force, inadequate contractor’s
experience, difficulties in financing project by contractor, ineffective planning and scheduling of
project by contractor, low productivity of labors, delay in progress payments by owner etc. are
noteworthy. Another study by Fugar and Ayakwah-baah [15] identified 32 factors of delay in
building construction projects in Ghana. They include: monthly payments difficulties, poor
estimation of project time and cost, incompetent site management, material shortage etc. ere
Study by Long et al. [16] on large construction projects in Vietnam identified 62 causes of delay,
which were grouped into four categories, ie organizational, project attributes, coordination, and
environmental”. Study by Mohammed and Isah [17] on the causes of delay in construction
projects in Nigeria identified 43 causes of delay frequently encountered in Nigerian construction
industry. Among those, inappropriate planning, lack of communication, errors in design,
shortage of resources supply etc. were top ranked factors, to lengthen the project schedule.

2.1Significance of the study

The Construction industry is large, volatile, and requires tremendous capital outlays. Typically,
the work offers low rates of return in relation to the amount of risk involved. A unique element
of risk in the industry is the manner in which disputes and claims are woven through the fiber of
the construction process. The type of contract used, is often based on an overall attempt to
allocate (often shifting) the risks of the work to the parties involved. A certain amount of risk
must always be recognized and accepted. Risk can only be mitigated - it cannot be eliminated.

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Delays on construction projects are a universal phenomenon. They are almost always
accompanied by cost and time overruns. Construction project delays have a debilitating effect
on parties (owner, contractor, consultant) to a contract in terms of a growth in adversarial
relationships, distrust, litigation, arbitration, cash-flow problems, and a general feeling of
apprehension towards each other.

To these end the study may serve as

 Depending on the research objectives the outcomes of this research will be believed to
mainly benefit the construction industry and any other interested stakeholders.
 Results from this study will help prioritize future research areas.
 Findings of the study will confirm whether the well-liked research topics are in fact most
important to the construction industry and try to understand the needs of the industry,
and increase the relevance of future research
 Springboard for other studies which are focus on similar topics and issues related to
construction project delay.
2.2 Hypothesis

One of the hypotheses of this study is that there will be” no significant variation exist among the
three groups of respondents” namely, owners, con-tractors and consultants

3 Research Method

This study will review a good of articles on causes of delay in construction projects published in
various technical journals. Based on the literature review, a survey questionnaire will be
designed for this study. The questionnaire will have two measures, ie frequency and severity of
the causes of delay. Both frequency and severity will be defined in various categories by 1 to 4
point scale. In frequency, respondents will be asked whether the factor of delay is found in rare,
sometimes, often, or always, which are related to 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively. On the other hand,
severity of the delay factors also will be asked to the respondents in terms of little, moderate,
great, or extreme and the point scale is similar to that of frequency (i.e. 1 to 4).

For this study, Sylhet, the north eastern part of Bangladesh will be selected as the study area
where the trend of population growth is very high (i.e. 8.25%) and 41% buildings have been

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constructed in last 10 years [18]. Accordingly, the construction rate of building projects in
Sylhet region is very high and it needs greater concern about the construction management
system. Approximately 45 consultants or A/E farms, and 100 contactors (all categories) are
working for design, and construction of building projects in Sylhet (reported by Public Works
Department, Sylhet, Bangladesh). Among first class, second class, and third class contractors
according to their organization size and funding capacity, only the first class contractors who
have 5 years or more experience to develop large buildings, will be consulted for this interview
survey. The survey will be conducted with 20 professional consultants and 30 contractors. 20
owners will be interviewed for this study, based on the number of time they build. Since the
survey will be carried out among the sample of the respondents, thus, it is necessary to check the
sample size whether it is statistically sufficient to take inference.

A pilot survey will be conducted by taking interview with experienced engineers to select most
relevant causes of delay in Bangladeshi construction projects. Following the pilot survey, some
factors will be deleted and few will be added. Finally, a new questionnaire consists of different
factors of delay will be developed for the survey.

3.1 Sampling Method

The targeted area for this study are Sylhet, the north eastern part of Bangladesh will be
selected. Where the trend of population growth is very high (i.e. 8.25%) and 41% buildings
have been constructed in last 10 years. Accordingly, the construction rate of building
projects in Sylhet region is very high and it needs greater concern about the construction
management system. Non-probability sampling method will be employed to determine the
sample size.

3.2 Data collection instrument

Primary sources of data will be collected through questioner and interview and also secondary
sources of data related to the title will be gathered and reviewed from articles on causes of
delay in construction projects published in various technical journals. The questionnaire will
have two measures, i.e. frequency and severity of the causes of delay. Both frequency and
severity will be defined in various categories by 1 to 4 point scale. In frequency, the sample
size will be asked whether the factor of delay is found in rare, sometimes, often, or always,
which are related to 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively. On the other hand, severity of the delay

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factors will also asked to the sample size in terms of little, moderate, great, or extreme and
the point scale is similar to that of frequency (i.e. 1 to 4).

3.3 Research approach (design)

A survey research design will be followed for the study.
3.4 Source of data
Both primary and secondary sources of data will be used for the study.
4. Procedure for analyzing data
The collected data will be analyzed through the following statistical techniques and indices:
 Frequency index:
A formula will be used to rank causes of delay based on frequency of occurrence as identified by
the participants . The following equations will be used to calculate frequency index (FI) of each
factor of delay:

Frequency Index (%) = (1)

 Severity index:
A formula will be used to rank causes of delay based on severity as indicated by the
participants. . The following equations will be used to calculate severity index (SI) of each
factor of delay:

Severity Index (%) = (2)

Where, ‘a’ is the weight (i.e. 1, 2, 3 or 4) of any response, ‘n’ is the number of respondents, and
‘N’ is the total number of responses in regards of frequency of the individual factor of delay.
Based on the frequency index and its range shown in table 1, each factor will then ranked.

Table 1 Category of frequency and severity of occurrence of delay

Index Level (%) Frequency Severity Color
25 Rare (R) Low (L) Green
25 to 50 Sometimes (S) Medium (M) Blue
50 to 75 Often (O) Great (G) Yellow
75 to 100 Always (A) Extreme (E) Red

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 Importance index:
The importance index of each cause is calculated as a function of both frequency and severity
indices, as follows.

The different level of frequency and severity will be marked by color to produce various color
zones for identifying the importance of the factors of delay. This color matrix was formed based
on the concept developed by Mahmid [19]. If the factor falls in the red, yellow, blue, or green
zone, it means the factor is very high, high, medium, or low, respectively in terms of
importance, to cause schedule overrun.

A VH

H VH
O

L M
S

L M G E

Severity
Frequency

Figure 1 Color Matrix for classifying level ofImportance of Delay Factors

 Spearmans rank correlation

Spearmans rank correlation is a non-parametric test. These tests are also referred to as
distribution-free tests. These tests have the obvious advantage of not requiring the assumption of
normality or the assumption of homogeneity of variance. They compare medians rather than
means and, as a result, if the data have one or two outliers, their influence is negated. In this
research the Spearmans Correlation will be used. Correlation is a relation-ship measure among
different parties or factors and the strength and direction of the relationship. In this research it
will be used to show the degree of agreement between the different parties. The correlation
coefficient varies between +1and-1, where +1 implies a perfect positive relationship (agreement),
while-1 results from a perfect negative relationship (disagreement). It might be said then that

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sample estimates of correlation close to unity in magnitude imply good correlation, while values
near zero indicate little or no correlation. The Spearmans rank correlation coefficient r is used to
measure and compare the association between the rankings of two parties for a single cause of
delay, while ignoring the ranking of the third party.

 Kruskal-Wallis test

Kruskal-Wallis test will be applied to test the difference of responses among the three group of
respondents
4.1 Reporting the data
The research will be planned to use tables to report the findings of data analysis results.

5 Research Ethics
The research will be conducted under the consideration of due research discipline and will give
credit for copied ,adapted ,or paraphrased materials .

6 Communicating the result

The result will be disseminated to the public through international conference and journal
articles.

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7 TIME SCHEDULE

Table 7.1 Time schedule

No Activities months
April May June July August September
1 Gathering literature review and
referring books
2 Identifying target population
3 Decision of sample size
4 Develop questionnaires and an
interview
5 Collection of data
6 Data analysis
7 Writing first draft of final report
8 Submission of final report

8 BUDGET BREAK DOWN

Table 8.1 Budget break down

No Description Unite Quantity Unite price Total cost

1 Transport cost to collect Tripe 10 200 2000
data around Addis Abeba
and SNNPRS
2 House allowance cost Day 60 200 12000
(Bedroom)
3 Flash disc (16GB) No 1 400 400
4 Photocopy & printing Lamp sum 2000 2000
expenses
5 Expense for internet Lamp sum 1500 1500
service
6 Cost for collection of No 10 250 2500
reference materials
7 Mobile card No 6 50 300

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9 REFERENCES
[1] Assaf, S.A. and Al-Hejji, S. (2006) Causes of delay in large construction projects. International Journal of
Project Management, 24(4), 349–357.
[2] Kikwasi, G. (2013) Causes and effects of delay and disruptions in construction projects in Tanzania.
Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building Conference Series, 1(2), 5259.
[3] Haseeb, M., Bibi, A. and Rabbani, W. (2011) Problems of projects and effects of delay in the
onstruction industry of Pakistan. Australian Journal of Business and Management Research, 1(5), 41-50
[4] Pourrostam, T. and Ismail, A. (2011) Significant factors causing and effects of delay in Iranian
construction projects. Australian Journal of Bas. App. Sci., 5(7).
Sambasivan, M. and Soon, Y.W. (2007) Causes and effects of delay in Malaysian construction industry.
International Journal of Project Management, 25(5), 517–526.
[5] Jabeen, H. (2013) Private sector investment decisions in building and construction: Increasing, managing
and transferring risks: The case of Dhaka. Background Paper prepared for the Global Assessment Report
on Disaster Risk Reduction, UN, Geneva, Switzerland.
[6] Salam, M.A., Staines, H.J., Blackwood, D.J. and Sarkar, S. (2001) Analysis of the relationships between
causes of delay in construction projects in Bangladesh. Proceeding of 17th Annual ARCOM Conference,
5-7 September., University of Salford, UK, pp. 619–28.
[7] Ahsan, K. and Gunawan, I. (2010) Analysis of cost and schedule performance of international
development projects. International Journal of Project Management, 28(1), 68–78.
[8] Semple, C., Hartman, F.T. and Jergeas, G. (1994) Construction claims and disputes: Causes and cost/time
overruns. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 120(4), 785-795.
[9] Amhel, O., Soyingbe, A. and Odusami, K. (2010) Significant factors causing cost overruns in
telecommunication projects in Nigeria. Journal of Construction in Developing Countries, 15(2), 49-67.
[10] Abdul-Rahman, H. and Berawi, M. (2006) Delay mitigation in the Malaysian construction industry.
Journal of Construction Engineering Management, 132(2), 125–133.
[11] Gündüz, M., Nielsen, Y., and Özdemir, M. (2013) Quantification of delay factors using the relative
importance index method for construction projects in Turkey. Journal of Management in Engineering,
29(2), 133–139.
[12] Kazaz, A., Ulubeyli, S. and Tuncbilekli, N.A. (2012) Causes of delay in construction projects in Turkey.
Journal of Civil Engineering and Management, 18(3), 426-435.
[13] Alaghbari, W., Kadir, M.R.A. and Salim, A. (2007) The significant factors causing delay of building
construction projects in Malaysia. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 14(2), 192–
206.
[14] Fugar, F.D.K. and Agyakwah-baah, A.B. (2010) Delay in building construction projects in Ghana.
Australian Journal of Construction Economics and Building, 10(1/2), 103–116.
[15] Long, N., Ogunlana, S., Quang, T. and Lam, K. (2004) Large construction projects in developing
countries: A case study from Vietnam. International Journal of Project Management, 22(7), 553– 561.
[16] Mohammed, K. and Isah, A. (2012) Causes of delay in Nigeria construction industry. Interdisciplinary
Journal of Construction Research in Business, 4(2), 785–795.
[17] Sharmin A. (2013) Analyzing population distribution and its effect on earthquake loss estimation in
Sylhet, Bangladesh. M.S. thesis, Twente Univ., Netherlands.
[18] Mahamid, I. (2011) Risk matrix for factors affecting time delay in road construction projects: Owners’
perspective. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 18(6), 609–617.

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