Project Cost Estimating

BCEE 464/BLDG 6851 Dr. Ahmed Jrade

August 8th 2017

Evaluate, Analyze and Resolve the Impact of Construction Delays on Project's Overall Costs

Names & Student ID’s

Riad Limami 26300480
Massimo Miriello 26607004
Syed Ul Mubarak Nagoor Meeran 40039020
Mahesh Natarajan 27123590
Larbi Nejjar 40038151
Jinhyuk Song 40042555

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Table of Contents

LIST OF FIGURES 4

INTRODUCTION 6

1. EVALUATION 7

1.1 Causes of Construction delays 9

1.1.1 Client 11
1.1.2 Materials 11
1.1.3 Equipment 12
1.1.4 Consultant 13
1.1.5 Contractor 14
1.1.6 Contract factors 16
1.1.7 Communication Gap 19
1.1.8 Weather Condition 20
1.1.9 Change in policies, Economic and Political Instability and site related issues with the neighbor 21

2. ANALYSIS 24
2.1.1 PCFA 24
2.1.2 Critical Path Delay Analysis 26
2.1.3 Earned Value 27
2.1.4. Window Analysis 30
2.1.5 As-Planned 33
2.1.6 CPA Method 33

3. MITIGATION OF CONSTRUCTION DELAYS 36

3.1 Design 36

3.2 CPM method 37

3.3 Implementation of Lean tool to control external tool in construction delay 37

3.4 Sustainable Construction 38

3.5 Performance Information Procurement System 40

3.6 Planning and Construction 41

3.6.1 Documentation Usage in Planning and construction 41
3.6.2 Communication and Leadership 42

4. CONCLUSION 44

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REFERENCES 45

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List of Figures

Figure 1.1 Effects of delay in construction projects (The Constructor- Civil Engineering Home, 2017) 8
Figure 1.2 Causes of Delays (Hamzah, Khoiry, Arshad, Tawil, & Che Ani, 2011) .............................. 10
Figure 1.3 Unsuccessful Projects due to ineffective communication (Project Management Institute,
2013) ........................................................................................................................................................... 20
Figure 2.1 Sample CPM Diagram (Stimmel, Stimmel & Smith P.C., 2017) ........................................... 26
Figure 2.2 Estimating final costs with, or without, delay event (Lee, 2015) .............................................. 27
Figure 2.3 Cost Schedule Graph (Lee, 2015) ............................................................................................. 29
Figure 2.4 Time Impact Analysis (Holloway, 2011) .................................................................................. 31
Figure 2.5 Window Analysis Method (Holloway, 2011) ........................................................................... 32
Figure 2.6 Sample Project for As-Planned Method (Braimah, 2013)........................................................ 33
Figure 3.1 A simplified model for integrating Sustainable construction and Lean Concept (Jamil &
Fathi, 2016) ................................................................................................................................................ 39
Figure 3.2 The four phases of PIPS (Alzara et al., 2016) .......................................................................... 41

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Acronyms
ACWP: Actual Cost of Work Performed
BAC: Budget cost At Completion
BCWP: Budgeted Cost of Work Performed
BCWS: Budgeted Cost of Work Schedule
BOQ: Bill of Quantity
CPI: Cost Performance Index
CPM: Critical Path Method
CV: Cost Variance
EAC: Estimated cost At Completion
ETC: Estimated cost To Complete
KMO: Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Test
MS: Microsoft
PERT: Program Evaluation and Review Technique
SPI: Schedule Performance Index
SV: Schedule Variance
TBM: Tunnel Boring Machines

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Introduction

Construction is a complex and sophisticated process, which requires coordination among

a large number of parties involved, i.e., clients, designers, engineers, contractor, subcontractors,
suppliers and consultants. Modern construction projects are defined by frequent owner-desired
changes coupled with uncertainties in financial, economic, environmental and political
conditions has made completing projects on schedule and budget a difficult task to accomplish;
often leading to litigation and claims. A literature review on project management and delay of
projects was analyzed, evaluated and resolved. The impact of construction delays and their
impact on project overall cost are discussed in this report and probable mitigation to avoid delays
is also discussed.

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1. Evaluation

Delays in the construction industry may be caused by natural or manmade circumstances

that cannot be controlled but must not be overlooked when creating a bid estimate on a
construction project. Every element and participant has equal responsibilities for a project to be
finished on time and within the budget agreed upon. In the fast paced growing economy,
irrespective of economic status of a region, delays in construction may be due to various factors
which cause gaps between what is actually panned versus the actual progress of the site. The
delay due to various elements that cause an extension of time for the completion of a project was
a common phenomenon in public or government involved projects. This issue has now got
extended to major infrastructure projects of private concerns. The major types of delays are
excusable and non-excusable delays, which lead to compensable or non-compensable claims for
parties involved in the construction. Examples of excusable delays consist of delays that cannot
be controlled or unforeseen by the contractor such as;

1. Approving of designs and plans

2. Change Orders
3. Delays in decision making by the owner
4. Suspension of work
5. Payments delays
6. Incomplete documents
Non-excusable delays are delays that are foreseeable or within the contractors control such as;

1. Unskilled Labor
2. Paucity of materials
3. Labor Dispute and Strike

The main distinction between the two delays is significant in that it determine which party either
the contractor or the owner is liable for the delay. (Braimah, 2013)

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 Figure 1.1 Effects of delay in construction projects (The Constructor- Civil Engineering Home, 2017)

The performance of the construction of a project in terms of time has a direct impact on
the timetable set for the project to be completed on time and in terms of how much profit can
come about from it being completed on time. Standard contracts and designs that are taken into
consideration in the constructing of a project in concern to delay are delay analysis techniques
like CPM, PERT, Primavera and MS Project. Resource loading and leveling methods and a
holistic approach is not a solution to delays until it addresses an appropriate action in monitoring
the incumbent factors causing delays and overrun costs. The major cause for delay in respect to
the tools mentioned above is due to the lack of knowledge in adapting and interpretation of given
data. (Odeh & Battaineh, 2002)

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1.1 Causes of Construction delays

Many projects across the globe experience delays, which in turn impact the overall cost of
the project where disputes and claims are made. Major known causes in general are as discussed
below.

1. The client related factors like payments, finance, and interference of the owner during
project progress, late decision policy and unrealistic contract duration.
2. Material factors like quality if the material as prescribed and paucity of the same.
3. Equipment availability and failure along with shortage of labor and varying labor
productivity
4. The consultant related factors like contract management, preparing and attestation of
design and drawings, quality control and extended time in inspection and approval.
5. The contractor related factors like site management, inexperience in proper construction
methods, delays caused by sub-contractors and faulty constructions
6. Contract factors change of designs or drawings during the progress of construction
followed by communication gap in hierarchy
7. Contractual factors like negotiations, disputes and improper organization structure with
lack of transparency.
8. The natural factors like weather extremities, unpredictable disasters and its impact.
9. Change in policies, Economic and Political Instability and site related issues with the
neighbors.

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Figure 1.2 Causes of Delays (Hamzah, Khoiry, Arshad, Tawil, & Che Ani, 2011)

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1.1.1 Client

The payment schedule if delayed due to quality issues, BOQ (Bill of Quantity) approval,
inspection, and or technical and managerial issues are all scenarios where the contractor may be
able to lose his profit margin. The contractor who agrees to the contractual terms and agreement
finds the delay as something that couldn’t be foreseen, an overrun cost is charged to the owner.
This overrun cost will be able to cover the pay for his workers, subcontractors and material
suppliers on time. If the schedule payment gets delayed, this impacts the procurement of men,
material and machine, which in turn affects the flow of work on the construction project.
The contractor, who has not analyzed the risk at the bidding process, can put himself at
risk of bankruptcy. The “policymaking” of any construction firm is any changes related to design
and drawings’ having less scope to absorb the impact makes the unprepared contractor face the
consequences. The inexperienced contractor that bids for a contract may sometimes get approved
without proper analysis of the contractor’s background. This is a big problem in delay because if
the contractor is not suitable for handling projects of certain sizes or any other various facets, it
may put the owner at risk of having to suspend work, pay his unemployed works and find a new
contractor that finish off the rest of the project.

The duration of the project is sometimes not properly evaluated and accounted for
because discrepancies between the overlap of the work force and machinery can cause confusion
and in turn can cause huge losses for the contractor. The delay caused due to various factors play
a crucial role during high pace construction process with quality as a priority as the mobilization
of work force will be a huge challenge.

1.1.2 Materials

The shortage of materials is one of the major reasons for delays in construction. Building
materials for various sectors of the construction industry is not harvested like crops or processed
like dairy products; construction materials need to be manufactured based on demand. The
building materials produced cannot be stopped as an in exhaustive inventory because it requires
various raw and semi-finished materials in manufacturing. Demand in the market determines the
materials produced, as it is a total supply chain involved with raw material to finished products
undergoing various quality processes. The supply of materials arriving on a strict timetable
cannot solve the issue of delay because it requires the labor and processing unit capacity to
deliver the demand.
A new synthetic fabricated material is overtaking the conventional approach of wood
brick stone cement and steel for a building. This plays a vital part in the supply chain demand of
raw materials. In some designs and drawings concerning the aesthetic appeal, some materials

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who are required, must be ordered based on the requirement criteria respecting quality and other
specifications. The supplier of this product also has the ability to deliver the materials on a set
timetable, which can play a crucial role in the part of consecutive or concurrent processes of
construction. The constant fluctuation in prices of certain materials may cause serious impacts on
the total cost of the project and create an artificial demand in the market. A natural phenomenon
in the supply market of materials is when the demand for the material increases and the resources
for this material cannot be met. This demand of materials leads to costs increase and the lack in
any scope of adjusting the material chosen, can lead to severe inconvenience to the contractor as
he will have to have compromises and adjust himself so that he can stay within budget as per
agreed terms. (Hoyt, 1920)

1.1.3 Equipment

The role of equipment in major infrastructure projects is quite considerable. A project

that has poor maintenance and frequent equipment breakdown, can lead to major cost impacts on
the contracting firms. Smaller contractual firms tend to rely on the rental of equipment because
of the expense factor, in which the cost of the rent of the equipment, the cost of fuel, the cost of
repair and other factors seem to out-way all the positives in owning the equipment.

The arrival of the required equipment and its utilization in concern to the volume of work
required to be done as per the schedule will save time and money. The quality of equipment, the
availability of spare parts, the performance efficiency, other technical features are significant
criteria that one must go through in order to base him or her on either owning the piece of
equipment or renting it out for the purpose of the project. Certain equipment’s cannot be used
based on the volume of output that the project coordinator estimates at the beginning of the
project. This criterion can be matched only if a cost engineer can verify the equipment in terms
of its quality and economic conditions. The prolong use of the equipment can cause an impact of
the contractors bill for keeping the equipment’s; for example if the equipment is just sitting on
the job site for months it can rust and can slowly deteriorate if not taken care of. The contractor
will find himself in the correct profit margin if the flow of work is as per scheduled and the
availability of the equipment is on time with its performance to its fullest as per the requirement.
The indent of equipment should be placed with thorough study and analysis of the project at the
time of bidding. In some cases the installation and dismantling of the mounted equipment is time
consuming and cost based. The handling of the equipment based on the climatic condition and
the efficiency of the operator is also one of the major impacts on the project as its consequences
sometimes brings the activities to a halt damaging the property and life in some cases. (Djoen &
Soeng, 2016)

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1.1.4 Consultant

Consultants are hired for the sole purpose of having someone on the outside of the project
giving advice to the professionals on the project. They are there for the analysis of the project
from the design phase to final steps of construction. The consultant’s primary responsibilities
include preparing the designs, bidding documents, analyzing the submitted documents, project
flow, quality and billing. The contract management is a crucial part in construction, as it needs to
work with various contractors and site managers along with acting as an extended loop between
the owner and the contractors. The designs submitted by the architect and structural designer
need to be thoroughly studied for calling for the bidding as any mistake at this phase will lead to
unrecoverable errors in the future and will cause delays and economic losses. The constant check
of the quality of materials used by the contractors need to be properly examined and recorded to
avoid future claims. The day-to-day activities and controlling the workflow in the field as per the
estimated time intervals for the concurrent and successive workflow with the prior intimation to
the concerned contractors ahead of time. The consultants should also be engaged in negotiations,
major disputes and reducing the lack of communication between the parties to avoid any sort of
rift that will impact the flow of work and causes overrun. The sampling method adopted at
various levels of work and recording/updating the quality of work with the contractors and owner
is another major responsibility of the consultant. The work program submitted by the contractors
based on their past experience and intuitive judgment needs to be evaluated and monitored for
the purposes of synchronization between different levels of management. This synchronization is
crucial because it will make for a smoother transition throughout the duration of the project
reducing the amount of time delays and costs. A project can be successful if it is planned and
well executed. The consultant has a vital role in any changes of the design and they are the ones
that can make a judgment call on whether the change can be avoided or not avoidable.
Sometimes the change cannot be avoided so this causes a major hurdle to cross in terms of the
flow of the project and the budget. The updated changes can be attested by the consultants in
concern with time, cost, dispute, litigation, arbitration and feasibility of the project taking into
confidence of the owner and contractor. The consultants have to be very precise in selecting the
contractor, as it needs to be based on past experience and track record of the contractor in similar
projects. The timely intervention of the consultants avoids the mistakes during the construction
reduces the time overrun and cost overrun. The major changes in the design is usually due to the
intervention of the owner which can be reduced if the consultant is able to convince the owner
about the impact of the decision, thus the consultant proves to be the major player in the flow of
work. Many constructions have failed or abandoned in some cases due to lack of consultant
involvement or inexperience of consultant bearing the responsibility. Thus the owner has more
risk in choosing the right consultant.

The labor disputes, policies, financial condition of the project and unexpected causes,
which may hinder the project, should be thoroughly analyzed by the consultant. He should also

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be involved in speeding up the decision making process and avoiding the unrealistic duration and
prerequisites along with payment for the completed work. The delay by the consultant due to
inability of various reasons will have a huge impact on the flow of work. The quality control and
inspection process followed by status of approval will need to be judged without bias and needs
the decision to be decisive so that the phase of workflow can stay on course as scheduled. (Odeh
& Battaineh, 2002)

1.1.5 Contractor

Contractors often fail to analyze the schedule of work and the money flow due to lack of
experience. Often, contractors based on anticipation of getting a contract without studying the
project in detail, will lead to financial crisis. Inexperienced contractors often bid for projects less
than what the RS Means values guidelines show without taking in consideration the site
condition, access to the site, climatic conditions, labor movement, facilities availability. These
factors if not prepared for such as lack in site planning, implementation of on site preparation
and control leads to poor site management causing delays in responding to issues that can arise
during construction, causing a negative impact on the overall work progress. Contractor
inadequate experience plays an important factor in the process of delays, which can be connected
to avoiding many of the situations mentioned above and go for the lowest bid, thinking the
lowest bid will always win. The flow of money for mobilizing men and machine equipment to
the site at the initial level requires a major investment and inexperienced contractors will find
financial burdens quite often to pay the bills for suppliers, workers and subcontractors. The lack
in experience hinders the contractor to plan and manage the project in an efficient manner. The
flow of money for the work completed is not compensated just based on the bill of quantity as
the time schedule for the payment release might defer in stages of the construction progress. If
the contractor is not prepared to handle the amount of money they will find it difficult to beat he
construction expenses, which causes delays in the work progress. The work progress can also be
delayed due to late payments from the clients because there is a shortage of money flow to
support the construction if the contractor is not financially stable.

In major infrastructure projects, the contractors might bid more volume of contract
without prior experience of particular sector to which they are not related and totally bet on sub-
contractors. In general sub-contractors who work under such contractors are more in general and
their workforce is distributed in various projects. If there is no proper documentation or
agreement with such contractors, the project has a severe impact. In some cases the quality of
work is altered. The projects get delayed due to inadequate experience or incapability of the sub-
contractors, which leads to conflict and delay in work progress schedule due to payment issues.
The contractors often find issues in handling the equipment for the work progress due to shortage
of equipment or delay of the arrival of such equipment. Since the contractors don’t own the

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equipment and are not responsible for the efficiency of the equipment they find themselves in the
dock due to repairs and breakdowns. The failure of the equipment, absence of equipment when
required and having the rental equipment for the anticipation of work at the site causes severe
impact of financial burden to the contractor. (Odeh & Battaineh, 2002)

The contractor finds himself as a victim due to accidents, inadequate planning or

communication gap between the parties, which seriously impacts the work progress and cost
overrun. The proper communication channels having not been addressed at the planning stage
creates havoc in crucial decision-making. Sometimes there is an involvement of client
consultant, designers, sub-contractor and financial institution for any design changes to be
implemented. The lack of documenting of work progression and changes, can have an effect on
the project progression for example the contractor will increase his labor forces thinking that this
will speed up the process of building but it may put him in a position where he cannot pay these
extra labor forces causing a delay in the payment schedule. The absence of coordination with all
levels of management in adopting changes implemented will lead to conflict of interest and also
delays in the payment schedule. Not following safety procedures, not getting his workers
insured, will get the contractor in trouble with the law which can lead to crisis and financial
burden. The time overrun, disputes, arbitration, litigation, total abonnement and bankruptcy can
be avoided if the project is analyzed at the initial stage along with addressing the anticipated and
unanticipated discrepancies during the work schedule along with other issues been considered
before bidding for the project. The contractor should not take up the job without experience of
similar such projects and should have good sight managers to monitor the progress for the
smooth workflow. Contractors must plan their work properly and have a regular schedule of the
whole project and submit to the client before initiating the project. The contractor should be
financially buttressed by financial institutions and get a detailed analysis of the project from the
expertise to anticipate possible issues and be prepared to handle it. (Hamzah et al., 2011)

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1.1.6 Contract factors

The drawings supplied, which get approved before the final bidding by qualified
professionals, should be analyzed in a very effective manner to avoid any sort of future conflicts.
The original scope, execution time, quality and cost of work will alter if there are any
modifications in the scheduled drawings. The priority of any changes to the original drawings
should be considered with great depth at various levels of management before making final
changes. During the design and scheduling process the unforeseeable disruption of productivity
caused due to availability of various resources need to analyzed in terms of temporary and spatial
relationship in concern to the cumulative impact cost. The pricing of the quantity is based on the
fixed drawings and schedule as the contractor who has submitted the bidding based on the
calculative and work scheduling will have a major impact due to time and cost factor involved in
the estimation. No project runs smoothly so additional costs caused due to frequent changes in
the drawings and design is a notorious issue for the contractor. The contract term needs to be
reviewed in concern to productivity issues in foreseeable and minor unforeseeable changes in
suitable compensation. The contract should also identify the productivity risk, the failure of
which leads to disruption, financial loss and ends in claims. The changes bring disturbance to the
contractor’s normal workflow causing lower efficiency related to production. If the contractor
has not included the changes related to cost in the variable cost, as the cost overrun is mainly due
to labor cost. Calculating the loss of productivity not been mentioned in the uniform agreement
leads to potential problematic issues in the construction industry. The changes have a direct
impact on scheduling, change of work order, management and project characteristic which will
all lead to productivity loss as idle, ineffective work, rework as a add on cost.

The contractor whom is not entitled to compensation for the loss of productivity in the
agreement with the owner, leads to rift and hinders the progress of work. The productivity
measurement is hard to evaluate when there is communication gap and quiet changes prescribed
by the owner. In such situations the earned value analysis can be adopted to address such issues
if been mentioned in the agreement. The communication gap in terms of slow policy decision-
making related to changes and will paint the contractor as the victim because his organization
when it comes to assessing problems are weak.

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 In terms of design if the contractor does not consider the following conditions in his or
hers estimate it will lead to changes in the drawings in the future.

1. Weather Conditions
2. Lack of technical information
3. Contract Coordination
4. Safety Standards
5. Late start / Early finish
6. Lack of skilled work force
7. Regulatory changes
8. Jurisdictional disputes

The huge infrastructure projects been initiated in absence of attestation from recognized
standard institution in concern to monitor issues leads to huge loss, litigation, claims and
compensation as anticipation of fallacy is not addressed at every facet. The issue of regulation in
concern to project, industry, region and other factors being one of the major cause for the
changes needs to be considered before taking the final call of bidding.

Negotiations are a key factor in the final bidding process where the owner tries to reduce
the quoted price by the contractor by comparing their price with various other contractors. This
situation is similar to that of win-win but in reality it is a losing ground for the owner and the
contractor. The reason is the owner is more concerned about the price rather the quality and the
contractor is more eager to win the contract with comprise in the price which is unhealthy for
both the parties. The reason is that an inexperienced contractor is compromising the quality of
work in anticipation of getting the bid, which in reality affects the project progress, and increases
the overall cost of the project. The owner in turn is putting himself vulnerable to a situation,
which impacts the project progress for comprising on quality and opting for the wrong contractor
later.

Disputes arise due to non-transparency in the bidding document and also due to unviable
duration set for a particular module of a project. This is caused due to inexperience and lack of
evaluating and analyzing the reality without the help of experienced consultants. The contractor
who is smart enough would request for rescheduling of the time and quote the safer price and
give an explanation to the owner for the cause and if he fails it is a loss. The owner on the other
hand who fails to understand the elements of detail if mentioned by the contractor and sticks only
to price will also find himself in trouble later. The consultants who guide the owner or the
contractor who have hired them would give a suitable advice based on their experience. The
owner and the contractors usually fail to take third party consultant opinion at various levels of
the project cycle thinking it has an overburden cost but they are the right solution to avoid
conflicts later caused due to miscommunication or lack of information.
In a major infrastructure or a commercial project which gives opportunity to big
individual contractors or several small ones, may lead to many issues on site due to lack of

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coordination, communication and implementation of details in respect to the project. In a huge
project, the work schedule along with the movement of material resources, machinery and labor
workforce need to be well planned to avoid conflict of interest caused due to inconvenience of
two different contractor work force, working together causing loss of time and money. The
project manager along with the reporting subordinates should be aware of their roles and
responsibilities and have meetings with the concerned contractors time to time along with a note
of correspondence which needs to be documented to avoid any sort of claims at later stage in
project. The payment schedule should be well explained to the contractor and the owner should
deliver his commitment on completion of the same when it passes the standard specified. The
constant monitoring of the work progress will reduce the conflict caused due to confusion which
might end in huge loss due to mistake in the construction. The quality control should be
implemented at various stages as mentioned in the contractual agreed terms without compromise
and any sort of mistakes been ignored will have a huge impact at later phase.

The work breakdown structure and the organization breakdown structure should be
clearly defined for the reduction of conflicts. The owner and the contractor who believe in
negotiation has the spark tool in concern to only the monitorial aspects will repent later as right
contractor with prior experience of such projects and verification of historical claims, litigation,
issues funding capacity and other merits should be the key characterization for deciding the
award of project. Failing of which causes impact on the project, time and financial loss.

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1.1.7 Communication Gap

Communication is a pivotal competency that determines the direction of the project. If

and when a proper communication channel exists and therein effective communication is
properly executed, it connects the entire stakeholders of the project to meet its common goal of
successful completion of the project within the established budget. Clarity in understanding
project specific technical language and detail in communication is of utmost importance since
difficulty in lack of clarity and detail will exacerbate the action causing a rift between the
stakeholders. Without effective communication, project outcomes are put in jeopardy and the
actual project duration takes a hit, since a contractor’s ability to meet project timelines and goals
also significantly affects project cost and further causes a delay in release in funds from his
capital source.

Ineffective communication in the design phase of the project between the client and the
designer can adversely the project’s conceived timeline since it may require several design
revisions since the clients expectation and the designer’s understanding of the client’s need is
different, without which the detailed specifications and bid documents can’t be prepared and
further process cannot be put forward.

Communication between the engineers and the designers is mandatory, since all
technically feasibility existing will hinder the actual design to be executed as such imagined by
the designer and such designs which are not feasible must be revisited or if it’s a core component
of the projected project outcome, new technologies have to be imparted by the engineer to
achieve that. Therefore, effective communication between designers and engineers will iron out
the issues in initial stages rather than during the final stages where change orders will adversely
affect the project budget.

Communication among Sub-contractors, labor unions, engineers and the contractor is the
most crucial component in a project since they are directly involved in the construction process
itself where issues may arise due to various factors like site condition, equipment unavailability,
ramping up work force due to crashing, urgent supply of materials where proper and open
communication will not hinder the progress since the parties involved will be aware and be
prepared for actions ahead. A lack in communication will cause complete chaos and even cause
halt in project progress.

A key element to project success and long-term profitability in construction industry is

effective communication to all stakeholders including the owners, designers, contractors,
subcontractors, engineers and suppliers. Miscommunication or a communication gap both can
adversely affect the project be it the initial construction or the final finishing stages wherein a
last minute change order can happen owing to several reasons wherein the changes leads to delay
initially and later to litigation and claims when a proper communication is not made between the
parties involved.

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 Figure 1.3 Unsuccessful Projects due to ineffective communication (Project Management Institute, 2013)

A 2013 report by Project Management Institute called the Pulse of the Profession
explains that for every US$ 1 Billion spent on a project more than US$ 135Million (13.5%) is at
risk of cost overrun, which is more than 10% allowable budget variance in common practice. Out
of the US$ 135Million more than 50% of this value is owing to ineffective communication or
lack of communication. A project can’t be successful unless the client and the contractor can
effectively communication their vision and the actual project outcome. The same can also be
applied for the designs of the project in the initial stages of concept development. (Project
Management Institute, 2013)

1.1.8 Weather Condition

Weather conditions resentfully impact the duration of the project due to productivity loss
and thereby impacting the cost of construction activities. The productivity loss may be partial or
complete work stoppage depending on the severity of the adverse weather condition prevailing in
the work site. Quantifying the impact of weather is important as it’s essential for preparing a
realistic schedule, cost estimate and a reliable bid for the contractor since weather impact is one
of the major factors causing delays and cost overruns in projects and more than 50% projects are
sensitive to weather conditions.

The partial loss of productivity is generally attributed to the human element where a
labor’s performance is affected by heat or cold caused by the combined effect of temperature,
humidity and wind velocity as it may cause heat strokes, dehydration or frost bite. Work

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stoppage is caused inability to operate equipment and work under heavy rain, snow or gusting
winds or even when the operating temperature window is different from prevailing condition.

Workers and equipment like cranes and towers at a height are susceptible to strong winds
as they can be blown from side to side without safety nets or their safety harness may not be
unable to hold them under the wind speed, etc. There is also a risk of materials like roof and tiles
flying away and hurting people on the work site. Dust blown by the wind on a construction site
also hinders visibility, which is a huge safety risk.

Heavy rain reduces visibility and causes the ground to turn into slurry mud with affects
the movement of people and machinery and also wet floors are huge safety risk to workers. Fog
or smog also reduces visibility and causes risks of collision of labor and construction equipment.

The presence of metals on the construction site, especially for the objects that are high
and tall such as cranes and scaffoldings can act as conductors and are susceptible to lightning and
can cause electrocution and fire risks.

Disasters either natural or manmade can cause considerable amount of damage to human
lives and properties alike. The frequency and impact of these disasters are greater in developing
countries since they are less able to cope with the effects of such occurrences. The major impacts
are communication loss and damage to transport connectivity, which has potential impact on
logistics causing shortage of supply of materials. A disaster affected are also loses workforce due
to migration to safe region and heavily impacted worksite which may be extensively altered in
the ground condition that was originally prevailing which may render the existing structure
useless in case of semi-finished structure or existing plans useless in case of new construction.
Financial burden during disasters will halt progress and normalcy, which requires time
depending on people and government also causes delay in construction. The scarcity of men and
material will cause huge spike in cost of construction. Morale recovery in people mindset also
affects labor productivity to a certain extent as priority will be on repairing and restoring basic
amenities rather than new construction, an essential new construction for disaster mitigation may
be necessary but at the expense of huge cost overrun and overpriced materials. (Moselhi, Gong,
& El-Rayes, 1997)

1.1.9 Change in policies, Economic and Political Instability and site related issues with the
neighbor

In the booming economy every major infrastructure is always keen in expansion and
when the trade agreements are very viable many want to venture the opportunities available in
various regions across the globe. In reality the boom turns to be bane if there is no proper
analysis of the regional political issues which is different from developing and developed
nations. The uncontrolled geo political risk will have a great impact on the project progress as

21
they invest mental risk is too big for the infrastructure projects. The issue in general be ranging
from Financial constraints, often changes in the orders, shortage of required materials, un
realistic contract conditions and duration, equipment unavailability, quantity control,
productivity output, communication issues, stringent or slow Government approvals, out dated
technology, lack of skilled work force, labor working conditions and others.

The geo political risk is very high when the region is ruled by demagogue or without any
proper government control or when the political conditions are more corrupted .The risk is
analyzed by differentiating the regions as extreme, high and moderate .Many infrastructure
projects are opted by big companies who get lured by easy money as the project is funded by
standard institutions but they overlook the tag of local government and its political conditions
which causes huge impact on the contract. For major projects many equipment and technologies
needs to be moved from country to another due to unavailability of the same in that region and
thus they find many hassles it mobilizing them to site. The issues like poor planning and
implementation, weather extremities conditions, theft, change orders, lack of coordination,
Access to site, change of orders, clearance at customs and neighborhood intervention. The other
major issue which all the major companies face are from the pro environmental policies and the
organizations associated to it.

The other major drawback for the multinational companies facing the issues in political
instability zones are not having proper expertise to handle the local day to day ground reality
issues and having narrow scope towards labor issues which are quite sensitive. The cash flow
problem due to various conditions sometimes brings the projects to slow pace and in some worse
conditions to stalemate .The funding is a major issues in some projects as the expected flow of
fund is not mobilized .Certain machineries like TBM and huge cranes are not easily available for
rental purpose and hence it requires a lot of investment and it also need to be seen such
machineries contribution in the long run span of the project. The production output of a project is
quite challenging one as it differs due to various climatic conditions and efficiency of the labor
as the labor working style and culture is totally different from region to region. The quality of the
progress is another huge challenge as it’s an admix of various factors which contribute for the
quality ranging from the raw materials , work force , designers, engineers and other conditions
which are prerequisites for the quality standards. The communication gap among the government
agencies and the contractors, among the work break down structure in the site, sub-contractors,
quality inspectors and many if it is not properly communicated and documented it will lead to
serious errors and delay in the projects.

The documentation of changes, agreement of schedule, contract terms, designs, permits,

approvals and others related to the construction of the project has to be honored as per the
understanding and which is not the same in many geo political sensitive zones and thus the issues
like claims and arbitration which causes the delay and overall run of the project costs. The
contractors who are not financial well sound without any proper analysis of the risk will always
face the issue of being victim of instability of political conditions .The trade union is another

22
major issue in some pro Labor based ruling regions are the political strategies are biased to labor
unions. The strike and the call of due to riff between the contractors and the labor forces are
some time so high it causes deadlock to the progress and impacts on the budget and the speed of
the project.

The neighborhood related issues in another major problem irrespective of any part of the
Globe as it is always the neighbors who are put into inconvenience during the construction
progress and there will a very high point of conflict at the verge of collapse due to various issues.
The accessibility and the usability extension of the construction site is the major concern
especially in the infra projects like Pipeline and road network as the clearance of more area is
required for the easy maneuver of the project and sometime the boundary demarcation not been
clear will lead to dispute and compensation. The neighborhood faces many issue like disruption
in the basic amenities and accessibility due to site construction and in some cases it keeps them
detached from any sort of easy access to their property. The contractor who had bided without
visiting the site and getting opinion form the consultants by taking confidence of the
neighborhood finds in the dock situation and being vulnerable for disruption and compensation.
The contractors have to give serious thought to the neighborhood issues during and after the
construction to avoid any claims and complaints.

The geopolitical and neighborhood conditions might be the least factor of contribution to
the project risk of getting delayed but it is also one of the considerable factor which will have
concurrent impact on the project progress and the budget overall costs. The contractors have
equal responsibilities even working with the sub-contractors and other agencies and also
prioritize whether they also adhere to stipulated conditions and pre requisite’s else it might
hinder the progress of the project. The growing economy has not only given an opportunity for
the contractors to explore across the Globe based on their specialization but they should be also
aware of the factors that prevail in the zone and also the conditions which might happen during
the project time interval in concern to the investment of the project and stake holders of the
company.
The advanced tools along with tech edge methods for the fast pace of construction is not the only
solution to keep the project success the basic lines of understanding the local political, economic
and cultural working conditions would be the right bet to keep the project as per schedule. The
agreed terms and conditions needs to be honored if the condition prevails to stick on delivering
the assurance of security, payment for the work, clearance, land acquisition, amenities,
accessibility and other facilities to make the venture success. (Kadry, Osman, & Georgy, 2016)

23
2. Analysis

Many variable and components have direct impact on the construction delay and cost
overrun. The material cost, project complexity, inaccurate estimation of time and money for the
concerned schedule are the dominant delay factors along with inadequate planning, less skilled
labor and often changes in the design. The project might get delayed with unavoidable weather
conditions and political condition of the region, inflation and failure of arranging the funds for
project progress. Lack of experience by the contractor followed by ignorance of local body
regulations and non-exposure to such projects causes a huge impact to the project.
To evaluate the variable’s influence on cost and construction time delay, the techniques
like PCFA (Principal Component Factor Analysis), Critical Path Delay Analysis, CREA (Cost
Reduction Engineering Analysis), Earned Value Analysis Concept, Window Analysis Method,
As Planned Vs as Built method, Impacted As-Planned Method, As Build Method,
Contemporaneous method and may more are used to analyze project delays.

2.1.1 PCFA

The critical success factor for a project is control system and responsibilities, scheduling,
project manager’s competence, monitoring and feedback and continuing involvement in the
project. The most important success factor is planning effort, project team, motivation, project
manager goal commitment, work definition, controlling the systems and technical abilities of the
project manager. The efficient and effective trouble shooting is very important criteria for
building projects. Feedback to deliver for operators to keep informed about the decision makers
status of planned activities followed by effective feedback to the policy makers keep check of the
impact of minor factors which affects the project outcome. The process of delivering the project
in a complex ambiance requires more design iterations, additional site precautions, advanced
analysis and simulation, details for new and unfamiliar materials are not addressed in the
traditional process. The cooperation within the organization is quite crucial and effective
approach to solve the complicated process at the various stage of the construction. The Bartlett
technique is a time series analysis, which is used to analyze the power spectra to reduce the
variance of the period grams in concern to resolution reduction of standard period grams. The
Bartlett test is about equal variances among homogenous samples. The Bartlett test of sphericity
and Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin (KMO) test are used to determine the appropriate factor analysis and
extraction. The Bartlett test of sphericity is the statistics approach of correlating among the

24
variables and KMO is a measure of sampling adequacy that compares the magnitudes of the
partial correlation coefficients. (Li, Chen, Chew, Teo, & Ding, )
As per the Bartlett’s test of sphericity if
P < 0.05 and KMO index > 0.5 the data is suitable for factor analysis

2
(𝑁 − 𝑘) ln(𝑆𝑝2 ) − ∑𝑘𝑖=1(𝑛𝑖 − 1)ln(𝑆𝑖2 )
𝜒 =
1 1 1
1+ (∑𝑘𝑖=1 (𝑛 − 1) − )
3(𝑘 − 1) 𝑖 𝑁 − 𝑘
𝑘

𝑁 = ∑ 𝑛𝑖
𝑖=1
1
𝑆𝑝2 = ∑𝑖(𝑛1 − 1)𝑆𝑖2
𝑁−𝑘

𝑆𝑝2 is the pooled estimate for the variance

𝑆𝑖2 is the variance of the ith group

N is the total sample size

Ni is the sample size of the ith group
k is the number of groups

25
2.1.2 Critical Path Delay Analysis

The critical path network evaluation is the quite common technique, which is adopted to
evaluate the delays in the construction. This is more like a forensic review method in evaluating
the relevant data of the project for accessing and apportion the effects of delays and other
impacts on the project schedule. The contractor may be entitled for the recovery of delay related

Figure 2.1 Sample CPM Diagram (Stimmel, Stimmel & Smith P.C., 2017)

cost if the activities fall on non-critical path and thus this method helps us to restrict the focus on
critical path called primacy of delay which is the major concern for the project delay and cost
overrun. The delays to non-critical path activities merely absorbed slack or float created by
critical path delays. The forgoing truth in general certain circumstances, which might be,
appropriate for considering delays to non-critical activities in assessment and allocation of delay
related damage. The major focus should be to keep the non-critical path delay in a vertical such
that it’s over existence should not merge with the critical path delays which might affect the
overall project, time duration and cost overrun.
Critical Path method helps us to evaluate the schedules and time related claims compared to
Planned VS Actual Schedule performance like

1. Actual Duration and sequence of the activity

2. Variances between the actual and planned performance of the work
3. Causes of variance between planned and actual performance of work
4. The manner in which project was planned to be constructed in terms of activities, work
sequence, man power, activity duration and capital expenditure
5. The effect of variance in resources, man power work sequence and duration on the
incurred cost of the parties. (Stimmel, Stimmel & Smith P.C., 2017)

26
2.1.3 Earned Value

The progress of the project is calculated by a breakdown system, which is termed as

earned value method, which is totally based on percentage of completion in a project for
monitoring the progress. EVM gives an access to the contractor for monitoring the progress and
forecast the issues or discrepancy occurring in side along with the project cost in a timely
manner. EVM consists of three criteria elements Budgeted Cost of Work Schedule (BCWS)
Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP) and Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP). The
schedule variance (SV) and cost variance (CV) is based on these elements for computing the
project progress. During the project progress the monitoring of project progress and percentage
of completion in a task is used in the earned value system. The percentage complete is the work
hours for developing the baseline and monitoring the progress. In process activities require the
observed actual percent complete to be collected, to compute earned value and to measure
schedule and cost performance. (Lee, 2015)

Figure 2.2 Estimating final costs with, or without, delay event (Lee, 2015)

27
Cost Performance Index CPI = BCWP / ACWP this is used to measure the cost efficiency of
the work completed till date.

SPI = BCWP / BCWS this formula interprets the project progress in terms of cost and schedule
efficiency

In the earned value system EAC Estimated cost At Completion to forecast the final project cost.
EAC is referred to the Estimated Cost at the Completion which is calculated by extrapolating the
performance trend from current time to end of the project based on the assumption that current
performance will be maintained at the end of the project. i.e., EAC = ACWP + ETC
ETC is Estimate to complete the work remaining
EAC forecast for the ETC performed at the budget rate is EAC = AC + BAC –EV
Where AC is Actual Cost
BAC – Budgeted Cost at Completion
EAC forecast for the ETC performed at the present CPI

EAC = BAC / Cumulative CPI

EAC forecast for ETC work considering CPI factor EAC = AC + (BAC – EV) / Cumulative
CPI
EAC forecast for ETC work considering both SPI and CPI factors

EAC = AC + (BAC-EV)/Cumulative CPI*Cumulative SPI

Thus different approaches for calculating ETC work in forecasting the EAC are found
The popular proven acceptance method in concern to accurate and reliable forecasting the cost is

CPI = BCWP / ACWP

ETC = BAC – BCWP / BCWP or ACWP
Inefficiency Ratio = (Expected Productivity – Actual Productivity)/Expected Productivity
Expected ACWPn = Actual ACWPn * 1-IRn
Where n is the nth month (day, week of the impacted period)

28
For Estimating the final cost, the final forecasted project cost which is based CPI proven to be
accurate and reliable in estimating

EACa = ACWPa + ETCa

EACb = ACWPb + ETCb
Where EACa is Final Cost with Delay and EACb is final cost without delay
ETCa = Revised Estimated Cost for the work remaining with delay event
ETCb = Revised Estimated Cost for the work remaining without delay event
𝐵𝐴𝐶−𝐵𝐶𝑊𝑃𝑎
ETCa =
𝐵𝐶𝑊𝑃𝑎 /𝐴𝐶𝑊𝑃𝑎

𝐵𝐴𝐶−𝐵𝐶𝑊𝑃𝑏
ETCb = 𝐵𝐶𝑊𝑃
𝑏 /𝐴𝐶𝑊𝑃𝑏

Calculating Cumulative Damage

Damages due to delay only include activities delayed by the other party’s responsibility in
calculation.

Dd = EACa – EACb = (ACWPa + ETCa) – (ACWPb + ETCb)

Figure 2.3 Cost Schedule Graph (Lee, 2015)

29
2.1.4. Window Analysis

Scheduled Window Analysis CPM method which is used by Schedule Delay Experts for
analyzing construction delays. The Basic Criteria for Window Analysis is a comparison of
planned vs actual critical path performance during the project duration or window? The time
window can be analyzed be for a period of time which need not coincide with monthly project or
progress report. The initial step in this methodology is to identify AS Planned Critical path
performance within a duration of performance. The critical path activities during the initial
window is to be identified in the as planned schedule for analysis. The planned date for the
activities are compared to corresponding as built information along with the as planned dates for
the activities in schedule update. The mix of actual date and planned dates in the subsequent date
should reveal the start variances and its duration for each activity. The analyst should have
access to identify the start activity and variance duration that causes the slippage in the
completion date. The second step in this analysis is for determining the cause for delay through
an analysis of project records like regular reports, drawings, documents, contracts and others.
The delay related information can be organized by each affecting criteria and duration to link the
casual connections and parties involved. The permutation and the complexities of a window
analysis for evaluating the construction schedule delay is too huge hence it is quite challenging
and should be handled by expertise. The window analysis focus on the actual performance vs
planned critical path while on schedule update technique relies on a broader analysis of actual
performance of all schedule and float paths. Each unit of schedule will connect to early start
Early Finish, work sequence changes logic and duration revisions and known delays.
Contemporarily by creating as build schedule during the project makes the remaining activity
and accurate schedule to complete. If the delays are not incorporated in the scheduled updates
pushes the project completion beyond the contract completion date it becomes hard to recognize
and keep a control on the delays, which might lead to liquidation of damages. The window
technique allows the monitoring the dynamic nature of critical path from time to time in a project
beginning from baseline construction schedule and chronologically proceeding based on updates
by tracking the progress along the critical path. The prior update becomes the baseline for the
delay analysis or acceleration. Window analysis identifies the schedule logic between the periods
hence it totally depends on reliable baseline contemporary update and as built schedule updates.
(Holloway, 2011)

30
Figure 2.4 Time Impact Analysis (Holloway, 2011)

31
 Figure 2.5 Window Analysis Method (Holloway, 2011)

Window schedule analysis in general is considered as a retrospective context shortly after

a delay event occurs or after the project completion as the analysis generally proceeds from the
beginning of the project and moves in a timely manner, hence for any particular delay or
evaluation the selection of particular window method should be based on expertise judgement.

32
2.1.5 As-Planned

The main criteria of this method is that it can be performed in a short span of time as
there is no inclusion of the actual progress of the work with the preference of contractors point of
view as a priority followed by owners. The completion date of this Adjusted As-Planned
Schedule compared with Actual Construction Schedule gives the amount of delay for which third
party is reasonable. The contractor will identify all non-excusable delays and the owner will have
all excusable delays included in the as planned schedule. (Braimah, 2013)

Figure 2.6 Sample Project for As-Planned Method (Braimah, 2013)

2.1.6 CPA Method

The CPA has been a useful tool for both the owners and contractor with identification
and measurement of delays in a project this technique is quite considered as retrospective
technique due to re-ability on forward looking calculation made by the project schedule updates
and hence the limitation is not limited only to evaluation of schedules an evaluation of delays on
completion, it beyond that. The criteria is in identifying and measuring the delays during a
project which gives the space to enhance the contractual time. In concern to contractors aspect it
is helpful in placing a reasonable request for extension of duration to the owner and in owners
aspect evaluating the delays and causes to initiate required course of action and evaluating a
request of time extension

33
The CPA technique is to identify the delays to date and the money involved based on which the
pace of the project needs to be enhanced. CPA technique is generally performed in two steps

1. Determining the delay or savings from the progress of the project

2. The Revisions that are not limited to add or deleted activities and their logical
relationships along with lags and changes in their duration, increase in float, constrained
changes, etc., could be responsible for time savings and critical project delays.

The CPA analysis is performed between the base schedule and updated schedule to track the
progress along the critical path on regular basis to perform step 1 of an analysis.

In performing the step 1 of the CPA technique the progress is attributed to the activity
starting from actual start of the activity or from the first scheduled date on daily basis All the
activities that makes progress are updated consistently. The identification of critical path on daily
progress is achieved during the update period gives access in identifying and measuring the
critical path status and the project milestone to evaluate the delay or ahead of period during the
progress. In the step 2, identification and measurement of the delay or savings due to the revision
is explained with latest early finish date in comparison to early completion date from which work
days of savings or delay are considerable to the revisions made.
The CPA technique clearly identifies the required critical path work activities that cause
delay to the project and how the contractor can make changes to the schedule in the process to
keep a hold on delays and hence it termed to be a proven tool during projects for managing delay
and time relate disputes.

The Project Management Software which has taken a greater hold late twentieth century
has been a well proven tool as it combines with all the standard analysis tool and helps in
managing and organizing the work in concern to the rapid phase of growth in the construction
industry. The constant improvisation in the tools and techniques for better project management
control in effective and efficient methods keeps the control over time and money. The
convenience of the tool is the flexibility in adapting the project size in terms of complexity and
space for adopting upgradation. The major concern on which the techniques are designed are
primarily based on the critical path of planning on unit based, project schedule, progress relevant
to daily, weekly, monthly, annually. The work environmental factor being split into various
categories for separate analysis in adopting the convenient required technique and methods for
planning and control is quite effective compared to the conventional analysis in respect to time
and efficiency. It is not surprising that Construction industry has adopted the proven tool of
software which has been flooded in the market which are based on project management. The
professional is flummoxed in selecting the software and baffled about how and when to use it.
The software packages like Primavera is a proven one for a complex project and the Microsoft
project package for a smaller project. All these software’s require proper input of data and hence
the PM professional should have hands on all the entities of the project, which should be their
major criteria in evaluating the progress. The project management software’s also helps in

34
forecasting the mobilization of labor work force, machinery and indent for required materials at
different levels of the project which helps in anticipating the money flow for the project. The
other key feature of this project is a proved tool, which keeps in loop of interest of all the
stakeholders involved in the project that gives more perspective to analyses the delay and causes
to avoid mismanagement and claims if kept in tab regularly. (PSP & Furniss, 2008)

35
3. Mitigation of Construction Delays

Construction delays and overall project run costs often end in claims. This scenario is a
common problem in the construction industry.

In the Conventional construction Planning, Scheduling, Controlling, Monitoring and

Administration the project progress, where the key element of the project to keep on a hold, to
avoid extension of time and incurring of loss. In today’s scenario the key project personnel
devote major part of the time to the post construction resolution of delay claims, the activities
such as As-Planned, As-Built and As-Adjusted construction schedules post project completion
are the key elements and vital to resolve the delay claims.

3.1 Design

Weather conditions, availability of material, and availability of manpower, respecting

bylaws, site accessibility and site conditions are all site regional conditions that will create
scenarios of delay in relation to the designing level.

The major utilization of the approach is more concerned to settlement or litigation; the
delay claims and litigation being the mal factor in the construction industry hence preventive
measures at the various levels will be the best method. The major scenario of delay occurs at the
designing level as the designs and drawings that have not synchronized with the site regional
conditions in terms of weather, availability of material, workforce, regulations, and
environmental factors, bylaws, working culture, site accessibility and site conditions. The
specifications of drawings, which are usually done in respect to time, should match the
conditions of the materials used for the sustainability. For example the glass façade is quite
common in cold regions but applying the same in a tropical region might require more
investments to make it viable. The availability of resources like cement, steel, brick and
aggregates are not the same across the globe as the materials are available in the regional market
based on the demand and supply of the region in terms of grades, size, durability and other
factors. The contradictory of material requirement as per the specification if it is done based on
the regional factors leads to unreasonable obligations and the contractor is susceptible for such
truly unforeseeable conditions to have the material on site. Therefore, the pre-inspection to the
site by the designers, engineers, stakeholders, contractors and other participants along with their
opinion will be able to give a clear aspect about the prevailing condition and adoption of any
new techniques which are viable.

The working culture differs from region to region and has a significant impact on the
work progress due to labor’s culture, weather condition and norms of the region. In developed
countries there is a stipulated work time in respect to the prevailing conditions of weather
extremities thus hyper activity can be found during summer, spring and not during the winter. In

36
contrast the tropical regions have hot and monsoon periods which bring labor activities to low.
Hence during the design and estimation this conditions has to be given a serious thought and its
impact should also be considered in evaluating the project duration and the cost incurring.

The machineries are the major part of the construction industry. In developed regions due
to advancement in technology are shortage of work force but in developing countries the
scenario is totally reversed where the machineries are less and more labor is involved and they
stipulate to conventional method, which is time consuming. Based on the size and complexity of
the project along with the skilled labor force the design and drawings needs to be done for which
the duration and cost for the time that it has to be evaluated.

3.2 CPM method

The CPM method is a proven tool, which gives the buffer of flow that can accommodate
delays and streamline the project flow as scheduled with the critical path network. This
streamline will act as a major contributor to keep the project on schedule. The CPM is a common
phrase for contractor; stakeholder and the project manager to keep track of the project progress
and work over to adjust the phase of time as per the CPM. The CPM method is like a milestone
achievement in a track, which makes to sync in the interest of all the participants of the project
the CPM, has to be designed with all the foreseen attributes and also accommodate a part of
unforeseen attributes to avoid the delays. The project manager who is like a phase keeper
between the owner and the contractor should monitor the activities and keep updates regarding
the progress and delay to the parties to avoid communication gap and keep the project intact.

The various software like Primavera, Microsoft Project along with many other
applications in the market can be implemented in a more feasible manner, which can include all
the parameters, and factors, which contribute to progress and delay of construction. CPM is a
proven tool, which cannot assure a precise result, but by implementing it we might be near the
goal as it is rational approach with certain logics, which needs to be kept updated often in
concern to performance of the project and to protect the interest of the participants and
stakeholders.

3.3 Implementation of Lean tool to control external tool in construction delay

Although assessments of certain methods, models and approaches seems to be solution

for addressing the construction project delays the lean tool is different from the conventional
project management approaches as the conventional methods lacks robustness in today’s
management methods. About 57% of the time delay factor in the industries and the delays
attributed to the inadequacies of the current project management tool. Lean production technique
goes beyond traditional practice of design and evaluations to make conceivable by incorporating
and engaging the effects of all the participants.

37
 The lean technique is implemented in the project delivery system, production control,
supply chain, monitoring and overall construction management. The adoption of benchmarking
and reducing variability of labor productivity as the construction principles has prioritized the
focus on improving construction and labor productivity.(Ansah & Sorooshian, 2017)

The benchmark includes Project management index, performance ration and disruption
ratio. To reap the benefits achievable in increased revenue greater productivity and improved
management of demand, reduced cycle time, heightened workforce involvement and
profitability. Lean construction is similar to current practice that targets towards customer
satisfaction and performance with the prime objective of minimize the waste, to improve and
support the new production concept. The conventional project system is difficult in controlling
the outcome that is to optimize the module is the base. In contrary the lean aims to optimize at
the project level and needs a unique approach towards managing though lean concepts could
have been proven to be a rewarding for the construction industry it doesn’t seems to be adopted
in global level due to significant structural and cultural barriers namely inadequate lean
awareness, technology limitation, inefficient stakeholder relationship, inefficiency in sharing the
vision, lack of top management commitment, poor implementation strategy, knowledge and
other minor problems that hinder construction industry in adopting the lean concept. Many
developing countries in Asia and Europe still considerably find lean concept as fresh and new.
Thus Lean concept is not fully adopted even though its implementation addresses the various
fallacy and hindrance which retards the progress of project as planned and reduces the cost
burden. (Jamil & Fathi, 2016)

3.4 Sustainable Construction

It is the integration of social economic and environmental issues. Work efficiency health
work environment and quality are the important aspects to enhance innovation and capacity of
technology for improving the construction business and strategy from the concept to end process
to manage the waste. On implementing the sustainability strategy the contractors will be able to
identify and opt their specific practices. The proper education and training will enhance
stakeholder’s commitment and knowledge at every level. The unsustainable design, constant
degradation and environmental degradation due to the process involved in the conventional
construction is a negative one. The large number of empirical studies needs to be implemented in
concern to efficiency, productivity, safety and minimization of waste. The holistic approach is
attested with a great challenges in the construction industry, the sustainability construction is still
in the early mode of development due to less stakeholders on this method. Which requires total
involvement of the project manager from planning to completion with the assurance of efficient
delivery of the materials. The sustainable construction is conceptualized and coined based on the
drawbacks of the conventional approach of project system which causes delay and increases the

38
overall run cost. Many tools are concerned to the productivity and the cost factor along with
reduction of waste but sustainable has proven to be a unique one as it considers the
environmental factors and society which is a primary criteria in developed and pro-environment
projects. The eco sustainability integrating initiatives to potentially achieve the goal by
addressing the project delays and cost overrun is remarkable.

Figure 3.1 A simplified model for integrating Sustainable construction and Lean Concept (Jamil & Fathi, 2016)

The claims related to delay cost by environmental impact and its assessment on the
project productivity and cost is addressed well compared to other tools, which lack in ecofriendly
factors. Sustainable construction will be a key factor in the green buildings which is based on
less energy consumption and more involvement of recycling and renewable methods. (Jamil &
Fathi, 2016)

39
3.5 Performance Information Procurement System

The global construction industry with the worth $4 trillion USD faces many challenges,
especially the majority of infrastructure projects are public project which are not completed on
time nor within the stipulated budget in many cases. The PIP system deals with delay factors to
improve the project performance. The delayed projects impacts both the owner and the
contractor because the owner loses revenue due to the uncompleted project, it forces the owner to
rent temporary premises. Contractors incur overhead costs because delayed projects prevent
acquisition of new projects.
In the public sector project, government loses revenue and is unable to deliver the access
to public on time, and it also affects the GDP of the country. The factors like owner related
causes, Contractor related causes, consultant related causes and others are ones affecting the
construction industry. Owners play an active role in project delays due to change in orders which
disrupts the schedule of contractors and causes the project delay. The contractor fails in
mobilizing the skilled labor, poor decision making and bad estimation practice along with
inefficiency of contractor to handle such projects due to lack of knowledge and experience. PIPS
addresses the delay factors in the bidder system by changing the bidder system by using various
phases for opting the highest performance vendor.

The PIPS system addresses the poor contractor performance and lack of experienced
contractor by interview process and assist the owner to evaluate contractor’s view of the project.
The poor contractor performance can be reduced by clarification phase implementation where
the vendor clarifies his bid offer and planning process and also identify the scope of work and
submit a detailed technical schedule thus the assessment of vendor can be done. The manpower
shortage is clarified at the risk assessment level where the vendors have to explain how they
tackle the problem. The contractor qualification problem is addressed in the pre-qualification
phase that inform vendors about best value based on performance. The vendors experience level
is scrutinized at the qualification delay factor level. The vendor is asked to provide Plan B to
solve the delay factor thus contractors approach to mitigation can be evaluated. The payment
delay and approval of design documents is addressed by building a best value environment in an
organization based on penalty principles related to common sense and provides more
transparency.

Thus the increase of transparency and decrease of control, he project progress increases
which solves delays in payment to contractors. The lack of consultancy employees is addressed
in the selection phase in which the high performance level of vendor is evaluated by previous
history in similar projects. Thus PIPS system is another rational approach with an aspect of
addressing the rift between the owner and contractor or vendor in concern to project progress.
(Alzara, Kashiwagi, Kashiwagi, & Al-Tassan, 2016)

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0. Pre Qualification 1. Selection 2. Clarification 3. Execution
•Education •Dominant •Clarification •Risk Management
•Pre-qualify •Simple •Technical review •Quality Control
•Differential •Detailed technical •Quality Assurance
schedule
•Milestone
schedule

Figure 3.2 The four phases of PIPS (Alzara et al., 2016)

3.6 Planning and Construction

3.6.1 Documentation Usage in Planning and construction

The coordination of activities and resources throughout the project life cycle using the
innovative techniques of management for the achievement of predetermined objectives related to
time cost quality interest of stakeholders and scope. The parameters can be managed through
constant monitoring and keen planning. The construction planning manages the land construction
parameters not only in concern to cost quality and time but also the plans in the field of
construction equipment, safety and measures for eliminating the weather extremities impact. The
constant updating and documentation related to add-ons, revisions and divisions for the scope
regardless of increase or decrease of quality, cost or schedule. The changes adopted have impact
on construction progress schedule and cost but also on the performance which makes hard to
forecast the changes in projects due to limited resource and uniqueness of the project. The impact
can be minimized when issue is addressed at the root level to counter the after effects. The
changes in the design and planning through a complex and iterative process during extended
duration of time can be evaluated at the end of the process. The management documentation is
the key resource of information for planning and management of construction process in concern

41
to interest of stakeholders from various background. The inefficient collaboration among various
participants is the key reason for frequent overrun of cost and time. Successful completed project
must be carefully documented and used as a reference in construction management process for
similar such projects with required changes based on site condition. The precise planning and
constant updating the progress of construction keeps the project in a success mode within the
contractual parameters.

3.6.2 Communication and Leadership

Effective communication helps an organization to perform well and be successful in

projects. Highly-effective communicators are five times ostensibly to be high performers which
suggests that even a low-performing organization can become successful by improving
communication methods which in turn improves work efficiency and reduces construction delay.
A top level management which instills the core value of the company and its long term goals to
its basic level employees will be more successful because the employees will be aware of their
contributions and the impact their work is having on the organization which is a sort of morale
boost. Delivering project communications in a timely manner, providing adequate clarity and
detail, using plain and simple language, and choosing relevant medium for the delivery of
information. Constant and effective communication with higher frequency is also a key factor to
improve the relation among the stakeholders.

Effective communication between different levels of the stakeholders are also to be

considered, High level stakeholders speak in terms of money and mostly costs and benefits
whereas the medium level management understand operations and technical terms, a neutral
ground without technical jargons and just hard number or binary answers where a reason and
effect can be delivered will close the communication gap and gives a clear scenario of the
successful activities and troubles plaguing an organization. The formal communication plan must
be adaptable and made suitable to all stakeholders, allowing to successfully operate in a complex
and competitive business climate through effective and frequent communication.

Effective communication is one of the key aspect of leadership. Since day to day
communications, knowledge transfer and the foresight of the project must be understood by the
labors for effective work. A leader also should have an ability to understand the integration of
individual works which makes the project as a whole, as well as how each decision will affects
all of the entities involved in the project. Budget awareness and Patience is a quality all project
managers or engineers in site are expected to have which can control construction delay by
effective allocation of work or effective negotiation with labor union to extract maximum work.
(Project Management Institute, 2013)

42
 Tools like Resource Allocation Matrix helps track of people responsible for each projects
and since human knowledge is the most vital and at the same time a scarce resource. Assigning a
suitable individual to pertaining project is of highest importance. The allocation of resources is
done based on long-term where resource is capable of achieving the company goals, medium-
term resource who has the capacity for rough cut plans for the project portfolio, and short-term
resource who can assign day to day activities to people and links who form an effective
organization along with other resources by providing them with information needed to make
prompt decisions. A feedback process for the entire resource allocation must be made, for
effective working in multi project situation. Thus a project manager through effective
communication and proper resource allocation can avoid setbacks in excusable delay of
constructions. Experience also plays an important role in leadership as the person has been
exposed to various situations so the person knows a quick decision and what result to be
expected. (Hendriks, Voeten, & Kroep, 1999)

43
4. Conclusion

The delay and the overrun cost in the construction industry is been a key part to analyze
its impact as it might cause a huge impact on time and money. From the early human
civilization, the construction industry has undergone various challenges in concern to durability,
innovation and many other. Beginning the twentieth century, time and money factor has been a
primary criteria for a projects feasibility for which various parameters are adapted to keep the
delay factors aloof.

The challenged faced with the constraints depending on the complexity of the project has
been addressed with scientific, rational, empirical, holistic, proven methods and many. The main
ideology behind adapting various parameters is to keep the functioning of project with ease and
less burden of other malefactors impacting on the project. The critical path network being the
backbone for addressing the project delays and its impact various methodologies have been
adopted with the baseline of protecting the interest of project participants, stakeholders and
environment. Conventionally the project delays being a common factor in government project
has slowly taken in roots in the private projects as construction industry is facing various
challenges in the global competitive era. The challenges being not a unique one in many cases
has to be addressed in concern to the local prevailing conditions to which the various
methodologies and approaches needs to be adapted in concern to the root cause. The modern
scientific techniques along with tailor made software cannot be panacea to all the ill factors as
the adoption of strategies and implementations of the same followed by constant monitoring
needs to be done at various facets to keep the flow of continuance as per schedule.

The project manager has a key role that needs to play the role of via-medium with various
participants, agencies, policies, owners and stakeholders from the concept till completion of the
project. The major challenge, which the construction industry is facing, is claims as the blame
game on each other arises when situation is not handled due to less preparation or anticipation of
it. The methodologies and strategies are just a key line to keep focus on the project and bringing
all the participants in the loop of responsibility and deliverability as agreed in terms and
conditions to reduce the rift between them. The project overrun of time and cost is no more an
impact within the agreed parties as it indirectly affects the socio-economic and political stability
of a region in the era of globalization. The tools with right aspect of implementing and
monitoring can be an effective method if the appropriate technology is adopted in concern to
anticipate and prevailing conditions of the project.

The assertive approach of prevention and preparation for any issues will be the effective
method in addressing the global challenge of overrun cost and delay in the construction industry.

44
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