Causes of Delays and Their Impacts in Road Construction Proj-2

Addis Ababa University
Faculty of technology
Department of construction Technology and

Management
Bachelor Thesis in ‘Construction Technology and Management’
Causes of Delays and Their Impacts in Road Construction

Projects in Ethiopia
Girma Worku
Tessema Chala
Yifredew Abreham August 2006

Causes of Delays and their Impacts in Road Construction Projects in Ethiopia
Causes of Delays and Their Impacts in Road Construction

Projects in Ethiopia
PROJECTS CONSIDERED IN THE STUDY
PROJECTS CONSIDERED IN THE CASE

PROJECTS CONSIDERED IN THE SITE VISIT STUDY
Addis A. -Ambo Nazreth- Assela Dera-Magna Mojo-Awash Hirna-Kulubi

R. R. P. R.U.P. R.R.P. R.U.P. R.U.P.
Bachelor Thesis in ‘Construction Technology and Management’
Girma Worku
Tessema Chala
Yifredew Abreham
Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology

Department of construction technology and management
2006
Advisor
Ato Dereje Kidane

Ethiopian Road Authority
Manager, Construction Contract Implementation Division
Thesis committee
Ato Imam Muhamed

Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (s.c.)
Department of Construction Technology and Management
Dr. wubishet Jekale

Dr. surafel Ketema

Dr. Samuel Tadesse

External Examiner
Ato sintayehu Hunde

Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM II

Abstract
With the advent of the liberalization of the economy and availability of

funds from international financers, there has been a surge of large-scale
road construction projects in Ethiopia. While this large-scale investment in
the road construction sector has been the major step in the right
direction, this venture has been beset with unfortunate incidences of
project delays and associated cost claims ranging in millions of Birr. Delay
claims are demands for time extensions and/or associated costs that a
contractor rightly or wrongly believes he has a right to. Whilst delay claims
are unenviable fact in the construction industry, future handling of such
incidents will have to be depend on developing healthy understanding of
their occurrences and formulating a strategy of minimizing risks associated
with it. The objectives of this research are, therefore, to investigate the
cause of potential delays and to propose a possible mitigation as the
handling of similar incidents in the future.
The study had developed its research framework through combining

different methodologies including literature survey and interviews on three
ongoing road construction projects with the three parties involved in the
road construction sector. The study attempts also to analyze case studies
on two completed road projects executed during the first phase of Road
Sector Development program of the Ethiopian Road Authority.
The main observations of this study work have been the fact that events
that cause delays during the implementation phase are related to pre-
construction and construction phase activities. Results indicate that the
main causes of delays that arise from pre-construction stage are related
to design problems, contract documents, tender documents preparation
and procurement management. Causes of delay that arise during
construction stage include: right off way problems, change orders, and
variations.
All these causes have an impact on the successful completion of projects

at the time and cost contractually specified. The finding suggest that
special attention to factors identified in this study will help the industry
practitioners in minimizing the risk of contract disputes arise from the
delays.
Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM III

Acknowledgement
This study book contains a distillation of much knowledge and findings

and many people have contributed to it in various ways.
Acknowledgements to the fore bearer of those who built up with
knowledge and continued them are unquestionable.
Our adviser, Ato Dereje Kidane, deserves the greatest thanks. This is due,
not only he has been an ideal advisor in discussing our thoughts
thoroughly and giving constructive comments, valuable guidance and
advice on a number of issues; but also his great support during our site visit
in arranging transportation facilities to minimize our expenditures.
We are thankful for Ato Abiy, who helped us as a co-advisor, for his
encouragement and support during our study and providing us with
relevant information and documents of the projects we studied. We are
also grateful to the counter parts of all the study projects for their unlimited
support and response during the interview and encouraged the other
practitioners to share their views and ideas on the different issues of the
study.
Furthermore, special and great thanks should go to:

• Legal Division Manager of ERA, for his cooperation in allowing us to
borrow books and other reading materials to assist us in producing a
well researched thesis.
• the study project practitioners for their thoughtful and valuable

responses during the interviews.
• the Construction Contract Implementations Division of ERA for the

secretarial and editorial support.
Finally, but not the last and the least by no means, special and great
thanks goes to our parents who have been providing us with the
necessary help during our academic career without which the education
could have been more difficult.
Girma Worku
Tessema Chala
Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM IV
Yifredew Abreham
August 2006
Executive summary
Ethiopia is one of the developing countries that suffer from deficiencies in

road infrastructures, which are realized through implementing Public
Construction Projects. The successful completion of these infrastructures at the
time and cost contractually specified is important for the development of the
country. This is to say that they are most important enablers for social, political
and economic developments as the relationship between these project and
the different social, political and economic sectors are considerable.
These projects however used to encounter considerable time and cost

overruns when compared with their planned values. This is mainly because the
nature of the work and the environment in which they are built make such
projects susceptible to delays and cost overruns. Delays in completion of
highway construction projects can result in higher costs to owners and
contractors, greater inconvenience to the public workers in construction work
zones and prolong safety risks to the highway users. These situations affect and
puzzle not only Practitioners in the field but also Government, policy makers
and International Development Financers.
We pushed ourselves to look in to delay issues that gave way to our motivation
to undertake such a demanding task. As a result, the problem statement of
this study was shaped and built on causes of delays and their impacts on road
construction projects.
Three questions were considered in our study to develop the conceptual

framework of the problem. These were: Are Road Construction projects
executed within the time contractually specified? If not, Why Road
Construction projects are not executed within the time contractually
specified? And how can this problem be improved?
To answer these questions, we used the 10-year Road Sector Development

Program of the Government of Ethiopia as the base line. The reasons behind
using this program were: the programs general objective and its focus towards
developing the road infrastructure projects and policy reforms to the road
sector of the transport industry.
Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM V

The general objective of RSDP aims at addressing constraints to economic

and social development resulting from the lack, or inadequacy of road
infrastructure. It is known that the road density of Ethiopia, which is about 30
Km/1000 km2, is very small compared to the average density of more than 50
Km/1000Km2 for Africa. This has resulted in a considerable retard on the
development of the country towards accessing the rural areas, productive
areas with the urban areas. Therefore, the general objective of RSDP towards
increasing the road density together with improving its standard is a good
starting point to study issues of project delays as the timely completion of
individual project has an effect on the overall plan of government towards
achieving the required density and standard within the targeted time frame.
The Ethiopian Road Authority (ERA), on behave of the Government of Ethiopia

(GoE) is undertaking the program which is divided in to two phases. The first
phase (RSDP-I) covered from 1997 and 2002 with objective of improving the
road network that has been continuously deteriorating to hamper the
efficiency of the road transportation system. The second phase (RSDP-II) is
between 2002 and 2007 mainly focusing on upgrading and rehabilitating of
the existing road network. During the assessment of RSDP-I it was indicated
that the overall physical accomplishment and corresponding financial
disbursement was only 88 and 77% respectively. This indicates that about 12%
of the planned physical work was delayed and is being carried out in the
second phase of the program. This fact gave us the way to study the causes
of delays and their impacts in terms of time and cost overrun. Therefore, this
study focuses on case study of two completed road projects from RSDP-I and
three ongoing projects from RSDP-II.
Most studies we reviewed were conducted to assess causes of delays based

on events that arise during construction stage on the basis either a single
criterion such as frequency of delays or delay analysis methods; or a single
actor’s perspective often focusing on contractor or client. This, as we believe,
is short of the project perspective where several stakeholders have stakes in
the causes of delays. Thus, we designed the area of our study to take account
of both the pre-construction and construction stage events to include the
different stakeholders that contribute to delays and this helps to formulate a
fair approach for the overall apportionment of responsibility for delay to each
parties.
This study was therefore designed to contribute understanding to:

• Pre-construction and construction phase events that cause delays
to the timely completion of road construction projects and the
extent of delays in project duration with respect to the project
original duration
Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM VI

• Impacts of delays in terms of time and cost overruns and opinion of

parties involve in the project on the overall apportionment of the
responsibility for delay to each of the parties
• Ways of minimizing road project delays
Generally, the research falls into a realistic and practical approach. It is

realistic because the research was problem centered, occurring frequently,
real world practice oriented and trying to see into consequences of actions or
contributory relationships in apportionment of the responsibility. It is also
practical in that its structure was built upon the contextual, conceptual and
methodological frameworks interactively.
The study instrument used was literature review (both primary and secondary
data), interviews (with project owner, contractors and consultants) and case
study. Evidences collected were analyzed by discussing the findings and
comparing them with the thoughts of different researchers discussed in
literature reviews. We chose discussion method of analyzing the findings
mainly because the number of projects considered and parties interviewed is
not representative to analyze using statistical method.
A survey of contractors, consultants and owner was conducted to assess the

causes of delay, their impacts and the party responsible for the delay. It was
found that all projects experience delay. Time extension was requested by the
contractors in all of those delayed projects, and the extension were approved
partially or completely in most of the delayed projects indicating a partial
assumption of responsibility by the owner or at least that delays were
excusable. Owner and consultants assigned the major responsibility for delay
to the contractors but the contractors placed it mostly on the owner.
The study indicated that delays in the road construction projects occur partly
due to events that arise from the pre-construction activities. The analysis of the
data collected appears to show that the pre-construction events leading to
delay of projects are attributable to the project owner (ERA) and consultant.
Pre-construction problems causing delays due to owner related problems are
poor contract management and unclear need of the owner that lead to
change order during construction stage.
The study reviled that delays caused by consultants are mostly related to
design problem and incomplete bidding document preparation. The most
critical and frequently appearing problems related to pre-construction events
seem to be those related to design problems. There has been a significant
delay due to design changes, modifications and lack of sufficient details.
Inadequate/inaccurate soil investigation report of the proposed quarry sites
Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM VII

and rocky areas have contributed to delay of projects. It appears that in most
of the cases variation orders are entertained due to incompleteness of project
design during the design preparation of the projects. The study indicated that
incomplete bidding document preparation by the consultants is among the
causes of delay event.
All the projects analyzed in this study have experienced right of way
problem making it a prime claim point for extension of time and cost
compensation. The coordination of the removal of unclear obstructions
that are belonged to the different government agencies has been
significantly the causes of delays. As the exclusive responsibility of the
Clint, the contractors are entitled for time extension and cost
compensation.
The study indicated that contractors undertaking the construction of

projects lack experience in road construction projects. They also lack
skilled and key personnel to carry out the works; failed to mobilize plant
and equipment and personnel at the right time and location; open too
many fronts beyond its management and resource capacity; unable to
hold realistic work plan and schedule and lack of awareness about the
specification and sufficiency of tender documents.
The contractors carrying the construction of the projects lack experience

in road construction projects even though they have experience in
construction of other public works like Water Works and Rail Ways. Lack of
skilled project managers is found to be the main problem for the
contractors that make them unable to achieve desired targets. They lack
experienced and professional project managers to plan, direct and
control the overall activity of the projects, as the result time and resources
are being wasted without giving desired results.
Finally, we recommended investing in proper pre-tendering work plan

towards obtaining sufficient soil and survey investigation data’s with the
objective of producing complete design documents. Construction
materials should be investigated and classified during planning, location,
survey, and/or design, but must be referenced to the survey line. Again
creating awareness about delays in the execution of projects, among
concerned government institutions, needs to be carried out. The owner is
also advised to appoint ‘Risk Manager’ who has a reasonable level of
programming skill and involve both in pre-construction and construction
stage of the project. The information collected by the manager regarding
elements that affect the design and procurement method is then
scheduled and provided for the contractor during tendering such that
Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM VIII

reliable information will be produced and shall be the base for the
contractors pricing during tendering.
Table of Contents
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………IX
Acknowledgement……………………………………….………………………..IX
Executive Summary…………………………………………………………………IX
Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………..IX
List of Tables and Figurers…………………………………………………….…..IX
Abbreviations and/or Acronyms……………………………….……………..IX
Appendix
Chapter 1: introduction
1.1. General………………………………………………………………...1
1.2. Background…………………………………………………………...3
1.2.1. Development and Physical infrastructure……………...3
1.2.2. The Road Sector Development Program
(RSDP)………………………………………………………….3
1.2.3. SWOT analysis of RSDP……………………………………...7
1.3. The research Objective……………………………………………..8
1.4. The research justification…………………………………………...8
1.5. The research methodology………………………………………..9
1.6. The dissertation overview………………………………………….10
Chapter 2: Pre-construction Events Causing Delays During
Construction Stage
2.1. General……………………………………………………………….11
2.2. Causes of delay due to events during pre-construction
Stage………………………………………………………………….12
2.2.1. Contract document preparation………………………13
2.2.1.1. Condition of contract………………………14
2.2.1.2. Specification and drawings……………….15
2.2.1.3. Bill of quantity…………………………………17
2.2.2. Design preparation……………………………………….18
2.2.2.1 Surveying error……………………………….18
2.2.3. Tender document preparation………………………...20
2.2.4. Process of tendering…………………...………………...21
2.2.5. Contract negotiation process………………………….22
Chapter 3: Causes of delays during construction stage
3.1. General………………………………………………………………23
Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM IX
3.2. Types of Delays……………………………………………………..23

3.2.1. Non-excusable Delays……………………………………23
3.2.2. Non-compensable Excusable Delays…………………24
3.2.3. Compensable Excusable Delays………………………24
3.2.4. Concurrent Delays ……………………………………….24
3.3. Occurrences of Construction Delays …………………………25
3.4. Identification of causes of Delays……………………………..26
3.4.1. Delays caused by the contractor……………………..28
3.4.2. Delays caused by the Client…………………………..29
3.4.3. Delays caused by the consultant……………………...30
3.4.4. Delays caused by outside the control of either
party to the contract……………………………………..30
3.5. Extension of time clauses in FIDIC 87 conditions of
Contract……………………………………………………………...30
3.5.1. The amount of nature or extra or addition work…….32
3.5.2. Exceptionally adverse climatic condition…………….33
3.5.3. Any delay, impediment or prevention by the
employer under sub clause 40.1………………………..33
3.5.4. Other special circumstances…………………………….33
3.6. Notices for granting extension of time………………………….34
3.7. Sources information for assessing a delay and their
Causes………………………………………………………………..34
3.8. Liquidated damage for delay…………………………………...35
3.9. Methodology for assessing construction delay………………36
Chapter 4: Interviews and their Findings
4.1. General………………………………………………………………39
4.2. Addis Ababa-Ginchi-Ambo Road Rehabilitation Project….40
4.2.1. General about the project………………………………40
4.2.2. Physical Progress of the work……………………………40
4.2.3. Causes of delay of the project………………………….40
4.2.3.1. Contractor’s Failure…………………………41
4.2.3.2. Employer’s Failure……………………………42
4.2.3.3. Consultant’s Failure…………………………42
4.2.3.4. Due to third party……………………………42
4.2.4. Action taken by the parties……………………………...42
4.2.5. Impacts of the project delay……………………………43
4.2.6. Conclusions and Recommendations…………………..43
4.3. Nazareth-Assela Road Upgrading Project…………………….44
4.3.1. General about the project……………………………….44
4.3.2. Scope of the project………………………………………44
4.3.3. Physical progress of the project…………………………44
4.3.4. Causes of delay for the project…………………………45
4.3.4.1. Contractor’s Failure…………………………45
Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM X

4.3.4.2. Client’s Failure………………………………..47

4.3.4.3. Consultant’s Failure………………………….47
4.3.4.4. Causes of delay due to reasons outside
the control of the parties…………………..48
4.3.5. Impacts of the project delay…………………………….48
4.4. Dera-Chole-Magna Road Upgrading Project………………..50
4.4.1. General about the project……………………………….50
4.4.2. Progress of the work……………………………………….50
4.4.3. Causes of delay for the project…………………………50
4.4.3.1. Contractor’s Failure………………………….50
4.4.3.2. Employer’s Failure……………………………52
4.4.3.3. Consultant’s Failure………………………….52
4.4.3.4. Delays caused by out side the control
the control of the parties…………………..52
4.4.4. Other comments by the contractor……………………52
Chapter 5: Case Study
5.1. General………………………………………………………………55
5.2. Modjo Awash Road Upgrading Project (Project one)………55
5.2.1. Project information…….…………………………………..55
5.2.2. Findings……………………………………………………….55
5.3. Hirna-Kulubi Road Upgrading Project (Project two)…………57
5.3.1. Project information……..………………………………….57
5.3.2. Findings……………………………………………………….58
5.4. General Discussion…………………………………………………61
Chapter 6: Analysis of Delay impacts
6.1. Financial Impact on the Parties………………………………….62
6.2. Economical Impact of the Country…………………………….63
6.3. Social Impact………………………………………………………..63
6.4. Environmental Impact……………………………………………..64
6.5. Political Impact……………………………………………………..64
Chapter 7: Conclusions and Recommendations
7.1. Conclusions …………………………………
7.1.1. Pre-construction Events that lead to Delays………...65
7.1.1.1. Delays caused by Project Owner (ERA)………...65
7.1.1.2. Delays caused by Consultants……………………66
7.1.2. Construction stage Events that lead to Delays……...67
7.1.2.1. Delays caused by project owner (ERA)………..68
7.1.2.2. Delays caused by Contractors…………………..68
7.1.2.3. Delays caused by Consultants……………………70
7.2. recommendations………………………………………………….70
Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM XI

List of Tables and Figures
List of Tables
Table 1.1. Planned RSDP-I

Table 1.2. Ethiopia networks (Km) as of 1996
Table 1.3. Physical accomplishment of RSDP-I
Table 1.4. Length of classified road network (Km)
Table 1.5. RSDP-II Target
Table 1.6. Surface network in selected African countries
Table 1.7. The Question-Answer Approach
Table 2.1. Advantages of pre-qualification in procurement
Table 3.1. Categories of delays according to their nature and mode of
occurrence
Table 4.1. Projects considered in the interview and site visit
Table 4.2. Causes of delay in Addis Ababa-Ginchi-Ambo Road
Rehabilitation Project
Table 4.3. Cause of delay in Nazareth-Assela Road Upgrading Project
Table 4.4. Cause of delay in Dera-Chole-Magna Road Upgrading Project
Table 5.1. Summery of extension of time claims for Modjo- Awash road
project
Table 5.2. Summery of extension of time claims for Hirna-Kulubi road
project
Table 5.3. Extra/increased quantity and additional works
List of Figures
Figure 1.1. Internal and external factors affecting RSDP

Figure 2.1. Mistakes in Contract Tender
Figure 3.1. Cause-Effect relationship of Construction Delays
Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM XII

ABBREVIATIONS
AARRP Addis Ababa Ring Road Project

ADLI Agricultural Development-Led Industrialization
EPRDF Ethiopian People Republic Democratic Front
ERA Ethiopian Roads Authority
GoE Government of Ethiopia
IDA International Development Association
RSDP Road Sector Development Program
RSDP-I Road Sector Development Program Phase-I
RSDP-II Road Sector Development Program phase-II
WB World Bank
Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM XIII

Chapter One: Introduction
1.1. General
One of the most important problems in the construction industry is delay. Even
though owners and contractors strive to avoid delays in construction and to
minimize the time and costs associated with delays, they often find it difficult
to control the circumstances causing delays. Delays occur in every
construction projects though the magnitude varies considerably from project
to project. Some projects are only a few days behind the schedule; some are
delayed over a year. The complexity of projects, complicated schedules and
hair-splitting coordination all contribute to the necessity for this attention to
time. And when deviations in construction schedules occur — as they
invariably do for a variety of reasons — ominous shadows can emerge from
behind the clock: delay, acceleration and cumulative impact claims [1].
According to Robert Palles, delay and additional cost in construction projects
are an inevitable consequence of the risk and uncertainty associated with the
execution of any construction project, which is likely to be unique and
prototypical in nature [2].
According to Mohamed I Al-Khalil and Mohammed A Al-Ghafly, delay is

costly for both owner and contractor. The owner loses by missing out on the
potential revenues from the uses of the project and by increased overhead
costs for contract administration and supervision and the contractor also
loses due to increased costs in the overhead and tied-up capital [3]. The
contractor losses also include lost opportunities for new projects because of
diminished financial capabilities. In public projects, the public may be
affected by the delay in the utilization of the facilities and by the extended
inconveniences such as traffic distribution.
According to A.C. Twort, a delay can affect a portion of the work or the
whole of the work. It can also be complete-such as when the engineer orders
a machine to stop working and no other work is available for it; or it can be
partial- such as when materials or services to be provided by the employer
under other contracts are not forthcoming at sufficient speed to allow the
contractor maintain normal rates of outputs [4]. Delay can be divided in to
two broad categories: delay to the compilation of the contract itself,
resulting from a delay to work which is on the critical path of the construction
program, i.e. critical delay, and delay to part of the work which does not
cause delay to overall completion, i.e. non-critical delay [5]. The critical
delay is the cause for Time Claim, which is either claim by the employer for
late completion (liquidated damages) or by the contractor for extension of
time. The study by Abebe Dinku and Girmay Kahssay as published in Journal
of EER, Vol. 20 revealed that all international projects being carried out in
Ethiopia have not been completed on time; rather all of them have been
granted time extension [6]. For instance, according to the study, the
contractor of Addis Ababa Ring Road Project (AARRP) had requested about
97.1% of the contract period for time extensions and, up to the writing of the
Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM 1

article, the contractor had been granted a time extensions of about 89.37%
of his demand. This and other related literatures indicate that delayed
operative tasks generate a cumulative effect, which delays the overall
delivery time making efficient time management difficult.
The nature of the work in road projects and the environment in which they
are built make such projects susceptible to delay. The influential factors can
be:
• High uncertainty associated with such projects because they require
excavations in varied soil and site conditions
• Work in these projects depends heavily on equipment and may be
delayed because of the need for equipment repair and maintenance.
• Numerous government authorities are involved in the project and
each may require the contractor to obtain different permits with
restriction on time and work area. A great deal of coordination among
these agencies is required to avoid delay.
These factors increase the likelihood of delay in the road project as

compared with other public projects. Delays in the completion of highway
construction projects can result in higher costs to owners and contractors as
well as greater inconvenience to the public workers in construction work
zones. Delays can also prolong safety risks to highway users. Therefore, this
study focuses on identifying events that cause delay, both in pre-construction
and during construction stages; the impacts of delay in terms of time and
cost overruns and ways of alleviating problems related with project delay
such that benefits of reducing road construction time delay could be
achieved:
“ The primary benefits of reducing highway construction
project times are to reduce traffic delay and associated
costs, decrease the number of collisions and injuries
associated with construction-related accidents, and lower
the capital costs of maintaining traffic that are associated
with highway construction projects”[9].
Delay therefore is an important issue to the construction industry.

Investigation in to this problem area is needed in order to better manage
delay situations and to mitigate their consequences. So it is essential to
define the actual causes of delays in order to minimize and avoid the delays
in construction projects. Assessing the actual causes of delay, the extent to
which delay may occur and the impacts of delay can provide insights for
early planning to control projects delay and improve project performance.

1.2. Background
1.2.1. Development and physical infrastructure
The development of physical infrastructure is one of the most important

enablers for social, political and economic development in Ethiopia. This is
mainly because the development of a country is highly dependent on the
growth of its physical infrastructure and it, as an asset, is one indicator for
economic growth (Hudson, Haas and Uddin; 1997 as Quoted in Wubishet
Jekale, 2004). For instance, a WB study by Quieroz, as quoted in Wubishet
Jekale revealed that the correlation between infrastructure development and
growth of nations are considerably interlinked [7]. In general, development of
physical infrastructure has influences in facilitating and enhancing activities
through:
• Providing the necessary links and access to production centers and
markets for agricultural commodities
• Distributing resources within and across countries
• Provide access to economic, political and social services
• For reliable food security
• Attracting local and foreign investment, etc.
Our study focuses on physical infrastructures, which are commonly called

public projects. However, it considers only one of the public projects; namely,
Road Projects of the transport sector. Development of Road infrastructure is
one of the most important facilitators for economic development of Ethiopia.
As pointed out in RSDP-II of ERA, access to transportation has also an
important non-economical role of facilitating political, social and overall
government administration to enhance cohesion of the country, as well as
the provision of social services [8].
Expansion of basic infrastructure to meet essential social and economic

development needs is one of the wide-ranging spectral policy objective and
program targets of EPRDF program for the successful implementation of the
national strategy (Agricultural Development Led Industrialization-ADLI) [8].
The success of the Government of Ethiopia’s (GoE) ADLI strategy critically
depends on the country’s transport system. Small-scaled farmers scattered in
tiny rural community account for the bulk of the agricultural production in the
country. On the other hand, major markets, the processing and collecting
centers for crops and the distribution points for the agricultural inputs
including fuel are concentrated in urban centers located at considerable
distance from each other and from the ports.
1.2.1. The Road Sector Development Program (RSDP)
Realizing the importance of the road transport sector the government has
formulated coherent 10-years Road Sector Development Program (RSDP)
since 1997 and actively focusing on its implementation. The program was
designed to ensure the development of road construction projects and

policy reforms to the road sector of the transport industry including its
financial and institutional management system. This was due to
Governments’ beliefs that infrastructure has a key role in every effort for
economic growth and their contributions to poverty alleviation. The program
is divided in to two phases:
Phase-I (RSDP-I)
This is the first fie-year strategic plan between 1997 and 2002 Fiscal Year. Its
main objective has been improvement of the road network that has been
continuously deteriorating to hamper the efficiency of the road
transportation system. The program considered the rehabilitation, upgrading
and construction of new road and also considered major policy and
institutional reforms as the major objective. The Federal Roads has covered
52.5% by length (km) and 77.9% by cost (Millions EBirr) of the Public
Construction works according to plan in 1997/98, that is; during the start of
RSDP-I.
Table 1.1. Planned RASP-I
Components Length Cost

Km % Birr %
Federal Road 9278 52.5 12737.2 77.9
Regional Road 8386 47.5 2412.3 14.8
Others 1197.2 7.3
Total 17664 100.0 16346.7 100.0
Source: ERA, 2001
The main target of the first phase of the program was the rehabilitation and
upgrading of main roads, and new construction of link and regional roads. It
was targeted to rehabilitate and upgrade about 2,542 Km of trunk roads at
an estimated cost of Birr 4.6 billion, upgrade/construct 785 Km of link roads at
Birr 0.9 billion. The program also included maintenance of all types of roads,
studies, institutional capacity building and policy support projects. The
program was also targeted to increase the road density to 0.49 km per 1000
population and 27-km/1000 km2 with about 60% of the network in good
condition compared to the total classified road network as of 1996 (Table
1.2.), which was 23,812 km out of which 15,769 km (66%) was under Federal
Roads. Besides, it was only 15% of the road network found paved.
Table 1.2. Ethiopia networks (Km) as of 1996, Source: ERA, 2001
Class of Road Paved Unpaved Total
Federal Roads 3656 23% 12113 77% 15769 66%

Regional Roads ---- 0% 8043 100% 8043 34%
Total Road Network 3656 15% 20156 85% 23812 100%

According to the result of analysis at the end of the phase, the overall
physical accomplishment of RSDP-I as of June 2002 and the corresponding
financial disbursement are 88 & 77%. Even though the construction of major
and rural road have proceeded satisfactorily exhibiting 105% and 111% rate
of accomplishment respectively, the Periodic maintenance works was
lagging behind with only 23% of the planned physical accomplishment
achieved.
Table 1.3. Physical accomplishment of RSDP-I
No. Components Km
1 Rehabilitation of Trunk Roads 1,010

2 Upgrading of Trunk Roads 537
3 Upgrading of Link Roads 10
4 Construction of Link Roads 826
5 Federal Heavy Road Maintenance 254
6 Construction of RR 6,000
Total 8,636
Source: RASP-II
The total classified road network has increased by about 40 percent over the
RSDP-I; much increase, 107 percent, in the regional roads including low class
roads. The size of the road network is still one of extremes with a total land
area of over 1.1 million sq. km and a population of close to 67.2 million, the
total network has a very low density; about 30 km per 1000 sq.km. Generally
the following table (Table 1.4.) shows the percentage change in the length
of Federal and Regional Roads starting from 1996 to 2002.
Table 1.4. Length of classified road network (Km)
Class of Road Paved Unpaved Total % Change

1996 2002 1996 2002 1996 2002
Federal Roads 3656 4053 12133 12564 15789 16617 5
Regional Roads --- --- 8043 16680 8043 16680 107
Total 3656 4053 20176 29244 23832 33297 40
Source: RSDP-II
Phase-II (RSDP-II)
This is the second five-year strategic plan between 2002 and 2007 Fiscal Year
mainly focused on upgrading and rehabilitating of the existing road network.
This was because Ethiopia’s roads were facing shortage of resources for
maintenance during the 1970’s and 1980’s so that most of the roads were at
the verge of total deterioration. Therefore, construction of new roads could
not be a top priority. Thus, RSDP-I has not brought change on the road
density of Ethiopia, which is still by far below most sub-Sahara African
countries. It was reported that the road density figure 30 Km per 100 Km2 for

the Ethiopia is very small compared to an average density of above 50 Km

per 1000 km2 for Africa (Table 1.6). The reason is, even though, Ethiopia is a
big country in both size and population, and its surface transport system is
very limited compared to the countries mentioned on table – below.
Therefore, RSDP-II gives attention to expansion of the network so that the

road infrastructure is capable of supporting the country’s economic
development endeavor while completing ongoing rehabilitation works. The
main target of the program is increasing the road density to 0.5-km/1,000
populations and 34-km/1,000 km2 with about 45% of the road in good
condition (compared to the 30% of 2002).
Table 1.5. RSDP-II Target
Indicators 2002 2007

Proportion of asphalt roads in Good Condition 35% 57%
Proportion of gravel roads in Good Condition 30% 42%
Proportion of rural roads in Good Condition 28% 40%
Road density/1000 sq.km 30 km 35 km
Road density/1000 pop. 0.50 km 0.50 km
Proportion of area more than 5 km from all weather road 75% 70%
Average distance to all weather road 17 km 14 km
Source: RASP-II
Table 1.6. Surface network in selected African countries
Land Road Network Road Densities

Area Population Main Total
Country Km of road/Km of Km of Road/
(‘000 (In million) Main Total Km of road/
sq.km) 1000 Km sq.kmRoad/1000
of 1000 Km sq.km
1000 pop
Land area Pop Of land area
Angola 1247 12.0 23570 72021 2.0 18.09 6.0 57.7
Cameroon 465 13.9 12736 50308 0.9 27.4 3.6 108.2
Chad 1260 7.1 4704 28704 0.7 3.7 4.0 22.7
DR Congo 2267 46.7 50000 132400 1.1 22.1 2.8 58.4
Kenya 569 28.6 6554 67181 0.3 11.5 2.4 118.1
Madagascar 582 14.1 8430 29905 0.6 14.5 2.1 51.4
Mali 1220 10.8 13004 16211 1.3 10.7 1.6 13.5
Mozambique 784 16.6 4371 25468 0.3 5.5 1.5 32.5
Nigeria 911 117.7 62800 193200 0.5 68.9 1.6 212.1
South Africa 1221 40.7 20000 525927 0.5 16.4 12.9 430.7
Sudan 2376 27.7 8322 23162 0.3 3.5 0.8 9.7
Tanzania 884 31.3 28000 63000 0.9 31.7 2.1 71.3
Zambia 743 9.4 17051 64551 0.5 22.9 6.9 86.4
ECOWAS 6139 208.0 173164 430390 0.8 28.3 `2.4 70.1
COMESA 5244 161.0 243350 64094 0.4 12.2 1.5 46.4
Ethiopia 1100 67.2 16617 33297 0.3 15.1 0.5 30.3
Source: World Bank, SSATP Data Base (2000) quoted in RSDP-II

1.2.2. SWOT Analysis of RSDP
The RASP represents a huge investment program. As the needs for the sector in
general are rapidly changing, the analysis of the characteristics of the demand
and the required types and levels of intervention becomes a complex task. In
addressing these needs, the GoE has reformed ERA and RROs, recruiting more
professionals and has given them on-the-training through attachments to
different roadwork activities and contracts. In addition, Government has
received donor assistance in providing consultancy services in terms of TA and
training to ERA staff in critical areas of program management, legal and
technical aspects of contract administration, planning and programming,
maintenance management etc.
Generally the following figure shows the strength, weakness, opportunity and trait of
RSDP.
Fig. 1.1. Internal and external factors affecting RSDP
OPPORTUNITY
STRENGTH
• Priority of the sector
• Smooth relation with donors
• Dedication of ERA and encouraging support by
Personnel most donors
• Existence of established • Dedicated and stable flow of
road authority funds for maintenance
• Encouraging government
commitments
RSDP
INTERNAL FACTORS EXTERNAL FACTORS
• Lack of experience in • Inefficiency of both local and

contract management international contractors which
and design caused delay in completion of
• Lack of coordination works and unacceptable
and delay in response quality
from other government • Low capacity of domestic
institutions construction industry
• Lack of consultation of • Contractors’ claim
different parts of the • Cumbersome procedure of
community conflicting donors
property compensation • Decline support by some donors
regulation • Government Finance
Regulation
WEAKNESS • Salary scale of key personnel
• Increased rate o accident
THREAT
SOURCE: RSDP-II

1.3. The Research Objective
The objective of this study is to determine the causes and the level of time
extension of road project, the impacts of delay in terms of time and money
and to aid construction professionals involved to better understand the
causes of delays, to recommend practices, procedures, and methods that
can be used to avoid delays in pre-construction and during the construction
phase of highway projects and to mitigate their impacts and associated
costs.
Generally, the purpose of the Research is five-fold:
1. To assess pre-construction events that may lead to delays

during the construction phase of highway projects and identify
construction stage events that cause delay
2. To assess the extent of delay in project duration with respect to
the project original duration
3. To assess the impacts of delay in terms of time and cost
overruns
4. The research will also solicit the opinion of Contractors,
Constructions and Owners on the overall apportionment of the
responsibility for delay to each of the parties
5. Recommendations for minimization of delays
1.4. The Research Justification
The starting point of any research is the definition of the research issue or the
problem statement (Nick Moore, 2000 as quoted in Wubishet Jekale, 2004).
This study had also passed through the fallowing specific context:
• Understanding of the issue examined
• Determining the extent of the study focus, and
• Knowledge of the subject area
The research’s broad area of the study was related to delays on road
construction. This level assisted us to focus on the causes of delay and their
impacts on road construction through discussion together with the advisor
and reviewing relevant literatures. The specific focused attention has
enabled to determine where and which projects should the study include.
Besides, it helped to identify the target study project, how data can be
collected, and how the interview and the case study can be designed and
conducted.
In addition, the following question-answer approach was considered helpful

to assist these operations in order to formulate the research problem.

Table 1.7. The Question-Answer Approach
Questions Answer
Experience showed that

Why has the study been most road projects suffer
established? delay and end with time and
cost overruns
Identify potential causes of
What does the study try to delay, the impacts of delay
achieve? and ways of minimizing
delays
Policy makers, External
Financers, Consultants,
Contractors, Implementing
Who will benefit from or
agencies (in this case ERA),
affected by this study?
Beneficiaries (the society),
Regulatory Bodies and Us
(Academic Achievement).
Who are considered in the ‘Parties’ in road projects
study?
1.5. The Research Methodology
The key task in research is to design research process so that the information
obtained permits the assessment of their impact. The basic research design
was an exploratory research methodology using both primary and
secondary data. This design was chosen since it enables to assess the
magnitude and scope problems and facilitate for the suggestion of solutions.
Generally, the research process was designed through defining the research
problems, its objectives and questions. To accomplish these objectives the
research was made using the following methodologies:
1. Review the pertinent domestic and foreign literatures, ongoing

researches, books, conference proceedings, the Internet, leading
construction management and engineering journals and relevant
practices related to delays
2. Survey public-sector transportation agency (ERA); construction
companies; and consulting engineers to determine the causes of
construction delays and methods used to avoid and mitigate
delays. The survey was conducted by interviewing the parties
involved in three selected ongoing road projects
3. Analyze the causes of delay and their impacts through case study
on two completed road projects

1.6. The Dissertation Overview
This dissertation has focused to contribute knowledge on causes of delay

and their impacts in road projects and developing appropriate interventions
for their management.
The study report is generally organized in seven chapters and appendices:
CHAPTER 1 (INTRODUCTION): composed of general information and

background, which give an overview delay concept and problems related
with delay of projects. It also describes in detail the study objective,
justification and methodology followed in this research study.
CHAPTER 2 (PRE-CONSTRUCTION EVENTS CAUSING DELAYS DURING

CONSTRUCTION STAGE: Comprises of literature review, and quotes the
various related works in this area of the study mainly focusing on pre-
construction events causing delays during construction stage.
CHAPTER 3 (CAUSES OF DELAY DURING CONSTRUCTION STAGE): Contains

literature review, and comprises the various related works mainly focusing on
types of delays encountered in projects, causes of delays during
implementation stage, and damages related with delay of projects.
CHAPTER 4 (INTERVIEWS ON CAUSES OF DELAYS IN ROAD CONSTRUCTION

PROJECTS):
CHAPTER 5 (INTERVIEW AND THEIR FINDINGS): This comprises of the findings of

the interview on the three selected road construction projects and
recommendations on the findings.
CHAPTER 6 (CASE STUDY AND THEIR FINDINGS): This includes the findings of
the case study on the two selected road projects and recommendations on
the findings.
CHAPTER 7 (CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS): This covers the

conclusion of the study together with recommendations for minimizing the
causes of delays and their impacts in road construction projects. It is written
for theoretical, practical and study implications based on emphases from the
study findings and its scope of coverage.

Chapter 2: Pre-construction Events Causing Delays during

Construction Stage
2.1. General
Succeeding, as a project manager requires that you complete your projects

on time, finish with in budget, and make sure your customers are happy with
what you deliver [10]. A guide to the project management body of
knowledge defines a project as “a temporary endeavor undertaken to
create a unique product or service.” Standing from this definition project is
temporary. A project’s duration might be just a week or it might go on for
years, but every project has an end date. Through this period it comprises a
process.
The project time objective specifies the project completion time. Time delays
in recovery of damages while early completion might earn rewards. Virtually
all road construction projects were not completed as planned. There may be
many reasons both foreseeable and unforeseeable, for non-completion of
road project timely.
In order to complete a project within the required time and budget it is

essential that each phase of its preparation and execution, starting with the
assessment of feasibility and terminating with the handing over of the
completed project by the Contractor to the Owner, be formulated with
precision in order to limit delays, disputes and unforeseen additional costs
[11].
Ismael Ibrahim classifies a project in to three phases: project conception,

project design and project construction. Project conception is the
recognition of a need that can be satisfied by a physical structure. The
project design phase translates the primary concept in to an expression of a
spatial form, which will satisfy the owner’s requirement in an optimum
economic manner. Constructions operations are the creation of physical
form that satisfies the conception and permits the realization of the design
[12]. Taking the idea of Ismael as reference point for the classification of a
project, we generally classify events that cause delays in to two:
1. Pre-construction events causing delays during construction stage (this

includes events that occur during project conception, project design
and project contracting), and
2. Construction stage events causing delays
In this chapter we try to refer to literatures written on pre-construction events

causing delays during construction stage. Construction stage events causing
delays will be dealt in chapter 3.

2.2. Causes of Delay Due to Events during Pre-construction Stage
Pre-construction stage is defined as all activities required to take a project

from nomination through to advertisement for construction contract letting
[13]. The pre-construction process includes all the activities required to
develop a project into the detailed plan specifications and estimates that
are used by contractors as their construction plan. This is a very complex
process that is performed by several management unities. For large projects,
the process from start to finish can take over 10 years. The process involves
many different engineering disciplines and functional areas of expertise that
include: project management, highway design, structural engineering,
hydraulics, environmental engineering, traffic engineering, right-of-way,
utilities, environmental analysis and others [13]. The project manager and
implementing agencies must allow sufficient time to complete all the
essential pre-construction activities in the overall project schedule in order to
minimize the possible delays and cost overruns encountered during
implementation stage.
The causes of delay and cost overruns arising from pre-construction stage
that lead to claims and disputes are resulted due to the existence of high
uncertainty during the early phase of a project, which posses the most
probable influencing power on the project [14]. Decisions made early in the
life of the project have the most profound effect on the project’s objectives
of delivering a safe, quality project within the time and budget allocated
[15].
The guidance notes for the New Engineering Contract Second Edition also
states, ‘uncertainties about what is to be done and about how the
unexpected arising in the course of construction will affect what has to be
done are inevitable in construction projects’ [16]. The literature discusses
some of the possible reasons why some construction contracts do not
achieve the original program to completion, the execution of the works on
time and within budget. These reasons are:
• The Employer’s choice of risk allocation does not place risks with the
party best placed and motivated to manage that risk
• The design is not complete or subject to late change and additions
• The overall duration of the contract program is not realistic
• Activity duration may be unrealistic
• There is lack of clarity in the declaration, ownership and use of ‘float’,
both within activity durations and in the period between the
contractor’s intended date for completion and the Contract
Completion Date
• Available site resource levels have not been considered in the
program
• The lack of resources further down the supply chain
• The program network does not respond realistically to changes

• The reporting of progress is neither objective nor measurable

• The contract conditions do not encourage open discussion on progress
between the Employer and the Contractor
The major events that may result in delay arising from pre construction stage
are:
1. Contract document preparation

2. Design preparation
3. Tender document preparation
4. Process of tendering
5. Contract negotiation process
2.2.1 Contract Documents Preparation
Contract documents are the basis on which a construction contract is

carried out and it must explain in detail all the requirements of the project
and identify all the rights and responsibilities of the parties (Employer,
contractor & Engineer) [17]. However, most construction contracts do not
define how delay is to be established, what detailed particulars the
Contractor is to provide or how the Engineer is to justify and so fix the time
extension [18]. The contract documents may also be the source of causes
of delays if they are drafted in such away that they do not define in detail all
the requirements of the project in clear and unambiguous way and identify
all the rights and responsibilities of the parties in the project [17].
According to the results of the study by Sasmi M. Fereig and Nabil Kartam on
Construction Delays on International Projects, tendering projects prematurely
without the necessary construction documents being sufficiently detailed to
reflect the full scope of the work causes the timely completion of projects
difficulty when changes or additional works are encountered during the
implementation stage of the contracts [15].
Drafting of contract documents needs due care to avoid unclear and

ambiguous provisions which may affect interpretation of the documents.
Unclear and ambiguous documents are the sources of contractual claims as
they affect the progress of the work with respect to the original schedule and
budget [19]. Many contractual disputes within the construction industry arise
as a result of differing opinions over what the parties’ believe the contract
terms mean, as opposed to what is actually written down [20].
If the contract document is unclear and ambiguous, a careful study should

be made on methods of rewording the documents to avoid the probability
of disputes with the contractor over the interpretations of what the terms
mean. Generally, the ‘rule of contract proferentem’ governs in cases of
unclear and ambiguous contract documents. According to the rule, the
intent of the contract will generally be interpreted in favor of the party who
did not draft the contract. This is to mean that the contractor’s interpretation

will carry greater weight than that of the owner or the engineer [19 and
www.Jus.uio.no].
A contract document contains the following:

1. Form of agreement
2. Letter of acceptance
3. Forms of tender (bid) and its appendix
4. Conditions of contract
5. Specification
6. Drawings
7. Bill of quantity
8. Forms of guarantees
9. Others (method statement; contractor’s tender correspondences in
which the parties have negotiated the agreement etc…)
Of this components conditions of contract, specification, drawing & bill of

quantities are the ones that leads to delay of projects if they were not
properly set out.
2.2.1.1 Conditions of contract
The use of standard conditions of contract will not only facilitate the
successful completion of a contract but will, in all probability, result in lower
tender prices, as tenderers will be familiar with the conditions that will apply
under the contract. This implies that they will not need to make financial
provision for contract conditions with which they are not familiar and whose
consequences they may have difficulty in assessing. The widespread use of
standard conditions of contract also provides a stable basis for training and
educating personnel responsible for contract management and avoids their
having to work with ever changing contract conditions [11].
There are obvious advantages to using detailed contract provisions based

upon a standard form of contract which holds a reasonable balance
between the requirements and interests of the parties concerned and in
particular allocates fairly the risks and responsibilities between the
contracting parties. In the majority of cases the contracting parties will react
favorably to clearly stated obligations and this will do much to avoid
unsatisfactory performance, increased costs, prolonged performance and
disputes which can arise if the trust that needs to exist between the parties to
a construction contract is lacking [11].
Conditions of contract provides for an orderly means of handling situations or

problems that arise in the contractual relationship among the parties. In
preparing the conditions of contract, an attempt is made to anticipate the
various types of contractual situations that might arise during the course of
the project, and by signing the agreement the owner and the contractor
have agreed that should any of the described problem arise, they will be
handled as set forth in the conditions. This provides for the orderly resolution

of conduction difficulties with out the necessity of resorting to the filing of

claims that must be resolved through arbitration, litigation, or other dispute
resolution alternative [19]. So during the preparation of these conditions of
contract if there is ambiguity the interpretation of the conditions may vary
resulting in situation not easily handled & it results in delay of the project.
When time and cost claims are made, it is commonly said that the starting
point for the analysis is the parties’ conditions of contract as it defines the
parties’ rights and responsibilities (and, most important, who was to do what).
But in the context of delay claims, the contract generally does little more
than set forth the basic ground rules for the dispute by identifying, which
party is reasonable in the event particular events or circumstances are found
to have caused the delay [21]. Generally, while the contract defines who is
responsible for what, it typically does not answer the key question–what
actually caused the project to finish late?
2.2.1.2 Specification and drawings
The specifications are the part of the contract documents that define the
qualitative requirements of the project that is to be built. Whereas drawings
define the geometry of a project, including dimensions, forms, and details.
The specifications are intended to complement this by defining the nature of
the materials that are to be used and the description of the workmanship
and procedure to be followed in constructing the project [19].
Specification problems usually result from lack of attention during the

preparation of the specification. Including unachievable specifications, the
widespread uses of “canned” or “off-the-shelf” specification and
manufacturer’s specifications are other large contributors for the number of
cost and time disputes occurring. Errors or omission or ambiguity are frequent,
and unfortunately for the owner, are generally interpreted in favor of the
contractor. Problems also occur when specifiers resort to broad, subjective
generalities rather than describing requirements objectively and in detail [19].
The use of generalities in specification
It is in the owner’s best interests to keep designers from indulging in

generalities in specifications. It may be tempting for designers to use vague,
catchall language or to graft general performance standards on to what are
otherwise proprietary specifications. It is equally important to avoid the use of
vague and unenforceable subjectivity terms in the specifications as it may
cause problems towards achieving the required specifications [19] such that
time spent in trying to achieve the specified specification.
Unenforceable phrases
There are many pitfalls that can be encountered in the preparation of

specifications, and following is a simple list of words and phrases often

encountered that has no enforceable meaning and one should not be

allowed to use them in specification. If a resident project representative or
inspector encounters this type of specification language, it is suggested that
diplomacy and compromise are in order, as the terms are virtually impossible
to administer in an objective, literal sense: [19]
• To the satisfaction of the engineer

• As determined by the engineer
• In accordance with the instruction of the engineer
• In the opinion of the engineer
• In accordance with the best engineering practice
• Carefully performed
Conflict between drawings and specifications
In some cases, the same data are covered in both the drawings and the
specifications-not a great arrangement, but it happens often enough. The
problem here is that frequently one document is changed during design and
the other is overlooked. This generally creates the problem just referred to.
The unfortunate situation is that usually where such a problem exists, it is the
drawings that were updated to receive the latest change or corrections, and
the specification may in fact be out dated and incorrect. The basic
philosophy still controls, however, and the inspector has no authority to force
the contractor to provide, that which is shown on the drawings when the bid
may have been based on the article contained in the specifications. In case
of any such conflict, the contractor is obliged to notify the owner before
continuing. However, it is well to the inspector to monitor carefully any such
possibility personally, as the contractor may honestly miss recognizing the
presence of a conflict. It would also be possible a dishonest contractor
merely to claim to miss the conflict so as to furnish the cheaper of the two
items, knowing full well that if the design firm want it changed after the
contractor has already built it in accordance with the specification, in all
likely hood, he or she will be able to claim successfully extra compensation of
time and money for such additional works [19].
FIDIC 87 clauses 44.1a & e state that the contractor is entitled for extension of
time for:
a) The amount or nature of extra or additional
e) Other special circumstances, which may occur, other than
through a default of or breach of contract by the contractor or for
which he is responsible.
These sub clauses indicate that if the drawings were not properly, clearly &
accurately set out, it leads to the event in clause 44.1a. Where as clause
44.1e indicate that if type & quality of materials, equipments, labor or
workmanship, method of fabrication, installations & erections were not
properly set on the specification, which are considered as special

circumstances, that lead to delay of the project on which the contractor is

entitled. Hence specification and drawings should be clear, concise and
brief descriptions of what is required to execute the proposed trade of work.
2.2.1.3 Bill of Quantity
The objectives of the Bill of Quantity are:

A. To provide sufficient information on the quantities of works to be
performed to enable bids to be prepared efficiently and
accurately,
B. When a contract has been entered in to, to provide a price Bill
of Quantities for use in the periodic valuation of works
executed.
In order to attain these objectives, works should be itemized in the Bill of

Quantity in sufficient detail to distinguish between the different classes of
works, or between or works of the same nature carried out in different
locations or in other circumstances which may give rise to different
consideration of cost [22].
Quantities should be computed and included in the Bill of Quantity correctly.

This is because it has an effect on the projects cost, time and site
organization. This is the basis for offering the right price. If the quantities are
found mistakenly small, it will have consequential effect such as:
• Project budget will be affected due to excess quantities

• Construction planning will be affected and causes stocking
• Tenderers can manipulate their offer due to it
• Overzealous contract administration is caused and
• Contractors cash flow will be affected
On the other hand, if the quantities are mistakenly more, it will cause high
stocking, more storing places and risk of spoilage: unhealthy practices due to
over budget provisions; and manipulating in tendering [14]. If there is
difference between the actual quantity observed on the site and what is on
the bill of quantity, delay in performing the work may be encountered which
may entitle the contractor time extension according to clause 44.1a of FIDIC
87.
Generally, the major problems that arise in associated with the contract
documents and would result in delay of the project in manipulating them
are:
1. Inadequate scheduling clauses

2. Directing work sequence by owner or consultant
3. Drawings not indicating interfaces
4. Permitting responsibilities vague
5. Milestone dates and interface clauses

6. Leverage for enforcement of schedule specification

7. Co-ordination inadequately specified
2.2.2 Design preparation
Design-related delays are one of the most critical delays most likely to
happen due to design-related problems. According to the survey by Sami M.
Fereig and Nabil Kartam, design-related delays are considered to be
excusable compensable delays. Consultants play a very important role in
design-related delays because they are in charge of the design process in
conjunction with the owner of the project. Design-related issues, such as
change in drawings and incomplete and faulty specifications and change
orders, have a very damaging effect on project completion times and
invariably lead to cost escalations as well [15]. The study by Abebe Dinku and
Girmay Kahssay also reveled that design changes, modifications and lack of
sufficient details are causes of critical delays. Lost traverse points and
adverse climatic conditions cover about 13%of the total critical delay [6].
Inadequate/inaccurate soil investigation reports or survey data have

contributed towards the incidences of claims. They have recommended that
investigation in proper pre-tendering work planning towards obtaining
sufficient soil and survey investigation data’s with the objective of producing
complete design documents. This requires tender documents to be specific
on how detailed investigations have to be done so as problems will not be
created during tender evaluation. Delays associated with design problems
are typically compensable and are usually recognized as such by well-
trained public entity employees [23].
Defects and deficiencies in plans, specifications and other contract

documents are current common causes of construction delay. When the
issue of delay and bidding documents problems are connected [23], it is
common for the design professionals to become defensive about the design
components. It is important to find delay and its eventual causations as early
as possible and that its consequences are terminated as soon as reasonably
practicable.
2.2.2.1. Surveying error
The pre-construction survey function is comprised of all activities that

determine boundaries and locations used for highway construction, right-of-
way determination, and bridge/structure placement. Pre-construction survey
needs effective management, organization and resources [13].
Every day of the year, in many works of life, maps and plans are in common
use. These maps and plans include street maps; charts of lakes and rivers,
under ground railway maps, construction site plans and architectural plans
and sections. Cartographers, engineers, architectural draftsmen or surveyors
draw all of these plans to scale, from measurements of distances, heights

and angles. Surveyors or engineers, using surveying instruments such as tapes,

levels and theodolites, make the measurements. They are employed in the
field of land surveying, which put in its simplest form, in the science and art of
measuring, recording and drawing to scale, the size and shape of the natural
and man-made features on the surface of the earth [24].
All surveying operations were subjected to error. So the sources and effects
of errors must be recognized and steps taken to eliminate or minimize them
since they are the raw data for the design work.
The source of errors can be classified in to three [24]:
A) Gross errors
Mistake arising in the mind of the observer may be due to carelessness,
inexperience or fating
1. Wrong staff readings
This basically includes misplacing the decimal point, reading the wrong
meter value and reading the staff wrong way up.
2. Using the wrong cross – hair
Instead of reading the staff against the axial line, the observer reads
against one of the stadia lines.
3. Wrong booking
The reading is noted with the figures interchanged.
4. Omission or wrong entry
A staff reading can easily be writhen in the wrong column or even
omitted entirely
5. Spirit level not centered
The staff is read with out centering the bible
B. Constant errors
These errors are due to instrumental defects and will always be of the same
sign.
1. Non – verticality of the staff
This is a serious source of error. Instead of being hold vertically the staff
may be leaning forward or backward.
2. Collimation error in the instrument
3. Staff graduation error
C. Random error
1. Effect of mind and temreture
2. Soft and hand ground
3. Chang points
4. Human deficiencies
All these errors must be treated well otherwise what we surveyed will not
match with the actual case so it results to delay in performing the work such
that the contractor will be entitled for extension of time according to clause
44.1a of FIDC 98.

2.2.3 Tender document preparation
There are larger areas of uncertainty within tender document preparation

process and it is not unusual for mistakes and incorrect assumptions to be
made in dealing with the submission, in what is often a very short time scale.
According to the survey conducted in the United States [25] (‘Anatomy of a
construction project’, by Kris Nielsen, International Construction, November
1980, and given in Construction Contract Claims, by Reg Thomas), poor pre-
tender planning is one of the mistakes in contract tendering.
Fig. 2.1. Mistakes in contract tender;
MISTAKES IN CONTRACT TENDER
Knowing contract
requirments
Extension errors
8% 2%
15% Knowing work required
9%
Underevaluing cost
9% escalation
19%
Transposition errors
Poor pre-tender planning

10%
Poor resource planning
12% 16%
Incorrect quantity
measurements
Other
Source: Anatomy of construction Project (Reg Thomas)
Generally, if more time is given to produce the tender, then many of these
mistakes could be eliminated, and contractors will be more satisfied with their
commitment and therefore less likely to make time and cost claims to try to
recover the situation.
2.2.4. Process of tendering
Procurement can be made using a single or two staged tendering process.

They are related with tender packaging for submission separately and their
evaluations are staged for a single or two steps when invitations are made
[14].
Often two staged biddings are made for the submission of technical and
financial proposals separately and their evaluations one after the other. Pre-

qualification is an internationally accepted practice in procurement

management. It would normally be required for civil works contract of which
its nature and cost is large and complex. So far in our country, there is no
regulation on such applications but practiced based on project owners,
regulators and financiers initiatives [14]. It is a procedure in which eligible
bidders are invited to provide evidence of their ability to perform services
required by the employer. Pre-qualification is desirable because it enables
the employer to establish the competence of companies subsequently
evaluated. It is also in the interest of contractors since, if pre qualified, they
will know that they are competing against a limited number of other firms, all
of whom possess the required competence and capability.
Pre qualification has advantages not only for the employer but also for the
bidders.
Table 2.1: Advantages of pre-qualification in procurement

To the Employer To the Bidder
• Protect the employer against • Save bidders from the cost of
unqualified bidder preparing bids
• Quicker evaluation for only pre- • Assume pre-qualified bidders for their
qualified bidders bid considerations
• Ensure award to least evaluated • Reduce low balling bidder from
bidder not lowest bidder participation
• Assess level interest shown by • Make bidders to be better planned
bidders
• Show competency and methods of
implementation
Source: procurement and contract management (Wubisht Jekale Mengesha, 2006)
Pre-qualification should be based entirely on the ability of the bidder to carry

out the required works satisfactorily. The criteria that often used in
determining the ability of the bidder are:
• Experience and past performance

• Health, safety and environmental protection
• Capacity in respective of personnel and equipment
• Organizational arrangement and facilities
• Financial status
• Schedule of commitments
Generally, pre-qualification is important in minimizing the causes of delays

that arise due to the defaults of the contractors as they are first evaluated in
terms of their technical and financial capability.
Sufficiency of Tender Document
The study by Abebe Dinku and Girmay Kahssay reveled that claims related to
time extension and compensation of additional costs were raised by the
contractor for the great difference between the actual site condition and

the condition which he expected while referring to the bidding documents

during the preparation of its tender [6]. This may be indicative of incomplete
bidding document preparation by the consultants. It may as well be due to
lack of detailed investigation by the contractor during tender preparation.
When the consultants believe that the Tender document is insufficient, they
use ‘disclaimer provision’ to inform the bidders that the information given in
the Tender Document is for the informational purposes only. They provide the
provision not to assume liability for any inaccurate, delayed or incomplete
information, nor for any actions in reliance thereon. The information
contained about individuals or firm has supplied firm without verification by
them. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future performance.
Prior to make any investment decision, it is recommended that you consult
directly with the individual or firm and seek advice from a qualified
investment adviser.
2.2.5. Contract negotiation process
During contract negotiation each party may use standard terms for their
agreement but these terms may not be the same and it results in differences
when they are applicable. During such cases the rule of ‘battle of forms’
applies. And it states: where both parties use standard terms and reach
agreement except on those terms, a contract is concluded on the basis of
the agreed terms and of any standard terms which are common in
substance unless one party clearly indicates in advance, or later and without
undue delay informs the other party, that it does not intend to be bound by
such a contract [26].
During contract negotiation process the parties must understand that

introduction of new terms and conditions, which could have delaying effect
during implementation, should not be allowed. In addition, omissions,
ambiguities and/or contradictions have to be fully clarified during
negotiations.

Chapter 3: Causes of Delays during Construction Stage
3.1. General
Factors that cause delay during implementation stage may result in

additional cost to both the client and the contractor. The loss of revenue or
benefit that could have been gained if the project was completed on time,
consultant fees which are paid through out the project, cost associated with
head office support of the project are among the costs to be cited as the
major ones incurred by the employer. Similarly, the additional cost to be
incurred by the contractors include: additional over head costs, costs of
extension of various bonds such as performance bond and bank guarantee,
operational and maintenance cost of facilities [6].
The main aim of this chapter is to set out the various causes of delay on road
projects at implementation stage, which may lead to extension of time and
cost overruns, FIDIC 87 provisions for delay responsibilities, and sources of
information to assess causes of delays and their impacts. But before that it is
better to discuss types of delays to better understand the cause and effect
relationship among the different causes of delays.
3.2. Types of Delays
According to Syed M. Ahmed and Salman Azhar, delays can be grouped in

to the following four broad categories according to how they operate
contractually [27]:
1. Non-excusable delays
2. Excusable non-compensable delays
3. Excusable compensable delays
4. Concurrent delays
3.2.1. 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 underestimating of
productivity, inadequate or scheduling or mismanagement, construction
mistakes, weather, equipment breakdowns, staffing problems, or mere bad
luck. These 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 [27]. In general, if
the delay is found to be non-excusable, then the contractor gets no time or
money and pays liquidated damages [10].

3.2.2. Non-compensable Excusable Delays
When 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 means 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 [9]. Sami M.Fereig and Nabil
Karatam also strengthen the idea of Syed M. Ahmed and Salman Azhar
stating that a contractor gets time, but not money if Non-compensable
Excusable delays occur, but he is relieved from liquidated damage [15].
According to Scott A. Aftuck a delay must be excusable in order to be the

basis for an extension of time or additional compensation. However, at times,
even if a delay appears to be excusable, it will be the responsibility of the
contractor if it was foreseeable; it could have been prevented but for the
acts of the contractor, or it was caused by the negligence of the contractor
[28].
3.2.3. Compensable Excusable Delay
In addition to 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 [27]. In short, a contractor gets both time and money
when Compensable Excusable delays occur [15].
Scott A. Aftuck pointed out that if the delay could have been avoided by
due care of one of the parties, the party, which did not exercise such care, is
responsible for the additional costs. The contractor may be liable for the
negligent acts of its subcontractors. However, if the subcontractor has a
direct contractual relationship with the owner of the project, the contractor
most likely will be able to recover damages, as it was not in a position to
prevent the delay [28].
3.2.4. Concurrent Delays
In some publications (JJJ, 1992; Mastrandria 1992 as quoted in David W.

Bordoli and Andrew N. Baldwin, 1996) it has been suggested that the prime
difficulty with concurrent delay is giving its clear definition. No attempt will be

made here to strictly define concurrency other than, from the definition,
more than one delay happens at the same time. The problem seems to
decide which of the delays, if any, results in delay to the completion of the
project and, if there is a multiplicity of causes, if the contractor is to recoup
loss and expenses [29].
Brian Eggleston describes that disputes related to concurrent delay arise not
so much on how long was the period of the overlap, but to what cause
should it be attributed; and to what extent it is permissible to consider the
knock-on effects of one delay to another. There are three principal
approaches to the solution of the problem: the first in line approach, the
dominant cause approach and the appointment approach [30].
The method only takes cognizance of the events that affect activities on or
near the critical path (the time of the delay) that result in the project delays.
In analyzing delay in chronological sequence, the earlier event causes the
delays that result in the following event having no additional effect on the
project completion [29].
The method described in this paper adopts the following guidelines as

described by Thomas (1993) [29].
When a non-excusable delay is on the critical path and a non-

excusable delay is non-critical, and then the resulting project delay is
non-excusable.
When an excusable delay is on the critical path and a non-excusable
delay is non-critical, and then the resulting project delay is excusable.
When an excusable delay occurs first, followed by a non-excusable
delay (both delays being on the same or parallel critical paths) then
the resulting project delay is excusable.
These guidelines relate only to the appointment of responsibilities for a

project delay and should not affect the contractor’s ability to recover direct
loss and expense for delaying events that do not affect the project
completion.
3.3. Occurrence of Construction Delay
A project consists of collections of activities. Jonathan Jingsheng Shi, S. O.

Cheung and David Ardit say that an activity’s completion may be delayed
due to a delayed start or extended activity duration. While an activity’s start
may be delayed due to certain reasons, its duration may be extended due
to some other reasons. An activity’s delayed completion may cause delays
in the succeeding activities, which in turn can cause a delay in the project
completion. Schematically, a cause-effect relationship of project delay can
be shown as in Fig. 1 [31].

Fig. 3.1. Cause-Effect Relationship of Construction Delays
Delayed design Delayed

deliveries Unavailable
information resources
Delayed completion of
preceding activity Delayed start
Succeeding activities
are not delayed
Project may
An activity’s not be delayed
Succeeding activities
Completion is delayed.
are delayed
Adverse weather
condition
Project is
Extended activity delayed
Management duration
decision
Insufficient
Changed site condition resource
Changes in scope
of work
(Source: Jonathan Jingsheng Shi, S. O. Cheung, and David Arditi, JOURNAL OF

CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT, 2001)
Delays can occur in any and all activities, and these delays can concurrently
or simultaneously cause delays in the project completion. In other words, a
project delay is the accumulated effect of the delays in individual activities
[31].
3.4. Identification of Causes of Delay
According to Syed M Ahmed and Salman Azhar, there are two kinds of
causes of delays in construction projects: external and internal causes.
Internal causes of delays include the causes, which come from four parties
involved in the project- Owner, Designer, Contractors, and Consultants.
Other delays, which do not come from these four parties, are based on
external causes for instance from the government, material suppliers,
weather [28].
They pointed out that causes of delays that the construction industry is facing
nowadays during implementation stage are:
• Possessive decision-making mechanism

• Highly bureaucratic organization
• Improper inspection approach
• Different attitude between the consultant and contractor

• Financial difficulties
• Inexperienced personnel
• Insufficient number of stuff
• Deficiency in project coordination
• Inadequate and old equipment
• Lack of high technology equipment
• Harvest time
They classified these causes of delays in the following broad categories

depending on their nature and mode of occurrence:
Table 3.1. Categories of delays according to their nature and mode of occurrence
Categories Causes of delay
• Flood
• Hurricane
ACTS OF GOD • Fire
• Wind damage
• Change order
• Change in drawings
DESIGN-RELATED • Change in specifications
• Shop drawings approval
• Inspection
• Subsurface soil condition
• Material/fabrication delays
• Material procurement
• Lack of qualified craftsmen
• Poor subcontractor performance
CONSTRUCTION-RELATED • Defective work
• Different site condition
• Damage to structure
• Construction mistakes
• Poor supervision
• Equipment availability
• Financial process
• Financial difficulties
FINANCIAL/ECONOMIC • Delayed payments
• Economic problems
• Labor dispute and strike

• Inadequate planning
• Inadequate scheduling
• Contract modification
• Underestimation of productivity
• Staffing problems
• Lack of coordination on site
MANAGEMENT/ADMINSTRATION • Scheduling mismanagement
• Transportation delays
• Suspensions
• Inadequate review
• Lack of high technology
• Poor management skill

Source: Syed M. Ahmed, Salman Azhar and Mauricio Castillo, Construction Delays in
Florida: an Empirical study, Florida International University, USA, 1999
According to FIDIC 87, delays in construction work mainly occurring during

implementation stage are due to [32]:
• Delay in site hand over.

• Late approval of payment certificates.
• Changing the scope of the work.
• Low contractor’s financial and technical capacity.
• Delay of drawings or instruction.
• Unforeseeable physical condition.
• Suspension of work up on the engineer’s instruction.
W. Trench Frics classified the above causes of delays as [33]:
1. Delays caused by the Contractor

2. Delays caused by the Client
3. Delays caused by the Consultant
4. Delays caused by out side the control of either party to the
contract
3.4.1. Delays Caused by the Contractor
One of the contractor’s obligations in contract is to complete the work in the

date specified in the contract documents, but if he fails to complete the
work by his default, he would be liable to compensate the owner as
liquidated damage [33].
According to KK Chitkar, the contractor’s default results in due to lack of

proper project management during execution. Projects like road comprise
various interrelated constituents such as: - Resources, tasks and technology
along with the people working in the project, which combine together to
achieve the common objectives. Inappropriate way of managing all these
constituents may lead to delay of the project [34].
The following causes of delay can be attributed under lack of proper project
management.
1. Planning failure (failure to hold realist and up dated work plan and
schedule)
This is due to Planning of unworkable plans, problem in identification of

critical items during planning, lack of understanding of operating
procedures, reluctance to take timely decision, and ignorance of
appropriate planning tools and techniques [35].
2. Organization failure.

KK Khitkar said that organizational failure occurs due to incorrect

organization structure, which leads to conflicts among members of the staff,
higher management interference, and inadequate delegation of authority
at various levels [34].
3. Scarcity of resources.
It is due to lack of capable project manager (contract administrator),

inexperienced professionals, and failure to procure and mobilize resources as
per the planned schedule [7].
4. Controlling failure.
It is due to unclear targets, inadequate information flow, incompetence in

adopting appropriate monitoring techniques, and an absence of timely
corrective measures [34].
5. Coordination failure.
This failure happens due to communication gap at various levels, lack of day-
to-day decisions to fill procedural gaps, and absence of cooperation among
staff members [5].
6. Lack of qualified engineers.
This cause happens due to Lack of knowledge about construction method,

inability to visualize discrete works, and failure of recording labor productivity
rate [35].
7. Failure to hold cash flow for cast.
Since most projects’ self-financing date lies near to the completion date of
the contract period, they often trapped with cash shortage during their
construction phase, such that the progress of the work may lag behind due
to lack of finance. Therefore, the project manager should for cast the cash
flow in order to find short-term capital from other finance securities [35].
3.4.2. Delays Caused by the Client
The client delays completion of the work in various ways. Among these, the
following are the main ones as a report published by the construction industry
council of UK [36]:
• Rigid budgets
• Changes of mind during construction
• Ordering extra which delay the work
• Delay to provide the right of way
• Differing site conditions

• Suspension
These all are fairly common situations in construction works as a result most
condition of contracts contain provisions to allow an extension to the
contract time to cover reasons where the client has affected the completion
of the works [33].
One of the principal causes of project delay and cost overruns is that
contracts are awarded and notice to proceed given before all arrangement
for the contractor to take possession of the site and proceed, as called for in
the contract, are completed. As a consequence, contractor may encounter
impediments that lead to delay and claims.
3.4.3. Delays Caused by the Consultant
According to Edward R Fisk, the major causes of delays that are caused by
the consultant side include the following [19]: -
• Late approval of laboratory tests.

• Design changes.
• Late approval of payment.
• Poor briefing of document (i.e. specification, bill of quantity.).
• Postponement of work.
Late approval of shop drawings can be major causes of delay on

construction projects which require a clause in the contract stating the timing
required for submission and approval of drawings [37].
3.4.4. Delays Caused by Outside the Control of Either Party to the Contract.
Because of the way construction works are carried out, there will be many
occasions, which are beyond the control of either party that may lead to
delay. Most contraction contracts including FIDIC red book (1987)
incorporate provision to grant extension to the completion date to cover
these situation. According to W. Trench Frics, events [33], which considered
as outside the control of either party to the contract, are: -
• Force majeure.
• Exceptional adverse weather condition.
• Civil commotions or strikes use of fuel or labor.
• Material market instability.
• Government legislation change.
• Government statutes that restricts use of fuel or labor
3.5. Extension of Time Clauses in FIDIC Red book (1987) Condition of

Contract.

Standard condition of contract is comprehensive contractual codes that

contain all practices normally encountered in civil engineering construction.
The two forms of contract most frequently used in Ethiopia are the FIDIC, 1987
standard conditions and the standard condition of contract for civil
engineering construction projects of ministry of works and urban
development (MOWUD, 1994).
There are several version of FIDIC condition of contract fourth edition issued
in 1987 (the old red book) by the international federation of consulting
engineers is the one we used in this thesis.
FIDIC Red book (1987) is a condition of contract for civil engineering

construction. It is used when the contract is of the measurement or bill of
quantity contracts in this type of contract; construction and design are
separated contracts to different firms. There is a designing team, which is
employed contracted by the client, and they shall provide the contractor
with a complete design [38].
The FIDIC Red book fourth edition (1987) form of contract, for works and civil
engineering construction, has two parts. Part I consists of the “General
Conditions”, i.e. clauses defining the parties right and obligation and part II
contains “conditions of particular application”, those clauses specifically
drafted o meet the needs of the contract, including conditions unique to the
locality of the project being performed, such as taxes, labour laws, local
holidays, language, etc…
FIDIC Red book 87 standard of condition contains clauses providing for the
granting of extensions of time linked with a clause for payment of liquidated
damages by the contractor in the event of late completion. In the absence
of express contractual power to extend the time for completion, the
engineer could not do so [39]. In order to avoid delay during construction,
documents should be carefully read and under stood by all parties involved
with special attention to clauses dealing with extension of time [37].
In delay the employer cannot insist that the contractor shall complete on
time if the employer has prevented him from so completing. This is then
modified by the presence of express terms for the contractor to receive
extension of time for acts or omissions of the employer or those acting on his
behalf, such as engineer, architect. The contractor therefore has the original
contract period plus the length of the delay caused to him in which to
complete the project.
Delay is valid as leading to extension of time only when it leads to failure to

achieve the completion date and not simply when it affects some part of the
program before completion only, that is when delay is caused to activities
not upon a critical path for the project and when themselves do not then
become part of a new critical path [5]. When the contractor is not to be

responsible for delay, he receives an extension of time according to the

specific contractual provision.
In General, the event that could give rise to the contractor’s entitlement to
extension of time in FIDIC 87 are listed under sub-clause 44.1 as follows:
a. The amount of nature or extra or addition work

b. Any causes of delay referred to in these conditions of contract.
c. Exceptionally adverse climatic conditions
d. Any delay, or prevention by the employer
e. Other special circumstances, which may occur other than, for which
the contractor is responsible.
3.5.1. The amount of nature or extra or additional work.
Under sub-clause 51.1 of FIDIC 87: - the engineer has the authority to make
variations and instruct the contractor to do any of the following:
a. Increase or decrease of quantity of any work.

b. Omit any such work
c. Change the character or quality or kind of any such work
d. Change levels, lines, Positions and dimension of any part of the works.
e. Execute additional work of any kind necessary for completion of the
works.
f. Change any specified sequence or timing of construction of any part
of the work.
Even though all the works that are listed above could have delaying effect on the
progress of the contractor, the contractor only could have entitled extension of
time for causes (a) and (e) [32].
Any causes of delay referred to in this condition.

This refers all the clauses that are listed in FIDIC 87 condition of contract, which
could entitle the contractor extension of time [32]. Each sub-clause is explained as
follows:
i. Delayed drawings or instruction (sub-clause 6.4): - This sub-

clause makes provision for time extension or additional cost if the
contractor suffers delays in the issuance of drawings by the
engineer (FIDIC 87).
ii. Unforeseeable physical condition (sub-cause 12.2).Under this

clause the contractor is entitled to time extension and
associated cost if the contractor encounters physical
obstructions or conditions not foreseeable by experienced
contractor (FIDIC 87).

iii. Suspension of work upon the engineer’s instruction (sub-clause

40.2). The engineer has the authority to suspend the progress of
the whole works or any part of the works. The contractor is
entitled to time extension and additional cost incurred for in the
contract by default or breach of contract by the contractor, by
reason of climatic conditions or necessary for the proper
execution or safety of the works (not arising from any act or
default by the engineer or employees or any of the employer’s
risks) (FIDIC 87).
iv. Delayed possession of site (sub-clause 42.2). Under this clause

the contractor is entitled to any time extension and additional
costs incurred due to failure of the employer to give possession
of site in accordance with sub-clause 42.1(FIDIC 87).
v. Suspension of work upon the employer’s failure to pay (sub-

clause 69.4). Under sub-clause 69.4 of FIDIC 87, the contractor
may, if the employer fails to pay the contractor the amount due
under why certificate of the engineer within 28 days after the
expiry of the time stated in sub-clause 60.10 within which
payment is to be made, after giving 28 days’ prior notice to the
employer, with a copy to the engineer, suspend work or reduces
the rate of work in accordance with the provisions of this sub-
clause and there by suffers delay or incurs costs the engineer
shall, after due consultation with the employer and the
contractor, determine:
(a) Any extension of time to which the contractor is entitled
under clause 44, and
(b) The amount of such costs, which shall be added to the
contract price, and shall notify the contractor
accordingly, with a copy to the employer.
3.5.2. Exceptionally adverse climatic condition.
In order to get extension of time in this condition the climatic condition

should be exceptional and as the same time it should be adverse.
3.5.3. Any delay, Impediment or prevention by the employer under sub-

clause 40.1,
The engineer has the authority to suspend the progress of the whole works or
and part of the works, If such suspension is a rising from any act or default by
the engineer or employer or any of the employer’s risks (FIDIC 87).
3.5.4. Other special circumstances.
“In FIDIC 7, other special circumstances refer to events, which

many occur other than though the fault or breach of the

contractor or for which he is responsible. The word ‘other’ seems

to refer to events, which fall out side of those listed in sub-clause
44.1 (a) to (d). Similarly, the events have to be ‘special’ as
opposed to normal, to entitle the contractor to extension of
time.”[32]
3.6. Notices for Granting Extension of Time
It is an essential part of the operation of the extension of time clause, in most

contracts, that the contractor should have given notices of delay. The
contractor is not restricted to delays which have already occurred, but must
think ahead and give notice as soon as it is “ reasonably apparent” that
there is likely to be delay in the future. The obligation on the contractor is to
give notice and the notice must be in writing set out:
1. The cause or causes of the delay

2. An event, which in the opinion of the contractor is relevant event
3. Detail of the expected effects of the relevant which he has identified
and his estimate of the extent of the day in compilation which he
anticipates, whether or not this is concurrent with delay from any other
relevant event. This is to give as part of the original notice, or as so as
possible afterwards.
According to FIDIC 87 sub-clause 44.2 says the contractor should notify the
engineer within 28 days or other reasonable time that the engineer agreed in
the contract documents.
After such summation of notification to the engineer, detailed particulars of

any extension of time should be submitted within 28 days.
3.7. Sources of Information for Assessing a Delay and their Causes
According to Gillia Birkby and Paul Brought, there are a number of sources of
information [5], which the contract administrator can use to monitor and
assess delays:
Notices of delay
The construction Programmes
Site Progress meetings
Day work sheets and contractor’s allocation sheets contractor’s
report
Notices of delay: -Most contracts state the basic requirements of such a

notice and its constituent parts. Generally speaking, the usual minimum
notification requirement is to state the cause (s) and the period or estimated
period of delay.
The construction programs: - the contractor usually provides this and an

engineer should have at least a rudimentary understanding of the principles

of construction programming. The detail in any construction programmes

varies from project to project and usually depends up on the complexity of
the project, but there are some fundamental principles that apply to any
construction programs. One is that it should demonstrate how the contractor
proposes to execute the works. Most programs will also show a critical path,
i.e. the sequence of items, which if delayed, will have a delaying effect on
the overall completion date. At the simplest level, any delay to items on the
critical path might be one critical path or there may be a number that are
interrelated.
The contract administrator will use the construction programs both to monitor
the contractor’s progress to identify delay, and to monitor information
requirements so as to prevent delay. Subsequent revisions can be used to
monitor how the contractor intends to complete the works and as further
check on any delays that may occur after the revisions have been issued.
Site Progress meetings: - These are usually concerned with progress in the
broadest sense, i.e. how the work is proceeding so as to achieve the date for
completion, and any action to be taken by the design team so that the
contractor is not prevented from doing so. The meeting will therefore review
the provision of delay how these can, if possible, be overcome or mitigated.
The contract administrator may be told in the meeting about the causes of
delay, which he will need to weigh against the documented evidence of
delay.
Day work sheets and contractor’s allocation sheets: - Day work sheets, where
they have been used to value a variation or the contractor has presented
them for ‘record purposes’ are an excellent means, if verified, of establishing
when wok was executed. The some applies to the contractor’s allocation
sheet, if these are made available to the contract administrator and they
provide sufficient detail that can be verified.
Contractor’s report: - The contractor often provides a report to the contract

administrator for discussion at the site progress meeting, which is usually
appended to the site meeting minutes. The contract may require the
contractor to notify all causes of delays and he often does this in his report in
addition to any written notification required by the contract.
In general the sources listed above provide a considerable body of

information and records to identify the cause of delay.
3.8. Liquidated Damage for Delay
On many projects, where time is the essence of construction, the owner and
the contractor agree under the contract terms that if the contractor fails to
complete the project by the stipulated date, it is financially liable to the
owner for a pre agreed sum for each day beyond the specified completion
date that it takes the contractor to finish the work. This amount of money

represents the financial losses to the owner for such delays, and because it is
difficult to determine the real values of the owner’s losses, the pre agreed
sum is considered as the actual damages suffered. This assessment is referred
to as liquidate damage [19].
The estimated amount of the liquidate damages per day may be a function
of many think. It can be losses to the owner in connection with revenue
producing the road. Similarly it can be a function of profit the owner gets
from that investment.
The basic rule is that a liquidated damages provision is enforceable if the

amount represents a reasonable fore cast, at the time of signing the
contract, of the actual damages the owner might incur if the project is not
completed by the contractual dead line. It is recognized that a precise
determination of the owner’s delay damaged is not possible.
If the owner does not make a reasonable attempt to for cast its actual delay
damages, the provision may be considered as unenforceable penalty, or an
attempt to provide a negative incentive for timely contractor performance
[19].
3.9. Methodology for Assessing Construction Projects Delays
There are a number of ways in which delays to construction projects may be

assessed and the responsibility analyzed. Some of these techniques are well
established and well documented. Others are less well known. There is no
single method for analyzing the impacts of on constriction works, and an
initial literature review has identified several existing approaches. A brief
outline of each method is provided below.
David W. Bordolli and Andrew N. Baldwin divide delay analyses methods in to

two categories depending on the techniques used for the analyses: basic
methods, and critical path analyses methods [39].
1. Basic methods are simple unsophisticated ways of assessing

responsibilities, and they include the ‘entropy method’, the ‘as-built bar
chart’, and the ‘scatter diagram’.
• The entropy method (Elliott, 1993 as quoted in David W.

Bordolli and Andrew N. Baldwin) is almost a non-method in
that it simply involves the parties agreeing on the delay
and then apportioning the responsibility between neutral
causes, the employer and the contractor. The method is
merely for finalizing the account: the method for reaching
an agreement as quickly and as simply as possible.

• The as-built bar chart method is the classic method for

illustrating a project delay. A bar chart is produced which
records the actual start, finish and duration of the activities
in the construction work. This chart is commonly an overlay
of the bar chart planned at the start of the project. In this
way it is possible to identify which activities deviated from
the original plan (Lyden, 1993). Although the as-built bar
chart provides a simple visual statement of the difference
between what was expected to happen and actually
occurred it suffers from the absence of explicit logic. In
addition it does not identify actual events that took place
and the delays to the program that resulted.
• The problem of as-built method is overcome by the scatter

diagram, which indicates the timing of extraneous events
during the project. The basis of the diagram is the as-
planned bar chart, which is annotated with the incidence
of events affecting the project: variation instruction, dates
of information issue, etc. By supporting the scatter diagram
with a detailed brake down of each of the events
identified, the negotiator is able to provide comprehensive
information on each event and argue its impact on the
overall program. Although the scatter diagram has little
evidential value, it has a powerful visual impact in
negotiation (Scott, 1992, Elliott 1993).
2. The basic method in such arguments which are based on a static

model of events, with which it is impossible to investigate the impact of
single events or a combination of events within an overall construction
program. However, this may be achieved by critical path methods.
Critical path methods include the ‘as-built network’, the ’as-built
subtracting impacts’, the ‘baseline adding impacts’, the ‘window
analysis’ and the ‘isolated delay type’.
• The ‘as-built network’ is the equivalent of the ‘as-built bar

chart’. It the record of what happened on the project. It will
include not only the planned activities but also activities
representing unexpected events, variations and delays. The
activity duration will be the actual duration and the logic
links will be so constructed as to produce the actual start
and finish dates for the activities. The production of an as-
built network demands considerable time and effort to
produce a model where the logic and the durations reflect

what actually occurred and the final overall project

duration. Having achieved this, however, the network may
be used for apportioning reasons for delays and assessing
their impacts. In apportioning the responsibility for delay
attention is focused on the critical path (Scott, 1987; Antill
and Woodhead, 1982).
• The ‘as-built subtracting impacts’ method uses the as-built

network as a basis and then subtracts the delaying events
to provide a ‘no disruptions’ program (Cree and Barnes,
1989; Elliott, 1993). This produces a program showing what
would have transpired if no delays had occurred. The
impact of disruptions may then be evaluated.
• An alternative to deducting impacts from an as-built

network is to add them to an as planned or baseline
network. This is known as the ‘baseline adding impacts’
method. The baseline network is the program produced at
the start of the project and indicating the contractor’s
intentions. A schedule of delaying events is then produced
and each of these is added to the network in turn. The
impacts of al l these delays may then be assessed and
apportioned.
• Another refinement is window analysis method (Galloway

and Nielsen, 1990). This method recognizes that the as-
planned network is often updated throughout the currency
of the project. At each update the program and critical
path may change. Each update therefore creates a
‘window’ with in which the impact of delays may be
assessed. The focus of the analysis is therefore only within
each ‘window’ of the program. The impact of the delay is
studied within the periods between each major update of
the program.
• The isolated delay type technique (Mazerolle and Alkass,

1993) is similar to the window analysis method in as much as
several time periods are chosen based on the delays
encountered. The number of time period used in the
analysis depends upon how detailed a claim is required.

Chapter 4: Interviews and their Findings
4.1. General
In its effort to change the backward economic and social status of the
country, the Federal government of Ethiopia is undertaking various capacity
building programs and development projects with the assistance secured
from donors and international financial institutions. One of the programs is the
establishment of Road Sector Development Program (RSDP). This was
designed to ensure the sustainability of considerable and extensive capital
investment allocated for the road sector. The program has taken up the
development of road infrastructures of the country through Ethiopian Road
Authority (ERA).
As part of the research methodology, interview is one of the research tools by

which data are collected for analysis. The interview questions were prepared
with due care to incorporate the general information of the projects, to
assess the possible causes of delays, to assess the parties view pointes
towards apportioning the responsibilities for the delays.
The projects selected for interview were three ongoing projects: two trunk
roads and one link road. These were:
1. Addis Ababa-Ginchi-Ambo Road Rehabilitation Project

2. Nathreth-Assela Road Upgrading Project
3. Dera-Chole-Magna Road Upgrading Project
These projects were chosen mainly due to:
• As they are ongoing projects, good information related to actions

taken to complete the projects within time and cost when delay
occurs
• Study actions taken to accelerate the execution of the work to
complete with in the specified time when delays occur.
• The fact that all are currently on progress, and where it has been
relatively easer to obtain documents and consult/interview
professionals involved in the day-to-day tasks.
Table 4.1: Projects considered in the interview and site visit, source RSDP
Planned Planned
No. Project Project type Planned Km Financers Remark
time cost
Addis Ababa- Rehabilitation 148 out of 185 80% RSDP-I 177.7 Germen RSDP-II
1
Ginchi-Ambo Gov’t
Natherth-Assela Upgrading 75 With in 110.6 GoE+WB RSDP-II
2
RSDP-II

Dera-Chole- Upgrading 85 out of 213 42% RSDP-I 783.6 GoE+WB RSDP-II

3 Magna
4.2. Addis Ababa – Ginchi –Ambo Road Rehabilitation Project
4.2.1. General about the Project
The Ethiopian Road Authority under took rehabilitation of Addis Ababa -

Ginchi-Ambo road project, 112.1 km length of concrete asphalt finish, with a
grant obtained from Germen Financial Corporation (kfw). The consultancy
contract for construction supervision services was awarded to JBG GAUFF
Engineering. Where as, the contract for construction of the project was
awarded to M/S SINOHYDRO CORPORATION of China, (as the contractor) by
the Ethiopian Roads Authority, (the employer) with the date of signing the
contract agreement as 15 August2002 .The engineer’s notice to commence
the works was issued on 14 November 2002 and its contract period was 30
months originally. But due to design change of DBM from 7cm thickness to 10
cm and wearing course from 3cm to 5 cm, the original contract period has
been revised and it has been extended by 11.5 months establishing a revised
completion date of 30 April 2006. Further extension of time was granted with
the effect of making the current and due date of completion to be 18
October 2006.
4.2.2. Physical Progress of the work
Construction of the ordinary fill and/or sub grade, sub base, base coarse,
prime coat, diversion road have been progressed up to km 69+000 and
construction of minor drainage structures have been undertaken through
these kilometers.
The physical progress for permanent work up to the end of May 2006 was
64.3%, which has been delayed considerably when compared to the work
program. As per the revised work program the progress should have been
72.1% at the end of May 2006. It was found out that the reasons for slippage
of the work from the planned program are both the contractor and the
consultant. Unfortunately, it was not possible to find the contractor. The
consultant’s views were summarized below.
4.2.3. Causes of delay of the projects
The identification of each party’s problem in the construction of the Addis

Ababa-Ginchi-Ambo Road Rehabilitation Project is to undersrund each
parties view points to the inherent causes of delay that are affecting the
progress of the work and adding to the ever-accumulating delays in
contract period. There are many interrelated problems that have markedly
affected construction progress, which according to the consultant’s
understanding are:

4.2.3.1. Contractor’s Failure
The main causes for the delay of the project due to contractor’s failure
include:
• Lack of proper planning
• Lack of coordination
• Lack of controlling
• Low contract amount
• Failure to allocate skilled manpower
• Failure to manage its plant and equipment
a) Lack of proper planning

The contractor has been addressed to revise his work program a number of
times. The consultant gave an illustration of this that one of his futile programs
is the recent unofficial program for the 1997 E.C (Oct.2004-June 2005) dry
season. In this program it was planed to cover at least 50km of road with
DBM where as the actual accomplishment is only 28km. This shows that the
contractor is unable to prepare a realistic program after two years of
experience in this area.
b) Lack of coordination (poor organization)

Lack of systematic utilization of available resources (unbalanced equipment
allocation) is the main impediment, which made the contractor fail to
achieve the desired target. The contractor in fact is better equipped and
supply of materials is not a problem. The main factor that affects its
organization is the staffing. The company seems to lack professionally
experienced experts to plan, direct and control construction. It is evident that
such experts are crucial in projects of this nature. As a result, time and
resources are being wasted with out giving desired result.
c) Lack of controlling
Project progress is not monitored, as there is no effective control system. Had
there been such a control system, improvements in the day-to-day rate of
progress could have been observed. Contrary to this, the project is
experiencing slippage, which is accumulating every month.
d) Low contract amount

Tender evaluation is made to select the lowest competitive and qualified
bidder. Lowest in a sense should not be lower than the engineering estimate
of 20%. But the contractor won the project with a cost lower than the
engineering estimate by 60%. This considerable reduction affects their
financial status and affects their operation cost. Ultimately affect the projects
progress.
e) Failure to allocate skilled manpower

Lack of skilled manpower was the main problem that makes the contractor
unable to achieve the desired plan. Experienced project manager is
important for planning, directing and controlling of a project. But the
contractor lacks such personnel, leaving the work for inexperienced and
unskilled engineers. According to the Assistance Resident Engineer, the
contractor has been advised repeatedly to correct the staffing to carry out
the work according to the standard with in the time frame set in the
contract.
f) Failure to manage its plant and equipment

The contractor is better equipped with better plants and equipments.
However it is unable to manage them due to poor plant and equipment
management. In addition, opening of too many working fronts beyond its
management capacity is found to be the problem with efficient plant and
equipment management. The contractor spends so much time in mobilizing
the resource from one front to the other.
4.2.3.2. Employer’s Failure
The project has been delayed significantly due to the employer’s failure to
remove obstructions and give the site. The contractor has requested the
employer to acquire borrow pit and clear the right of way. But the employer
has delayed to give the response. Due to this the project has been delayed.
No other failure of the employer is assessed in contributing to delays.
4.2.3.3. Consultant’s Failure
Since the original design has a problem on the thickness of DBM and wearing
coarse it was changed. As a result the thickness of DBM was changed from
7cm to 10cm and wearing course from 3cm to 5cm.These changes result the
contract period to be revised and is extended by 11.5 months. No more
problems were discovered during the interview. If the contractor had been
there during our field visit for the interview, it would have told us so many
problems related to the consultant and the contractor.
4.2.3.4. Due to third party
Construction progress requires land for right of way, storage and borrow pit,
which has been acquired by the residents. And the employer has faced
problem to possess it due to the request raised by the residents for
compensation, which take some time. And the residents have made little
civil commotions, even though it doesn’t have considerable impact on the
progress of the work.
4.2.4. Action taken by the parties
The consultant has been advising the contractor to speed up his progress
continuously even if he hasn’t brought remarkable change. The contractor

considering the employer’s failures have submitted claims to have an

addition time extension of 200 calendar days in May 2004. The consultant
considering the employer’s failure has approved that the contractor is
entitled to have 97 calendar days. But the employer has provided only 39
calendar days.
4.2.5. Impacts of project delay
The major impacts that have come out from the project being delayed are:
• It significantly affects the economic development of the country since
it interconnects the western part of Ethiopia with the central part for
exchange of raw materials and finished goods.
• It also affects the users’ benefit that will be obtained if it has been
completed on time.
The following table summerrizes the causes of delay in Addis Ababa-Ginchi-

Ambo Road Rehabilitation Project.
Table 4.2: Causes of delay in Addis Ababa-Ginchi-Ambo Road Rehabilitation Project

Causes of delay
Project
Consultant Out side the
Contractor Owner
parties
• Lack of proper • Design problem • Failure to • Little civil
planning remove commotions
• Lack of coordination obstructions and
• Lack of control give the site
Addis Ababa- • Low contract amount
Ginchi-Ambo • Failure to allocate
skilled manpower
• Failure to
manage its plant and
equipment
4.2.6. Conclusions and Recommendations
It is clearly evident that the project has been delayed due to design
changes, contractor’s lack of experience that resulted in improper planning,
lack of coordination, lack of control, failure to allocate skilled manpower and
failure to manage its plant and equipment. Employer’s failure to remove
obstruction has also contributed to the delay. Due to such reasons
employer’s needs, economical development of the country and social
benefits of the society have been greatly affected.
Based on the findings of the interview we recommend that:

• The contractor must recruit experienced experts to plan,
coordinate and control the overall activities of the project.
• The contractor shall allocate his equipments and manpower at the
right place with out redundancy.

• The contractor has to be responsive to the consultant’s feedback.

• The employer has to remove obstructions and give the site to the
contractor at the right time.
4.3. Nazareth–Assela Road Upgrading Project
4.3.1. Generally about the project
Nazareth-Assela is the first section (contract) of the Nazareth-Assela-Dodola

road up grading project located in Oromia region. This road is part of the
main road that connects the central part of Ethiopia with the eastern part of
country. The length of the road from Nazareth to Assela is 79km.
The construction contract for the works was awarded to M/S SINOHYDRO
Corporation of china, (as the contractor) by the Ethiopia road authority, (the
employer). The consultancy service, (as the engineer) was awarded to M/S
RITES LTD of India in association with M/S UNICONE PLC.
The project commencement date was 22 August 2004 and the original time
for completion was 22 February 2008 with a contract period of 42 months,
plus one year defects liability period. The contract was financed with a loan
from the International Development Association (IDA).
4.3.2. Scope of the project
The scope of the work includes widening, strengthen and upgrading of the
existing bituminous surfaced road to improve riding quality, strength and
safety. The designed road will have a two-lane asphalt concrete
carriageway of 7m width and 1.5 wide shoulders on either sides in rural areas;
and 7m wide carriageway with 2.5m paved shoulders on either sides in urban
area. The pavement shall consist of 50mm asphalt concrete wearing course
and 200mm crushed base course and variable thickness of sub-base, which
is to be constructed above the existing bituminous surfaced road bed or on a
well prepared sub grade and/or a 200mm thick capping layer in areas
where expansive soil is anticipated to be encountered.
The works contract contains a total of 86 minor and major drainage

structures. Some of these are required to be extended on either sides of the
carriageway, some are to be newly constructed at new locations, some are
to be demolished and replaced. Few are to be retained by making the
necessary rehabilitation works like pointing, patching and construction of
new parapet and guardrails.
4.3.3. Physical progress of the project
Construction of the ordinary fill and/or sub-grade, sub-base, base-course,

prime coat, diversion road and minor drainage structures, including
construction of rectangular concrete paved waterways in awash towns and

minor maintenance of the diversion road have been progressed b/n 3+000
and 58+000km up to the end of May 2006.
The actual progress of work up to May 2006 on site is incomparable to the

original work program submitted. The physical progress up to May 2006 is
estimated to be 24.55% against the total revised planned of 29% till the end
of May 2006, but the original planned was 54%, so slippage of 4.44% has
been observed over a period of about 1.5 months.
After interviewing professionals involved in the project (i.e. both from

consultant and contractor side) the following main points have been drawn.
4.3.4. Causes of delay for the project
This identification of each party’s problem in the construction of the

Nazareth-Assela road project is to give an insight to the inherent causes of
delay that are affecting the progress and contributing to the ever-
accumulating slippage in contract period. In this specific project there are a
lot of causes for the delay of the progress of the work. Typically to this project
the causes that are affecting the progress occurred during pre-construction
and implementation stage. Depending upon their priority, they are classified
as follows:
4.3.4.1. Contractor’s Failure
A variety of factors in an ongoing project can lead to delay. The main causes for
the progress to be delayed mostly happen during the construction phase. The
contractor is identified as the major cause for the delay of the progress of the
work, due to the following reasons:-
• Lack of experiences in road projects
• Failure of pre-tendering planning
• Failure to mobilize plant and equipment at right time
• Failure to allocate skilled project manager
• Failure to allocate skilled technical and clerical staff
members
• Failure to hold realistic work plan and schedule
• Poor project management
• Lack of awareness about the specification during
tendering
• Shortage of construction materials (especially cement)
a) Lack of experiences in road projects

During tender evaluation, one of the criteria for a contractor to be selected
as winner should be experience. Surprisingly, the contractor for this project
has no any experience in similar type of projects before, even though it was
working on other civil works especially in water works. Accordingly, he failed
to properly understand how to mobilize resources, how to properly schedule

and plan, and how to control the project. As a result the project has failed to
go as per the schedule.
b) Failure of pre-tendering planning

It is important in pre-tender planning to study information about the site
where the project is to be executed to get the following information:
♦ The exact location of the site.
♦ The accesses to the site.
♦ Geography of the area.
♦ Local availability of labor.
♦ Local weather condition.
♦ Local knowledge about the site etc…
But the contractor did not identify the above information in detail before
tendering. The problem happened due to insufficiency of time for
preparation and submission of bid by assessing the real conditions that exist
on the site. Accordingly, the contractor encountered different physical
conditions (such as differing soil conditions) during construction, which
affected the progress of the work. However, if he had identified the problems
in pre-tendering planning stage, he would not have faced these problems
and the progress would not have been affected this much.
c) Failure to mobilize plant and equipment at the right time

Even though the contractor is better in plant and equipment, he failed to
mobilize them in the specified mobilization period due lack of appropriate
transport facilities for moving imported equipments from Djibouti port.
Because of this he wasted some time.
d) Failure to allocate skilled project manager

Lack of skilled project manager was the main problem, which made the
contractor unable to achieve desired targets. The contractor lacked
professional experienced project manager to plan, direct, and control the
project. It is fact that such professional is crucial in projects of this nature; as a
result, time and resources were being wasted with out giving the desired
results.
The engineer had given instruction to the contractor to assign skilled project
manager; accordingly, the contractor substituted the project manager two times,
even though the problem is not completely solved yet. Hence, the rate of
progress was greatly affected due to this cause.
e) Failure to allocate skilled technical and clerical staff members

Appropriate allocation of skilled manpower is a key to the success of the
project within the specified duration. The professionals who are working in the
site do not possess the professionals’ qualification that was set in the pre-
qualification document, and eventually it affected the progress of the work
due to their less productivity.

f) Failure to hold realistic work plan and schedule

The scheduling of a project plan has to take into consideration many
variables like time, resources, and financial constraints. The contractor has
revised his program two times because of the deviation that occurred
between the scheduled and the actual progress of the work. However, when
the contractor revised the schedule for the second time he couldn’t plan
correctly. This assures that the planning process didn’t consider the real
existing condition.
g) Poor project control

The project was planned to be complete within a pre-determined time, budget,
and resources at the planning stage. Unfortunately the progress of this project is
behind the schedule. This happened partly due to lack of control during
construction. Effective control of construction project is very important to its
successful completions.
4.3.4.2. Client’s Failure
In this project no major problems occurred by the side of the client except
minor errors, such as: -
• Unclear bid evaluation criteria
• Problem in site possession
a) Unclear bid evaluation criteria

The contractor undertaking the execution of the work has no experience in
road projects even though it is undertaking another road project here in
Ethiopia, Addis-Ambo Road Rehabilitation Project started before this project.
Experience is significant for contractors to schedule and plan the project
appropriately, to allocate resources in the right time, to forecast uncertainties
and to execute the work according to the schedule.
b) Problem in site possession

For a project to be completed on time, the obstruction clearance process should
be completed before the contractor starts any work in that specific area. Near
Nazareth town the client did not handover the right-of-way to the contractor’s on
the right time. Therefore, the contractor’s work progress has been affected by
some time.
Ways in which the consultant is affecting the project includes:

• Specify unachievable specification
• Delay in approving drawings
• Failure to give written instructions
Proper consulting service is a key to the success of a construction project.
Unless the consultant provides appropriate service, the project will not end
up within the specified schedule.

a) Specify unachievable specification

The specifications of the works should be compatible with national
requirements based on the international standards that are widely used in
international works. However, the realty indicates that the specification
specified for asphalt-concrete mix is beyond the international requirement
that can practically be attainable. Therefore, the contractor wasted some
months to produce this unattainable mix. Consequently, it has affected the
progress of the work.
b) Delay in approving drawings

It is common during construction phase for change of drawings and
approving of new drawings to happen. Accordingly, the consultant should
be able to approve drawings in the right time, but what we find in this project
the consultant didn’t approve drawings on time. The contractor mentioned it
as the cause to delay the progress.
c) Failure to give written instruction

In some cases a situation may arise at the construction site where immediate
instruction is necessary. In such instances, the resident engineer who is
representative of the consultant should prepare formatted written instructions
as to whether the works should proceed immediately or suspend the work.
The resident engineer of the project lacked confidence to give written
instruction. Ultimately it affected the progress.
4.3.4.4. Causes of delay due to reasons outside the control of the parties
Because of the way construction works are carried out, there will be many
occasions when delay occurs due to circumstances beyond the control of
either party. Surprisingly in this project no force Maguire, exceptional adverse
weather conditions, and government legislation change happen. Except
little civil commotions, this didn’t affect the progress significantly.
4.3.5. Impacts of the project delay
Early completed road projects are necessary for economic, social and
political reasons. The primary purposes of constructing roads are to
contribute to the overall economic development of the country by providing
access to economic potential areas, providing access to economic and
strategic areas, like ports and reduction of vehicle operating and
maintenance costs etc…And, also one of the ultimate impacts of the delay
of the project progress in terms of social aspect is the long distance people
travel and the time they spent increase.
The most significant effect lays on the economy of the country in such a way
that raw materials from the farmer and finished products from out side can
not be transported easily, increased wastage of scarce recourses such as
material, workman ship, equipment, and financial recourses and

infrastructure provisions remain sluggish. The cumulative effect is decreasing

the GDP growth of the country.
The following table summarizes the causes of delay in Nazareth-Assela Road

Upgrading Project
Table 4.3: cause of delay in Nazareth-Assela Road Upgrading Project
Causes of delay
Project
Contractor Owner
parties
• Lack of experiences in • Specifying • Failure to • Little civil

road projects unachievable remove commotions
• Failure of pre tendering specification obstructions and
planning • Delay in approving give the site
• Failure to mobilize plant drawings • Unclear bid
and equipment at the • Failure to give evaluation criteria
right time written instruction
Natherth- • Failure to allocate
Assela skilled project
manager
• Failure to allocate
skilled technical and
clerical staff members
• Failure to hold realistic
work plan and
schedule
• Poor project control
A lot can be said about each party’s draw back not to enhance progress.
But the above problems are the main reasons that are affecting the progress.
Hence the contractor needs to restructure its’ staffing with the objective of
formulating a management team that is capable of planning, directing, and
monitoring the project. The consultant should approve drawings timely, give
instructions in written form and avoid giving erratic instruction and the client
should also remove obstruction before the contractor commences any work
on that area.
Based on the findings of the interview, the following recommendations are

forwarded.
1. Lack of trained human resources in the project management level is the
key problem of the project. Therefore, a much more coordinated effort of
assignment of professionals needs to be carried out.
2. During tender evaluation process, in addition to financial status experience
must be criteria in order for a contractor to win the contract
3. Contractors should be given enough time during pre-tender planning
stage in order to obtain sufficient information and survey investigation
data in order to fill the bid document with appropriate price.

4. Designs and specifications should be prepared after detail investigation of

the site in order to minimize change of designs and specifications during
construction phase.
5. Since most road projects in Ethiopia are being executed by foreign
contractors, it is important to create awareness in Ethiopia custom offices
in order to create an alternative importation of construction materials and
accessories.
4.4. Dera-Chole–Magna Road Upgrading Project
4.4.1. General about the project
The Ethiopian Road Authority under took up grading of Dera-Chole-Magna

road project, 119.434 km length of 50 mm thick penetration macadam with
sealed coat and gravel finish, with the loan provided by International
Development Association (IDA). The consultancy contract for construction
supervision services was awarded to M/S ROUGHTON of UK in association
with BEZA CONSULTING ENGINEERING PLC. Whereas the contract for
construction of the project was awarded to M/S IRCON INTERNATIONAL ltd of
India, (as the contractor) by the Ethiopian Road Authority, (the employer)
with the date of signing the contract agreement as 10 August 2004. The
engineer’s notice to commence the works was issued on 17 August 2004.
And its contract period is 42 months. So its’ due completion date is 15
February 2008, plus one year defects liability period. Value of the contract for
the construction is ETB 269,002,448.83 including provisional sums and
contingency.
4.4.2. Progress of the work
Construction of the ordinary fill and/or sub grade, sub base, base coarse,
prime coat, diversion road have been progressed at various chainages and
construction of minor drainage structures have been undertaken through the
finished surfaces.
The physical progress for permanent work has been delayed considerably
when compared to the work program .As per the work program the progress
has to be 50% at the end of May 2006 but it is only 30% of the work that has
been progressed. This figure shows that the project is lagging behind the
schedule by 20%.
It was tried to find out the reasons for slippages from the planned program
both from the contractor and the consultant, and is summarized below as
follows:
4.4.3. Causes of delay for the project
The three parties involved in the project were interviewed and the following
findings were obtained.
4.4.3.1. Contractor’s failure

The causes of delay due to contractor’s failure include:

• Poor management practice
The main problems, which are manifestation of this poor
management, are:
Lack of proper planning
Lack of coordination
Lack of control
Lack proper site organization
• Failure to attain the specification
• Delay of mobilization of resources
a) Lack of proper planning

Since the contractor is not capable to hold realistic and up dated work plan
the consultant has been advising him a number of times. But the contractor
hasn’t brought significant change. His major problem is on his manpower
planning. Due to this, the project was forced to delay.
b) Lack of coordination (poor organization)

Lack of systematic utilization of available resources (unbalanced equipment
allocation) is the main impediment, which made the contractor not to
achieve desired target. The contractor in fact is better equipped and supply
of materials is not a problem. The main factor, which affects its organization,
is the staffing. The company seems to lack professionally experienced experts
to plan, direct and control construction. It is evident that such experts are
crucial in projects of this nature. As a result, time and resources are being
wasted without giving desired result.
c) Lack of control
Project progress is not monitored, as there is no effective control system. Had
there been such a control system, improvements in the day-to-day rate of
progress could have been observed. Contrary to this, the project is
experiencing slippage, which is accumulating every month.
d) Lack of proper site organization

The contractor opens many fronts along the length of the road at the same
time. This results on the equipments and manpower allocation problem. In
which the daily out put of the machineries and manpower has been lowered
.As a result the progress of the work has been affected.
e) Failure to attain the specification

The consultant had addressed that since the contractor doesn’t have any
experience in road projects before he has faced a difficulty in understanding
technical aspect of the construction and has faced a problem to attain the
required specification. As a result when the contractor tries to attain this
specification a lot of time has been elapsed.
f) Delays in mobilizing resources

Due to importation problem of machineries from out side and transportation

problem from Djibouti the contractor has failed to mobilize plants and
equipments on time. As a result the mobilization period has delayed.
4.4.3.2. Employer’s Failure
Both the contractor and the consultant addressed that the project has been
delayed significantly due to the employer’s failure to remove obstructions
and give the site. The contractor has requested the employer to acquire
borrow pit and clear the right of way. But the employer has delayed to give
the response. Due to this the project has been delayed.
a) Design problem
The original design states that at the ends of the chainages the under ground is
full of hard rock which requires explosion but actually there is no need to use any
explosives since the surface doesn’t compose it.
b) Delay in approval of drawing

The consultant did not approve drawings that were prepared on site by the
contractor immediately. Accordingly it affected the progress by some
amount.
4.4.3.4. Delay caused by out side the control of the parties
a) Civil commotions
The residents in Negele have made civil commotions resulted from request of
compensation for their land being taken by the government. And it has been
settled through negotiation and giving compensation. This process has taken
lot of time for being resolved as a result the project has delayed.
b) Adverse weather condition

The contractor has faced an adverse climatic condition, which the
contractor is entitled for time extension. But the contractor hasn’t submitted
any claim for it yet but the project operation has been interrupted.
c) Market instability
Due to materials market instability the contractor’s cash flow program has
been affected and as a result, the progress of the work has been affected.
4.4.4. Other comments by the Contractor
There are many interrelated problems that have markedly affected

construction progress, which according to the contractor’s understanding
are:
Working culture of the society was not developed

Most of the Ethiopian people are not aware about how many days they
should work in order to develop their country. The misunderstanding on their
religion rule was the main factor not to work the whole working days. The
contractor prepared the schedule by considering all working days are
useable for work but the society only worked those days, which are free of
their cultural influences.
Lack of local skilled manpower

Since the project is situated in ruler area, getting skilled manpower was the
main problem. Majority of the educated people wanted to work in towns
especially in Addis and they didn’t want to go far from this area. Even if they
went to the site, they would not work more than one year. As a result, the
annual turnover of employment was high and accordingly it affected the
productivity of the workers, ultimately affecting the progress of the project.
The following table summarizes the causes of delay in Dera-Chole-Magna

Road Upgrading Project
Table4.4: cause of delay in Dera-Chole-Magna Road Upgrading Project
Causes of delay
Project
Contractor Owner
parties
• Lack of proper • Design problem • Failure to • Little civil
planning • Delay in approval remove commotions
• Lack of coordination of drawing obstructions and • Adverse
• Lack of control give the site weather
• Lack of proper site condition
Dera-Chole- organization
Magna • Market
• Failure to attain the instability
specification
• Delays in mobilizing
resources
It is clearly evident that the project has been delayed due to contractor’s
lack of experience, poor managerial practice, in addition to little adverse
climatic condition, poor working culture of the society, delay in approving
drawings by the consultant, lack of skilled man power in the area and
employers failure to remove obstruction. Due to the effect of these causes on
the progress, the economical development of the country and social
benefits of the society have been greatly affected indirectly.
Based on the findings of the interview, the following recommendations are

forwarded:
• The contractor shall recruit experienced experts in the managerial
and technical aspect.

• The contractor should avoid opening too many fronts beyond his
capacity.
• The consultant should approve drawings on time
• The employer has to remove obstruction and give the site to the
contractor at the right time.
• Poor working culture on the society should be improved

Chapter 5: Case study

5.1. General
Among the many completed road projects that were under taken through
ERA, two of them are selected for the case study. The selection of the
projects is based on the availability of the projects data. The background
data and primary information of these projects are given below. The causes
of delay, contractor’s extension of time claims and the engineer’s
recommendation are discussed in detail in the discussion part of this chapter.
5.2. Modjo-Awash Road Rehabilitation Project (Project-one)
5.2.1 project information

Project name-------------------------------Modjo-Awash-Arba
Project length------------------------------160.3 km
Type of construction---------------------rehabilitation
Contractor-----------------------------------Keangnam Enterprise of South Korea
Consultant-----------------------------------Carl Bro of Denmark in Association
with Dana consult of Ethiopia.
Detail Engineering design by---------Gauff
Design review by --------------------------NOR consult
Employer--------------------------------------ERA
Financer --------------------------------------IDA and the government of Ethiopia.
Contract commencement date----April 1 1999
Scheduled completion date----------April 1 2002
Current status-------------------------------completed
5.2.2. Findings
Summary of submitted extension of time claims, and the engineer

recommendation for Modio-Awash-Arba project
Table 5.1 summery of extension of time claims for Modjo- Awash road project
Reasons giving rise The contractor’s
Causes of The Engineer’s
No to extension of time Extension of time
claim recommendation
claims claims
1 Variation Replacement of 212 days 124 days
overlay with
reconstruction
2 Variation New bridge work 388 days 388 days
3 Variation Construction of 631 days 12 months
road through
Nazareth town
4 Unforeseen Shortage of hard 638 days Nil
circumstances rock
5 Employer’s risk Site security 20 working days 7 days
problem

6 Employer’s risk Ethio-Eritrea war 7 days Nil

7 Suspension of Suspension by the 20 working days Nil
work Engineer
Total 1039 days 531 days
Details of time extension claims and their causes

The project’s initial cost was Birr 227, 449,546.00, and it was expected to be
complete in 36 months. But due to several reasons the project got
completed in 69 months.
The contractor submitted over seven issues that were directly related to time
extension. Out of this time extension claims the contractor was granted 635
days. This amount is 91% of the original contract period. Each time extension
claims is discussed briefly as follows:
a) The contractor submitted a claim for an extension of time of 212 days

resulting from variation ordered from the employer to change the
pavement works on the section 150+000 to 160+300 from patching and
overlay to reconstruction. But the Engineer granted a time extension of
124 days after he analyzed the case.
b) Due to the construction of a new bridge across the Mermersa River, The
contractor claimed for as extension of time under the event of (a) the
amount or nature of extra or additional work, sub-clause 44.1 of the
conditions of contract. Due to this the contractor for the execution of the
additional work claimed for an extension of time of 388 days. The
engineer found that the contractor’s extension of claim was fair. And
therefore; the engineer extended the completion date of the project due
to this variation ordered by 388 days.
c) The contractor was ordered to suspend the initiation of any work on the
road section through Nazareth town. This is done to work out a revised
design for the road in this urban area. Accordingly, the contractor
claimed an additional 631 days for completion. But the engineer
determined the time for completion of the works under the variation order
to be 12 months.
d) The contractor claimed that he encountered a “physical condition” to

the effect that the hard stone sites identified by the employer and
provided to him, as information in the materials report could not yield the
required quality and quantity of aggregate for asphalt production. During
his site inspection and examination, the contractor didn’t for- see this
condition. As a result the contractor faced shortage of hard rock for the
production of aggregate for the asphalt works. Accordingly, the
contractor submitted a claim for an extension of 638 days 70% of the total
project time under the basis of sub-clause 12.2 (a) (Adverse physical
obstruction or condition), and sub-clause 44.1 (b). But the detailed
analysis of the employer material report showed that there was a clear

warning as regard to the varying and mixed nature of the rock along the
project road and in particular to the rock in potential quarries. According
to the conditions of the contract, the contractor is required to inspect and
examine the site and its surroundings, and to apply his own professional
knowledge in making his interpretation of the presented data and
drawings just to verify the presence of the quarries is not adequate to fulfill
the requirements of sub-clause 11.1 of the conditions of contract. As a
result, the contractor’s claim for extension of time due to shortage of hard
rock for the production of asphalt aggregate was rejected.
e) The contractor submitted a claim for an extension of time of 20 working

days due to the effect of several robberies and armed attacks that were
happing in the project area from March to December 2001. Accordingly,
the progress of the works delayed and occasional stoppages to the works
occurred. But the engineer argued that the majority of the incidents
occurred during night hours in which the contractor was not supposed to
perform any work according to the original submitted program. As a result
the engineer recommended 7 days from 20 working days.
f) The war between Ethiopia and Eritrea was alleged to have affected the
progress of the critical activities due to non-availability of trucks for
transportation of bitumen and spare parts on site. Accordingly, the
contractor claimed an extension of time of 7 working days due to the
effect of the war on the basis of sub-clause 12.2 (a) (adverse physical
obstructions or conditions), sub-clause 20.4 (a) (i) (Employer’s Risks) and
sub-clause 44.1 (b) (Extension of time for completion). But the engineer
assessed the case and he didn’t get documents that assured that the war
affected the progress of the critical activities. Accordingly, the
contractor’s claim for extension of time was rejected.
g) The engineer informed the contractor that he, in the joint asphalt
laboratory, had tested the penetration of a consignment of 60/70
bitumen delivered to the project and the penetration test failed to
comply with the requirement. As a result, the consignment was rejected,
and the engineer had instructed the contractor that no bulk delivery
should be discharged into storage tanks without completion of
penetration tests carried out by the engineer’s staffs. The contractor
alleged that the engineer’s instruction had delayed the work. Accordingly
the contractor claimed an extension of time of 20 working days. But the
engineer assessment indicated that no delay to the works happened.
Hence the claim was rejected.
5.3. Hirna-Kulubi Road upgrading project (Project two)
5.3.1. Project information

Project name……………………….Hirna-kulubi Road Upgrading Project
Project length……………………….91.0 Km

Type of construction ………………up grading of the existing road

Employer……………………………..Ethiopian roads authority
Contractor……………………………Keangnam enterprise limited of South
Korea
Engineer………………………………Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick and co. Ltd. of
England
Design review……………………….. Gauff of Ethiopia
Financier……………………………….Inte
rnational Development Association
(IDA) and the Government of Ethiopia
(GOE)
Contract signing date……………. 13 May 1999
Contract commencement date…. 4 June 1999
Original time for completion……… 03 December 2001
Contract price……………………ETB188,084,957.20 (payable in the
proportion of: 30% Ethiopian Birr
and 70% US Dollars at fixed
contract exchange rate of
1US$=ETB7.572)
Actual completion date……………..28February 2005
5.3.2. Findings
The contractor has formally submitted the under listed eight applications for
extension of time for completion.
Table 5.2 summery of extension of time claims for Hirns Kulubi road project
Heads of claims Contractor’s Engineers

Clime no.
claimed EOT (days) recommendation
Increased quantity of No estimate

EOT1 -
culvert works provided
Exceptionally adverse
EOT2 50 -
weather condition
Employer’s alleged failure
EOT3 415 113
to give possession of site
Increased quantity of work
EOT4 597 12
and additional work
Crushing of natural gravel
EOT5 539 -
for the lower sub base
EOT6 Strikes 65 -
Exceptionally adverse
EOT7 weather condition year 15 7
2002-2003
EOT8 Shoulder construction 197 -
Total 736 132
The total extension of time determined by the engineer and subsequently

granted to the contractor is 132 days. This is 17.93% of the total extension of
time claimed by the contractor.
The contractor’s time extension claims are discussed briefly as follows:
EOT no.1 increased quantity for culvert works

The contractor’s contention under this head of claim is that the increased
quantities of works require additional time which is not actually estimated
and additional cost of ETB 1,140,424.27. The request for the time extension is
pursuant to clause 44.1(a): the amount or nature of extra or additional work
of the condition of contract, which allows the contractor time extension to
carry out the extra work (quantity increased). But the engineer after assessing
the contractor’s claim under this head has rejected it. Because the works are
deemed to be included in the price tendered for new culverts and culvert
extensions not in a separate pay item.
EOT no.2 and 7 exceptionally adverse climatic condition

The contractor has requested a total of 65 days due to the existence of
adverse climatic condition during execution of the works. But the engineer
has assessed the situation and has determined that the adverse climatic
condition did only exist for 7 days so the contractor is only granted for time
extension of 7 days.
EOT no. 3 employer’s alleged failure to give possession of site

Generally, the contractor’s request under this head of claim is that due to
numerous stoppages of works, the contractor suffered significant delay on
the completion of the works and incurred additional costs. And has
submitted amount of interim extension claimed to 415 days in total under the
provision of sub clause 42.2: failure to give possession, 44.1(b): any cause of
delay referred in this condition and 44.3: interim determination of extension of
the conditions of contract.
The engineer has carried out an assessment of the contractor’s claim number
EOT 3, for an extension of the time for completion of the work due to alleged
failure of the employer to give possession of site. And has considered that the
work of the contractor has been disrupted because of delays in land
acquisition procedures, and hence recommended extension of time of 113
days in this respect and associated cost of ETB 4,147501.00.
EOT no.4 increased quantity of work and additional work

The contractor’s contention under this head of claim is that the increased
quantity of works and additional work requires additional time to carry it out.
The request for time extension is pursuant to clause 44.1(a) of the condition of
contract, which allows the contractor time extension to carry out the extra
work (quantity increased) and additional work (shoulder activity).
The extra/increase in quantity and additional works, which are treated, for
time extension are stated in table.5.3

Table5.3 extra/ increased in quantity and additional works
Contract Estimated
Item Description Unit Variation %
Qty Qty
1 Sub grade M2 519,500 1,104,132 524,632 191

2 Cut to fill M3 415,700 310,972 -104,722 75
3 Cut to spoil M3 118,800 827,505 708,705 697
4 Shoulder M3 - 73,779 73,779 Additio
nal
5 Extended pipe M3 599 515 -84 86
6 Replaceable M3 2,047 3640 1,593 178

pipe
Considering this the contractor has requested 597 days but the engineer
after assessing the contractor’s claim under this head has recommended
only 12 days, because these claims were not substantiated by the engineer.
EOT no.5 crushing of natural gravel for the lower sub base
The contractor contended that the requirement to construct lower sub base
was not covered by the technical specification and that, the requirement to
crush any oversize component of the natural gravel being used to construct
lower sub base should be regarded as a variation and should be subjected
to additional time of 539 days for
• Time required to import crusher and ancillary equipment to
commence the variation of work that is start, at full swing, the crushing
of material for the lower sub base works.
• Time required to crush 159,596 M3 of material for the lower sub base
works.
Item 3.1.1 of the technical specification clearly states: the maximum
allowable size for sub base shall be 40mm. As the materials encountered in
the existing borrow location has a natural grading exceeding this size, the
material shall be screened and oversize material shall be crushed and mixed
in. That is, before submission of his tender, the contractor was aware of
crushing of oversized sub base material acquired from borrow locations.
Hence, the engineer decided that the contractor is not entitled to any
additional time and payment in this respect.
EOT no.6 strikes

The contractor is claiming, pursuant to sub clause 44.1(e): ”other special
circumstances which may occur, other than through a default of or breach
of contract by the contractor or from which he is responsible”, an extension
of time for the completion of the whole of the works for 65 lost working days,
as a result of strikes that has occurred in the project. But the engineer after
assessing the contractor’s claim has pointed out that since the contractor
hasn’t provided substantiation to this claim and because of the contractor’s

failure to keep contemporary records and provide detailed particulars as

required, he has rejected the request of extension of time due to strikes.
EOT no.8 shoulder construction
The contractor’s request for an extension of time of 197 days and payment of
ETB 12,138,446.41 is associated with claim: crushing natural gravel for lower
sub base, as the material for shoulder is the same as that of lower sub base.
The engineer has rejected the contractor’s request of payment for shoulder
with rate of ETB 159.04 per M3, and continued to certify payment the same
with a rate of natural gravel sub base rate, which is ETB 22.32 per M3. And
also has addressed that the contractor is not entitled for any additional time
since he was aware about the material during tendering.
5.4. General discussions
Delays that occurred during the construction stage of the projects could be
attributed to causes from both during pre-construction stage and the
construction stage. According to the result of the case study of the two
projects, the predominant cause of delay is variation ordered. From the total
causes of delay that happened in the projects, variation order take more
than 32% of the total causes. Excessive variation order could be minimized or
reduced by improving performance during design stage and contract
document preparation process of the project. Variation order and change
of design are the result of deficient design, poor contract document
preparation (i.e. specifications) and undefined project formulation works that
could be improved during design stage and project development stage.
Variations ordered have been the frequent causes of delay for the two
projects. It is the result of inadequacy of the design works carried out by the
design consultants that caused this fundamental change of order. Adequate
site investigations at the design stage are also essential for the design
consultants to produce optimum design solutions for the projects.
Like variation order, employer’s risks that can be attributed to; site security,
war, failure to give possession of sites, and strikes are the pre dominant
causes of delay for the projects. To avoid right of way problems, the
government and private institutions should create awareness in the society to
facilitate right of way issues before the start of execution process.
Exceptional adverse weather conditions are also identified as a cause of

delay.

Chapter 6: Analysis of Delay Impacts
According to the site visit interview and the case study survey data, the
following impacts of delay are observed. Of all projects surveyed in this study,
none has been completed on time. Rather all of them have been granted
time extension. Even though the impacts of delay in road projects are many
and diversified, the major ones are discussed bellow:
1. Financial impact to the parties
2. Economical impact on the country
3. Social impact
4. Environmental impact
5. Political impact
6.1. Financial impact to the parties
The most significant impact of delay in the projects has been financial
impact. For instant in Modjo-Awash and Hirna Kulubi projects, there have
been financial claims related to delay of the projects. If delay could have
been avoided, it would have saved a significant amount of money for the
employer. When projects are not completed according to the scheduled, it
would affect the parties financially.
When the contractor delays the project, he will incur additional cost as a
result of the extended duration of the performance. The additional costs
incurred by the contractor due to delay of projects include:
• Idle Equipment charges

• Material price escalation costs
• Extended payment/performance bond premiums
• Extended insurance premiums
• Unanticipated weather protection
• Extended Site over head expenses
• Extended General over head expenses (i.e. same part of it)
• Expenses for liquidated damage
But if the delay is compensable, the contractor will be entitled to time

extension and the associated cost. The contractor losses due to project
delays include lost opportunities for new projects because of diminished
financial capabilities. In addition to this, if the prices of some materials (i.e.
cement, reinforcement bar, bitumen, and petroleum) increase during this
period, there will be adjustments of prices for the escalated costs of
construction materials. The owner loses by missing out on the potential
revenues from the uses of the project and by increased overhead costs for
contract administration and supervision and the contractor also loses due to
increased costs in the overhead and tied-up capital.

6.2. Economical impact on the country
If roads are completed according to the time frame work, they will enhance
movement and accessibility of the people, who are living along the roads.
Due to this the economy of the people served by this road would be
improved, and then their contribution to the over all economy of the country
will increase.
Due to delay of projects, the accessibility to exploit natural resources such as

minerals, and raw materials will be affected, since the areas along the
projects are well known for the production of these materials. To the contrary,
if roads are completed on the scheduled, there will be good opportunities for
commerce and trade to improve and provide better quality services.
Moreover, lowering the costs of transport might enable a more steady supply
of goods and services in to the area and facilitate the movement of
agricultural products in to the market, and operational cost of vehicle also
minimized.
These and others impacts have direct relation to the overall economy of the
people and at the same time the GDP of the country.
6.3. Social impact
When projects are delayed, people would be forced to travel longer

distance and they incur much cost to transport goods and materials. The
society is also affected due to equipment and machinery movement that
could increase the risk of accidents to the communities (particularly children)
and their cattle, especially when they are crossing the roads.
An early-completed road projects will support the provision of wider and

better range of government services including administration, market, health
care, education, and extension services. Accordingly, it would increase the
mobility of government officials and employees, goods, materials, and the
resources required to run the above-mentioned services. With improved
services the living condition of the people in the areas will also be improved,
and the interaction of people with other society increased. To the contrary, if
the road projects are delayed, the provision of the above-mentioned basic
facilities will also be delayed.
In addition, the effect of transmitted diseases like HIV and STD on the people
who are living in the projects areas would be high as the duration of the
projects increases. Because it is common among construction crews to find
that a high proportion of the young workers have been exposed to and
affected with such diseases. The risk of transfer to the society is similarly high.

6.4. Environmental impact
As the duration of the construction phase increases, the impact on the

environment is also prolonged, in such a way that the discharge of sewage
and other fluid wastes from the construction camps, and spillage of
pollutants (fuel, oil) affecting the natural ground water. The chance of
pollution of streams intercepted by the road also increases.
As everybody knows, Road constructions process is also the major source of
dust emission and air pollution. When projects are delayed the effect of
pollution on the environment will increases.
6.5. Political impact
Indirectly all the above-mentioned impacts have a direct relation ship with
political impact. When projects would not complete on time, the attitude of
the people to wards the government would be negative. Accordingly it
might have an effect during election.
Since the country is divided in to many regions, delay of road projects on one
of the regions may initiate people to think of it negatively. As a result it would
affect the country’s political integrity.

Chapter 7: Conclusions and Recommendations
This chapter is aimed to see into the findings of the study and accordingly
give recommendations to minimize occurrences of delays and their impacts
in road construction projects. A survey of contractors, consultants and owner
was conducted to assess the causes of delay, their impacts and the party
responsible for the delay. It was found that all projects have experienced
delay. Time extension was requested by the contractors in all of those
delayed projects, and the extension were approved partially or completely
in most of the delayed projects indicating a partial assumption of
responsibility by the owner or at least that delays were excusable. This
indicates that the factors that have gone in to deciding the project
completion time limit may not have been realistically estimated.
7.1. Conclusions
7.1.1. Pre-construction Events that lead to Delays
The study indicated that delays in the road construction projects occur partly
due to events that arise from the pre-construction activities. The analysis of
the data collected appears to show that the pre-construction events leading
to delay of projects are attributable to the project owner (ERA) and
consultants.
7.1.1.1. Delays caused by Project Owner (ERA)
One of the pre-construction problems causing delays due to owner related

defaults is poor contract formulation. The owner used a single staged
tendering to select the lowest bidders with out considering their experiences
and past performances. This has resulted in awarding the contract to the
non-qualified and inexperienced contractors that lack the required level of
managing the overall activities of the road projects. This has directly
contributed to the delays in execution of the projects as the contractors lack
proper planning ability and fails to allocate the right resources at the right
place and at the right time.
The lowest evaluated bidder criteria of selecting contractors have also

resulted in cash flow problem of the contractors. The project cost of the
lowest evaluated bidder should not be lower than 20% of the engineering
estimate. However, it was found out that bidders with project cost of less than
40% of the engineering estimate have been awarded the contract.
Ultimately they faced cash flow problems that affected their operation cost.
This problem has resulted in delay of the projects due to shortage of cash to
cover the direct and indirect costs of the projects.

7.1.1.2. Delays caused by Consultants
The study has discovered that delays caused by pre-construction events due
to the failure of the consultants are mostly related to design problems, bill of
quantities, preparation of drawings and specifications, tender and bidding
document preparation and process of tendering.
The most critical and frequently appearing problems related to pre-

construction events seem to be those related to design problems. There have
been significant delays due to design changes, modifications and lack of
sufficient details. The design of the works did not include all the important
variables and this has led to the change of designs and modifications. It
appears that in most of the cases variation orders were entertained due to
incompleteness of project design during the design preparation of the
projects. Generally, the design information given in the pre-tender period
appears to rather optimistic and has not considered the seriousness of the
ensuing problems. This problem has contributed a lot for the delay of the
projects during implementation stage.
Investigation and classification of construction materials was not properly

done during the pre-construction stage. This has resulted in
inadequate/inaccurate construction materials reports of the proposed
quarry sites and rocky areas of the projects. The rock and soil data gathered
and analyzed to determine the effect work items such as clearing,
excavation, and drainage have on design and construction costs were not
accurate and sufficient. The great difference between the actual site
condition and the condition which the contractor expected while referring to
the data has resulted in delay of activities such that the contractors were
entitled to compensation of additional costs.
In some projects it is observed that the pre-construction engineering survey to

gather numeric data (elevation, bearing, and distance) and nonnumeric
data (drainage, materials, and resources) needed to develop a facility
design were not properly collected and analyzed. The traverse, profile, cross
sectional and topographic surveying data prepared during the design
preparation period is found to be completely different form what was
actually observed during implementation stage. This has resulted in delay of
the projects and cost overruns.
Site surveys that are commonly required at bridge sites, major culvert sites,
earth-retaining structures, etc. were not properly conducted. This insufficient
site survey has necessitated the construction of new bridges and culverts and
resulted in potential claims for time extensions and cost compensations.
Bill of Quantities are prepared to provide sufficient information on the

quantities of works to be performed to enable bids to be prepared efficiently
and when a contract has been entered in to, to provide a price Bill of
Quantities for use in the periodic valuation of works executed. The study

showed that the prepared bill of quantities did not itemize the works in
sufficient detail distinguishing between the different classes of works. Works of
the same nature carried out in different locations or in other circumstances
which may give rise to different consideration of cost were not properly
distinguished. The difference between the actual quantity observed on the
site and what was on the bill of quantity has caused delay in performing the
works and hence entitled the contractors time extensions according to
clause 44.1a of FIDIC 87.
The specification of works should be compatible with national or international

standards that are widely used. However, the reality indicated that in some
instances the specifications specified for different materials are found to be
unachievable and the contractors have wasted their time, energy and
finance in trying to achieve wrongly specified specifications. Consequently, it
has affected the progress of the work considerably.
Most of the projects were tendered prematurely without the necessary

construction documents being sufficiently detailed to reflect the full scope of
the works. This has resulted in differing opinions over what the parties’ believe
the contract terms mean, as opposed to what is actually written down. The
insufficient contract documents have caused the timely completion of the
projects difficult.
The study indicated that incomplete bidding documents preparations by the

consultants are among the causes of delay events. Time extension and
compensation of additional costs due to delayed activities resulted from the
great difference between the actual site condition and the condition which
they expected while referring to the bidding document during the
preparation of their tenders. This may be indicative of incomplete bidding
document preparation by the consultant. But it may as well be due to lack of
detail investigation by the contractor during tender preparation. The
apportionment of responsibility related to this issue is still ambiguous and
needs further study.
Introduction of new terms and conditions, omissions, ambiguities and

contradictions that occur during the contract negotiation process have
resulted in delaying of activities during the implementation stage.
7.1.2. Construction stage Events that lead to Delays
The study indicated that the majority of delays in the road construction
projects occur due to events that arise during the implementation stage. The
analysis of the data collected appears to show that the construction stage
events leading to delay of projects are attributable to the three parties
involved in the projects (owner (ERA), contractors and consultants).

7.1.2.1. Delays caused by Project Owner (ERA)
The client delayed completion of the works in various ways. Among these,
delay to remove obstructions and provide the ‘right of way’, change of mind
during construction and ordering extra works are the major ones.
One of the major findings of the study is the ‘rights of way’ and site handing
over problems. All the projects analyzed in this study have experienced this
problem making it a prime claim point for extension of time and cost
compensation. The lack of coordination of the removal of obstructions that
belong to the different private and government agencies has been
significantly the risk of delay. This appears to stem from inadequate
understanding of the requirements of the contract, and the impact it may
have on the overall project execution. As this process is the exclusive
responsibility of the Client, the contractors are entitled for time extension and
cost compensation.
The study also indicated that the Client orders additional works that are not
found in the original documents. Acceleration of subsequent site activities in
case of delay to make up for the lost time due to variation orders has
frequently failed due to deficiency in client’s project management
procedure. In this regard, continuous issues of design information/variation
orders by the client often frustrate the acceleration process.
7.1.2.2. Delays caused by Contractors
The most critical and frequently appearing problems related to construction

stage events seem to be those related to contractors’ defaults. The study
indicated that contractors undertaking the construction of projects lack
experience in road construction projects; lack skilled and key personnel to
carry out the works; failure to mobilize plant and equipment and personnel at
the right time and location; opening too many fronts beyond its
management and resource capacity; failure to hold realistic work plan and
schedule and lack of awareness about the specification and sufficiency of
tender documents.
The contractors carrying out the construction of the projects lack experience
in road construction projects even though they have experience in
construction of other public works like Water Works and Rail Ways. Due to the
lack of practice in road construction sector, they do not properly mobilize the
right resource at the right time and location, and their limited know-how of
the sequence of activities has been the problem in preparing realistic work
plan and schedule.
Lack of skilled project managers is found to be the other main problem for
the contractors which make them unable to achieve desired targets. They
lack experienced and professional project managers to plan, direct and
control the overall activity of the projects, and as the result time and

resources are being wasted without giving desired results. Generally, lack of
skilled project managers has affected the timely completion of the projects
due to the occurrence of communication gap at various levels, lack of day-
to-day decisions to fill procedural gaps, and absence of cooperation among
staff members.
Appropriate allocation of skilled manpower at various levels is a key to the

success of the projects within the specified durations. The professionals who
are working on the sites do not possess the professionals’ qualifications that
were set in the pre-qualification documents, and eventually they affected
the progress of the works due to lack of knowledge about construction
methods, inability to visualize discrete works, and failure of recording labor
productivity rate. This happens due to communication gap at various levels,
lack of day-to-day decisions to fill procedural gaps, and absence of
cooperation among staff members.
Most of the contractors are observed to be better equipped with sufficient

and high technology plants and equipments. However, lack of systematic
utilization of available resources is the main impediment, which made the
contractors unable to achieve desired targets. The main factors that
affected their organizations are the staffing to plan, direct and control the
productivity of their plants and equipments.
It is important in pre-tender planning to study information about the site

where the project is to be executed to get information related to the
location of the site, accesses to the site, geography of the area, availability
of construction materials, availability of labor and local weather condition.
But the contractors did not identify this important information in detail before
tendering. The problem happened due to insufficiency of time for
preparation and submission of bid by assessing the real conditions that exist
on the site. Accordingly, the contractors encountered different physical
conditions (such as differing soil conditions) during construction, which
affected the progress of the work. However, if they had identified the
problems in pre-tender planning stage, they would not have faced these
problems and the progress would not have been affected this much.
The scheduling of a project plan has to take into consideration many

variables like time, resources, and financial constraints. The contractors have
revised their programs more than two times because of the deviation that
occurred between the scheduled and the actual progress of the works. The
planning failure occurred due to Planning of unworkable plans, problem in
identification of critical items during planning, lack of understanding of
operating procedures, reluctance to take timely decision, and ignorance of
appropriate planning tools and techniques.
Controlling failure of the contractors is also found to be the other cause of

delays. This is due to unclear targets, inadequate information flow, in

competency in adopting appropriate monitoring techniques, and an

absence of timely corrective measures.
7.1.2.3. Delays caused by Consultants
The consultants have contributed to the delays of all projects in delaying

approval of drawings and failure to give written instructions and specifying
unachievable specifications.
It common during construction stage of road projects to see change orders

due to change in need of the owner, change in design or other related
issues. Whenever such cases happen, the consultant should able to give
detailed drawings and approve the drawings of the contractor within the
right time. But the study indicated that the consultants do not approve
drawings on time and hence delay the progress of the contractors
considerably.
In some cases a situation may arise at the construction site where immediate
instruction is necessary. In such instances the resident engineer should
prepare formatted written instruction whether to continue the work or
suspend it. This study revealed that, sometimes the engineers lack
confidence to give written instructions to relieve themselves from the
responsibility. This has affected the progress of the work in the projects.
7.2 Recommendations
Based on the analysis and the findings of the study, the following
recommendations are forwarded. The recommendations are aimed at the
government institutions, running professional engineers as well as practicing
professionals and consultancy firms with the view of minimizing the causes of
delays and their impacts.
Enforcing a mandatory pre-qualification of contractors for major civil

engineering projects, particularly road sector, will assist in weeding out
less experienced contractors, and encourage the participation of more
qualified ones. Therefore, the owner must formulate the following pre-
qualification criteria to select experienced and qualified bidder:
Experience and past performance
Capability in respect of personnel and equipment
Organizational arrangement and facilities
Financial status
Schedule of commitments, and
Health, safety and environmental records
The consultants should thoroughly consider all variables that are

needed to design the planned roads according to the standard and
quality of the required grade. The amount, detail, and accuracy of the
design data collected should be commensurate with the standard of

the road and with the values, resources, and risks associated with the
project.
Construction materials should be investigated and classified during

planning, location, survey, and/or design, but must be referenced to
the survey line. The consultants must base the timing and extent of
investigation and specification nature of the classification on local
conditions and facility or system requirements. Survey crews or others
may perform investigations, but they must use a degree of materials
expertise consistent with the project requirements. They are also
advised to incorporate the investigation and classification information
in the project file after these data have been collected and analyzed
so that it is available during the design and construction phase.
Since most road projects in Ethiopia are being executed by foreign

contractors, it is important to create awareness in Ethiopia custom
offices in order to create an alternative importation for construction
materials or accessories.
The pre-construction engineering survey to gather numeric data

(elevation, bearing, and distance) and nonnumeric data (drainage,
materials, and resources) needed to develop a facility design should
be properly collected and analyzed. The traverse, profile, cross
sectional and topographic surveying data prepared during the design
preparation period must be accurate and well recorded. The
measurements must be made to the selected engineering survey
accuracy standards. Data may be recorded by various means,
including standard field notebooks, electronic data recording
equipment, programmed calculators, and tape recorders. But it must
be recorded data in the appropriate format to the precision required
for the planned design method and in a manner that permits the
retention of data in accordance with the determined requirements.
Works should be itemized in the Bill of Quantity in sufficient detail to

distinguish between the different classes of works, or between or works
of the same nature carried out in different locations or in other
circumstances which may give rise to different consideration of cost.
Bill of Quantity is the basis for offering the right price by contractors.
Therefore, quantities should be computed and included in the Bill of
Quantity correctly.
It is important to avoid the use of vague and unenforceable

subjectivity terms in the preparation of specifications as they may
cause problems towards achieving the required specifications. Even
though it is in the owner’s best interests to keep designers from
indulging in generalities in specifications, the engineers must avoid the
use of generalities in specifications and incorporating unenforceable
phrases.

Projects must be tendered maturely after the necessary construction

documents are sufficiently detailed to reflect the full scope of the
works. This helps to avoid the differing opinions over what the parties’
believe the contract terms mean and what is actually written down.
The design of any work needs to include a detailed analysis of rights of

way problems and clearly specify the steps to be taken. All
government/private institutions then will have to contribute towards
facilitating rights of way issues and avoidance of rights of way claims.
Again creating awareness about delays in the execution of projects,
among concerned government institutions, needs to be carried out.
Contractors must prepare workable plans by identifying the critical

items during planning; understanding operating procedures, taking
timely decision, and incorporating appropriate planning tools and
technique.
Contractors need to structure their organizations in order to insure

adequate delegation of authority at various levels, higher
management capability, and avoid conflicts among the members of
the staff.
Contractors shall coordinate and control their staff to avoid

communication gap at various levels, enhance day-to-day decisions
to fill procedural gaps, and strengthen cooperation among staff
members. This insures clear targets, adequate information flow,
competency in adopting appropriate monitoring techniques, and
taking timely corrective measures.
Weather related information should be made available in the bidding

documents and what the average weather conditions for the given
locality were in the last reasonable years (10 years). There should also
be daily records of on site rainfall amounts, as part of the contract
requirements, to be agreed between the Engineer and the contractor.
Such information should include the time of big and small rains in the
country, their duration and intensity. This will prepare the contractor to
sequence his works appropriately and minimize the risk of subjective
interpretation the adverse weather conditions. In this aspect the
development of metrological stations will play a crucial part. At the
moment all available records are obtained from the metrological
authority, and these should be augmented by on site observations.
Local team of professional design review experts should be established

in order to enhance local skills in handling as well as minimizing delay
related claims. In instituting the design review procedures great care
must be made to enforce the responsibility of the final designs to the
consulting firm, so that any outcomes of the review and modification

exercise be accounted for and that the inherent avoidance of the

ownership of the designs be avoided. Such a step will create a sense
of responsibility in the supervising consultancy.
The concept of professional indemnity insurance to cover consulting
risks or design errors is not widely known nor is it implemented in
Ethiopia. The responsible government agency needs to institute a
professional indemnity coverage regulation, for both local and
international firms participating in the Ethiopian Construction Industry.
Formulating a local bid evaluation procedure that will be enforced in

all government agencies handling international projects will contribute
towards streamlining bid evaluation related events that lead to delay
of projects and claim issues.
Investing in proper pre-tendering work planned towards obtaining

sufficient soil and survey investigation data’s with the objective of
producing complete design documents. This requires tender
documents to be specific on how detailed investigations have to be
done so as problems will not be created during tender evaluation.
The owner is advised to appoint ‘Risk Manager’ who has a reasonable

level of programming skill and involve both in pre-construction and
construction stage of the project. In the pre-construction work s/he will
involve liaising with the other consultants in order to identify critical
elements of the design and methods of procurement that will affect
the progress of the project. The information collected regarding
elements that affect the design and procurement method is then
scheduled and provided for the contractor during tendering such that
reliable information will be the base for the contractors pricing. The risk
manager will also be required to advise upon the techniques used to
prepare the program, the software that will be used and the nature
and quality of the management information provided by the
contractor. Once the initial program has been produced by the
contractor it is the risk manager who assesses it for its reality and
achievability. Therefore, events that cause delays can easily be
identified by the risk manager and timely measures will be taken to
avoid the occurrence of the events. This can accelerate the execution
of the work and hence minimize risks related with projects delays.
All pre bid information shall be all inclusive, detailed and exhaustive as
regard to customs clearance regulations, work permits by the different
authorities, availability of construction materials, labor related
information and other legislations. It is necessary to prepare a detailed
information bulletin that needs to be issued to all contractors as part of
the bid document. Such information availability will assist contractors to
weight their risks and hence price and program their bids
appropriately, there by minimizing the risk of time and cost overruns.
This does not mean, however, that contractor’s do not have to

properly execute their duty and responsibility independently prior to

bid submission.
The lack of well trained manpower involved in the contract

administration of the projects has been a problem. Therefore, a much
more coordinated effort of training professionals needs to be carried
out, through the strengthening of engineering management courses
both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, with an emphasis
on international contract administration, construction contract law, as
well as delay claims handling procedures. For practicing professionals
recurrent training courses or skills development seminars need to be
held frequently.
Creating efficient exchange of information between government

agencies handling road construction projects so that experiences
gained from past and present issues of delay are shared.
Further research work on more delay and related cases are suggested
and arranging forums of discussion among parties in construction
sector is crucially important to save public money and upgrade
professional commitments of those involved in the construction sector.


APPENDIX
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
1. General about the project

Project name?
Parties in the project?
• Owner
• Contractor
• Consultant
Total length of the project?
Project type?
• Construction of new road?
• Up grading of the existing road?
• Rehabilitation of the existing road?
• Maintenance of the existing road?
Carriage way finishes?
• Asphalt concrete?
• Gravel?
Project financers?
2. Brief description of the original project schedule
Project commencement date?
Contract period of the project?
Original completion time?
3. What percent of the work is completed?
4. What percent of the work would have been completed according to
the approved work program?
5. Is the actual progress of the work lagging behind the schedule or
ahead of the schedule?
6. Is the actual progress of the work is ahead of the original schedule,
what are the critical success factors? (If any)
7. If the actual progress of the work is lagging behind, who is responsible
for the delay?
The owner?
The consultant?
The contractor? Or
Reasons outside the control of the parties? (If any)
8. If the owner is responsible for the delay, what are the defaults that led
to delay of the project?
Failure to remove obstruction and give possession of site?
Ordering extra which delay the work?
Failure to make certified payment within specified time?
Monition if there were any other defaults?
9. At what stage did the default the owner happen?
Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM

At pre construction stage? Or

During construction stage?
10. If the contractor is responsible for the delay, what are defaults that led
to delay?
Failure to hold cash flow forecast?
Failure to hold realistic and updated work plan and
schedule?
Failure to mobilize plant and equipments at the right time/
Failure to allocate skilled and unskilled manpower at the right
time and location?
Failure to attain the required specification of the work?
Failure of specified suppliers to supply materials on time?
Opening too many fronts beyond its management capacity?
Failure to mobilize resources with in the specified mobilization
period?
Mention if there were any other defaults?
12. If the consultant is responsible for the delay, what are defaults that led
to the delay?
Delay in approving designs?
Giving erratic information?
Non-approval of the contractor’s authorized representatives?
Approving designs without thoroughly reviewing?
Failure to be available at the right time to approve
commencement of a task?
Postponement of any work?
14. Were there any causes of delay outside the control of the parties?
What were they?
Force majeure?
Exceptional adverse weather conditions?
Civil commotions or strikes affecting the works?
Government statues that restricts use of fuel or labor?
Materials market instability?
Government legislation change?
15. For what type of delay claim for extension of time was requested and
approved?

16. For what types of delay claim for liquidated damages were requested
and approved?
17. What are the possible impacts of the delays?
In terms of economical development of the country?
In terms of social benefits?
Politically?
18. Are there any claim raised by either party in relation to delay?
19. What actions have been taken to avoid delays?
20. When do you think the project is completed?

REFERENCES
[1] Reginald M. Jones, Tom Driscoll, Jon T. Flynn and Don Fredlund;
Construction Delay, Acceleration, and Inefficiency Claims; Course for
In-House Training, 2006.
[2] Robert Palles; The Value of Critical Path Analyses in proving Delay
Claims; Construction Low Review, 2002.
[3] Mohammed I Al-Khalil and Mohammed A Al-ghafly; Delay in Public

Utility Projects in Saudi Arebia, International Journal of Project
Management, vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 101-106, 1999.
[4] A.C. Twort; Civil Engineering Supervision, 1993.
[5] Gillian Birkby and Paul Brought; extensions of time explained, 1993.
[6] Abebe Dinku and Girmay Kahssay; Claims in International Construction

Projects in Ethiopia and case study on selected projects, Journal of
EEA, vol. 20, 2003.
[7] Wubishet Jekale Mengesha; performances for Public Construction

Project in (least) Developing Country, 2004.
[8] ERA; RSDP-II, 2003.
[9] Research and Technology Coordination Committee (FHWA),

Washington, D.C.; Dramatically Reducing Highway Construction
Project Times: Suggestions for Research, 1998.
[10] Microsoft Project; Introducing Project Management, Microsoft Project

step-by-step, 2000.
[11] FIDIC; Guide to the use of Conditions of Contract for works of Civil
Engineering Construction, 1997.
[12] Ismael Ibrahim; Managing Construction Projects with emphasis on

Ethiopia, 1996.
[13] Montana Department of Transportation; Performance Audit of Pre-

construction Project delivery, 2000.

[14] Wubishet Jekale Mengesha; Procurement and Contract

Management, Addis Ababa University, Lecture Note, 2006.
[15] Sasmi M. Fereig and Nabil Kartam; Construction Delay in International

Projects, with special refence to the Arabian Gulf area; Causes,
Damage Assessments and Entitlement; 19….
[16] Construction Change Management; Identify the Causes of Delays

and Disruption, 2003.
[17] Ismael Ibrahim; Construction Laws, Codes and Standards, Addis
Ababa University, Lecture Note, 2006.
[18] Tonny Farrow; Assessing Extension of Time, 2006.
[19] Edward R Fisk; Specification and Drawings, Construction Project

Administration, Sixth Edition, 2000.
[20] Chris Doughty; Ambiguities in Contracts—the Contra Proferentum

Rule, 2004.
[21] John W. Ralls; How to Avoid Delays and Delay Claims, 2006.
[22] African Development Bank; Bill of Quantities, Standard Bidding

Document, 1997.
[23] Wray and Pierce; Contract damages—cost –effective Services, 1999.
[24] Willian Iruine; Surveying Fundamentals, Surveying for Construction,

Fourth Edition, 1995.
[25] Reg Thomas; construction contract claims,1980.
[26] UNIDROIT; Principles of International Commercial Contracts,

Battle of forms, 1994.
[27] Syed M. Ahmed and Salman Azhar; Construction Delays in Florida: an

Empirical study, Florida International University, USA, 1999.
[28] Scott A. Aftuck; Delay Claims in Construction Cases: Common Pitfalls,

1999.

[29] David W. Bordoli and Andrew N. Baldwin; A methodology for

assessing construction project delays, Construction Management
and Economics (1998), vol. 16, pp. 327-337,1996.
[30] Brain Eggleston; Liquidated Damage and Extension of Time in

Construction Contracts, Second Edition, 1997.
[31] Jonathan Jingsheng Shi, S. O. Cheung, and David Arditi; Journal of

Construction Engineering and Management, pp. 60-65, 2001.
[32] Derege Kidane; Contractors Entitlement under ‘FIDIC 87’ and ‘FIDIC
99’ eace bulletin vol. 5 no. 1, pp. 37-45, 2003.
[33] W. Trench Frics; claims and claim avoidance, 1995.
[34] KK Chitkar; construction project management (planning, scheduling,

and controlling), 1998, seventh edition.
[35] Asfaw Eshetu; delay on construction projects (seminar paper), April

2005
[36] The construction industry council of UK, January 1994.
[37] Ismeal Ibrhim, construction laws, codes and standards, February 2006
[38] Tesfaye Ayele, enhancing the management of construction contract

claims (case study of the Ethiopian road projects), 2004
[39] Uincen Powell-smith, 1990


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Addis Ababa University

Department of construction Technology and

Bachelor Thesis in ‘Construction Technology and Management’

Causes of Delays and Their Impacts in Road Construction

Yifredew Abreham August 2006

Causes of Delays and Their Impacts in Road Construction

PROJECTS CONSIDERED IN THE STUDY

PROJECTS CONSIDERED IN THE CASE

Addis A. -Ambo Nazreth- Assela Dera-Magna Mojo-Awash Hirna-Kulubi

Bachelor Thesis in ‘Construction Technology and Management’

Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology

Ato Dereje Kidane

Ato Imam Muhamed

Dr. wubishet Jekale

Dr. surafel Ketema

Dr. Samuel Tadesse

Ato sintayehu Hunde

Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM II

With the advent of the liberalization of the economy and availability of

The study had developed its research framework through combining

All these causes have an impact on the successful completion of projects

Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM III

This study book contains a distillation of much knowledge and findings

Furthermore, special and great thanks should go to:

• the study project practitioners for their thoughtful and valuable

• the Construction Contract Implementations Division of ERA for the

Ethiopia is one of the developing countries that suffer from deficiencies in

These projects however used to encounter considerable time and cost

Three questions were considered in our study to develop the conceptual

To answer these questions, we used the 10-year Road Sector Development

Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM V

The general objective of RSDP aims at addressing constraints to economic

The Ethiopian Road Authority (ERA), on behave of the Government of Ethiopia

Most studies we reviewed were conducted to assess causes of delays based

This study was therefore designed to contribute understanding to:

Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM VI

• Impacts of delays in terms of time and cost overruns and opinion of

Generally, the research falls into a realistic and practical approach. It is

A survey of contractors, consultants and owner was conducted to assess the

Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM VII

The study indicated that contractors undertaking the construction of

The contractors carrying the construction of the projects lack experience

Finally, we recommended investing in proper pre-tendering work plan

Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM VIII

3.2. Types of Delays……………………………………………………..23

Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM X

4.3.4.2. Client’s Failure………………………………..47

Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM XI

List of Tables and Figures

Table 1.1. Planned RSDP-I

Figure 1.1. Internal and external factors affecting RSDP

Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM XII

AARRP Addis Ababa Ring Road Project

Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM XIII

Chapter One: Introduction

According to Mohamed I Al-Khalil and Mohammed A Al-Ghafly, delay is

Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM 1

These factors increase the likelihood of delay in the road project as

Delay therefore is an important issue to the construction industry.

Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology (S.C.), Dep’t. of CoTM 2

1.2.1. Development and physical infrastructure

The development of physical infrastructure is one of the most important

Our study focuses on physical infrastructures, which are commonly called

Expansion of basic infrastructure to meet essential social and economic