FINAL THESIS Alex Duodu

74 Pages·2016·0.96 MB·English

KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY,
KUMASI, GHANA

Management of Delays in Construction Projects in Bia West District

By
Duodu Asiedu Alex (BSc Civil Engineering)

A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Building Technology, College of Art and
Built Environment in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of a

MASTER OF SCIENCE

NOVEMBER, 2016
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this submission is my own work towards the MSc Construction
Management and that, to the best of my knowledge, it contains no material previously
published by another person nor material which has been accepted for the award of any
other degree of the University, except where due acknowledgement has been made in the
text.
DUODU ASIEDU ALEX (PG3555515)
Student‘s Name & ID
………………………….
Signature
………………………….
Date

Certified by:
DR. K. DANSO
Supervisor(s) Name
……………………………
Signature
……………………………
Date

Certified by:
DR. THEOPHILUS ADJEI-KUMI
Head of Department Name
……………………………
Signature
……………………………
Date
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ABSTRACT
Delay in construction project management is endemic in Bia West District and it is
demanded therefore to be recognized since delay recurs from one project to the other. Its
alarming rate is likely to go out of hand if reliable project management approach is not
put in place to curtail it. The researcher focused this study on the management of delays
that pertains to construction projects in Bia West District. The objectives of the research
are to identify the critical factors that caused delays of government construction projects
in Bia West District, to study the present use of project management knowledge tools
and techniques in managing delays in construction project and to develop a framework to
enhance management of construction project delays in Bia West District. Targets groups
of respondents were A2 B2 and D2 K2 classified financial roads and building contractors
respectively. The study was limited to contractors in Western Region and it was thus
conducted with the use of literature review and surveys. Questionnaires and personal
interview techniques were also used to collect data. Results from the study divulge that
the actual sources of delays in project delivery are; Inadequate financial resources of
clients, delays in honouring payment for work done, underestimation of project duration,
poor communication between contracting parties, complexity, difficulties in accessing
bank credit (client); change orders during construction and others. It was recommended
that, initial proper planning and controlling is essential to the client in order to have
proper action plan, procurement plan, and budget plan prepared before commencement
of project. Payment schedule must be agreed by the parties involved. On the part of the
contractor adequate knowledge of project management, principles, tools and techniques
is required to reduce delays. Consultants must plan very well to ensure that contract
processes are duly followed, thus approval of drawings, documentation and other things
to reduce variation during construction. They should monitor their assigned work very
well by insisting that corrections are done at the appropriate time to reduce or avoid
rework.

KEY WORDS
Delays, Construction projects, Bia West District

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TABLE OF CONTENT
DECLARATION .............................................................................................................. ii
ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................... iii
TABLE OF CONTENT .................................................................................................. iv
LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... vii
LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................... viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .............................................................................................. ix
DEDICATION .................................................................................................................. x

CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................... 1
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 1
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY ......................................................................... 1
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT ....................................................................................... 4
1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ...................................................................................... 5
1.3.1 Aim of the Study .................................................................................................... 5
1.3.2 Objectives of the study .......................................................................................... 5
1.3.3 Research Question ................................................................................................. 5
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ......................................................................... 6
1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY ......................................................................................... 6
1.6 SUMMARY OF METHODOLOGY ....................................................................... 6
1.7 LIMITATIONS ......................................................................................................... 7
1.8 STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY .............................................................................. 7

CHAPTER TWO .............................................................................................................. 8
LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................ 8
2.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 8
2.1 GHANA GOVERNMENT CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS ................................... 8
2.1.1 Project management Approach .............................................................................. 8
2.1.2 Definition of construction delay ............................................................................ 9
2.2 BACKGROUND TO MANAGEMENT OF DELAY IN CONSTRUCTION
PROJECTS ............................................................................................................. 10
2.3 CLASSIFICATION OF DELAYS ......................................................................... 16
2.3.1 Excusable non-excusable delays .......................................................................... 17
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2.3.2 Compensable versus non –compensable delays .................................................. 17
2.3.3 Concurrent Delays ............................................................................................... 18
2.3.4 Critical or non-critical delays .............................................................................. 18
2.3.5 Related studies ..................................................................................................... 19
2.3.6 Summary of Causes of Construction Project Delays ........................................... 22
2.4 EFFECTS OF DELAYS ......................................................................................... 22
2.4.1 Recommended Project Management Solution of Construction Delays .............. 24

CHAPTER THREE ........................................................................................................ 32
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .................................................................................. 32
3.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 32
3.1 RESEARCH APPROACH ..................................................................................... 32
3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN AND JUSTIFICATION .................................................... 33
3.3 TARGET RESPONDENTS ................................................................................... 33
3.4.1 Population Definition ........................................................................................... 34
3.4.2 Sampling technique and sample sizing ................................................................ 34
3.5 DATA COLLECTION ........................................................................................... 35
3.6 RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS ............................................................................... 36
3.7 METHOD OF ANALYSIS .................................................................................... 37

CHAPTER FOUR .......................................................................................................... 38
DATA COLLECTION AND DATA ANALYSIS ........................................................ 38
4.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 38
4.1 RESPONDENTS‘ BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE .................................. 38
4.3 IDENTIFYING THE CRITICAL FACTORS CAUSING DELAYS IN
GOVERNMENT CONSTRUCTION PROJECT .................................................. 40
4.3.1 Discussion of result on critical factors contributing to delays ............................. 41
4.3.1.1 Client inadequate financial resource ................................................................. 42
4.3.1.2 Underestimation of the project duration ........................................................... 42
4.3.1.3 Poor Communication between contracting parties ........................................... 43
4.3.1.4 Complexity in accessing bank credit ................................................................ 43
4.4 USE OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT KNOWLEDGE, TOOLS AND
TECHNIQUES TO MANAGE THE DELAYS. ................................................... 43
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4.4.1 Discussion of result on Ranking of Solutions for Critical Factors Causing
Delays. .................................................................................................................... 44
4.4.1.1 Strategy 1: Managing ineffective planning and scheduling. ............................ 45
4.4.1.2 Strategy 2: Managing Delay in progress payment by client. ............................ 45
4.4.1.3 Strategy 3: managing change order during construction .................................. 46
4.4.14 Strategy 4: Managing Poor Qualification, Skill and Experience of the
contractors‘ staff ..................................................................................................... 46
4.5 TO DEVELOP FRAMEWORK TO ENHANCE MANAGEMENT OF
CONSTRUCTION PROJECT DELAYS IN BIA WEST DISTRICT. ................. 47

CHAPTER FIVE ............................................................................................................ 49
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....... 49
5.1 OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................... 49
5.2 SUMMARY OF FINDING .................................................................................... 49
5.3 CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................... 50
5.4 RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................................................ 51
5.4.1 Client .................................................................................................................... 51
5.4.2 Contractor ............................................................................................................ 51
5.4.3 Consultants .......................................................................................................... 51

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 52
APPENDIX ...................................................................................................................... 62

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.1: Relative Important Index (RII) of critical factors causing delays in
government construction projects. ................................................................. 41
Table 4.2: Ranking of solution for critical delay factors – project management
approach ......................................................................................................... 44

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1: Contractor‘s Management Functions .............................................................. 13
Figure 2.2: A simple cause-and-effect diagram for managing materials – related
quality ............................................................................................................. 16
Figure 4.1: Classification of Respondent Company .......................................................... 38
Figure 4.2: Position of the Respondents in the Company ................................................. 39
Figure 4.3: Company Experienced Delays in Construction Management ........................ 40
Figure 4.4: Framework for managing construction project delays in Bia West District. .. 48

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my profound gratitude to all my lecturers who have given me
ideas and advice during the writing of this dissertation. I also wish to express thanks to
my supervisor, Dr. Anthony Kwame Danso, for his assistance and kind comments during
the preparation of this project.
Special acknowledgement to my father, my beloved wife and my lovely children for
their encouragement during these times. I would like to sincerely thank those
organization and individuals who spared their precious time to respond to the
questionnaire.
Finally, my appreciation also goes to all those who contributed directly and indirectly for
making this dissertation possible.

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DEDICATION
I dedicate this work to God Almighty for His support through this study. I also dedicate
it to my able and caring wife Faustina Duodu Asiedu, my children and my family.

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