ENGINEER

ENGINEER- -Vol.Vol. XLVIII,

XLVIII, No. 01, pp.
No. 01, pp.[21-30],
[page range],
2015 2015
©©The
TheInstitution of Engineers,
Institution of Engineers,Sri
SriLanka
Lanka

Mitigation of Delays Attributable to the Contractors

in the Construction Industry of Sri Lanka -
Consultants’ Perspective
D. A. R. Dolage and T. Pathmarajah

Abstract: This study focuses on determining important causes of construction delays

attributable to contractors in large construction projects in Sri Lanka and the degree of severity of
these causes. The causes of delay have been found based on the perceptions of the engineers working
for three state affiliated establishments namely, Department of Buildings (BD), Road Development
Authority (RDA) & National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB).The severity of each cause of
delay is measured and represented through a severity index (SI). The causes of delay were determined
and ranked in the descending order of severity. According to the findings, Poor project planning &
scheduling (SI -82.54) is the most influencing factor causing delays in construction projects. In the
descending order of severity, the other causes of delay are Low profit margin (SI -80.28), Inadequate
cash flow management (SI -78.31), Handling of too many project sat a given time (SI -75.21), and
Incompetence of the key staff (SI -74.93).Spearman rank correlation coefficient was used to determine
the degree of agreement on the ranking of severity of causes of delay among the organisations.
The highest degree of agreement is between BD &NWSDB (0.77). There exists an intermediate degree
of agreement between RDA & NWSDB (0.73) and the lowest is between RDA & BD (0.70).The study
finally makes 10 recommendations to mitigate construction delays.

Keywords: Construction delays, Construction industry, Causes of delay

contribute to the overall construction delays.
1. Introduction The previous studies reveal that project delays
are mainly due to non completion of projects
Delay in completing construction projects is on time by the contractor.
rampant across the world. They are invariably
accompanied by cost and time overruns. A vast majority of major construction projects
Naturally, construction project delays have carried out in Sri Lanka are funded through
undesirable effects on smooth functioning of foreign loans which entail payments of
projects, such as adversarial relationships interest. When a project is delayed, it incurs
among project participants, distrust, litigation, costs by having to pay for additional salaries
arbitration and cash-flow problems. for staff and escalated material prices due to
Construction projects often get abandoned or inflation. Hence, if delays are contained, profits
terminated due to the construction delays. If could be increased, which can be utilised by the
the contractors follow systematic contractual contractor for their business development and
procedures and proper project management, economic growth for the country. Therefore,
the project delays can be minimised. the study aims to identify the major causes of
Construction delays can be minimised only construction delays attributable to the
when the causes of delay are identified and
countermeasures are taken.
Eng. (Dr.) D. A. R. Dolage, CEng, FIE(Sri Lanka),
Time management of a project is usually an BScEng. (Moratuwa), MSc (Reading), MA
(Colombo), MBA (SJP), DBA (UniSA), Senior
important requirement for both the owner and
Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, The Open
the contractor of a particular project. Although University of Sri Lanka.
the inaction of the client and the consultant Eng. T. Pathmarajah, CEng, MIE(Sri Lanka), BSc
and other factors such as unfavourable Eng. (Peradeniya), MTech (OUSL), Chief Engineer,
government policies and „acts of God‟ also Road Development Authority, Sri Lanka.

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21 ENGINEER
contractors in Sri Lanka and the ways of proper construction planning, cash flow
mitigating delays in construction projects. management, human resource development
and further training in specialised skills,
The main objectives of this study are; frequent site meetings and joint site
inspections.
1. To identify and rank the causes of delays
attributable to contractors in the A study was conducted by Pathiranage and
construction industry of Sri Lanka. Halwatura (2010) to identify the factors
2. To assess the degree of agreement of influencing the duration of road construction
rankings of causes of delays among state projects in Sri Lanka and propose ways to
sector construction organisations. mitigate delays. This study found that the
3. To make recommendations to prevent or local road construction projects have
mitigate construction delays based on the experienced from 56 to 88 percent of average
analysis of its significant causes. time overrun compared to the original
(planned) project duration. According to the
2. Literature Review study, project financing by the client and the
cash flow problems of the contractor is the
2.1 Causes of Construction Delays most significant factor causing construction
A plethora of both local and international delays. A recent study by Dolage and
research studies conducted on causes of Rathnamali (2013), revealed the most
delays in construction projects were significant factors causing time overrun, as per
reviewed. Evidently, no study has been the perceptions of all involved parties, are;
carried out to examine the delays „rainy weather‟, „poor liquidity of the
attributable to the contractors in Sri Lanka, contractor‟ and „inaccurate planning and
hence there is a potential research gap. scheduling of projects.
Although similar studies have been carried
out in other countries, a study devoted to 2.2 Methodological Approaches
examine the same aspect in the local Most of the previous researchers have
context is of great importance. This is adopted questionnaire survey methods to
because of the differences in economic obtain answers to the research questions. The
policies, project characteristics, practical questionnaires have been designed to evaluate
problems and resource availability of Sri the significance of causes for delays in project
Lanka in comparison to other countries. completion, based on the perceptions of
respondents. Pathiranage and Halwatura
Chan and Kumaraswamy (1998) conducted (2010) identified the factors causing
a study to evaluate the relative importance construction delays from the literature and
of 83 potential delay factors associated with from a pilot survey in which the participants
construction projects in Hong Kong and were experienced highway specialists in Sri
found five critical delay factors, namely: Lanka. In this study, a questionnaire was
poor risk management and supervision, developed to assess the perception of
unforeseen site conditions, slow decision contractors on the percentage delay and the
making, client-initiated variations, and relative significance index of factors
work variations. influencing the duration of road construction
projects in Sri Lanka.
A study was conducted by Jayawardane and
Pandita (2003) on the topic of evaluating and Dolage and Perera (2009) carried out a study
mitigating the factors affecting construction on delays in the pre-construction phase of
delays. According to this study, both state sector building projects by adopting a
contractors and consultants have collectively questionnaire survey to evaluate the
ranked rainy weather, manpower skill and perceptions of respondents of causes of delay.
material shortage as the top ranking causes of Prior to the distribution of the questionnaire,
construction delays. In order to minimise such interviews were conducted with four
delays, the study recommends the following; consultants, three clients and three contractors
to identify the factors causing delays in the
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pre-construction stage. Based on the outcome experienced in project execution, 24 potential
of these interviews, a questionnaire was causes of delay were identified. The
developed to assess the perceptions of the pertinence of these causes were verified
respondents. The relative importance of through senior engineers, involved in the
various causes of delay was measured using construction projects implemented by three
relative importance index. government owned, major infrastructure
construction organisations; BD, RDA and
2.3 Research Gap NWSDB.
Most of the previous studies have analysed The selected causes were classified into three
the overall project delays caused by the main categories, namely, management related
responsible parties with generic delays such causes, finance related causes and construction
as excusable or non excusable construction related causes, based on the origin, as follows:
delays without considering the contract value.
Management Related Causes (MRC)
In a study on construction delays, carried out 1. Poor project planning & scheduling
in Florida, Ahamed (2003) shows that different 2. Incompetence of key staff
parties are responsible for the overall project 3. Poor decision making by management
delay as follows; Contractor 44%, Owner 24%, 4. Poor coordination with sub contractors
Government 14%, Shared (between owner & 5. Poor coordination among staff
consultant)12% and Consultant 6%. 6. Delays in material supply
7. Disputes with other parties
A study carried out on delays in public 8. Internal organisational problems
utility projects of Saudi Arabia by Khalil 9. Poor skill development
(1999), shows that different parties are 10. Fraudulent practices in the organisation
responsible for the overall project delay in the
following manner; Contractor 44%, Owner Finance Related Causes (FRC)
22%, Consultant 14% and others 20%. 1. Low profit margin
2. Inadequate cash flow management
According to Pathiranage and Halwatura 3. Inefficiency in billing and collecting
(2010), the contractor is the most responsible payments
party for road construction delays in Sri Lanka 4. Poor estimation practices
of all the parties involved. The study also 5. Inadequate progress reviews
reveals the responsibility of the client is 6. Poor cost controlling system
perceived to be more important than that of
the consultant. However, no attempt has been Construction Related Causes (CRC)
made to examine contractor‟s contribution to 1. Handling of too many projects at a given
delays in major construction projects, and time
proposes mitigative measures for construction 2. Faulty work
delays in Sri Lanka. 3. Poor communication with other parties
4. Insufficient quality control
3 Methodology 5. Poor supervision of work
6. Insufficient availability of equipment
3.1 Classification of causes of delay 7. Unqualified workforce
The causes of construction delays could vary 8. Insufficient safety precautions at site
from country to country because of the
differences in political, economic, social, and 3.2 Collection of data
environmental conditions, and government The knowledge required for this research
regulations. In previous studies, different came from review of literature, professional
researchers have examined construction experience of the authors and interviews with
project delays from a different perspective the experts. The primary data was obtained
and identified a number of different causes of through a questionnaire which was
delay. From these studies and the interviews distributed to engineers attached to BD, RDA
that the authors conducted with engineers and NWSDB. The questionnaires were filled
by the heads of divisions or senior engineers
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of large projects. The respondents were asked individual organisations, the agreement on
to indicate the relative importance of each ranking between organisations was evaluated.
cause of delay on a five-point Likert scale; the
points are: Strongly disagree -1, Disagree -2, 4. Results and Discussion
Neutral -3, Agree -4 and Strongly agree -5.
4.1 Severity indices
The selected state organisations for the study
The severity index of each cause of delay
have different organisational setups. The RDA
was computed with respect to each
is an authority dealing with construction and
organisation, and presented in Table 1. As
maintenance of large scale projects associated
per Table 1, the top ten factors causing delays
with A and B Class roads, airports,
in construction projects, in the descending
expressways and large bridges. The NWSDB
order of significance are as follows: Poor
is a statutory board concerned with
project planning & scheduling (SI - 82.54),Low
construction and maintenance of major water
profit margin (SI - 80.28),Inadequate cash
treatment plants, sewage plants, supply lines,
flow management (SI - 78.31),Handling of too
and water towers, while the BD is a state
many projects at a given time (SI - 75.21),
department dedicated to handling state sector
Incompetence of key staff (SI - 74.93), Poor
building requirements.
decision making by management (SI -
74.08),Insufficient quality control (SI - 74.08),
3.3 Approach to Data Analysis
Insufficient availability of equipment (SI -
Each cause of delay has a corresponding severity
73.24), Poor supervision of work(SI - 72.11) and
index which is computed using the following
Delays in material supply (SI - 71.83). Figure 1
equation:
shows the severity indices of causes of delay
Severity Index (SI) = ∑aiXi
with respect to individual organisations and
Where: i= 1,2,3,4,5
when the responses of all three organisations
are combined.
a1= 1/5 for 'Strongly disagree', a2= 2/5 for
'Disagree', a3= 3/5 for 'Neutral',a4= 4/5 for 4.2 Spearman Rank Correlation
'Agree' and a5= 5/5 for ' Strongly agree' Coefficient
Xi is the variable expressing the percentage of The Spearman correlation coefficients between
frequency for the ith response. organisations were computed to determine the
degree of agreement on ranking and
Spearman‟s rank correlation coefficient is used presented in Figure 2. There is a high degree
to measure the degree of agreement on the of agreement between BD & NWSDB (0.77),
severity of causes of delay between responses RDA & NWSDB (0.73) and RDA & BD (0.70).
of any two organisations. The rank correlation
coefficient is calculated using the formula: The degree of agreement in the ranking of
factors between two organisations can vary
r =1-(6 ∑d2)/(n3-n) owing to the variation of scope of work,
nature and value of projects and the setup of
Where r is the Spearman rank correlation the organisations. In general, the projects
coefficient between two parties, d is the handled by the NWSDB and the BD are
difference between the ranks assigned to a almost similar in terms of scope of work,
given cause of delay, and n is the number worksite administration, value of the project
of pairs of the variables. Using the ranking and use of materials. But the nature of the
of causes of construction delays for the projects executed by the RDA is different from

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Table 1 - Severity indices of causes of delay based on perceptions of respondents
Severity Indices
Causes of delay
RDA NWSDB BD All
1 Poor project planning & scheduling 79.26 85.64 83.16 82.54
2 Low profit margin 79.26 76.82 86.32 80.28
3 Inadequate cash flow management 77.04 79.27 78.95 78.31
4 Handling of too many projects at a given time 73.33 72.83 81.05 75.21
5 Incompetence of key staff 71.85 75.24 78.95 74.93
6 Poor decision making by management 71.11 75.24 76.84 74.08
7 Insufficient quality control 77.04 70.43 74.74 74.08
8 Insufficient availability of equipment 71.85 76.82 70.53 73.24
9 Poor supervision of work 69.63 75.24 71.58 72.11
10 Delays in material supply 68.15 73.65 74.74 71.83
11 Inadequate progress review 73.33 68.14 71.58 70.99
12 Faulty work 67.41 72.15 74.74 70.99
13 Poor coordination with sub-contractors 69.63 72.15 70.53 70.70
14 Poor communication with other parties 67.41 68.14 71.58 68.73
15 Unqualified Workforce 64.44 69.60 70.53 67.89
16 Poor coordination with staff 70.37 64.12 67.37 67.32
17 Poor skill development 67.32 68.80 69.47 64.47
18 Poor cost controlling system 66.67 68.14 64.21 66.48
19 Poor estimation practices 65.93 56.81 68.42 65.92
20 Inefficiency in billing and collecting payments 63.70 66.46 66.32 65.35
21 Insufficient safety precautions at site 68.15 64.84 61.05 65.07
22 Fraudulent practices in the organisation 56.30 64.22 70.53 62.82
23 Internal organisation problems 65.93 56.81 61.05 61.41
24 Disputes with other parties 57.78 67.23 56.84 60.85

100
RDA BD NWSDB ALL ORG.
90
80
70
Severity Index

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
MRC1
MRC2
MRC3
MRC4
MRC5
MRC6
MRC7
MRC8
MRC9
MRC10

CRC1
CRC2
CRC3
CRC4
CRC5
CRC6
CRC7
CRC8
FRC1
FRC2
FRC3
FRC4
FRC5
FRC6

Delay Cause

Figure 1 - Severity indices of causes of delay

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25 ENGINEER
 reluctant to update schedules on a regular
0.8 basis.
Spearman Correlation cofficient

0.78
Projects should be planned in such a way
0.76 that much of the work is executed in the
months of favourable weather since wet
0.74 months are less suitable for construction
0.72 work. Most of the time, resources in projects
either become idle or go skimp, due to
0.7 improper scheduling. Contractors should
schedule the work in such a way that it
0.68
facilitates the continuous and uninterrupted
0.66 utilisation of their resources.
RDA & BD RDA & NWSDB BD & NWSDB
4.3.2 Low profit margin
Organisations
Profit which is the reward for implementing a
project is the amount of money realised after
Figure 2 - Spearman rank correlation coefficient
setting aside for the expenditure. Profit
invariably depends on the risk and difficulties
those of the NWSDB and the BD in terms of
associated with the project execution. If the
geographic areas of operation, degree of heavy
perceived risk and difficulties to be encountered
machinery usage and scope of work related to
in a project are high, a higher profit margin
the projects. Therefore, the results of rank
should be allocated. Besides the profit margin,
correlation are consistent with the perceptions
which the contractor assigns to the bid
expected of the respondents of these
determines his chances of securing the contract.
organisations on causes of delays attributable
Due to the increased number of contractors
to the contractors.
bidding for a single project, the margin of profit
has squeezed as of late. The consequent resource
4.3 Mechanism of causes of delay and
problems and possible mistakes in execution of
mitigative measures
projects, could affect the profitability of projects.
This study considered 24 significant
The government of Sri Lanka receives funds
construction causes of delay attributable to
from donor countries for infrastructure
the contractor. Nevertheless, this paper
development with conditions attached. One
analysed only the top ten causes with
such condition is that the respective tender be
respect to mechanisms and mitigative
awarded to a contractor from the donor
measures. The mechanisms and mitigative
country itself. Such tenders are always
measures for the ten causes of delay are
awarded at an exorbitantly high profit margin.
presented below.
Thereafter, the contractor who won the bid,
negotiates with a few local contractors and
4.3.1 Poor project planning and scheduling
subcontracts the work to the one who quoted
The contractor should implement the project
the lowest price. Due to scarcity of work or in
activities in the proper sequence to complete
order to enhance cash flows, quite often they
the defined stages of the project within the
hardly keep a reasonable profit margin. In such
stipulated time frame, with designated
case, the accurate estimation of project cost
resources. Contractors often fail to come up
before bidding is of great importance to the
with a practical and practical work program at
contractor. The cost estimate of labour,
the planning stage. Project delays occur mostly
construction equipment, materials,
due to inadequate experience of the
subcontracts, taxes, overheads, and surety
contractors with regard to project planning.
bonds need to be calculated accurately and
Proper scheduling should ensure that
added to the mark-up to arrive at the final bid
projects do not encounter resource
value.
bottlenecks at any stage of the project
implementation. The contractors are usually

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4.3.3 Inadequate cash flow management resources. Therefore, the contractor should
Inadequate cash flow management by the undertake only a manageable number of
contractor could cause delays in the project. projects, which is commensurate with the
The availability of money on time is quite existing capacity.
important for project success. If sufficient
money for the project expenses is not available, 4.3.5 Incompetence of key staff
the due payments will remain unsettled for a Incompetence of key staff is one of the
long time resulting in project delays. In these significant causes of construction delays.
situations, businesses with high gearing are at a Some contractors are weak in project
risk. planning, implementation and controlling of
site operations due to the incompetence of the
Some public sector organisations take an key staff. Although contractors claim at the
unduly long time to settle the progress bidding stage to be having qualified project
payments due to the rigorous internal managers, they are unable to provide them
procedures that are involved. Delays in once the project is in progress.
receiving payments for the work completed
by the contractor, directly affect the Effective project implementation requires
completion period of the project. The the services of competent personnel. It will
contractor is able to receive the payments for make the following tasks efficient and
„material at site‟ and „advance for material effective; supervision, decision making,
purchase‟ in the progress payment bill if it is work planning and coordination at the site.
stipulated in the contract documents. These are the attributes necessary to achieve
successful project performance. Contractors
4.3.4 Handling of too many projects at a should ensure that they have the right per-
given time sonnel with correct qualifications and
There are many factors a contractor should relevant experience to manage the projects.
consider before determining the optimum The project managers must have experience
number of projects that could handled and qualifications in construction
concurrently, which are as follows; number of management so that they can effectively
workers, availability of machinery and utilise the latest project management tools. A
financial resources, management capability typical project management problem that
and the types of work. Both quality and results from insufficient capacity of the key
progress of construction can become affected if staff is the slow response to the issues that
a contractor undertakes more projects than occur at sites; this will badly impact on the
their capacity permits. The resultant overall work progress.
inadequate supervision invariably results in
poor quality work and complaints from the 4.3.6 Poor decision making by
consultant, followed by instructions to management
„rework‟. Main contractors mostly delegate The decision to bid for a large construction
works to subcontractors who may have a low project should not be taken until all significant
motivation to perform the works as per the factors have been considered in an objective and
schedule and required quality. If a contractor precise manner. This decision should be
undertakes too many projects, he will have to satisfactory from all view points. A l l the key
concomitantly increase the capacity of members of the management staff should
resources. The contractor has to deploy the participate in making important decisions
available resources across all projects concerning updating and regulating the
undertaken. The projects commenced later may company policies.
not have sufficient resources left to continue
uninterrupted. Inevitably, the contractor 4.3.7 Insufficient quality control
encounters the difficulty of executing all It is not uncommon in construction projects
projects undertaken in parallel, and ultimately, that completed work becomes rejected by
none of the projects can be completed within consultants due to inferior quality. In such
the stipulated period. This is because, in the situations, the contractors are instructed to
short run, it may not be possible to increase put it right at their own cost and time. Such
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27 ENGINEER
situations could lead to disputes as to who improve the productivity of construction
should bear the additional cost of corrective projects.
work and the extra time taken. Delays caused
due to adopting improper construction 4.3.10 Delays in material supply
methods, supplying of inferior quality Purchasing and supplying of materials in time is
materials, improper testing methods and very important in construction because any delay
defective work are more crucial to the in this could affect the work programme.
contractor than to the consultant. The Approval has to be sought in time from the
contractors should be more committed to consultant or client before purchasing certain
conformance to project specifications. materials.

4.3.8 Insufficient availability of equipment Construction projects involve a series of

Use of equipment is very important to dependent and interrelated activities which
contractors because this could save time and engage important resources such as money,
money. Many of the contractors do not keep manpower, machinery etc. If the crucial
their construction equipment in good materials are not supplied in time, the
condition, so they may not be readily respective activity cannot progress, causing
available for the construction work. When the delays in the dependant activities. This may
construction projects undertaken are too many also result in some machinery going idle,
and too heavy, the number of equipment adding to the cost. The purchasing officer
available to be engaged in the project may not should follow the relevant procurement
be adequate. In this situation, the equipment procedure to ensure materials are available at
could become defective due to overuse and site, in time and in required quality and
not having sufficient time for maintenance. quantity. Some construction materials have to
be imported from abroad. If there is any delay
Sometimes contractors do not use appropriate in importing these materials, it could cause
equipment in projects because either the delays in completing the project.
appropriate equipment for the particular
work is not available or too expensive to hire. 5. Conclusions and
In Sri Lanka, most of the foreign contractors Recommendations
complete projects on time and „as planned‟
because they use appropriate machinery and
In this study, a significant attempt has been
equipment for the work.
made to identify the important causes of
delays attributable to the contractor and
The contractor must adopt a very effective
propose mitigative measures concerning
maintenance program to minimise major
the construction industry of Sri Lanka.
breakdowns of equipment, thus avoiding big
losses. Poor maintenance of equipment results
The study revealed that improper planning
in the increasing of downtime and the
and scheduling of the contractor is the most
decreasing of the life time of the equipment.
significant delay factor among the 24
important causes of delay identified in this
4.3.9 Poor supervision of work
study.
The quality of work can become inferior due
to poor supervision at site. Since there is a Based on the findings of the study, the
direct relationship between construction output following recommendations can be made to
and the cost, the supervision of the former is mitigate the causes of delays attributable to
vital. Due to poor supervision of construction the contractor with respect to major
work, it could become substandard or construction projects in Sri Lanka.
defective therefore it has a chance of being
rejected. The development of the capacity of 1 The contractor must prepare a realistic
the supervisory staff through workshops and work programme in such a way that it is
technical training is an essential consideration. commensurate with his capacity and
Quality assurance, motivational programmes realistic duration. It means that
and site safety systems should be established to
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ENGINEER 28
 scheduling should ensure that the 8. The contractor should improve their
project does not experience significant productivity, cost control systems, and
resource bottlenecks. It is essential that quality of work through appropriate follow
he holds progress review meetings up action.
regularly, involving all parties to ensure 9. The contractor should develop human
that the work progresses according to resources through proper technical training
the schedule. and recruiting qualified and experienced
craftsmen.
2. The contractor‟s bid value should be
realistic. They must ensure that they 10. The contractor should prepare an
have the financial strength, necessary appropriate procurement plan for material
resources and capabilities, to complete purchasing in order to maintain the buffer
the project at the quoted tender sum. stocks of material on site. They also should
engage a material specialist conversant in
3. The Contractor should use their contract specifications to decide on the
financial resources effectively and type materials required for the project.
manage the cash flows by utilising
advanced payments and progress 11. Since the contractors are usually more
payments. The Contractor should also responsible for construction delays in a
prepare the monthly payment project, the Contractors Association of Sri
documents in time. Lanka must prepare Guidelines on
mitigating construction delays.
4 The contractor must have a good
assessment of their maximum capacity in References
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29 ENGINEER
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