Construction Delay Analysis Techniques—A Review of Application Issues and Improvement Needs

The time for performance of a project is usually of the essence to the employer and the contractor. This has made it quite imperative for contracting parties to analyse project delays for purposes of making right decisions on potential time and/or cost compensation claims. Over the years, existing delay analysis techniques (DATs) for aiding this decision-making have been helpful but have not succeeded in curbing the high incidence of disputes associated with delay claims resolutions. A major source of the disputes lies with the limitations and capabilities of the techniques in their practical use. Developing a good knowledge of these aspects of the techniques is of paramount importance in understanding the real problematic issues involved and their improvement needs. This paper seeks to develop such knowledge and understanding (as part of a wider research work) via: an evaluation of the most common DATs based on a case study, a review of the key relevant issues often not addressed by the techniques, and the necessary improvements needs. The evaluation confirmed that the various techniques yield different analysis results for the same delay claims scenario, mainly due to their unique application procedures. The issues that are often ignored in the analysis but would also affect delay analysis results are: functionality of the programming software employed for the analysis, resource loading and levelling requirements, resolving concurrent delays, and delay-pacing strategy. Improvement needs by way of incorporating these issues in the analysis and focusing on them in future research work are the key recommendations of the study.

[1]  Ronald McCaffer,et al.  FACTORS OF NON-EXCUSABLE DELAYS THAT INFLUENCE CONTRACTORS' PERFORMANCE , 1998 .

[2]  Akintola Akintoye,et al.  Profitability of UK construction contractors , 1991 .

[3]  Arkady Retik,et al.  The applicability of project management software and advanced IT techniques in construction delays mitigation , 1997 .

[4]  Sabah Alkass,et al.  Computer aided construction delay analysis and claims preparation , 1995 .

[5]  Roy Pilcher.  Principles of construction management , 1992 .

[6]  Abid Nadeem,et al.  Improving existing delay analysis techniques for the establishment of delay liabilities , 2004 .

[7]  Pilar Tormos,et al.  Project Management: an Evaluation of Software Quality , 1994 .

[8]  Jae-Jun Kim,et al.  Method for Calculating Schedule Delay Considering Lost Productivity , 2005 .

[9]  Maria Murray,et al.  Record keeping for contemporaneous delay analysis: a model for effective event management , 2006 .

[10]  Bruce M. Woodworth,et al.  Identifying the critical sequence in a resource constrained project , 1988 .

[11]  Abdulaziz A. Bubshait,et al.  Comparison of delay analysis methodologies , 1998 .

[12]  Kirk D. Gothand.  Schedule delay analysis: Modified windows approach , 2003 .

[13]  Michael R. Nosbisch,et al.  Managing resource leveling , 2006 .

[14]  Michael R. Finke.  WINDOW ANALYSES OF COMPENSABLE DELAYS , 1999 .

[15]  David Greenwood,et al.  Assessing the New United Kingdom Protocol for Dealing with Delay and Disruption , 2004 .

[16]  Theodore J. Trauner.  Construction Delays: Documenting Causes, Winning Claims, Recovering Costs , 1990 .

[17]  William Ibbs,et al.  Schedule Analysis under the Effect of Resource Allocation , 2007 .

[18]  Kleanthis Sirakoulis,et al.  The effectiveness of resource levelling tools for Resource Constraint Project Scheduling Problem , 2009 .

[19]  Sabah Alkass,et al.  Construction delay analysis techniques , 1996 .

[20]  Andrew Baldwin,et al.  A methodology for assessing construction project delays , 1998 .

[21]  Frank F Saccomanno,et al.  Modified but-for method for delay analysis , 2005 .

[22]  Tarek Hegazy,et al.  Daily Windows Delay Analysis , 2005 .

[23]  Saied Kartam.  Generic Methodology for Analyzing Delay Claims , 1999 .

[24]  Keith Pickavance,et al.  Delay and Disruption in Construction Contracts , 1997 .

[25]  Vera A. Lovejoy.  Claims schedule development and analysis: Collapsed as-built scheduling for beginners , 2004 .

[26]  Alan Penn,et al.  Understanding the Project Planning Process: Requirements Capture for the Virtual Construction Site , 2001 .