Delay to Projects - Cause, Effect and Measures to Reduce/Eliminate Delay by Mitigation/Acceleration
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Date
2009-08
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Publisher
British University in Dubai
Abstract
Delay to projects is one of the foremost concerns of the construction industry in the
United Arab Emirates. The delays to the projects are affecting the economies throughout
the world. Delay to projects mean the slowdown of development in all other related fields.
The main aim and objective of this dissertation is to evaluate the various types of delays
and the reasons for those delays that are currently affecting the projects in the United Arab
Emirates. Measures from previous researches to reduce or eliminate these delays by
methods of mitigation or acceleration are analyzed for the case studies considered for this
research.
There are various types of delays which are identified. It is important to identify
whether the delay is critical or not as identification of critical delays helps in taking
appropriate measures at the correct time. The delay may be non excusable (contractor
caused) for which the client and the consultant need to have project management tools to
effectively manage the delays or compensable (client caused) delays which are due to the
client. The delays may be by either parties and can be concurrent.
The reasons for delays are primarily due to an unreasonable project scope,
inadequate early planning and the absence of risk management systems. The contractor
further contributes to delay due to lack of resources and labor productivity. Over ambitious
estimates, incorrect task assessment ,lack of task clarity, design/ approval delays and
interference in the decision making process by the client add on to the delay.
Research done earlier indicates that “changed work complicates a project and
invites delays” ( Molner , 2007). Delays that are non excusable (contractor caused) “expose
a contractor to delay claims of its subcontractors and liquidated damages” ( Schumacher ,
1995 ). Delays that are compensable (owner caused) need the support of specialty
contractors who need to be nominated at the appropriate time ( Gil , 2001 ).
The mitigation of delays was discussed by application of knowledge management
and project learning. The lessons learnt feedback gives important information related to the
mitigation measures considered for implementation.
The prevention of delay can be done through mitigation and/or acceleration. It is
important to plan/analyze the requirement in detail. This has been done by identifying the
risks and mapping resources. The estimation and allocation of works was done to
modularize the works and any issues likely to delay the works can be escalated for
decisions and discussion.
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A detailed case study has been carried out for three projects in the United Arab
Emirates. The first case study deals with a project which encountered delays and
implemented measures of mitigation and acceleration to reduce the delays. The second
case is a project which failed in its objectives of completion in time as well as budget. The
third case is success project, where in spite of initial delays the project was completed on
time by implementing mitigation and acceleration measures. The methodology
implemented is acquisition of key data and justifying by providing adequate reasons
regarding the data. Results and analysis for the case studies were structured according to
methodology and further detailed into planning, resource, cost and nominations analysis.
The finding from the case studies are that the main delay to the projects are
compensable delays (owner caused)as seen case study 1 where the owner delayed the
nomination. The findings from Case study 2 are the lack of decisions by the client and
commitment to the project affected the project to an extent that the project could not
achieve its goals. The findings from the case study 3 are that even if there is an initial
delay, it can be overcome by teamwork and contribution from all the stakeholders to
achieve success.
Description
Keywords
Delay to projects, construction industry, United Arab Emirates (UAE), mitigation