Delay analysis within construction contracting organizations

Abstract

Delayed completion of a construction project is often caused by a complex interaction of a combination of events, some of which are the contractor’s risks and others are the project owner’s. The apportionment of the liability to give effect to the risk allocation has therefore been a matter of great controversy. Many delay analysis methodologies have been developed over the years for performing this task. This paper reports on an empirical study into the current practice in the use of these methodologies in the United Kingdom, as part of a wider study aimed at developing a framework for improving delay claims analysis. The part of the study reported here was based on a questionnaire survey of key informants. The issues investigated include the categories of staff within contracting organizations who contribute to delay claims analyses, the awareness, use and reliability of existing delay analysis methods and the obstacles to their use in practice. The main findings of the study are that: (1) the preparation of delay claims often requires input from commercial managers (quantity surveyors), schedulers, site managers, external claim consultants and estimators; (2) commercial managers have the greatest involvement; (3) claims analyzed using the as-built versus as-planned and the impacted as-planned techniques are often successful although there is considerable literature on the shortcomings of these techniques; and (4) the main obstacles to the use of the methods relates to deficiencies in project records and scheduling practice.