Comprehensive Training about Construction Delay
Just like any other industry that works on a project-based model, construction has a lot of issues that can only be managed and not prevented, such as construction delay. To understand this significant problem that is a regular part of your profession, a basic description of how a construction project works will serve as a reminder and a standard definition one could go back to for reference while reading the problems the following paragraphs hint to.
Essentially, a construction project is a multi-staged process where each stage requires a specialist group of people some of them needed in other stages of the process as well. Such a project brings together a variety of people together who work together towards the same goal. With stringent regulatory compliance, involvement of so many people with special skills, good with specific features and specifications, and a particular site, all necessary for a project, it is not hard to conceive delays could even be inevitable in construction.
The Problem of Construction Delay
The problem construction delay has risen as the process of construction has become complex over time. Earlier, construction projects were simpler and came across fewer modifications and delays. These days, however, with multiple new methods for constructing a building, various technologies promising convenient and efficiency, specialists working on these technologies and methods, the ever-growing glossary of materials used in projects, and the growing complications of the economic and financial world, the probability of construction delay in any given project, residential or commercial, has reached new heights.
Simply put, completing your construction projects on schedule has become rare, as you may already have seen during your initial time in construction. To define the term technically, a construction delay is (a) the time lag in finished activities and the specified deadline according to the contract for the same, (b) late conclusion, or (c) delayed start of construction tasks during a project.
Whatever the reason may be, the ultimate result is a construction delay, which demands more time to complete the project and, therefore, significant extension in expenditures as specialist services and extended permissions are secured for the added time.
The problem of construction delay is a big one and should be managed proactively if you are to avoid any serious consequence, such as legal fines, inflation costs, contract termination, litigation, etc.
Understanding Delay Issues in Construction
The journey to understanding delay issues in construction begins with knowing the causes or types or construction delays. This will allow you, as a growing construction professional, to anticipate a construction delay as things begin to go off-track during your upcoming projects. The knowledge will help you better adapt to the impending change in schedule and even help your superiors mitigate the effects of such a delay on your project as much as possible.
- CRITICAL DELAY: All such delays that result in the extension of project deadline are called critical delay. There may be a number of reasons for such a construction delay to occur, including problems like liquidation of damages, extraordinary costs incurred on idle labor or equipment, extraordinary inflation in labor or materials costs, sizeable accumulation of unabsorbed home office overhead, etc. However, a construction delay that does not prolong the duration of the project is often considered a non-critical delay. Note that, while it does not change the project deadline, a non-critical delay causes late conclusion of various stages of the project, which affects a number of costs, including cost of idle labor and equipment and material or labor cost inflation, etc.
- EXCUSABLE DELAY: An excusable delay is a construction delay that justifies the contractor demanding an extension of project deadline or compensation (or both) within the conditions outlined in the contract. The key characteristic of such a delay is the fact that the contractor has no control over the cause and its resulting delay. Such uncontrollable causes can include the force majeure clause, a natural disaster, riots, a terrorist attack, client-caused delays. On the other hand, when the contractor is to be held responsible for a delay, it becomes an inexcusable delay, and the most frequent causes of inexcusable delays include late mobilization, late procurement, late document submission, poor planning, or unreported critical events.
- CONCURRENT DELAY: A construction delay which is in fact accumulation of multiples delays is called a concurrent delay. The combination of these delays cause extensive change in project schedule and add significantly to project duration. These are complex delays and usually occur only when any combination of the client, the contractor, or uncontrollable factors ceases to deliver as planned, resulting in the change of project duration and additional costs. This is a tough problem for contractors who often end up getting sued by the client for negligence. However, in many such cases, the contractor may in fact to be blamed for the delay issues in construction and thus not entitled to compensations of any kind.
- COMPENSABLE DELAY: In extension of the previous type of delays described above, all delay issues in construction where the contractor can justify a request for extension of project deadline or costs (or both) are called compensable delays. While all compensable delays fall within the limits of excusable delays, non-compensable delays are considered to be non-excusable, excusable, non-critical, or critical delays. Non-compensable delays are delay issues in construction where the contractor is solely responsible for the delay.
Our Products to Help You Learn about Construction Disruptions
As a growing online repository of knowledge for budding professionals in various industries and business sectors, Lorman Educational Services offers a variety of training resources focused on the subject of construction disruptions. Go through our collection of construction delay courses, webinars, and products to choose what suits your needs best.
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