The outcome of the study also seems to suggest that the difference in the performance of the two categories of contractors is due to the effect of factors of unexcused delay. Finally, an examination of the inexcusable delay factors that appeared to predominantly affect projects performed by public contractors revealed that management-related delay factors contributed the most to total inexcusable delays.
INTRODUCTION
The Research Problem 1
- Sub-Problems 2
Can this equation be used to explain the high incidence of delays in civil contractor construction projects?
Hypotheses 2
Delimitations of the Research 2
Definition of Terms 3
A non-citizen company in the context of the study refers to a company that is not 100% owned by Botswanan citizens. In the context of this study, projects in the public sector are understood to mean projects that are carried out under the supervision of the Ministry of Works and Traffic – Buildings and Engineering Sciences Department (DBES), projects that are carried out by the various local governments, such as district councils and city councils. - municipal authorities and projects supervised by the Boipelego education project cell (BEPU).
Assumptions 4
Importance of the Study 4
Additional costs related to the rental of replacement premises due to the delay in the planned occupancy of the own premises. It is expected that the result of the study will help the construction companies and the client/government to reduce the high frequency of delays in the completion of projects and thereby increase efficiency in the use of resources.
The Data and the Treatment of Data 5
- The Data Needed and the Means for Obtaining the Data 5
- The Research Methodology 7
- The Treatment of the Data for Each Sub-Problem 7
Tables and bar charts are therefore used as a basis for organizing and illustrating data for all subproblems. A detailed description of data handling for each subproblem can be found in Chapter 3.
An Outline of the Proposed Study 7
All projects targeted by the study were pre-identified based on preliminary information obtained from the client's government departments. This ensured that there was no duplication of data received from the different sources.
Introduction 9
It is noted that construction is a complicated process involving many uncertainties due to the fact that each building project is unique in terms of scope, quality, design, location, management and form of contract; no two projects can be identical. As a result, it is quite difficult to complete projects within predetermined time frames, as is the case with the manufacturing industry that produces identical products under factory-controlled conditions.
The Legal Framework within the Building Construction
- The Common Law 11
- The Standard Forms of Building Contracts in use
- Schedule and Conditions of Building
- The Botswana Institute of Development
- Excusable Versus Inexcusable Delay 21
- Excusable delay 22
- Inexcusable delay 23
- Concluding Remarks on the Legal Framework
Instructions from the employer in terms of the construction contract [CL-common law] [MOW-ministry of works construction contract] [BIDP-Botswana institute for development professions construction contract]. The average of the delay caused by the employer expressed as a % of the planned construction period (J2).
Delays and the Management Factor within the internal
- Introduction 25
- Planning 27
- Strategic planning 28
- Project planning 31
- Organising 32
- Leading 33
- Controlling 34
- Inexcusable Management Related Causes of Delay 34
- Concluding remarks on the management factor. 35
Previous Research Studies 36
- Why Conduct Research on Delays 36
- How Prevalent is the Problem of Delays in
- Responsibility for Delays 37
- Extent of Delay 37
- Inexcusable Causes of Delay 37
- Summary of the review of literature 39
According to Al-Khalil and Al-Ghafly, there is a need to investigate the problem of delays in order to better manage situations of delays and mitigate the consequences of such delays. According to Al-Khalil and Al-Ghafly, construction projects carried out by the Ministry of Housing and Public Works of Saudi Arabia have experienced delays. According to a study conducted by Al-Khalil and Al-Ghafly on public sector projects in Saudi Arabia, the employer/consultant is responsible for a greater proportion of delays.
According to Chan and Kumaraswamy, the average time overrun on construction projects in Australia is over 40%. Thus, the first column lists the prominent unforgivable delay factors in construction projects in Nigeria. This was because one needs to have a good understanding of the legal complexities within this important economic sector before one can understand the phenomenon of project completion delays.
The management of construction projects was also discussed because it was suspected that management shortcomings within contractors were the cause of the frequent delays in project completion, particularly among 100% civilian contractors. Finally, the results of previous research into delays in the completion of construction projects were discussed. It became clear that the problem of the delays was universal in nature, varying only in the magnitude of the delays and the reasons for the delays.
THE RESEARCH METHOD
- Introduction 40
- The Data that was needed for each of the
- The Location of the Data 41
- Data Collection 41
- Treatment of Data for Each Sub-Problem 42
- Research Type 47
- The Population 48
- Sampling 49
- Treatment of Bias 49
In order to avoid the possibility of different respondents surveying one project more than once in relation to Ministry of Works projects, in most cases each respondent was asked to complete questionnaires for certain pre-defined. F Delay beyond customer control (excusable delay) in weeks or days G Contractor-caused delay (inexcusable delay) in weeks or days H1 Contractor-caused delay expressed as a % of total delay H2 Employer-caused delay expressed as % of total delay. H3 Delay beyond the customer's control expressed as a % of the total delay J1 Delay caused by the contractor expressed as a % of the planned or
K Total delay expressed in % of planned construction period (J1+J2+J3) L Actual contractor-related delay factors (unforgivable delay factors) M The effect/effect of each of the delay factors in weeks or days. The results of the study were presented in the form of numbers, statistics, tables and bar charts. They are only aware of the projects that were in the system at the time of their recruitment.
As a result of the above problems, it was decided that the study should only focus on the projects that were currently active in the system. The most common form of bias occurs as a result of the way the sample population is selected. Another form of bias may have been introduced into the study as a result of the response rate of the questionnaires and the differences between respondents and non-respondents.
ANALYSIS OF DATA
Sub-Problem 2 58
In this case, the purpose of the study was first to determine to what extent each contracting party was responsible for the delay in the completion of the projects. Secondly, the purpose was also to determine the causes of the delay, for which the contractor assumes responsibility. Tables 16 and 17 contain data on 21 construction projects carried out by non-citizen construction contractors, from Project 1E to Project 21E in the first column.
The same tables also contain 15 different variables for each of the projects starting from PRJ to K. Tables 16 and 17 provide general information about the extent to which parties are responsible for delays in each of the 21 projects analyzed. Tables 18, 19 and 20, on the other hand, provide more specific information about the actual delay factors associated with the contractor and their impact on each of the projects.
Column five of the tables contains the delay factors associated with the contractor / defaulter for each project while column 6 contains the actual impact of the delay factors per week.
Sub-Problem 3 64
- A General Comparison of the Extent to which each
- A Comparison in Terms of the Effect/Impact
The average delay beyond the control of the parties expressed as a % of the total delay (H3). Average delay caused by construction firms expressed as a % of the planned construction period (J1). Average delay beyond the control of the parties expressed as a % of the planned construction period (J3).
The average of the delay caused by the employer expressed as a percentage of the total delay [H2]. The total delay on projects initiated by civic enterprises is on average almost 50% of the actual construction period. Delay on projects carried out by non-citizen companies, on the other hand, takes an average of 35% of the actual construction period.
The two approaches to comparing the effect of the delay factors on the groups therefore appear to be complementary. The combined effect of the two delay factors is a delay corresponding to 22% of the planned construction period. However, the effect of the two delay factors on non-citizen projects is very insignificant as shown in Figure 7.
The above delay factors account for more than 90% of the differences in trends shown by the data from the two groups. Specific management-related delay factors were identified as the cause of the differences in the performance of the two groups of contractors.
Discussion based on the weighted frequency approach 91
Discussion based on the average impact approach 93
Conclusion 96
The foregoing analysis of the data confirmed some comparative trends in the nature of delays in the completion of construction projects in the Republic of Botswana, and more specifically in the Botswana public sector. One of the confirmed trends was that the performance of the citizen group of contractors was not as good as that of the non-citizen group of contractors. The outcome of the analysis showed that the main reason for the observed differences in performance between the civilian contractors and the non-civil contractors was management related.
Based on this analysis, the main conclusions and recommendations are given in the following chapter, which, if followed, could reverse the identified undesirable comparative trends.
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
- Review of the Findings 97
- Implications of the research study 104
- Who is affected by the findings? 104
- How the Research Findings will Affect Policies
- Weaknesses of the Study 105
- Future Research that ought to be Conducted and how this
When the above is rated against the extent of delay in other countries, for example over 40% in Australia [Chan and Kumaraswamy for small projects in Nigeria, and 59% for large projects in Nigeria [Ogunlana:1996], the conclusion is that the performance of the non-citizen group appears to be reasonable. The average total delay among projects executed and completed by civilian contractors was found to be equal to 90% of the planned contractual construction period. The average total delay among projects executed and completed by non-citizen contractors was found to be equal to 53% of the planned contractual construction period.
Researchers interested in the topic of delays in the completion of construction projects in other regions of the world, especially those from developing countries. The views of the contractors who carried out the projects were not taken into account. Interested researchers are therefore invited to conduct a similar study, but based on the views of the contractors.
This study also revealed interesting trends regarding employer liability for delays in the completion of construction projects. Why is the employer responsible for a greater proportion of recorded delays in non-citizen projects compared to citizen projects. In the proceedings of the 2nd international conference CIB task group 29 (TG29) on construction industry in
