Construction delay
Construction delays are delays in progress compared to the baseline construction schedule.
Construction delays in residential and light construction are often the result of miscommunication between contractors, subcontractors, and property owners. These types of misunderstandings and unrealistic expectations are usually avoided through the use of detailed critical path schedules, which specify the work, and timetable to be used, but most importantly, the logical sequence of events which must occur for a project to be completed. Delays in construction projects are frequently expensive, since there is usually a construction loan involved which charges interest, management staff dedicated to the project whose costs are time dependent, and ongoing inflation in wage and material prices.
However, in more complex projects, problems will arise that are not foreseen in the original contract, and so other legal construction forms are subsequently used, such as change orders, lien waivers, and addendums.
In construction projects, as well in other projects where a schedule is being used to plan work, delays happen all the time. It's what is being delayed that determines if a project, or some other deadline such as a milestone, will be completed late.
Before analyzing construction delays, a clear understanding of the general types of delays is necessary. There are four basic ways to categorize delays:
- Critical or Non-Critical
- Excusable or Non-Excusable
- Concurrent or Non-Concurrent
- Compensable or Non-Compensable
Before determining the impact of a delay on the project, one must determine whether the delay is critical or non-critical. Additionally, all delays are either excusable or non-excusable. Both excusable and non-excusable delays can be defined as either concurrent or non-concurrent. Delays can be further broken down into compensable or non-compensable delays.
Construction Claims Resources
Construction Risk.com Resource for information on latest trends in project delays and construction claims
Trauner Consulting Services, Inc.Construction Claims Consultant and resource on avoiding and mitigating construction claims. Author of the book, "Construction Delays".
Morris Associates UK and International Construction Delay Analysts, arbitrators and adjudicators.