Delay Modeling on Construction Projects in Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Case Study Example

Dеlаy Mоdеling on Соnstruсtiоn Рrоjесts Name Institutional Affiliation Dеlаy Mоdеling on Соnstruсtiоn Рrоjесts in Kurdistаn Rеgiоn of Irаq Introduction. According to research done in the recent past, the construction industry in the world is growing tremendously. As a result, its contribution to many economies, cannot be underestimated. The industry is crucial since it has led to the development of health, housing, agriculture, transport and recreational projects. Indeed, in the Arabian countries, construction is the largest sector contributing to the most income for the nation. It is mainly involved in housing projects to settle a large number of citizens within the limited space (Srdić, & Šelih, 2015). Therefore, large storey houses have to be built to cater for this population. However, the sector is marred by a myriad of challenges, delays being an important issue. Delays arise due to various participants such as the contractors, owners and the consultants for the construction projects. Also, the clients mainly face problems related to the frequent change of orders and late submissions of drawings to the contractors due to much bureaucracy. On the other hand, contractors are confronted by poor management skills and poor planning for the projects assigned to them and their companies. In Iraq, especially the Kurdistan region which is the only autonomous region covering the northern part of the country, the real estate sector is termed as the most attractive investment project. Many people have invested in it and they leap bounds from it. In fact, the industry has attracted both foreign and local investors who create a much-needed boost for the industry. Also, the construction mainly aims at housing everyone living in the region despite the small area for construction (Faris, 2015). However, it has not been safe from challenges and faces delays to a larger extent. For example, in 2012, the Board of Investment (BOI) put on hold issuance of housing licences that caused a derailment in the completion of construction projects. Also, all construction projects were put on hold leading to additional costs for the owners. Moreover, the government lost millions which is collected as a tax on building materials. Problem statement Delays are known to be of four categorised broad groups. These are non-excusable delays, non-compensable excusable delays, compensable excusable delays and concurrent delays. The non-compensable delay is caused by contractors and therefore, they assume all the risk involved. As a result, they do not receive any form of compensation for it. Indeed, they arise from some problems which range from underestimates in their productivity in the project, mismanagement of funds by administrators and managers, weather conditions and breakdown of machinery and equipment. Problems in staffing is also an important issue leading to delayed completion of projects. Also, it has led to many court cases which arise from breach of contract and some usually end up in the termination of contracts. The non-compensable excusable delay results from unexpected factors that are generally beyond the contractor’s control. However, they should not be attributed to negligence on the part of the contractors and therefore, they are not liable (Srdić, & Šelih, 2015). Still, the contractor is not entitled to compensation but an extension of the contractual period for the completion of the project is paramount. Compensable excusable delays are as a result of contract changes. Mostly, they arise from suspensions by government agencies and interruptions of work. Nevertheless, contractors facing these challenges are entitled to time extensions and payment of damages in the form of money as awarded by the courts. Additionally, there are the concurrent delays that are caused by two parties usually, the owner and the contractor. The determination of the concurrent delay lays its basis on the construction project management (CPM) model. Therefore, though the contractors are not liable, no compensation or damages are are due to them. Other classifications of delays could are either internal or external category. Internal causes are attributable to the four parties involved. These include contractors, owners, designers, and consultants. The external environment includes the government, suppliers of construction materials, and weather conditions. Indeed, the delays resulting from these two factors include bureaucracy, financial difficulties, inexperienced staff, and an insufficient number of employees. Moreover, poor project coordination and use of obsolete and inadequate equipment constitute some of the causes of delays. Objectives Therefore, the objectives of this study are to identify the cause of delays in many projects in Kurdistan. Also, the study aims to show how construction models can be used to mitigate delays. Further, the study aims at finding methods of anticipating delays and how to manage deadlines. However, the long-term goal of the project will be to minimise delays to the lowest possible so that maximum potential benefits are achievable. As such, identifying causes would lead to solving delay issues once and for all. Preliminary literature review According to reliable research, delays are critical matters facing most countries’ construction projects. Therefore, the study aimed at determining the causes and effects of delays in construction. It involved random sampling of 150 projects. A questionnaire was used to collect information. In fact, from the questionnaire, the researchers were able to identify that lack of finances, changes in plans by owners, poor communication between involved parties, and bureaucracy were major issues. Also, adverse weather conditions, fluctuation of prices of materials for construction, and lack of proper management pose a significant threat (Owolabi, Amusan, Oloke, Tunji-Olayeni, & Omuh, 2014). The effects of these challenges were little productivity, increased the cost of construction, revenue loss and many court cases between contractors and owners. Moreover, such factors led to the termination of contracts with some contractors. As a solution, the researchers observed that if those challenges will be mitigated it can prevent significant delays. Another research was carried out in Portugal. The study aimed at identifying the major causes of delays in the Portuguese construction industry as well as determining the impacts of such delays while creating awareness on the effects of such delays. They used a relative importance index (RII) and the Pearson correlation coefficient analysis tools to classify causes of delays and their related results. Indeed, they were able to identify eight principal causes that lead to 26 other reasons (Arantes, da Silva, & Ferreira, 2015, October). According to their observations slow decision making, lack of clear specifications in contracts and inadequate award process for contracts to construction companies. As a result, there was cost overruns, more time required to finish projects and many disputes between the clients and the contractors they had hired for the projects. Therefore, the research recommended that if delays are to reduce to a minimum, the stakeholders would have to deal with these challenges. Additionally, research done in Tanzania has shown the significant challenges that affect the construction industry, especially in developing countries. Indeed, the research was done based on research previously done by Ogunlana in Thailand. It involved surveys and questionnaires on the main construction projects in Thailand. Findings revealed that designers, contractor and consultant factors rated highest. The issues faced were inadequate resources, labour shortage, change of orders by owners, and financial distress (Kikwasi, 2013, February). In fact, these findings have been very helpful in Thailand and are being used to mitigate problems in the procurement process and stakeholders management. As a result, this prospect was adopted by a Tanzanian researcher who saw the need to study the challenges faced in the construction industry. He was able to determine that challenges in the construction sector as nested in 3 layers. They are issues related to inadequate infrastructure, challenges caused by clients and consultants, and problems caused by the incompetency of stakeholders. In return, these challenges affect productivity and lead to revenue loss. Also, a study was done in Malaysia identified many causes of delays in construction. From 41 studies done around the world, the study was aimed at classifying factors identified as causes for time delays. It would also cost overruns in construction projects and see how they related to projects in Malaysia. Mainly, the research was done using questionnaires. From the study, they were able to identify over 113 causes of delays and from these they were able to categorise them into eight groups (Chidambaram, Narayanan, & Idrus, 2012). Indeed, they were able to rank these reasons in order of their importance. Also, they were able to identify that different studies rank the causes differently depending on regions and thus was not constant. In India, there have been widespread delays in construction projects. In fact, the building sector in India has experienced a tremendous increase in capacity in the last decade. Therefore, there has been a need for an investigation into the causes of delays to get an understanding of all the key stakeholders. Indeed, in this study questionnaire and personal interviews with all relevant stakeholders took place. After identifying 45 factors leading to delays, the research recognised relationships between elements and their attributes. These were used to develop prediction models to determine the impact of these factors. Also, the methods used to establish these prediction models were factor analysis and regression modelling (Doloi, Sawhney, Iyer, & Rentala, 2012). Factor analysis ranked lack of commitment, poor site management, and poor coordination of activities and poor communication between parties as the primary causes of delays. The regression model rated slow decision making, low labour productivity and reluctance by contractors to redo their work as the main causes of delay. As such, the findings are expected to make significant contributions to reducing delays in this growing sector. Further, research in Pakistan has shown that it has also been affected by delay challenges facing the construction industry. Typically, delays lead to many effects such as time extension, cost overrun and disputes. The study was intended to find out the delays that result in an extension of the contract period for a given project according to the major participants. They include consultants, contractors and owners. Also, the research involved a sample of 50 projects where they used questionnaires to identify which factors led to time extensions (Gardezi, Manarvi, & Gardezi, 2014). Indeed, from the responses, they were able to identify 27 factors that have significant contribution in time extensions. More so, the study found out that domestic issues facing the country made a major contribution to delayed projects. Another study was done in Malaysia to assess the factors that lead to a time overrun in construction projects. In this case, the perceptions of the stakeholders, consultants, owners and contractors, are compared with a list of factors identified as the causes of delays. The research was through widespread questionnaires circulated in construction companies all over the country. The respondents were 49 clients, 51 contractors, and 105 consultants. From their responses, 84 factors were identified to cause a time overrun (Shehu, Endut, & Akintoye, 2014). Also, it determined that contractors be the primary cause of delay and mainly because of financial factors. Additionally, the research identified storage on site as the least significant cause of delay in construction projects. As a result, of these factors, the study found out that extra costs to finish the project occurred and this led to significant revenue loss for the government. However, activity delays have posed a major challenge in the construction industry in many countries. Most researches done on this have focused mainly on quantitative evaluation of the causes rather than how they impact on the whole process. In fact, some literature by researchers has emphasised the importance of systematically relating causes of delays and their effects. Also, research has been done to analyse causes of delays in projects not completed in time. A methodology which involves delay causes and time performance dimensions of the suspension were used (González, González, Molenaar, & Orozco, 2013). This method involved the use of two indicators. They are the reason for non-compliance indicator and the delay index which is a time performance indicator for all activities in the project. They used two projects as their basis and used planning and the contractors as the reason for non-compliance indicators. For sure, findings from the study showed that planning was the main cause of delay for many projects. Another research conducted inTurkey to determine the cause of time extensions and their level of importance. 71 construction companies involved were presented with questionnaires to fill in. From the questionnaires, researchers were able to identify 34 factors affecting the duration taken to complete a project. The results were then analysed using statistical analyses to determine the level of importance (Kazaz, Ulubeyli, & Tuncbilekli, 2012). However, they discovered that changes in design and material by the owners of the projects was one of the leading causes of delay, followed by delayed payments to contractors and suppliers of materials. Also, financial distress was among the leading reasons. Therefore, on the importance level factor groups’ scale, economic factors ranked highest whereas environmental factors were least significant. Methodology The two primary methods for this study will be a literature review and conceptual modelling in which researchers target at the major stakeholders of the industry. It will mainly focus on project owners and contractors from selected contracting companies. First, it will seek to identify the major causes of delays in construction as par documented work. After all, studies have identified causes through literature review. Conceptual modelling will then be used to establish the levels of causes of construction delays. Then, viable information retrieved will be used to establish the relationships between these causes and to what extent they affect the industry. From that information, relationship diagrams such as entity relationship diagrams will be drawn to show the relationships between causes and also determine the necessary cause of action should such scenarios arise. Literature Review Using literature review as a methodology will be done from books, the internet, engineering journals, leading construction management magazines and development conference proceedings. Also, a recent consideration of technical papers which have researchers have published in the recent past will be used. More so, magazines and newspapers will be employed. However, only information from the mentioned stakeholders in this research will be considered. Conceptual modelling Conceptual modelling involves constructing graphic diagrams which show the significant factors identified in the research, and how they are related. In this case, much consideration will be put on creating relationships between causes so that researchers can establish viable solutions that can reduce delays. However, this will only be done within the boundaries of the research which involves contractors, owners and consultants only. Statistical diagrams will also be drawn to show the trend which various factors leading to delays have taken. Economy models that show construction delays result in income loss and persons involved can draw additional cost. There is need to establish relationships between causes and models and use of theoretical modelling would be helpful. It will include data flow modelling, entity relationship modelling, statistical models, economic models, logical models, and mathematical models. References Arantes, A., da Silva, P. F., & Ferreira, L. M. D. (2015, October). Delays in construction projects-causes and impacts. In Industrial Engineering and Systems Management (IESM), 2015 International Conference on (pp. 1105-1110). IEEE. Chidambaram, R., Narayanan, S. P., & Idrus, A. B. (2012). Construction delays causing risks on time and cost-a critical review. Doloi, H., Sawhney, A., Iyer, K. C., & Rentala, S. (2012). Analysing factors affecting delays in Indian construction projects. International Journal of Project Management, 30(4), 479-489. Faris, H. M. A. (2015). Causes of delays in construction projects in Kurdistan region of Iraq. Gardezi, S. S. S., Manarvi, I. A., & Gardezi, S. J. S. (2014). Time extension factors in construction industry of Pakistan. Procedia Engineering, 77, 196-204. González, P., González, V., Molenaar, K., & Orozco, F. (2013). Analysis of causes of delay and time performance in construction projects. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 140(1), 04013027. Kazaz, A., Ulubeyli, S., & Tuncbilekli, N. A. (2012). Causes of delays in construction projects in Turkey. Journal of Civil Engineering and Management, 18(3), 426-435. Kikwasi, G. (2013, February). Causes and effects of delays and disruptions in construction projects in Tanzania. In Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building-Conference Series (Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 52-59). Owolabi, J. D., Amusan, L. M., Oloke, C. O., Olusanya, O., Tunji-Olayeni, P. F., Dele, O., ... & Omuh, I. O. (2014). Causes and effect of delay on project construction delivery time. International Journal of Education and Research, 2(4), 197-208. Shehu, Z., Endut, I. R., & Akintoye, A. (2014). Factors contributing to project time and hence cost overrun in the Malaysian construction industry. Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction, 19(1), 55-75. Srdić, A., & Šelih, J. (2015). Delays in Construction Projects: Causes and Mitigation. Organization, Technology & Management in Construction: An International Journal, 7(3), 1383-1389. Read More