Causes Of Time Overruns Research Articles

Causes of time overrun in fixed price contracts of tertiary education trust fund (TETFund) building projects in Enugu State, Southeast Nigeria

Although there is a growing concern about the performance of the construction industry in the delivery of projects on time, much has not been done to unearth the causes of time overruns in fixed-price contracts such as the tertiary education trust fund (TETFund) projects in Nigeria. This study investigated the causes of time overruns in the TETFund building projects in Enugu State, Southeast Nigeria. A survey involving the analysis of records of 60 TETFund building projects awarded between 2015 and 2021 and the administration of questionnaires to 119 informants was conducted. Results of the descriptive and principal component analyses revealed that 68% of the projects experienced time overruns because of fluctuations in the exchange rate and inflationary trends, hyperinflation, additional work, and escalation of the prices of materials. The top three of the eleven dimensions of the causes of time overruns were incompetence in project planning, management, and execution; inadequate project planning and organization, and poor project management. This study implies that to check the prevalence of time overruns in TETFund building projects and their adverse consequences in Nigeria, the selection of contractors should be based on competence, and contractors for TETFund projects should build capacity in handling fixed-price contracts.

Causes, Effects, and Mitigation Measures of Time and Cost Overruns in Water Supply Projects: Case of Tigrai Region, Northern Ethiopia

Project cost overrun and schedule delay are major and widespread problems in the construction industry. In Tigrai, most water supply construction projects are not completed within the predetermined contract time and planned budget. Hence, this research was carried out to investigate the causes and effects of time and cost overrun in water supply projects in Tigrai, northern Ethiopia and further recommend effective mitigation measures. A total of 87 questionnaires were distributed, 50 of them were collected, and desk study of 12 water supply projects were conducted. Data were analyzed using relative importance index and statistical software SPSS version 20. Results showed that the most important causes of time overrun were design errors and changes, lack of consistency between bill of quantities and drawings, and change order. Similarly, the most important causes of cost overrun were design errors and changes, lack of consistency between bill of quantities and drawings, and shortage of construction materials and electromechanical equipment in local market. The most effective mitigation measure of the overruns was complete and proper design. Time and cost overrun of the projects ranged between 0 and 203% and between 0 and 25%, respectively. The regression model showed that time overrun was estimated well (r2 = 0.95) using delays caused by design errors and changes and material import. Similarly, cost overrun was estimated well (r2 = 0.98) using factors that affect cost. Overall, the major cause for the overruns was design problem, hence clients and consultants should give due attention for the design process.

TIME OVERRUN AND ITS IMPACT ON COST OF CONSTRUCTION OF SMALL HYDROPOWER PROJECTS IN NEPAL

Hydropower is one of the main sources of energy that can be produced as green energy highlights the timely complementation of construction projects. The study is focused to assess the causes of time overrun and its impact on the cost of construction of small hydropower projects in Nepal. The study is based on pragmatic philosophy using case study and survey along with document analysis using correlation and financial decision tools. The result of the study found that all sample projects were facing time overrun. Only 30 % of the cost was due to time increment. Along with time overrun direct cost was negatively related and the indirect cost was positively related, the direct cost was more significant than the indirect cost of the hydropower project resulting in the total cost being negatively related to time increment. Profitability was decreased due to time factors though it was positive till other factors were not impacting. The research concluded that social issues and land problems were the main cause of time overrun which was not properly addressed at the time of planning. Time overrun had become the norm rather than the exception on projects. Time was a partial factor of cost overrun causing it to reduce in its profitability. Besides time, another factor which was causing the cost overrun is to be identified and control for cost overrun. The developer should focus on reducing the direct cost using advance purchase agreement as of schedule and specific care should be taken for social demand. Methods of time allocation of contract should be estimated based on activities using theory of constraints for assuring timely completion and profitability of hydropower projects.

Critical Factors Responsible for Time Overruns in Nigeria Building Construction Industry

Time overruns are major problems facing the Nigerian construction industry. It’s of high concern to those who are involved in the construction industry. This study was carried out to identify the major causes of time overruns in the Nigerian building construction industry, by means of a literature review and a questionnaire survey. A total of twenty (20) time overrun causative factors were obtained from the literature. The questionnaire survey was distributed to randomly selected respondents from a combination of clients, consultants, contractors, site engineers, project managers and sub-contractors. In all, one hundred and forty-one (141) questionnaires were distributed to randomly selected respondents (clients, consultants, contractors, site-engineers, project-managers and sub-contractors), one hundred and thirty-two (132) questionnaires were returned out of which three (3) questionnaires were found incomplete and invalid. Only one hundred and twenty-nine (129) questionnaires were found consistent and valid for use in this research. Relative Importance Index (RII) and Severity Index were used to carry out a ranking analysis. Based on the data received, the five (5) most severe factors influencing project handling overtime in Nigeria construction industries are Inaccurate evaluation of projects time/duration (91.9%), Risk and uncertainty associated with projects (91.6%), Complexity of works (87.6%), Weak regulation and control (86.8%) and Lack of financial power with severity (86.3%).

CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF DELAY IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS OF MALAKAND DIVISION, KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA PAKISTAN

In construction projects delay is a global experience and the same issue persists in Pakistani construction industry as well. This study has its major focus on recognizing the factors of delay in government funded construction projects in Malakand division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan. Construction delay and its effects have been studied separately by many researchers. The current study has jointly analyzed the causes and effects of delay in government funded construction projects of Malakand division, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan. A questionnaire assessment was executed to investigate the factors which cause delay, and their effects by considering the three main stakeholders of construction industry i.e., Contractors, Clients and Consultants. Accordingly, 50 respondents from various districts of Malakand division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province participated in the survey. The ten most important causes of time overrun were identified by the current study from a list of 64 causes and in the same way six effects of delay were identified. The identified 10 major causes are: i. Funding for project/Financial position of constructor, ii. Delayed final inspection and third-party certification iii. Weather conditions, iv. Terrorist activities in construction area, v. Delay in bills payment vi. Flood, earthquake or other natural calamities, vii. Suspension and postponement of work activities, viii. Shortage of construction materials in market, ix. Disagreements in implementation schedule of sub-contractors, x. Late approval and finalization of drawings. Similarly, the 6 major effects identified are: i. Time Overrun, ii. Disputes iii. Cost Overrun, iv. Arbitration, v. Abandonment and vi. Lawsuit. An empirical relationship between causes and effects has been developed by this study. Keywords: Time Overrun, Construction Industry, Factors, Contractor, Consultant, Client, Construction delay.

Factors for Time and Cost Overrun in Public Projects

Abstract The construction industry in Pakistan is experiencing a surge in public sector projects due to major investments in infrastructure projects. Project delays and cost overrun are common features in public sector construction projects in Pakistan. Therefore, an understanding of the causes of time and cost overrun in public projects is essential. This paper investigates delay and cost overrun factors within the context of public sector projects in Pakistan. This study identifies 48 potential factors from existing literature and semi-structured interviews were used to refine the identified factors into ten categories. A questionnaire survey was used to establish a hierarchy of factors using descriptive statistics. The results showed that the major causes of time overruns in public projects were (1) legal issues, such as court stay orders, land acquisition, relocation of public facilities; (2) technical errors leading to low-quality drawings, rework, and errors at bidding stage; and (3) Poor project management. The findings of this research contribute to understanding the causes of project delays in public sector projects in Pakistan.

The influence of delayed payments on time overrun in public sector projects

This study is conducted to investigate the relationship between payments delay and time overrun in public projects. To achieve the study objectives, a questionnaire survey was performed. Results indicate that the top factors affecting payment delay are: client financial problems, delay in work approval, contractor submits claims with mistakes, contractors' failure to do work based on bill of quantity, and contractors' failure to follow the certain guidelines in claims. The study also concludes that the top five causes of time overrun include: poor labour productivity, lack of contractor experience, inadequate production of raw materials by the country, number of projects going at the same time, and late design changes. Regression analysis for data collected from 30 public construction projects shows a good correlation between payment delay and time overrun. This study is the first study that addresses the relationship between payment delay and time overrun in Palestine and other neighbouring countries.

Analysis of Highway Construction Project Time Overruns Using Survey Approach

A higher number of highway construction projects are experiencing delays in their scheduled completion time, and this situation, in turn, leads to overrun in the schedule as well as cost. This paper mainly categorizes the causes of time overrun and provides a mathematical model for predicting the time overrun percentage, using highway projects in Northern India as a case study. A survey of randomly selected samples yielded responses from 72 contractors and 44 clients. The study depends on forty-eight factors that influence schedule delays in highway projects. Based upon the average medium fuzzy influencing value and the respective frequency index value, the time overrun causing factors were ranked and categorized under different time overrun risk categories, namely red zone, yellow zone, and green zone. The analysis of the received responses indicates complications in the land acquisition process, utility shifting, constructability under traffic, lack of project planning and design changes were the top five most critical time overrun causing factors in highway projects. The medium fuzzy influencing value and the frequency index value for these five factors were above 18% and 80%, respectively. These factors lie under the red zone and need close attention. Factor such as opposing the projects by locals also gained much importance in this study as compared to previous studies as it lies under the red zone. The prediction model developed through the application of multiple regression analysis can explain 71.9% of the variability in the data, which is an excellent indicator of the model’s expected performance.

Causes of Time Overrun in Construction of Building Projects in Pakistan

Time overrun in construction projects is a very serious issue in developed countries. The main object of this research is to find the main causes of time overrun in the construction of building project and its possible mitigation measures. Quantitative approach was adopted in this research to achieve object and RIW (relative importance weight) approach was used for collecting data. Financial issues faced by the contractor, contractor’s inexperience, weather impacts, late delivery of material, mistakes in design, shortage of skilled labor, incompetent subcontractor and mistakes in time estimation were identified as main causes of time overrun in construction projects and possible mitigation measures were also proposed from experts. This research will help in giving awareness to stakeholders to narrow down the factors of time overrun in construction projects in Pakistan.

Time and Cost Overrun in the Saudi Arabian Oil and Gas Construction Industry

Many construction projects exceed time and budget. The Saudi Arabian construction projects are not an exception to this phenomenon. However, the causes of time and cost overrun of Saudi Arabian oil and gas construction projects have never been studied. Thus, this paper endeavors to investigate the main causes of time and cost overrun in Saudi Arabian oil and gas construction projects. Thirty-eight causes of time and cost overrun were identified through the literature and an interview. Responses from 48 professionals based in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia were obtained. The respondents were solicited to evaluate the significance of the causes, which were then ranked and a test of agreement was conducted. All survey participants agreed that the five major causes of time and cost overrun, combined, were found to be “changing of design and scope by client during construction”, “poor planning and scheduling of project”, “design errors”, “Inadequate comprehension of scope of work at the bidding stage”, and “underestimating of cost and schedules/overestimating of benefits”. On the other hand, the major cause of time overrun was found to be “changing of design and scope by client during construction”. Finally, the major cause of cost overrun was found to be “underestimating of cost and schedules/overestimating of benefits”, respectively. The findings of this study will be beneficial to project stakeholders who must operate in an industry that is highly sensitive. The findings will also facilitate organizations planning to conduct construction projects in the Saudi Arabian oil and gas industry.

Critical causes of time overrun in Indian construction projects and mitigation measures

ABSTRACTConstruction projects are the fuel for economic growth of any nation as they provide the essential requirements of housing, transportation, connectivity, and social infrastructure. India is in need of rapid infrastructure development. However, construction projects in India are plagued by a global phenomenon––“Delays/Time overruns”. Projects in India continue to suffer excessive delays. To identify the root causes of delay specifically in different type of projects, the projects were categorized based on the type and causes for each project type viz., transportation, power, buildings, and water/irrigation sector were identified. A questionnaire survey was conducted among the major contractors, owners and consultants in India to determine the critical causes of delay. Sixty causes of delay identified from literature were selected for the study and ranked using the Importance Index (II). Financial related causes viz., delay in settlement of claims by owner, contractor’s financial difficulties, delay in payment for extra work/variations and late payment from contractor to subcontractors/suppliers were found to be the most critical causes of delay in all the type of projects. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior professionals of Indian construction industry and exhaustive mitigation measures for top causes of delay were also developed to overcome them. These mitigation measures will serve as a checklist of best practices and will aid project managers and professionals to control delay causes and improve construction project delivery.

Theoretical framework of the causes of construction time and cost overruns

Any construction practitioner fundamental goal is to complete the projects within estimated duration and budgets, and expected quality targets. However, time and cost overruns are regular and universal phenomenon in construction projects and the construction projects in Malaysia has no exemption from the problems of time overrun and cost overrun. In order to accomplish the successful completion of construction projects on specified time and within planned cost, there are various factors that should be given serious attention so that issues such as time and cost overrun can be addressed. This paper aims to construct a framework for the causes of time overrun and cost overrun in construction projects of Malaysia. Based on the relevant literature review, causative factors of time overrun and cost overrun in Malaysian construction projects are summarized and the theoretical frameworks of the causes of construction time overrun and cost overrun is constructed. The developed frameworks for construction time and cost overruns based on the existing literature will assist the construction practitioners to plan the efficient approaches for achieving successful completion of the projects.

Causes of time overrun in construction phase of building projects : a case study on Department of Engineering Services of Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council

The main purpose of this study is to identify the significant causes of time overrun in construction phase of building projects handled by the Department of Engineering Services (DOES) of Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council (SPC) and to propose mitigative measures. The preliminary investigation of this research revealed that 80% of the building projects handled by the DOES are not completed within the agreed contract period. The study determines 51 factors causing time overrun in the context of the DOES, which is the basis of the study. The perceptions of clients, consultants and contractors regarding frequency of occurrence and severity of these factors were obtained using questionnaire. Using the indices of frequency, severity and thereby the indices of significance were computed for all the factors. ‘ Rainy we ather’, ‘ poor liquidity of the contractor’ and ‘ inaccurate planning and scheduling of projects are identified by all parties as the most significant factors causing time overrun. According to the views of both clients and consultants, ‘contractor related factors’ are the most significant causes of time overrun. As for the degree of agreement of perceptions on delay causes. the highest is between clients and consultants (68%) and the lowest between the contractors and clients (50%). Finally, the research makes propositions separately for each party in the contract in order to mitigate the respective contribution towards time overrun. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/engineer.v46i3.6780 ENGINEER, Vol. 46, No.03, pp. 9-18 2013

Study of relationship between time overrunand productivity on construction sites

The history of the construction industry worldwide is full of projects that were completed with significant time and cost overruns. In an attempt to reverse this trend, this study aims at establishing the relationship between time overrun and labour productivity on construction sites in Lagos, Nigeria. 43 technical and management staff of some medium and large construction firms based in Lagos, Nigeria were sampled and administered a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire contained 18 causes of project time overrun and 14 causes of low labour productivity which had been identified from the literature reviewed. With these a relationship between project time overrun and low labour productivity was established. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in analyzing the data. Results indicate that inadequate funds for the project, inadequate planning before project takeoff, inadequate tools and equipment and delay in delivery of material top the list of major causes of time overrun while the use of wrong construction methods, inadequate construction materials and inaccurate drawing/specification are the key factors causing low labour productivity on construction sites. Significant negative relationship was found between time overrun and labour productivity in construction sites in Nigeria. The study concludes by recommending that early appointment of project managers could ensure proper management of both the human and material resources that could guarantee improved productivity and ultimately save projects from time overrun.

A comparative study of causes of time overruns in Hong Kong construction projects

This paper presents the results of a survey undertaken to determine and evaluate the relative importance of the significant factors causing delays in Hong Kong construction projects. The survey covered 83 previously identified delay factors, which were grouped into eight major categories. The main reasons for delays were analyzed and ranked according to different groups classified on the basis of (a) the role of the parties in the local construction industry (i.e. whether clients, consultants or contractors) and (b) the type of projects. Results indicate that the five principal and common causes of delays are: ‘poor site management and supervision’, ‘unforeseen ground conditions’, ‘low speed of decision making involving all project teams’, ‘client-initiated variations’ and ‘necessary variations of works’. Differing perceptions as to the principal causes delaying projects are observed between Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, the two latter countries being chosen for purposes of comparison with other countries. It is hoped that the significant delay factors identified in this survey will provide a basis for strategies to minimize delays and will also be incorporated into a ‘construction time’ forecasting model for Hong Kong construction projects in the future research programme.