Delays in Construction Projects: Causes, Effects and Mitigation Methods
Akshaykumar P. Udasiparties of construction don’t agree on the relative importance of various factors of delay, mostly blaming each other of delays using importance index and spearman rank correlation similar to Assaf et al. (1995). He also identifies the importance of team effort in the success of a project.
Frimpong et al (2001) had carried out the research on finding out delay causes in ground water construction projects in 2001 in Ghana. The objective was to study and evaluate the factors that contribute to delay and cost overrun in ground water constructions. 26 factors affecting construction delays identified from the previous observations their relative importance index were determined.
A survey on time performance of different types of construction projects in Saudi Arabia was conducted by Assaf and Hejji (2005) to determine the causes of delay and their importance according to each of the project participants, i.e., the developer, consultant and the contractor. The field survey conducted included 23 contractors, 19 consultants, and 15 developers. 73 causes of delay were recognized during the research. 76% of the contractors and 56% of the consultants indicated that average of time overrun is between 10% and 30% of the original duration. Surveys determined that 70% of projects experienced time overrun and found that 45 out of 76 projects considered were delayed.
Doloi H. et al. (2012) did research to analyse factors affecting delays in Indian construction projects. They selected set of 45 attributes. Their research first identified the key factors impacting delay in Indian construction industry and then established the relationship between the critical attributes for developing prediction models for assessing the impacts of these factors on delay. A questionnaire and personal interviews have formed the basis of their research. Factor analysis and regression modelling were used to examine the significance of the delay factors. From the factor analysis, most critical factors of construction delay were identified as lack of commitment followed by inefficient site management and poor site coordination ranked third.
Also for detail overview and study of Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA) few news articles and interviews referred. Article from The Economic Times by Sunil Dhawan, he interviewed R K Arora (Chairman, Supertech), and other article from NDTV Property by Anuj Puri (Chairman ; Country Head, JLL India) as per them the delays due RERA for ongoing projects are the time consumed in obtaining all approvals, delay in getting completion certificate.
Immediate Impact of RERA on Construction Industry by Ar. Madhavi Ashok Khandar, Ar, Aparna Panganti International Journal of Engineering ResearchISSN:2319-6890 (online), 2347-5013(print)Volume No.7, Issue Special 1, pp : 71-74, Jan. 2018
III. METHODOLOGY
The research methodology for present study contains two stages. Initially literature review was made in order to find out the delay causing factors in construction project. From the literature review, 101 causes of delays categorized into 9 different groups (Owner related, Contractor related, Consultant related, Design-related, Labour related, Material related, Equipment related, External factors ; RERA related) were found in order to make a questionnaire survey with the respective participants (contractors, owners, consultants and others) of Indian construction industry.
A. Causes of delay:
• Owner Related
1. Delay in progress payments
2. Delay to furnish and deliver the site
3. Change orders (plan/design) ; extra orders by owner during construction
4. Late in revising and approving design documents
5. Slowness in decision-making process
6. Conflicts between joint-ownership of the project
7. Suspension of work by owner
8. Owners lack of experience and involvement
9. Bureaucracy in client’s organisation
• Contractor Related
1. Difficulties in financing project/insolvency
2. Conflicts in sub-contractor’s schedule during execution
3. Rework due to errors during construction
4. Conflicts between contractor and other participants
5. Ineffective ; inadequate early planning and scheduling of project
6. Implementing improper ; obsolete construction methods
7. Fraudulent practices and kickbacks
8. Negotiations and obtaining of contracts
9. Inadequate contractor’s work & experience & also poor risk management and ignorance
10. Delays in sub-contractors work and their incompetent which leads to frequent change in subcontractors
11. Poor supervision & managerial skills and lack of training personnel
12. Poor estimation of project time and quantities of material required before contracting
13. Often changing project schedule
14. Unsafe working condition due to improper safety management by the contractor
• Consultant Related
1. Poor qualification & inadequate experience of consultant’s engineering staff
2. Delay in approving overall designs, shop drawing, sample tested materials and major changes in the work
PG Student, Department of Civil Engineering
Dr. D. Y. PATIL School of Engineering and Technology
Pune, India
[email protected]
Milind M. Darade
Professor, Department of Civil Engineering
Dr. D. Y. PATIL School of Engineering and Technology
Pune, India
[email protected]
Abstract— A construction project is commonly accepted as a successful project when the aim of the project is achieved in terms of pre-set objectives of finishing the project on time, within budget and to the required quality standard. Delay in construction projects is considered one of the most common problems causing an assembly of negative effects on the construction projects. Construction delays can be minimized only when their causes are identified. Hence, identification of delay factors before execution of project is of supreme importance. The objective of this research was to identify the major causes of construction project delays in the construction projects and find out how planning and mitigation methods would minimize their impacts. A literature review was conducted to collect a list of delay causes in construction projects. Total 101 causes of delays categorized into 9 different groups. Also effects of various delays identified. The numerous mitigation methods suggested and how new regulatory act Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 will help to reduce or mitigate the several delays in construction projects.
Keywords— causes of delays, effects of delays, construction industry, Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA)
I. INTRODUCTION
Delay to projects is considered to be one of the common problems in the construction industry. Delays have a negative effect on the project in terms of performance, time and cost. Thus, it is essential to identify the types of delays that normally occur in a project. Delays occur due to a variety of reasons (or, in other words, have various origins); can be compensated or not; and they may appear concurrently or subsequently. Further, the impact caused on the project performance may be direct or indirect. Their appearance leads to additional cost generation, conflicts among project participants and, in worst-case scenario, litigation where additional costs may be generated. When dealing with the delays, it is not only important to identify delays and quantify the delay impacts on project performance but also to identify and quantify the impacts of delays already occurred upon further project development. In order to determine responsibility and enable to learning from these undesirable events, the primary causes and origin of delays should be identified as well.
The mitigation of delays can be achieved by adopting the process of knowledge management and project learning which gives insight into the various problems and their solutions. In fact the lessons learnt feedback from projects is a real eye opener and helpful for others to avoid similar issues. Prevention of delays by adopting innovative and teamwork helps in planning and analysing the requirements in detail which will allow the mapping of resources and identifying the risks.
The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 is an Act of the Parliament of India which seeks to protect home-buyers as well as help boost investments in the real estate industry. The bill was passed by both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha on March 2016. The Act came into force from 1 May 2016. This act provides for establishing regulatory authorities at the state level to register residential real estate projects and seeks to regulate contracts between buyers and sellers in real estate sector to ensure sale of plot, apartment or building etc. in an efficient and transparent manner. It also proposes to ensure greater accountability towards consumers and significantly reduce frauds and delays.
Objectives:
• To identify the various causes of delay in construction projects
• To study the impact of delays in construction projects.
• To propose the methods to mitigate the delays.
• To study how RERA will help to mitigate the delays in real estate industry.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
A number of researchers have studied about the causes of the construction project delays in different countries. The findings of such studies have been reviewed for this research.
Al-Momani found causes of delay in 130 public projects in Jordan. The main causes of delay were related to design, weather, site conditions, and late deliveries, economic conditions and increase in quantity. The study recommended that special attention to factors will help industry practitioners in minimizing contract disputes. Delays have strong relationship with failure and in effective performance of contractors.
El-Razek et al. (2008) identified main causes of delays in Egyptian construction projects concluded that different
