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An Overview on the Issue of Delay
in the Construction Industry
Sunitha V. Doraisamy, Zainal Abidin Akasah and Riduan Yunus
Abstract Construction delay is a common problem in the construction industry. It
is important to study this problem by investigating the overview of previous study
on the issue of project delays and potential solutions to overcome it. Review of
literatures shows the causes and necessary suggestions in project delays which is
plaguing the construction industry in different nations. Various causes have been
identified and suggestions have been poured out to minimize the problem as much
as possible. Delay in projects is something that couldn’t be avoided looking at the
situation of the construction industry especially in developing countries. Delay in
projects happen somewhere during the construction process, and some even at the
point of completion of a construction project. The delivery of a construction project
on time and according to the expected budget is very much needed. The unsuc-
cessfulness on doing so, has invited many research on this issue to determine and
investigate the causes and as well the effect of project delays in the construction
industry. There are sectors in Malaysia that contributes to the country’s economy,
and the construction industry is one of it. This paper is an overview of the issue of a
project delay, where the seriousness of this issue could be understood and may help
to invite some researchers to proffer solution to this situation in the coming future.
Keywords Overview Project delay Cost overrun Completion
S.V. Doraisamy (&)Z.A. Akasah R. Yunus
Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia,
86400 Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, Malaysia
e-mail: suni7624@yahoo.com
Z.A. Akasah
e-mail: zainal59@uthm.edu.my
R. Yunus
e-mail: riduan@uthm.edu.my
©Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2015
R. Hassan et al. (eds.), InCIEC 2014, DOI 10.1007/978-981-287-290-6_27
313
1 Introduction
Rum and Akasah [1] stated that an improvement on the economic growth in a
country will increase the growth of the construction industry. At the same time,
there will be an increasing demand on the construction of facilities and buildings. It
is also stated that there are more than 50 % of projects that are going through time
overrun which is ultimately comes to construction project delay. The situation of
construction delay is a definite downfall on the development of a country. Desai and
Bhatt [2] explained that the construction delay could be defined as the time overrun
where the time of completion is beyond the specified date in a contract or takes
more time to complete than the actual date that the parties agreed to deliver a
project. When a project is taking more time than the planned schedule, this is taken
as a common problem in the construction industry. The meaning of owner delay is
when a revenue is lost due to the lack of production facilities and rentable spaces, or
not able to have dependence on present facilities.
The problem of project delays in the construction industry is known to be a
global phenomenon. In Vietnam, Long et al. [3] found that many problems occurs
during the implementation of a construction project, which the two main concerns
are time and cost overruns. Along with time and cost overruns, together comes
other consequences such as project failure, reduction of profit margin, and the
society’s disbelief especially on government funded projects, etc. In the study of
Sambasivam and Soon [4], they have explained that the delay of construction
projects causes a lot of dissatisfaction to all the parties involved and the main role of
the project manager is to make sure that the projects are completed within the
budgeted time and cost. They further elaborated that in South-East Asia, although
Malaysia is known to be a fast developing country but yet still do face the problem
of project delays as well. In 2005, about 17.3 % from the 417 government projects
in Malaysia were considered to be sick, meaning it has been delayed for more than
3 months or abandoned. The construction sector is indeed one of the sectors that has
significant contribution towards the Malaysia’s economic growth. However, some
of the causes and effects of delays in the construction projects can be categorized as
country-specific.
According to Long et al. [3], many factors relate to delay and it differs along
with the types of projects, locations, sizes and scopes. The delay of large con-
struction projects which has a complex features and design that requires high in
capital, have invited the interest of many researchers to study the related charac-
teristics with the delay of construction projects.
Therefore, delays in construction projects causes distress and anxiety to all the
parties in terms of contract, and the project manager plays a vital role in making
sure that the projects are completed within the budgeted time and cost, as specified
in the contract.
314 S.V. Doraisamy et al.
2 Types of Construction Delays
Delay in projects is bound to happen. Some delay will take place at a particular time
in the progress and completion of a certain work or activity and some will have the
freedom to be completed in which it has its’effects. Scott [5] has mentioned delay
caused by employer; delay caused by contractor and “neither”party responsible
delay, as types of existing delays in the construction area. According to him, failure
in providing site information is considered to be the fault of the employer. When it
comes to time and cost overrun Ezeokonkwo [6], says it happens accordance with
other situations such as delays in the payment of interim certificates, the client or his
representatives are not capable in making decisions quickly, handover of con-
struction sites are done rather late, materials are supplied late and inadequate
planning. He further elaborated that when a contractor is not capable to proceed
with a work relating to the project diligently and efficiently, which might be caused
to reason such as inadequate labour/plant deliverance, the inability to solve this by
the contractor makes it as to be the fault of the contractor himself. He also identifies
that the cause of delay which is not caused by either the client or the contractor, but
caused by reasons which in all ways are immortal, as “Neither”party responsible
delay (Extraneous conditions). This sort of delay happens usually for reasons like
strikes, riot, harmful weather, force majeure and acts of God, loss and damages due
to fire and storm. The inability of the contractor to overcome these sort of matters
which show it is reasonably out of his control, is categorized as not the contractor’s
fault. At the same time, delays caused by nominated subcontractors or suppliers
which the contractor has taken all possible steps to avoid or reduce any sort of delay
by them, is also could be taken as not his fault either. In the opinion of Ahmed et al.
[7], delays could be non-excusable; excusable (with or without compensation) and
concurrent delays, where delays that are caused by the contractor, sub-contractor or
other party but are within the control of the contractor, is known to be non-
excusable delays. These type of delay is due to problems such as breakdown of
equipment, improper scheduling or improper management, productivity which are
not properly estimated, improper project planning, management of site which are
poorly handled and poor supervision, undependable subcontractors or suppliers and
problems in general staffing.
Delays caused by factors that are not able to be detected earlier by the contractor
or any other party for that matter, are not subjected to their negligence or faults, but
is considered to be an excusable delays where at this part, time extension is given in
this matter, but not in the case of extension of cost. As elaborated by Ashworth [8],
concurrent delays occur when both the owner and the contractor are responsible for
the delay. Generally, if the delays can’t be disentangled, the contractor can be held
responsible for the delay where he will be forced to speed up the works, or be
responsible for the ascertained damages, but not allowed to claim the delay dam-
ages from the owner.
Knowing and understanding the types of construction delays helps to identify
and as well understand the risk that comes along with it. The importance in
An Overview on the Issue of Delay in the Construction Industry 315
identifying and understanding the types of delay can help to process the damages
from the consequences of delay as well. Therefore, the types of delay should be
referred into properly without misinterpreting it.
3 Studies on Causes of Delays
Apart from others who say delays to be a global phenomenon, Desai and Bhatt [2]
says delays on construction projects are a universal phenomenon. They are almost
always accompanied by cost and time overruns. Construction project delays have
an unfavourable effect on parties such as the developer, contractor and consultant,
to a contract which leads to conflict in a relationship, not able to trust, litigation,
arbitration, cash-flow problems, and having anxiety or unpleasant feeling towards
each other. So, it is important to define the actual causes of delay in order to
minimise and avoid any unwanted delays in construction projects in the future.
Sambasivam and Soon [4], has rated the causes of delay in their study from the
most significant to the least, they are (1) contractor’s improper planning, (2) con-
tractor’s poor site management, (3) contractor’s lack of experience, (4) client’s
finance and payments for completed work are inadequate, (5) problems with sub-
contractors, (6) shortage in material (7) shortage in labour supply, (8) unavailability
in equipment and its’failure, (9) communication barrier between parties, (10)
mistakes during the construction is in work. These causes does not differ much from
the causes identified by Odeh and Battaineh [9] in their survey, which are owner
interference, contractor’s lack of experience, financing and payments, labourer’s
lacking in productivity, poor and slow decision making, improper planning,
material shortage and problem with subcontractors. Alwi and Hampsom [10], have
ranked three causes as the most highest in the construction industry of Indonesia,
which are poor professional management, having low skills in design works and
documentation, and shortage of materials.
From an analysis from his study, Memon [11] has identified changes that are
often made in designs, changing the scope of project, owners who are facing
financial difficulties, decisions are made late and ground conditions which were not
able to be predicted earlier. From the survey conducted by Frimpong et al. [12], to
know the important factors contributing to delay and cost overruns in Ghana
groundwater construction projects, it shows that the main causes are shortage in
monthly payments from agencies, poor management by contractor, material pro-
curement, lacking in technical performance, and rapid increase of material prices.
Delay in the delivery of materials and equipment to construction sites in Nepal is a
major contribution towards the delay and cost overruns of the construction projects,
as elaborated by Manavazhia and Adhikarib [13] in their survey. Other than con-
tractor, labour and material related causes, Chan and Kumaraswamy [14] linked the
consultant-related and client-related causes to the probable time overruns in con-
struction projects in Hong Kong. It is the same in the case of Mansfield [15] and
316 S.V. Doraisamy et al.
Frimpong et al. [12], except they have added material-related also as one of the
probable causes in cost and time overruns.
Delays can be minimised only when their causes are identified. Knowing the
cause of any particular delay in a project would help avoiding it, especially if it
identified in the earlier stage itself.
4 Suggestions on Overcoming Project Delays
Long et al. [3] elaborates that human resource training for the need in construction
industry is an immense demand. This is a task that not only requires quantity but
quality also in its’training scheme. In Vietnam, training future engineer are more
focused on structural design, leaving a void on the planning, managing and
accessing of knowledge. There must be an importance given to project feasibility
study and must be conducted as carefully as possible; especially, with projects that
are funded by the government. Long et al. [3], further added that there should be a
system which is closely related to the feasibility study, selection of contractors, and
financing, etc.
Akinsiku and Akinsulire [16], have suggested that proper budgetary planning
must be designed to ensure proper funding for a specific project or have an alter-
native source in funding or project arrangement such as BOOT and BOT which
allows contractors to participate in the design and financing of new projects from
the beginning stage of the project itself. Other than that, they have also suggested
sufficient planning and the establishment of sufficient quality control system to be
put in place to avoid design changes, plus an appropriate time should be allocated
so that designs are done carefully, and complete tender documents, to improve the
quality of contract documents with minimum errors and avoid lack of compatibility
which reduces delay during the construction stages. Issues that are related to design
such as changes in drawings, specifications that are incomplete and has faults,
client’s interference in changes and general change order have detrimental effect on
the project deliverance which ultimately contributes time and cost overruns. These
are issues that can be controlled by proper design process management and on time
decision making.
Jeni and Akasah [17] have even suggested the lean construction concept where
this concept enhances the management process in a project where it is able to
implement the activities in the project in a more systematic, organized and effective
way. This might help in delivering a project on time. Kikwasi [18], have recom-
mended that a construction budget with proper adequacy, on time information
conveying, finalisation of design and proper management skills should be the main
criteria for the parties in project procurement process. Olusegun and Michael [19],
are in opinion that in the effort to reduce the effects of project delay and project
abandonment, clients should provide an adequate planning for the project at the
starting point itself and have a proper estimation of enough budget availability by
the Quantity Surveyor, who controls the funding of the project work throughout the
An Overview on the Issue of Delay in the Construction Industry 317
construction process. The clients should also engage services of competent con-
struction professionals; such as the Architect, who is responsible in producing
design which is within the planned budgetary design. The government should issue
on taking only competent contractors with strong financial background in executing
any contract.
All the recommendations and suggestions that has been laid out by various
researches who have studied this issue in various countries, should be taken into
consideration and viewed carefully. This might lead to solutions that is either could
minimize the problem of project delay or overcome it totally. If all the important
and necessary solutions that are proffered in overcoming project delays are put into
as a guideline, this might help the specific parties involved in a construction project
in completing it accordingly to the time and budget as specified in the contract.
5 Conclusion
Planning is vital to ensure construction projects can be completed within the time
allocated, not exceed the budgets and meeting the standards and requirements that
have been set by the clients. Failure to have an adequate planning, including
financial and physical planning, will cause construction delay, which will have
negative impacts such as cost overruns, extension of time and disputes. The cost of
materials and machines’operations will be increased due to inflation and inaccurate
estimation.
There are various causes that have been identified by different researches on the
issue of project delay. Accordingly, appropriate recommendations were proposed to
overcome and eliminate problems that hindered the successful of the construction
projects. There should be a proper extended study on this issue to proffer solutions
to eliminate construction delay, by identifying possible solutions and measuring the
level of effectiveness towards the proffered solution.
Acknowledgements The author would like to convey her gratitude to Assocciate Prof. Dr.Hj.
Zainal Abidin Akasah and Dr. Riduan Yunus from UTHM for supporting this paper.
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