Investigation of Manageable Delays in Construction Projects

This dissertation investigates the manageable delays in construction projects and analyzes solution methodologies to mitigate them. It discusses the impact of delays on the construction industry and provides recommendations for stakeholders. The research aims to identify all manageable delays related to construction projects and assess how to manage the pre-construction stage of construction. The study consists of six distinct parts that discuss the delays in the construction industry and then move into the specific focus of research i.e. the manageable delays in the construction projects.

Running Head: DISSERTATION
AN INVESTIGATION OF MANAGEABLE DELAYS WHICH AFFECT CONSTRUCTION
AND ANALYSIS OF SOLUTION METHODOLOGIES

1DISSERTATION
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................4
1.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................4
1.1.1 Focus and Research Motivation......................................................................................4
1.1.2 Rationale.........................................................................................................................5
1.1.3 Impact.............................................................................................................................6
1.1.4 Research Beneficiaries....................................................................................................6
1.2 Research Aim.........................................................................................................................6
1.3 Research Objectives...............................................................................................................6
1.4 Research Questions................................................................................................................7
1.5 Problem Statement.................................................................................................................7
1.6 Structure of the Study............................................................................................................8
Chapter 2: Literature Review.........................................................................................................10
2.1 Background..........................................................................................................................10
2.1.1 Client Contribution to Delays.......................................................................................10
2.2 Literature Review................................................................................................................11
2.2.1 Causes of Delays...........................................................................................................12
2.2.2 Categories of Delays.....................................................................................................16
Chapter 3: Research Methodology................................................................................................21
3.1 Design and Methodology.....................................................................................................21

2DISSERTATION
3.1.1 Research Strategy.........................................................................................................21
3.2 Researchers’ Recommendations..........................................................................................22
3.3 Survey and Survey Questions..............................................................................................23
3.4 Work Schedule, Assumptions, Potential Risks, Ethics........................................................25
Chapter 4: Data Analysis, Findings and Interpretation.................................................................29
4.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................29
4.2 Quantitative Analysis...........................................................................................................29
4.3 Qualitative Analysis.............................................................................................................37
4.4 Findings and Analysis..........................................................................................................76
4.5 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................81
Chapter 5: Discussion....................................................................................................................82
5.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................82
5.2 Discussion............................................................................................................................82
5.3 Summary..............................................................................................................................85
Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendations..............................................................................86
6.1 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................86
6.2 Recommendations................................................................................................................87
6.3 Limitations of the Research.................................................................................................88
6.4 Future Scope of the Study....................................................................................................89
References......................................................................................................................................90

3DISSERTATION
Appendices..................................................................................................................................101
Appendix 1: Gantt Chart..........................................................................................................101
Appendix 2: Survey Results....................................................................................................102

4DISSERTATION
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Introduction
Construction projects involve design and development of generally large structures like
buildings, bridges, pillars, platforms and others. Due to complex nature and vast scale of almost
all of the construction projects, the project managers often face significant amount of delays
throughout the course of the project (Van, Sang & Viet, 2015). As for the construction projects,
it is not possible to completely prevent the delays, so only the primary concerns that are related
with the research can be migrated that are regarded as manageable delays (Sears et al., 2015).
These issues are considered to be within the capability of parties managing the project using risk
management techniques and other techniques used in project management like avoidance, loss
prevention, loss reduction, separation, duplication, diversification and others. Construction
industry plays a very major role for the economic as well as social growth of United Kingdom.
There are various major and minor stakeholders who are involved in the construction industries
including the clients, designers, trade personnel, professional bodies, material suppliers,
specialists, and contractors. The construction project rose to a level higher making a record of
£99,266 million in year 2016. According to the office of National Statistics, this hike has
widened the scope of construction jobs as seen from the statistic that almost 2.96 million people
are directly or indirectly employed in the UK construction industry that roughly contributes to
9% of total of 32.2 million employments in UK (Construction statistic, 2017).
1.1.1 Focus and Research Motivation
According to an estimated made by the national audit office report the construction
projects of UK (Assaf and Al-Hejji, 2006), about 70% of project in UK were not delivered on

5DISSERTATION
time and according to (Lessing, Thurnell & Durdyev, 2017) about half of the total construction
projects ran over time that increased the number of construction delays. Completion of the
construction project and the delivery of the construction project at the scheduled time shows how
much the construction industry is efficient. The above statement was stated by NEDO, 1988.
The delays in the construction projects are the biggest problems that were faced by
construction industries. Delay in delivering the projects leads to many problems including
contract dispute in between the client and the contractors associated that normally ends with
relationship disruption, contract termination, decrease in the productivity of the construction
industry, claims as well as lawsuit. The project manager here plays an important role of making
proper planning, project progress as well as completion of the projects within the scheduled
budget and time.
The basis of this research paper is, most importantly, to investigate the manageable
delays that result in construction delays as well as analyze all such relevant measures for
mitigation that are the main cause of construction delays. This research is been carried out to
identify all such manageable delays as well as recommends solution for mitigating the delays.
This paper also evaluates the results of other papers that have previously explored construction
delays and also seeks to explain the differences in approaches.
1.1.2 Rationale
There are many previous works by reputed researchers that relate to the mitigation
process of construction delays. Researchers also had tried to find out ways that may lead to
prevent the construction from pre-construction stage itself. The construction delays in the recent
days are increasing day by day that are leading to dissatisfaction in between the parties in a

6DISSERTATION
construction project. The delays caused recently are assumed to increase because of the modern
technologies that are used with high complexity as well as high technology structures constricted
and designed. The researchers are mostly focusing on the contract disputes as well as such
related resolutions instead of focusing on the delays because of the modern technologies and
techniques involved in construction projects.
1.1.3 Impact
The potential impact of this research study is mainly to identify all manageable delays
that are attached with the modern construction process and the effects that fall on the
construction projects delivery at the time of contract as well as suggest all such mitigation
measures that can mitigate construction delays.
1.1.4 Research Beneficiaries
All the stakeholders related with the construction project are benefited from this research
that includes the contractors, clients, and managers. Delays in construction have mainly
destroyed the relationship in between the workers and the clients that results in dispute
resolutions. This research will also be an advantage to all the upcoming researchers who wants to
study the result of same research topics.
1.2 Research Aim
The main aim of the research paper is to identify all manageable delays related to
construction projects as well as asses how to manage the pre-construction stage of construction.
1.3 Research Objectives
1) To identify the delays related to construction project delivery.

7DISSERTATION
2) To categorize all delays that comes under manageable as well as unmanageable
categories that can be assumed before the contract stage.
3) To investigate the manageable delays that leads to risk in construction projects and
distribute such questionnaire to the construction practitioners.
4) To develop some logical method that helps to prioritize the delays in the pre-construction
of project.
5) To identify the delays that lead to potential risk in construction projects and identify the
ways about how to manage the risks and mitigate or minimize their effects.
1.4 Research Questions
Based on the overall field and scope of the research, a number of research questions can
be determined. These questions will be explored and analyzed throughout the course of the
research and the research will be considered as successful if these research questions are
successfully answered at the end. The research questions are hence listed as follows.
 How are construction projects affected by various types of delays?
 Which delays are manageable in the construction projects?
 How can the manageable delays be minimized to reduce overall delay in a
construction projects?
1.5 Problem Statement
The specific problem that is under focus in this research is the significant extent of delays
in construction projects that ultimately results in high amount financial losses for the
organizations. Very large extent of failure can also lead to the failure of the project if the client

8DISSERTATION
or the construction company both fails to compensate for the delays financially. Hence, delays
are often the major causes of failure of the construction projects in addition to the other technical
issues. However, a major challenge in this particular research is to classify and separate two
different types of delays as this research specifically focuses on the manageable delays. Due to
this, the non-manageable and external delays in the projects will not be considered. However,
classifying the delays as manageable and non-manageable is not easy as most of the delays are
interrelated with each other and often have more than one root cause.
1.6 Structure of the Study
The entire study consists of six distinct parts that first discusses the delays in the
construction industry and then moves into the specific focus of research i.e. the manageable
delays in the construction projects. The structure of the study is as follows.
Chapter 1 – The first chapter is used to introduce the research area and discusses the
construction industry in UK and various delays that have become serious concerns in the
industry. This is important to let the reader understand what this research is about and what it is
trying achieve. Furthermore, the scope of the research can also be developed using this chapter.
Chapter 2 – This chapter mainly focuses on literature review that is an important part of
any research. In this part, works of various researchers have been collected and analyzed in order
to extract important information like existing theories, models, concepts and others. This
information significantly helps the researcher to gain a gist of the entire research area so that he
can focus on a particular part of the same.
Chapter 3 – This chapter explains about the methods that will be followed for the
research. This part also explains various research methods available, the best possible choice for

9DISSERTATION
the research and its justification. Furthermore, this chapter focuses on collection of data from
various types of sources and a suitable method for the analysis of the same.
Chapter 4 – This chapter focuses on the results of the data analysis performed in the
research. As the research deals with both quantitative and qualitative data, data analysis is
required in order to use the quantitative data to make a number of calculations and find necessary
results that are required to answer the actual research questions. Data analysis is performed in
order to gain more insight regarding project managers’ perspectives on manageable delays in
construction as well as existing stats that highlight the issue of the delays in construction. In this
particular research, focus is given on both qualitative and quantitative data. The qualitative data
will be mainly based on the project managers’ opinions on manageable delays in the
construction. This data will be collected using questionnaire survey that will include a number of
questions involving the manageable delays in the construction industry.
Chapter 5 – This chapter is mainly on the discussion of the entire research including the
scope, the research questions, the methodology used, data collected, data analysis results and
others. In this discussion, the research questions are to be suitably answered and further basis can
be set for future research on the same field of study.
Chapter 6 – This is the final chapter of the dissertation that concludes the entire research.
Furthermore, this chapter is also used to present some recommendations to the focused industry,
linking of the research with objectives, research limitations and scope for future research.

10DISSERTATION
Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1 Background
In an ideal world it is expected that all the construction projects, irrespective of any size
will be completed in time with the scheduled budget without entertaining any type of changes,
disruption or challenges in the construction process. Change in construction work leads in
complication of the work in the project, increases all delays and also increases the cost of the
project. This makes the client unsatisfied and disturbs the relationship between the stakeholder
and the client. According to Molner (2007), “changed work complicates a project, invites delays
and increases the project cost – all things that make owners unhappy.” Clearly, the changes in
projects in the construction industry are most important factor that includes delays in the project.
2.1.1 Client Contribution to Delays
The completion date by employer is an important factor that contributes in delay of the
construction projects. The contractor generally chooses a particular date for completion that
mainly depends on the nature as well as scope of the work that is done in the project and then the
employer narrows the date of completion of the project which focuses on urgent date. Possess
and the commercial needs are needed to accomplish the task of the project without full
appreciation as well as full consideration. To plan as well as agree a particular date by
contractors is a difficult parameter of the project. Delay in delivering the project is the main
cause of dispute in the construction industry. The main reason for claiming dispute is given to
the project managers involves and the project contractors involved. This is because, the project
manager has the responsibility to plan the project and foresee the risks that are associated with
the project and detect the delay of the project, if any, at the initial stage only.

11DISSERTATION
2.2 Literature Review
Delay is defined as the additional time that is required to complete a particular project
after the project deadline or the agreed delivery date between both the parties is already reached.
With significant growth in the construction industry every year along with the evolution of
technology, the construction techniques are also changing and getting more complex. Along with
the increase in the complexity, the construction projects are increasing significantly in size with
the aid of new technology and development of new and better quality construction materials. As
a result, construction delays are even more frequent in spite of efforts by researchers regarding
the development of possible solutions after investigating the reasons behind construction delays.
In order to further extend the investigation, this research focuses on manageable delays that are
common in contemporary construction projects.
In order to gain sufficient insight on the selected problem and analysis of the selected
problem and finding suitable solutions to the problem, analysis of qualitative data is essential.
Hence, using the help of literature as well as extensive research, some qualitative data has been
gathered and analyzed. Furthermore, although the focus of this particular research is on the
construction industry in UK, data has also been collected from several other countries in order to
understand the problem on a greater world context. The results of the analysis of qualitative data
are explained as follows.
The delay in construction industry is such a large problem around the world as evident
from the construction industry in Hong Kong. From the analysis of data, it has been found that
83% of the total number of construction projects in Hong Kong has been delayed due to various
reasons. In other words, the delay rate in projects in the country has already reached a critical
level. The various reasons attributed to the delays of the construction projects in Hong Kong

12DISSERTATION
include unforeseen conditions of the site, work variations, client-initiated variations, slow and
inefficient decision making and mostly poor supervision and risk management.
From the data collected by ( ), it has been found that there are other factors as well that
have caused delays in almost 90% of all the projects. These factors include changes in the project
design, poor productivity and progress of work by the laborers, design changes, inadequate
planning and resource shortages.
As per the quote of Sepasgozar, Razkenari and Barati (2015), “delay happens in many
construction projects, although the priority of delay causes is different in various countries due to
environmental effects.”
2.2.1 Causes of Delays
Ramanathan, Narayanan and Idrus (2012) conducted a critical review on various causes
of delays in construction projects. During this review, the authors created a table that contained
some detailed causes of tables that were again categorized into 18 groups. The following table
reflects the similar idea and provides several delay categories that are common in construction
projects and identified by various researchers.
Category
No.
Category Number of
causes /
factors /
problems
Type of Effect
studied
References
1 financier 4
3
Time delay
Time delay
Long et.al. 2004
Assaf et.al. 1995
2 project 6
5
Time delay
Time overrun
Assaf and Hejji 2006
Chan & Kumaraswamy 1997

13DISSERTATION
3 Project attributes 8 Time and cost
overrun
Long et.al. 2004
4 Owner / Client 10
10
5
4
4
Time and cost
overrun
Time and cost
overrun
Time Delay
Time Delay
Time Overrun
Assaf and Hejji 2006
Long et.al. 2004
Alaghbari et.al 2007
Odeh & Battaineh 2002
Chan & Kummaraswamy 1997
5 Contractor 13
17
12
6
4
Time and cost
overrun
Time and cost
overrun
Time Delay
Time Delay and
Cost Overrun
Time Overrun
Assaf and Hejji 2006
Long et.al. 2004
Alaghbari et.al 2007
Odeh & Battaineh 2002
Chan & Kumaraswamy 1997
6 Consultant 7
7
6
4
Time and Cost
Overrun
Time and Cost
Overrun
Time Delay
Time and Cost
Overrun
Assaf and Hejji 2006
Long et.al 2004
Alaghbari et.al 2007
Odeh & Battaineh 2002
7 Design 8
3
Time and Cost
Overrun
Time Overrun
Assaf and Hejji 2006
Chan & Kumaraswamy 1997
8 Coordination 7 Time and Cost Long et.al 2004

14DISSERTATION
Overrun
9 Materials 7
2
4
5
Time and Cost
Overrun
Time and Cost
Overrun
Time Overrun
Time and Cost
Overrun
Assaf and Hejji 2006
Odeh & Battaineh 2002
Chan & Kumaraswamy 1997
Assaf and Hejji 2006
10 Plant / Equipment 5
1
4
5
Time and Cost
Overrun
Time Delay
Time Overrun
Time and Cost
Overrun
Assaf and Hejji 2006
Odeh & Battaineh 2002
Chan & Kumaraswamy 1997
Assaf et.al. 1995
11 Labour /
Manpower
5
2
4
3
Time and Cost
Overrun
Time and Cost
Overrun
Time Overrun
Time and Cost
Overrun
Assaf and Hejji 2006
Odeh & Battaineh 2002
Chan & Kumaraswamy 1997
Assaf et.al. 1995
12 Environment 9
4
Time and Cost
Overrun
Time and Cost
Overrun
Long et.al 2004
Assaf et.al. 1995
13 Contract 2 Time & Cost
disputes
Odeh & Battaineh 2002
14 Contractual 3 Time & Cost Odeh & Battaineh 2002

15DISSERTATION
Relationship
14
effects
Time Delay
Assaf et.al. 1995
15 External 12
4
2
8
Time and Cost
Overrun
Time Delay
Time Overrun
Time Delay
Assaf and Hejji 2006
Odeh & Battaineh 2002
Chan & Kumaraswamy 1997
Alaghbari et.al 2007
16 Changes 7 Time Delay Assaf et.al. 1995
17 Scheduling &
Controlling
11 Time Delay Assaf et.al. 1995
18 Government
relations
4 Time Delay Assaf et.al. 1995
Table 1: Types of Delays and Categories
2.2.2 Categories of Delays
In the above table, the project delays have been separately classified into different
categories that include project, owner, consultant, design, laborers, equipment, materials and
external factors. Again, depending on the nature of the delays, they can be classified into two
categories namely, manageable and non-manageable delays.
Manageable Delay – Manageable delay of a project is defined as the overrun or delay
caused in a project by various internal agents like stakeholders, project managers, clients,
designers and others. Generally, these delays can be predicted early, monitored, managed and
controlled in order to minimize the chances of delay.

16DISSERTATION
Non-Manageable Delay – These delays generally originate from external factors and
cannot be predicted during project planning phase. In the non-manageable delays, there are
several external factors and events associated, e.g. global financial crisis, inflation, changes in
laws, guidelines and regulations in construction by the Government, unforeseen major accident
at the site of the project, sudden and significant change in the weather and others.
This research specifically focuses on manageable delays that can be controlled internally
to minimize the project delays as much as possible. Accordingly, the possible control measures
have been analyzed and several mitigation measures have been suggested.
El-Saadi (1998) stated in his master’s thesis that delay in project can also be classified
into two categories – critical and non-critical or compensable and non-compensable or
concurrent and non-concurrent delays. Menesi (2007), on the other hand, utilized a model of
computerized schedule analysis considering multiple baseline updates and resource over-
allocation called window analysis to analyse construction delays.
Parry (2015) conducted a detailed research and stated in his doctoral thesis that “A mixed
methods approach that included: (I) analysis of a questionnaire survey by the CIOB (chattered
institute of building) to understand the current state of time management in the UK construction
industry; (ii)analysis of the industry guidance on delay analysis methodologies; (iii) a
comprehensive review of related English Case Law; and (iv) an analysis of 27 case studies
comprising programming expert reports that were presented as evidence in arbitrations.”
The types of manageable delays that can be investigated in this particular research are
listed as follows.
 Financial: i) mismanagement of project fund by contractors.

17DISSERTATION
ii) Owners delay of progress payment to contractors.
iii) Cash problems during construction.
 Project: increases in scope of work.
 Project attributes: i) liaison problem among contracting parties.
ii) Lack of involvement through project life.
iii) Incompetence project team.
 Owner / client: i) changes to design during construction.
ii) Delay in payment of construction progress.
iii) Imposition of unrealistic contract duration.
iv) Incorporative owner.
v) Interference between workers.
vi) Slow decision making.
 Contractor: i) Non-compliance with project requirement s and specifications
ii) Nominated subcontractors causing claim.
iii) Unworkable low bid to win job.
iv) Insufficient capital base to execute project.
 Consultants: i) lack of consultant’s knowledge on terms and
conditions.
ii) Delay of by consultants.
 Design: i) Changes in design.
ii) Design error.
iii) Slow approval/preparation of shop drawings.
iv) Delay in design information.

18DISSERTATION
 Coordination: i) Resolution of issues raised by various stake
holders.
ii) Lack of communication between contractor and
consultant.
 Materials: i) Delivery delay.
ii) Quality.
iii) Damaged goods.
iv) Specification changes in material during
construction.
v) Lack of good storage facility onsite.
vi) Market scarcity/ shortages.
 Plant / Equipment: i) unskilled operators.
ii) Outdated equipment.
iii) Non-availability / quick supply of spare parts.
iv) Mechanical failure.
v) Slow maintenance.
vi) Slow mobilization shortage.
 Labour / manpower: i) Labour shortage.
ii) Unskilled labours.
iii) Craftsmen/ technicians shortage.

19DISSERTATION
iv) Poor productivity.
 Contract: i) contract not clearly understood before agreement.
ii) Terms and conditions not clearly stated before
contract.
iii) Low warded bid price.
iv) Mistakes and discrepancies in contract
documents.
 Contractual relationship: i) coordination problem between different parties.
ii) Slow decision by owner.
iii) Conflict between consultant and contractor.
iv) Subcontractor’s schedule.
v) Shortage of competent construction project
manager.
vi) Legal dispute.
vii) Coordination difficulty between different
parties.
viii) Joint ownership of business.
 Changes: i) in accurate bill of quantities.
ii) Design changes by owner.
iii) Construction error.
iv) Un workable design by architect
v) Mistakes in soil investigation.

20DISSERTATION
 Scheduling and controlling: i) inefficient planning.
ii) Site organization.
iii) Wrong time plan estimation.
iv) Traffic control regulation practiced on site.
v) Accidents during construction.
vi) Preparation of schedule networks and revision
by.
vii) consultant during construction.

21DISSERTATION
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
3.1 Design and Methodology
Research Design is defined as an action plan that is followed throughout the entire course
of the research in order to reach a certain conclusion. Again, there are specific strategies used to
follow these action plans. There are two main research strategies, qualitative and quantitative
research. Qualitative research mainly deals with some specific problems or subjective topics
whereas quantitative research deals with statistical data related to specific problems identified as
a part of the research.
Selection of appropriate methodology is important in order to execute the research and
ensure the success of the same. For this particular research, both quantitative and qualitative
research methods will be utilized. Using the qualitative research methods, relevant information
regarding manageable delays in construction will be gathered i.e. types and natures of delays
occurring in construction projects and the amount of delays caused by these issues. In addition,
qualitative research will also give insight regarding the effects of delays on the project and how
can they be controlled and managed. On the other hand, quantitative research will provide
statistical data regarding the manageable delays including the amount of delays, number of
construction projects affected by the delays in a specific period of time, losses faced by
organizations due to the delays and others.
3.1.1 Research Strategy
This particular research will follow both qualitative and quantitative methodologies.
Using data collected from construction practitioners through questionnaires to investigate

22DISSERTATION
manageable delays affecting construction projects using UK construction industry as case study
and analysis of mitigation measures, qualitative data analysis will be conducted. Again,
reviewing previous research for validation with nowadays construction projects and comparison
of this research results with past researches, quantitative research method will be follows. The
following points are used to summarize the entire research process to be followed.
1. Use reviews to identify delays.
2. Use of questionnaires to construction practitioners
3. Compare if identified delays in the review is still valid and effective in the modern
sophisticated construction designs. And suggest mitigation measures.
4. Comparison of results with previous reviews and give reason if there is different
conclusion.
3.2 Researchers’ Recommendations
The researchers Tawil, Mezher and Wissam (1908) recommended the utilization of more
training sessions for the engineers and construction professionals for a constant upgradation of
the knowledge and skill set as well as team work, planning, detailing of specifications, value
engineering and others. Saeed (2009) recommended in his works for the clients to avoid abrupt
and sudden change of plan or design while the project has already proceeded for execution.
According to him, contractors should also play proactive role to ensure the project is completed
successfully on time. Menesi (2007) recommend window analysis technique to be adopted by
project managers to consider “all fluctuations in the critical path(s) and uses a legible
representation of progress information to accurately apportion delays and accelerations among
project parties.”

23DISSERTATION
3.3 Survey and Survey Questions
The study results in a kind that concentrate, which comprises requesting all the
respondents reaction to the questions making use of the groups like phone interviews, sending
surveys, and carrying out individual meetings (Totten, Panacek & Price 1999). The most widely
used approach is paper poll approach and should also provide potential subjects as well as logical
peruses.
The techniques that are engaged with the study is same type of data is being gathered in
all the cases and specifically in cases in which individual respondents are being asked same type
of questions. Institutionalization is mainly considered as the center of review technique. This is
because the main purpose of the survey is to get some steady solutions to all predictable inquiries
with goal that the researchers think about.
Many researchers have given many efforts for identifying the reason that is behind the
delays in construction and have also suggested mitigation measures that are needed to manage
the delays. The construction practitioner are also aware of the construction tools as well as
techniques that mitigates the delays. The survey questions are given below:
 Explain briefly the manageable delays in construction.
 Please fill all the Demographic Information that is mentioned in the form below. Names
of the respondent, organization of the respondent and the contact details are kept
confidential. Only the statistical analyses of the responses from the respondents are to be
presented in the University.
Enter your Job Destination.
Please enter the type of organization you are working for.

24DISSERTATION
 Please indicate your type of organization Please specify your years of experience. (E.g.
client, contractor, consultant, project manager)
 Mention the size of your organization.
 Please review your own view on the manageable as well as the non-manageable delays in
your organization.
 Have you encountered any manageable delay? Please mention if yes.
 How the manageable delays do affects the progress of your project?
 What is the damage level that the delay cause in the project?
 What is the reason of delay of the project?
 Do you know the risks that are encountered from the delays that occur in the constriction
while designing as well as planning stage of project?
i. If yes, please specify the actions that you have to take to manage and prevent
those risks.
ii. Were the risk management techniques effective for your organization?
 Were you aware of all mitigation techniques that were imposed on your organization?
 Please specify the delay factors of your construction project that are mentioned in the
manageable delays above.
 Are the recommendations that are stated applicable for the encountered delays? If no,
please give reason.
 Does your company all the measures that are recommended by the researchers?

25DISSERTATION
i. If yes, was those measures effective and how much the measures were effective?
ii. If no, why your company not followed all such recommended measures
recommended by the researchers?
 What are the measures that could have been done so that the delays in the construction
can be prevented as well as mitigated?
 What are the ways that can improve the mitigation delay process in your organization?
 How to encounter the manageable delays in your project that the researcher might not
have researched or not have listed in the list of delays?
 Are there any delays that may not be suitable for the recommended measures? If yes,
please mention those delays.
All these question will be used for exploratory research by providing questionnaire to all
the construction practitioners and all the results will be collected, data will be analyzed and also
critical view will be provided that will result the questionnaire to the insight expectation.
3.4 Work Schedule, Assumptions, Potential Risks, Ethics
The questionnaires will mainly be distributed to all construction practitioners via an
online survey that are mainly conducted through survey monkey or LinkedIn or even can be
conducted through emails and also through submitting survey forms physically to the
construction clients or practitioners.
For conducting the survey, there are no any potential risks to the respondents who will
participate in the survey. This is because completing the research questionnaire is not at all
mandatory or is not enforceable. Neither the identity of the respondents is needed nor there need
of further engagement with the respondents. Only the relevance of the participant related to the

26DISSERTATION
research topic sector and the construction industry is to be clarified so that the participants who
are involved are competent and also has experience to make some contribution to research
construction delays in construction industries.
The questionnaires that will be distributed to the respondents includes free consent as
well as informed consent to the participants and the participants should be aware of the nature of
the research before filling up the survey form and willingly participates in the research study that
is being carried out. The questionnaire should also respect the autonomy of individual
participants as well as maintain the anonymity as well as confidentiality.
An estimated work schedule for the research is shown in the following table.
Task Name Duration Start Finish
Schedule for Conducting Research
Work
110 days Mon 7/2/18 Fri 11/30/18
Research Proposal and Approval 29 days Mon 7/2/18 Thu 8/9/18
Get Instructions Regarding
Research Work
5 days Mon 7/2/18 Fri 7/6/18
Selection of an Appropriate Topic
for Research
2 days Mon 7/9/18 Tue 7/10/18
Verification of Topic by Research
Supervisor
5 days Wed 7/11/18 Tue 7/17/18
Proceed to Research 1 day Wed 7/18/18 Wed 7/18/18

27DISSERTATION
Develop Research Proposal 10 days Thu 7/19/18 Wed 8/1/18
Submit Research Proposal 1 day Thu 8/2/18 Thu 8/2/18
Get Approval to Proceed 5 days Fri 8/3/18 Thu 8/9/18
Research Planning 12 days Fri 8/10/18 Mon 8/27/18
Analyze Research Topic 4 days Fri 8/10/18 Wed 8/15/18
Prepare Research Roadmap 4 days Thu 8/16/18 Tue 8/21/18
Determine Research Objectives 1 day Wed 8/22/18 Wed 8/22/18
Define Research Questions 1 day Thu 8/23/18 Thu 8/23/18
Select Appropriate Research
Methodology
2 days Fri 8/24/18 Mon 8/27/18
Research Execution 62 days Tue 8/28/18 Wed 11/21/18
Initiate the Research Process 2 days Tue 8/28/18 Wed 8/29/18
Access Online Library 1 day Thu 8/30/18 Thu 8/30/18
Gather Sources of Data 2 days Fri 8/31/18 Mon 9/3/18
Conduct Literature Review 5 days Tue 9/4/18 Mon 9/10/18
Collect Information from 10 days Tue 9/11/18 Mon 9/24/18

28DISSERTATION
Literature
Conduct Extensive Research 15 days Tue 9/25/18 Mon 10/15/18
Conduct Interviews through
Questionnaires
5 days Tue 10/16/18 Mon 10/22/18
Collect All Primary and Secondary
Data
5 days Tue 10/23/18 Mon 10/29/18
Conduct Data Analysis 5 days Tue 10/30/18 Mon 11/5/18
Reach Suitable Conclusion 1 day Tue 11/6/18 Tue 11/6/18
Answer Research Questions 1 day Wed 11/7/18 Wed 11/7/18
Complete Documentation 10 days Thu 11/8/18 Wed 11/21/18
Research Completion 7 days Thu 11/22/18 Fri 11/30/18
Submit Dissertation 1 day Thu 11/22/18 Thu 11/22/18
Receive Marks for the Research
Work
5 days Fri 11/23/18 Thu 11/29/18
Sign Off 1 day Fri 11/30/18 Fri 11/30/18

29DISSERTATION
Chapter 4: Data Analysis, Findings and Interpretation
4.1 Introduction
Data analysis is performed in order to gain more insight regarding project managers’
perspectives on manageable delays in construction as well as existing stats that highlight the
issue of the delays in construction. In this particular research, focus is given on both qualitative
and quantitative data. The qualitative data will be mainly based on the project managers’
opinions on manageable delays in the construction. This data will be collected using
questionnaire survey that will include a number of questions involving the manageable delays in
the construction industry. These questions will be specific to the major problems and the
managers will have to provide answers based on their personal opinion and experiences. Some
quantitative data will be collected from secondary sources like project reports, project details
published by the organizations whereas some of the quantitative data will also be collected from
the questionnaire survey process. Hence, the survey process will be based on collection of mixed
type of data.
4.2 Quantitative Analysis
For the quantitative analysis of data, the technique of regression analysis has been
applied. For the regression analysis based on the case study, both dependant and independent
variables are used. In this proposed regression model, a linear combination of independent
variables are used to develop the dependant variables of the case. For this particular case study of
research, the attributes that cause the delays in the project are chosen to be the independent
variables whereas the resulting project completion factor is chosen to be the dependent variable.
As per the regression analysis, it has been found that the delay factor in the project is mostly

30DISSERTATION
affected by a number of risk factors like finances, work force, competence, procedure and others
to which both the project owner and the contractors are related. If the variables are considered in
the terms of a coefficient (β), it is seen that the highest values of the coefficient are (-0.612) and
(-0.557) that correspond to the project contractor issues and project owner issues respectively. As
per the analysis conducted (Van, Sang & Viet, 2015):
Project completion = 2.897 – 0.612 (competence, finance, and productive forces of the
contractor) – 0.557 (competence, finance, and approval procedures of the owner) – 0.541
(competence of the consultant) – 0.421 (contract terms) – 0.346 (extraneous nature and internal
interaction of the project) – 0.136 (external elements).
A survey has also been conducted on selected 51 project managers in the construction
industry in UK and the questionnaire contained both quantitative and qualitative data. The
responses received from the managers regarding the quantitative data survey are shown in the
following tables.
Field of Work and Work Experience:
Timestamp 1. Please indicate your type of
organization
2. Your Job
Designation
3. Please specify your years
of experience
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Construction Institution Package Specialist 11 to 20
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Contractor Architect 3 to 5
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Supplier SME 0 to 2
2018/06/24 10:14:39 Project manager Architect 0 to 2

31DISSERTATION
AM GMT
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Contractor Project/Construction
Manager
3 to 5
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Designer Site Engineer 0 to 2
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Project manager Project/Construction
Manager
6 to 10
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Contractor Architect 3 to 5
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Construction Institution Architect 0 to 2
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Consultant Site Engineer 6 to 10
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Contractor Site Engineer 3 to 5
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Construction Institution Architect 0 to 2
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Subcontractor Package Specialist 0 to 2
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Designer Architect 3 to 5
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Project manager Site Engineer 11 to 20
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Client Package Specialist 6 to 10
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Contractor Project/Construction
Manager
3 to 5
2018/06/24 10:14:39 Consultant Site Engineer More than 20

32DISSERTATION
AM GMT
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Designer Architect 0 to 2
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Supplier SME 0 to 2
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Project manager Client 3 to 5
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Designer Architect 3 to 5
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Contractor Package Specialist 3 to 5
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Contractor Architect 6 to 10
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Project manager Project/Construction
Manager
11 to 20
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Consultant Site Engineer 6 to 10
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Designer Site Engineer 11 to 20
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Project manager Project/Construction
Manager
0 to 2
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Project manager Architect 0 to 2
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Project manager Project/Construction
Manager
0 to 2
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Client Project/Construction
Manager
11 to 20
2018/06/24 10:14:39 Construction Institution Architect 0 to 2

33DISSERTATION
AM GMT
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Construction Institution Architect 3 to 5
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Supplier Project/Construction
Manager
0 to 2
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Project manager Project/Construction
Manager
3 to 5
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Contractor Site Engineer 6 to 10
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Construction Institution Architect 3 to 5
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Contractor Package Specialist 3 to 5
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Project manager Project/Construction
Manager
0 to 2
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Contractor Site Engineer More than 20
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Construction Institution Package Specialist 6 to 10
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Client Project/Construction
Manager
0 to 2
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Consultant Architect 6 to 10
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Contractor Project/Construction
Manager
3 to 5
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Supplier SME 0 to 2
2018/06/24 10:14:39 Client Site Engineer 0 to 2

34DISSERTATION
AM GMT
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Consultant Client 0 to 2
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Subcontractor Package Specialist 3 to 5
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Contractor Architect 6 to 10
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Project manager Project/Construction
Manager
0 to 2
2018/06/24 10:14:39
AM GMT
Subcontractor Package Specialist 6 to 10
In this table, data can be found regarding the role of the participants played in the
construction industry projects, the nature of the organization they are working for and the
number of years they are working in the industry.
4.3 Qualitative Analysis
The qualitative analysis of data is also based on the data collected from the questionnaire
survey conducted on the selected project managers of the construction industry. The responses
received from the managers are as follows.
4. Size
of your
compa
ny
5. How would
you define
manageable
delays in your
own word?
6. What type of manageable
delays have you
encountered?
7. How
do they
affect
the
progres
s of
8. What
was the
category
of delay
encounte
9. Were
you
able to
claim
time/m
oney
10. If the delay
was
excusable/comp
ensable, were
you able to
recover

35DISSERTATION
your
project
?
red? for the
delay
caused?
time/money?
Small
(over
10 but
under
50
employ
ees)
extremely
vulnerable
Increases in scope of work of
project
High Concurre
nt
Yes No
Mediu
m (over
50 but
under
250
employ
ees)
NO Increases in scope of work of
project
High Compens
able
No No
Large
(over
250
employ
ees)
It has slight
negative impact
on the
organization.
Increases in scope of work of
project
Manage
able
Other No No
Mediu
m (over
50 but
under
250
employ
It is defined as
the delays that
are encountered
for some valid
constraint
without which
Financial Substan
tial
Compens
able
Yes Yes

36DISSERTATION
ees) the project
cannot progress.
Small
(over
10 but
under
50
employ
ees)
The delays that
can be managed
for meeting the
uncertain
conditions.
Increases in scope of work of
project
Manage
able
Compens
able
Yes Yes
Small
(over
10 but
under
50
employ
ees)
The manageable
delays are those
delays that can
be easily
controlled.
Financial High Compens
able
Yes No
Large
(over
250
employ
ees)
Manageable
delays are those
that can be
controlled or
managed to reach
a positive
outcome in the
project.
Owner / client ( e.g. changes
to design during construction,
Delay in payment of
construction progress,
Imposition of unrealistic
contract duration, Incorporate
owner, Interference between
workers, Slow decision
making)
Manage
able
Excusabl
e
Yes Yes
Mediu
m (over
50 but
Manageable
delays are those
delays that can
Increases in scope of work of
project
Manage
able
Compens
able
No No

37DISSERTATION
under
250
employ
ees)
be controlled
Mediu
m (over
50 but
under
250
employ
ees)
The delays that
can be controlled
or is possible to
deal with can be
described as
manageable
delay.
Owner / client ( e.g. changes
to design during construction,
Delay in payment of
construction progress,
Imposition of unrealistic
contract duration, Incorporate
owner, Interference between
workers, Slow decision
making)
Manage
able
Compens
able
Yes No
Large
(over
250
employ
ees)
The delays that
could be
controlled easily
are termed as
manageable
delays
Project attributes (e.g. liaison
problem among contracting
parties, Lack of involvement
through project life,
Incompetence project team)
Low Concurre
nt
No No
Mediu
m (over
50 but
under
250
employ
ees)
The
consequences of
the delay which
can be
manageable.
Project attributes (e.g. liaison
problem among contracting
parties, Lack of involvement
through project life,
Incompetence project team)
Substan
tial
Compens
able
Yes No
Mediu
m (over
Delays that occur
for a short period
Owner / client ( e.g. changes
to design during construction,
Manage Compens Yes Yes

38DISSERTATION
50 but
under
250
employ
ees)
of time is termed
as manageable
delays.
Delay in payment of
construction progress,
Imposition of unrealistic
contract duration, Incorporate
owner, Interference between
workers, Slow decision
making)
able able
Large
(over
250
employ
ees)
The delays that
could be easily
controlled are
termed as
manageable
delays
Owner / client ( e.g. changes
to design during construction,
Delay in payment of
construction progress,
Imposition of unrealistic
contract duration, Incorporate
owner, Interference between
workers, Slow decision
making)
High Compens
able
No No
Mediu
m (over
50 but
under
250
employ
ees)
The delays that
could be easily
managed are
known as
manageable
delays
Design (e.g. Changes in
design, Design error, Slow
approval/preparation of shop
drawings, Delay in design
information)
High Concurre
nt
No No
Small
(over
10 but
under
50
NA Project attributes (e.g. liaison
problem among contracting
parties, Lack of involvement
through project life,
Manage
able
Concurre
nt
No No

39DISSERTATION
employ
ees)
Incompetence project team)
Mediu
m (over
50 but
under
250
employ
ees)
Delays that are
manageable
Increases in scope of work of
project
Low Compens
able
No No
Micro
(less
than 10
employ
ees)
Unmanageable Financial Medium Excusabl
e
No No
Mediu
m (over
50 but
under
250
employ
ees)
It effects the
project.
Project attributes (e.g. liaison
problem among contracting
parties, Lack of involvement
through project life,
Incompetence project team)
Manage
able
Concurre
nt
Yes No
Mediu
m (over
50 but
under
250
employ
ees)
Manageable
delays should be
properly
explained and
discussed with
both the higher
authorities of the
Increases in scope of work of
project
Manage
able
Compens
able
No No

40DISSERTATION
company and the
clients.
Large
(over
250
employ
ees)
It is a common
thing for every
organization
which can
hamper the
business process.
Increases in scope of work of
project
Manage
able
Compens
able
No No
Large
(over
250
employ
ees)
happy Design (e.g. Changes in
design, Design error, Slow
approval/preparation of shop
drawings, Delay in design
information)
Substan
tial
Other No Yes
Mediu
m (over
50 but
under
250
employ
ees)
The delays that
can be easily
controlled is
termed as
manageable
delays
Financial High Compens
able
No No
Mediu
m (over
50 but
under
250
employ
ees)
It is any type of
delay in the
project.
Increases in scope of work of
project
High Concurre
nt
Yes No
Mediu The delays that Project attributes (e.g. liaison High Compens No No

41DISSERTATION
m (over
50 but
under
250
employ
ees)
can be managed
if proper
methodologies
are adopted to
decrease time of
total work done
into effective
work done.
problem among contracting
parties, Lack of involvement
through project life,
Incompetence project team)
able
Small
(over
10 but
under
50
employ
ees)
The delays that
could be
controlled within
an organization
is known as
manageable
delays
Project attributes (e.g. liaison
problem among contracting
parties, Lack of involvement
through project life,
Incompetence project team)
Substan
tial
Excusabl
e
Yes No
Small
(over
10 but
under
50
employ
ees)
Delays that can
be managed by
using project
management
principles
Project attributes (e.g. liaison
problem among contracting
parties, Lack of involvement
through project life,
Incompetence project team)
High Excusabl
e
Yes No
Large
(over
250
employ
ees)
Manageable
delays are those
delays that do
not have
significant
impact on the
Financial High Compens
able
Yes No

42DISSERTATION
project as long as
they are
monitored and
controlled
Large
(over
250
employ
ees)
Manageable
delays can be
defined as the
specific type of
delays which can
be controlled.
Increases in scope of work of
project
High Excusabl
e
No No
Mediu
m (over
50 but
under
250
employ
ees)
manageable
delays are due to
inefficient
resources
Owner / client ( e.g. changes
to design during construction,
Delay in payment of
construction progress,
Imposition of unrealistic
contract duration, Incorporate
owner, Interference between
workers, Slow decision
making)
High Compens
able
No Yes
Mediu
m (over
50 but
under
250
employ
ees)
the manageable
delays can be
mitigated by
establish an
effective
communication
between the
employees of the
Coordination (e.g. Resolution
of issues raised by various
stake holders, Lack of
communication between
contractor and consultant)
Manage
able
Excusabl
e
No No

43DISSERTATION
organization
Small
(over
10 but
under
50
employ
ees)
Delays that could
be managed
Owner / client ( e.g. changes
to design during construction,
Delay in payment of
construction progress,
Imposition of unrealistic
contract duration, Incorporate
owner, Interference between
workers, Slow decision
making)
Substan
tial
Concurre
nt
Yes No
Mediu
m (over
50 but
under
250
employ
ees)
Delays that can
be controlled is
known as
manageable
delays.
Owner / client ( e.g. changes
to design during construction,
Delay in payment of
construction progress,
Imposition of unrealistic
contract duration, Incorporate
owner, Interference between
workers, Slow decision
making)
Substan
tial
Compens
able
Yes Yes
Mediu
m (over
50 but
under
250
employ
ees)
manageable
delays occur due
to shortage of
proper
equipment,
manpower and so
on.
Project attributes (e.g. liaison
problem among contracting
parties, Lack of involvement
through project life,
Incompetence project team)
Manage
able
Compens
able
No No
Large
(over
Manageable
delays are the
Consultants (e.g. lack of
consultants knowledge on
Substan Compens Yes No

44DISSERTATION
250
employ
ees)
delays which a
person can
manage with a
little more
concentration
terms and conditions) tial able
Large
(over
250
employ
ees)
Delays which
will not affect
the overall
functioning of an
industry
Project attributes (e.g. liaison
problem among contracting
parties, Lack of involvement
through project life,
Incompetence project team)
Manage
able
Concurre
nt
Yes Yes
Mediu
m (over
50 but
under
250
employ
ees)
Delays that can
be managed
without much
effect on the
project itself
Project attributes (e.g. liaison
problem among contracting
parties, Lack of involvement
through project life,
Incompetence project team)
Manage
able
Compens
able
Yes No
Large
(over
250
employ
ees)
It is defined as
any delays that
can be incurred
for the
fulfillment of
project
objectives
Financial Substan
tial
Excusabl
e
Yes Yes
Large
(over
250
employ
there maybe
some
unavoidable
Coordination (e.g. Resolution
of issues raised by various
stake holders, Lack of
communication between
Manage
able
Compens
able
Yes Yes

45DISSERTATION
ees) circumstances contractor and consultant)
Large
(over
250
employ
ees)
manageable
delays are such
delays that can
easily be
managed through
effective and
systematic
organization of
work.
Increases in scope of work of
project
Substan
tial
Concurre
nt
Yes Yes
Micro
(less
than 10
employ
ees)
Not Applicable Project attributes (e.g. liaison
problem among contracting
parties, Lack of involvement
through project life,
Incompetence project team)
High Other Yes No
Mediu
m (over
50 but
under
250
employ
ees)
Delays which
will not yield
substantial losses
to an industry
Labour / manpower (e.g.
Labour shortage, Unskilled
labours, Craftsmen/
technicians shortage, Poor
productivity)
Medium Compens
able
Yes Yes
Mediu
m (over
50 but
under
250
employ
with proper
justification
Owner / client ( e.g. changes
to design during construction,
Delay in payment of
construction progress,
Imposition of unrealistic
contract duration, Incorporate
Manage
able
Compens
able
No No

46DISSERTATION
ees) owner, Interference between
workers, Slow decision
making)
Mediu
m (over
50 but
under
250
employ
ees)
The delays which
can be managed
and handled
without any
impact on other
activities.
Consultants (e.g. lack of
consultant’s knowledge
on terms and conditions)
Manage
able
Compens
able
No No
Mediu
m (over
50 but
under
250
employ
ees)
The issues that
can be easily
manageable are
known as
manageable
delays.
Owner / client ( e.g. changes
to design during construction,
Delay in payment of
construction progress,
Imposition of unrealistic
contract duration, Incorporate
owner, Interference between
workers, Slow decision
making)
High Other Yes No

47DISSERTATION
Large
(over
250
employ
ees)
Manageable
delay is
something which
have a large
impact on the
organization
about the
schedule of a
project.
Contractor ( e.g. Non-
compliance with project
requirement s and
specifications, Nominated
subcontractors causing claim,
Unworkable low bid to win
job, Insufficient capital base
to execute project)
High Other No No
Mediu
m (over
50 but
under
250
employ
ees)
conflict between
team member is
one of the
manageable
delay that can be
explained.
Project attributes (e.g. liaison
problem among contracting
parties, Lack of involvement
through project life,
Incompetence project team)
High Compens
able
Yes Yes
Small
(over
10 but
under
50
employ
ees)
Delays which
can be
compensated
with increased
work or time
Consultants (e.g. lack of
consultant’s knowledge
on terms and conditions)
Manage
able
Concurre
nt
No No
Mediu
m (over
50 but
under
250
Manageable
delays are delays
that is generated
due to improper
organization of
Project attributes (e.g. liaison
problem among contracting
parties, Lack of involvement
through project life,
Manage
able
Other Yes No

48DISSERTATION
employ
ees)
work Incompetence project team)
Mediu
m (over
50 but
under
250
employ
ees)
It can be
compensated
easily with
minimal efforts
Materials (e.g. Delivery
delay, Quality, Damaged
goods, Specification changes
in material during
construction, Lack of good
storage facility onsite, Market
scarcity/ shortages)
Manage
able
Compens
able
Yes Yes
Large
(over
250
employ
ees)
ffff Financial Substan
tial
Excusabl
e
Yes Yes
Large
(over
250
employ
ees)
Manageable
delays are
defined as the
delays that could
be controlled or
managed
Project attributes (e.g. liaison
problem among contracting
parties, Lack of involvement
through project life,
Incompetence project team)
Manage
able
Excusabl
e
No No
The above table depicts the opinions of the survey participants regarding manageable
delays in construction and the basic understanding of the delays of these project managers
regarding the delays faced by them during the course of their work in the projects.
11. If your answer to question 10 was 'yes', why? 12. Were
you aware
13. If your
answer to
14. Are you
aware of
15. If
extremely,

49DISSERTATION
of the risk
and
impact of
these
potential
delays to
occurring
constructi
on at the
design
and
planning
stage of
the
project?
question 12
was 'yes',
what actions
did you take
to prevent or
manage these
risks of
delays.
the
mitigation
measures
recommend
ed by some
researchers
?
very or
somewhat
aware is
chosen
above. Did
your
company
follow the
recommend
ed
measures
by
researchers
?
my ans is no No my ans is no Somewhat
aware
No
My answer was no No NO Very aware No
Answer is no No Answer is no Not so
aware
Yes
Because the project objective has been reached. Yes Risks are
studied and
monitored
Somewhat
aware
No
The increase in the scope of the project caused
changes in the requirement of the project and thus
according to the contract it was compensable. More
time was added to the project for the management of
the changes.
Yes A risk
management
plan was
created and
the project
Extremely
aware
Yes

50DISSERTATION
was followed
according to
it.
NA No Not
applicable
Extremely
aware
Yes
The delay was managed within the project schedule. Yes I prepared a
mitigation
plan early
during the
planning
phase.
Very aware Yes
NA No NA Somewhat
aware
No
NA No NA Somewhat
aware
Yes
Not applicable No Not
applicable
Extremely
aware
No
NA No NA Very aware Yes
Because the changes in the design were manged
efficiently with the clients and delays in the payments
were adjusted.
Yes Signing
contracts with
the client
before the
implementati
on of the
design.
Somewhat
aware
Yes
NA No NA Extremely
aware
Yes
Not applicable No Not Not so Yes

51DISSERTATION
applicable aware
NA No NA Very aware No
my answer was no No my answer
was no
Somewhat
aware
Yes
Not Applicable No Not
Applicable
Extremely
aware
Yes
NA No NA Not so
aware
Yes
- No - Very aware Yes
Answer is no. No Answer is no. Very aware Yes
yes Yes precaution Extremely
aware
Yes
Not applicable No Not
applicable
Extremely
aware
No
NA No NA Very aware Yes
My answer was no No My answer
was no
Somewhat
aware
No
NA No NA Somewhat
aware
Yes
NA Yes Time
Management
Plan was used
Not so
aware
Yes
This might even mean redesigning structures. We can
manufacture parts of the structure in modules or
precast some sections reducing the work that has to be
done in poor weather. Consider different foundation
solutions to minimise excavations which have to be
No Not
applicable
Somewhat
aware
Yes

52DISSERTATION
done in the rainy season.
N/A No N/A Somewhat
aware
Yes
for meeting project demand No no Somewhat
aware
Yes
NO Yes yes necessary
prevention
techniques
will be
applied
Very aware Yes
NA No NA Not so
aware
Yes
By increasing the budget of the project. No NA Somewhat
aware
Yes
no No no Very aware Yes
Because we managed the delay within a time period. No The answer I
choose for 12
was no
Very aware Yes
Because there wasn't considerable shortcomings in
work
Yes Educating the
employees,
holding
discussions
with
contractual
parties
Not so
aware
No
NA No NA Very aware Yes
Final delivery of the project will not be done until the
time/money has been recovered.
Yes To prevent or
manage those
Somewhat Yes

53DISSERTATION
risk, they
must be
analysed
aware
yes we contacted client No answer was
no
Somewhat
aware
Yes
The delay was not big enough for the client to incur
losses
Yes I provided
detailed
report to the
management
Somewhat
aware
Yes
Not Applicable No Not
Applicable
Somewhat
aware
Yes
With the help of limited but skilled laborers and
working overtime.
Yes Grant medical
leaves or
incentives to
employees
Not so
aware
No
no No no Somewhat
aware
Yes
NA No NA Very aware Yes
NA No NA Not so
aware
No
I was unable to claim money. No I was not
aware about
that.
Not at all
aware
No
Yes because the problems of the team members can
easily be solved.
No not applicable Very aware Yes
Recovery was not possible due to client misbehavior
or inadequacies
No Significant
action was
Not at all
aware
No

54DISSERTATION
not taken
We were unable to recover time No I was unable
to take any
significant
actions
Not at all
aware
No
yes we made a lot of calls Yes We make sure
we have a
backup option
Somewhat
aware
Yes
ddddd Yes ddddd Extremely
aware
Yes
not applicable No not applicable Somewhat
aware
No
This table continues from the previous one and allows the survey participants to justify
their choices made during the previous questions of the survey. The data in this table gives more
insight on the main difficulties faced by the managers due to the delays that occur during the
construction projects.
16. If
your
answer
to
question
15 was
'yes',
was it
effective
17. If 'no' was your
answer to question 15,
why did your company
not follow the
recommended
measures?
18. What could you
have done to prevent
or mitigate these
delays?
19. What are the manageable
delays encountered on your
project that have not been
researched or listed in causes
of delay.
20. Are you
satisfied that
recommende
d measures
provided by
researchers
are suitable
to fully
mitigate

55DISSERTATION
? delays if
followed
appropriatel
y.
Not so
effective
because they were not
effective
I took proper measures -- No
Very
effective
NO O NO No
Somewha
t
effective
Answer is yes Need to build a proper
planning.
There are none. Yes
Somewha
t
effective
due to lack to time and
resource
Alternate action plan
must be used
More or less all the
encountered manageable
delays have been listed
Yes
Very
effective
NA The project can be
crashed with the
addition of extra
resource ffor
completing the project
within the deadline.
Delay caused due to
unavailability of the labors and
raw materials.
Yes
Not at all
effective
Not applicable Make a proper project
plan
Time, cost Yes
Very
effective
N/A Identify the issues
regarding delays early
and prepare suitable
plan accordingly.
Delay in project due to contract
termination.
Yes

56DISSERTATION
Very
effective
NA By making a proper
plan of the project
Cost and Time Yes
Very
effective
NA In order to mitigate the
delays, it is essential to
accurately identify the
requirements of the
project and plan a
project accordingly.
Project Scope and cost Yes
Not so
effective
Not applicable Reducing the cost and
making project plan
Time, cost and scope No
Very
effective
NA to take proper project
management plan
NA Yes
Somewha
t
effective
My company followed the
mitigation measures.
Take proper mitigating
actions
There are no such manageable
delays that have not been
listed.
Yes
Extremel
y
effective
NA Proper project plan
and follow ups are
required
Time and scope Yes
Very
effective
Not applicable By making a project
plan
Time and budget No
Somewha
t
effective
NA NA NA No
Not at all
effective
my answer was yes Elaborately raise
awareness
the deadline issues not made
aware entirely
No
Not at all
effective
Not applicable Nothing Nothing No
Very NA Proper planning was Error in designs Yes

57DISSERTATION
effective required
Very
effective
- Kept thorough follow-
up with every nodes of
the project to maintain
a synchronous nature.
Technical issues Yes
Not at all
effective
Answer is yes. Proper planning was
required.
financial delay and more work
of scope.
No
Somewha
t
effective
fff ops data Yes
Not at all
effective
Not applicable By making a proper
project plan
Scope and budget Yes
Very
effective
NA A proper planning is
required.
Financial delays Yes
Somewha
t
effective
Indifference was mostly
noted amongst the
company
Should have
implemented more
attention in the factors
causing delays
Time of execution of work is
higher that projected while
planning and scheduling.
No
Not at all
effective
NA with the making of a
proper plan of the
project
budget of the project, time of
the project
Yes
Somewha
t
effective
NA NA NA Yes
Somewha
t
effective
Ensure your project team
has sufficient warning that
a storm or rain is on its
way. Loose materials
This could include
delaying major
concrete pours or
postponing heavy lifts.
Have adequate water pumps on
site and have a system in place
to dispose of storm water. We
need to ensure we get our work
Yes

58DISSERTATION
must be secured,
protective covers rigged
to protect unfinished work
from possible damage,
and checks done to ensure
storm-water drains are
clear, and partly
completed structures are
properly braced.
In some areas regular
afternoon
thunderstorms occur so
you want to ensure that
major tasks are
completed ahead of
these storms, so
starting earlier or
working in smaller
sections may help.
areas clear and safe for work as
quickly as possible after the
storm ends. Inadequate
preparation and saving a few
thousand dollars could cost the
project a day or more of lost
production. If you know
it’s going to rain at some
time during the project be
prepared for when it does.
Extremel
y
effective
N/A follow the predefined
protocol can assist to
prevent these delays.
Time delays are encountered
due to the poor time
management.
Yes
Somewha
t
effective
yes proper management resources and employees Yes
Very
effective
my company follows the
required measurements
motivate the employee
to do better work with
better communication
delay with vague excuses and
not proper justification of the
delays
Yes
Not so
effective
NA Provide the deliverable
within proper time
Scope of the Project and Time Yes
Somewha
t
effective
NA Design the architecture
of the project properly
prior to its
implementation
NA Yes
Somewha
t
no n/a shortage of manpower Yes

59DISSERTATION
effective
Extremel
y
effective
Answer for the 15 was yes
.
I would have taken
care of this problems
from the initial stages.
All the manageable delays are
being listed.
Yes
Somewha
t
effective
Limited awareness Explain or highlight
the repercussions of
these delays to the
employees
Lack of adequate support from
contracting parties
Yes
Very
effective
NA Identify possible
delays as early as
possible
Delay due to dispute among
the human resources
Yes
Not so
effective
Due to time boundation The project must be
properly designed
No such were encourtered Yes
Very
effective
it was really very helpful there should be a back
up team if there is
delay in work to attend
the clients at all time,
generate a back up
fund or take payment
in advance
lack of communication,
financial,cooperation
Yes
Somewha
t
effective
My company did follow
much of the
recommended measures
Better work allocation
or effective time
management could
have been done
ineffective work allocation Yes
Somewha
t
effective
Not Applicable Not applicable Not Applicable No
Not so Was unaware of the Carry recruitment Poor packaging material Yes

60DISSERTATION
effective existence of such
measures
programs to recruit
more employees
resulting in increased damage
Somewha
t
effective
unaware proper measures justified Yes
Somewha
t
effective
NA Apply suitable
management
Procuring materials,
Arrangement of resources
No
Not at all
effective
NA The work should be
done on time with the
planned budget.
Conflict in between the team
members
Yes
Not at all
effective
No researchers were
available.
We could have hired
some researchers about
this domain.
Financial and constructional. No
Somewha
t
effective
not applicable proper team
management of the
employees is one of
the best way in order
to mitigate the
problem
Client disapproval is one of the
most non manageable delay.
Yes
Not at all
effective
Lack of awareness due to
limited workforce
Educate employees on
communication or
terms and conditions
Lack of proper communication
and knowledge
No
Not at all
effective
The company did not have
the required managerial
expertise
The company could
have used better
organization
management
The delays related to third
party competency issues
Yes

61DISSERTATION
techniques
Very
effective
yes it was effective we should have a
constant network to
see the smooth running
of an organization
material delay, payment delay Yes
Extremel
y
effective
ssss sssss sssss Yes
Very
effective
not applicable By making a proper
project plan
Time and budget Yes
This part of the survey emphasizes more on a specific approach and looks to collect
specific data regarding the issues faced by the managers in the construction projects. The
questions in this survey have been specifically designed to allow the managers to talk about the
specific delays that they encountered and what measures they took to solve the delays
accordingly.
All the data collected in this survey have been simplified in the form of pie charts that
have been provided in the appendix section.
4.4 Findings and Analysis
In the above section, the data collected from the questionnaire survey is shown. The
collected data needs to be analyzed to reach a particular conclusion to the research. The survey
was conducted on 51 project managers and other project officials who have been associated with
the construction industry for quite some time. There were 20 questions provided in the
questionnaire that were needed to be answered by the project managers and officials.

62DISSERTATION
As per the initial questions of the survey, 23% of the participants stated that they are
associated with contractor type organization while 21.6% of the participants were from project
management organizations. Among these participants, 29.4% are architects while 25.5% are
project managers. Most of the participants (37.3%) have been working in the industry for 0-2
years while 29.4% of the participants have been working for 3-5 years. From this data, it is
evident that the construction industry is dynamic and there are constant changes in the
organizations in terms of human resources and personnel. The focus of the research is on the
manageable delays in construction and hence, the participants were asked about their points of
views on the definition and types of manageable delays that they have faced. The gist of all the
responses received from the participants is that manageable delays are those delays occurring in
a project that can be managed or controlled without much difficulty. Although this is not the
exact definition of manageable delays, it is evident that the participants of the survey have only
brief knowledge of the manageable delays. When asked about the type of manageable delays
faced during the projects, 27.5% of the participants chose project attributes (e.g. liaison problem
among contracting parties, Lack of involvement through project life, Incompetence project
team). Hence, as per the opinion of the majority, the main reasons behind project delays are the
relationships between the two or more parties involved in the project and the lack of involvement
of one or more participants. From this data, it is evident that there is not sufficient cooperation
between the parties who are contracted together in the construction projects. Moreover, it is also
evident that there are numerous contract partners who are not serious about the projects and do
not provide sufficient involvement in the projects leading to delays and other issues. 41% of all
the participants stated that the delays were easily manageable whereas 31% of the participants
faced significant problem in order to avoid such delays. This data shows that although majority

63DISSERTATION
of the managers and other officials have more or less clear idea about manageable delays, a large
percentage of them do not have sufficient expertise or knowledge in managing the manageable
delays encountered during the course of the project. Again, a large majority of the participants
(74.5%) said that there were not aware of possible risks and impacts of these risks on the
schedule of the project. Again, it has been found that most of the manageable delays in the
project can be mitigated during the planning phase if they are identified at the right time and
suitable steps are taken during the planning and design phase. Hence, it is evident that most the
delays that the survey participants stated to have experienced could have been solved early if
they were aware of the same during the planning of the projects. As a result, in addition to the
issues related to the project, carelessness or lack of sufficient experience in delay management
can also called as one of the major reasons behind the occurrence of so many manageable delays
in the construction projects. The participants of the survey were also asked about why they
considered these delays as manageable and what techniques are applied by them in order to
ensure these delays are mitigated at the right time and avoid major problems during the project.
First, the participants were asked whether they were aware of the mitigation measures suggested
by various researchers who studied about the construction industry. Majority (37.3%) suggested
that they were only somewhat aware of the measures whereas only 15% said that they were very
aware of the measures. This data signifies that most of the construction project managers and
other related personnel do not take additional initiatives to study about various delays and
suggested measures that can be taken to solve these delay issues. In order words, most of the
managers are completely reliant on their own ideas and perceptions and they take their own
actions for introducing change management in the project. While some of the managers did not
provide suitable response regarding the measures they took to solve the errors, some other

64DISSERTATION
managers made some suggestions regarding management of these delays. The responses are
summarized below.
I took proper measures
Need to build a proper planning.
Alternate action plan must be used
The project can be crashed with the addition of extra resource for completing the
project within the deadline.
Make a proper project plan
Identify the issues regarding delays early and prepare suitable plan accordingly.
By making a proper plan of the project
In order to mitigate the delays, it is essential to accurately identify the
requirements of the project and plan a project accordingly.
Reducing the cost and making project plan
To take proper project management plan
Take proper mitigating actions
Proper project plan and follow ups are required
By making a project plan
Elaborately raise awareness
Proper planning was required
Kept thorough follow-up with every nodes of the project to maintain a
synchronous nature
Proper planning was required.
By making a proper project plan

65DISSERTATION
A proper planning is required.
Should have implemented more attention in the factors causing delays
With the making of a proper plan of the project
This could include delaying major concrete pours or postponing heavy lifts. In
some areas regular afternoon thunderstorms occur so you want to ensure that
major tasks are completed ahead of these storms, so starting earlier or working in
smaller sections may help.
Follow the predefined protocol can assist to prevent these delays.
Proper management
Motivate the employee to do better work with better communication
Provide the deliverable within proper time
Design the architecture of the project properly prior to its implementation
I would have taken care of these problems from the initial stages.
Explain or highlight the repercussions of these delays to the employees
Identify possible delays as early as possible
The project must be properly designed
There should be a back up team if there is delay in work to attend the clients at all
time, generate a back up fund or take payment in advance
Better work allocation or effective time management could have been done
Not applicable
Carry recruitment programs to recruit more employees
Proper measures
Apply suitable management

66DISSERTATION
The work should be done on time with the planned budget.
We could have hired some researchers about this domain.
Proper team management of the employees is one of the best ways in order to
mitigate the problem
Educate employees on communication or terms and conditions
The company could have used better organization management techniques
We should have a constant network to see the smooth running of an organization
By making a proper project plan
As per the general idea behind the mitigation measures, the common solution identified is
to identify and solves the issues that cause delays in the project during the planning phase itself
and also aware all the employees and other human resources of the organization regarding the
handling and management of these delays.
4.5 Conclusion
In this chapter, data collection and analysis has been conducted based on the chosen
research topic i.e. investigation of manageable delays which affect construction and analysis of
solution methodologies. For the purpose of data collection, both primary and secondary data
collection techniques were utilized. For the purpose of collecting primary data, a detailed survey
has been conducted – a questionnaire was developed that included an overall 20 questions (some
of which were quantitative and some were qualitative). The questionnaire was distributed among
a number of project managers, officials and higher authority members who have been involved
in the construction projects in the past. The idea of this questionnaire was to determine the
experiences of the participants regarding delays in the construction projects and also their points
of views regarding the causes, effects and mitigation processes of the manageable delays in the

67DISSERTATION
projects they were involved in. The data collected from the questionnaire has been analyzed for
finding the desired results.

68DISSERTATION
Chapter 5: Discussion
5.1 Introduction
The objective of this particular chapter is to discuss about the research topic, which is
manageable delays in construction. This discussion will be based on the findings from the
literature review and the data collection as will also seek to develop a suitable solution
methodology that will address the problems faced by the project managers in construction
projects regarding the manageable delays.
Delay has become a serious source of concern for construction project managers as with
increasing complexity of the project, the extent of delays is also increasing at an alarming rate.
While some managers are able to manage and control the delays, in most of the projects,
especially in construction projects in UK, it is often found that the delays are not well controlled
and as a result, a huge amount of time as well as resources are lost.
5.2 Discussion
As per the common perception and as described by various researchers, manageable
delays are the delays in projects that can be managed or controlled with limited measures and
expenses such that the project as a whole does not face any major problems. As per the initial
analysis, the main factors that result in the delays in the construction projects are shown in the
following table based on their ranks (determined in terms of the extents of delays caused by
them).
Delay Factor Rank
Information delays, lack of information exchange between the parties 1

69DISSERTATION
Incompetent owner 2
Incompetent project management consultant 3
Incompetent design consultant 4
Difficulties in financing project by contractor 5
Incompetent supervision consultant 6
Inadequate contractor’s human resources 7
Difficulties in financing project by owner 8
Shortage of equipment of contractor 9
Lack of strictness and binding in the contract documents 10
Lack of understanding of technique and constructional legislation of owner 11
Lack of coordination between the parties 12
Long waiting time due to owner's authority decentralization in approving payment (complying
with legal process)
13
Long waiting time due to owner's authority decentralization in approving the project
(complying with legal process)
14
Ineffective delay penalties 15
Long waiting time due to owner's authority decentralization in approving design and cost
estimate (complying with legal process)
16
Delay of owner in acceptance of completed works 17
Delay in payment to contractors of completed works 18
Bureaucracy of owner 19
Long waiting time due to owner's authority decentralization in approving bidding results
(complying with legal process)
20
Slowness in decision making process by owner 21
Lack of continuous updating of the project implementation process by owner 22
Unavailability of incentives for the contractor for finishing ahead of schedule 23
Complex geological condition 24
Changes in government regulation and laws 25

70DISSERTATION
Long waiting time due to owner's authority decentralization in approving adjustments
(complying with legal process)
26
Delay of owner in solving the arising during the project implementation 27
Remote location of site 28
The complexity of project 29
Price fluctuations of construction materials 30
Natural disasters (earthquake, flood, etc) 31
From the above table, it can be seen that there are a large number of delay factors that
affect the construction projects and the construction managers often face significant challenge to
bypass or solve these risks and ensure the proper flow of the project.
Owing to the complications arising in the project due to the delays, it is important to
develop a particular solution methodology or framework that will help the construction project
managers to identify the risks early and take suitable actions such that these risks are avoided at
the right time. Moreover, it is also required to ensure the risks do not result in expenses or loss of
time for the project itself.
The solution methodology for the problem should include taking active steps during the
project planning phase when the project is not yet started officially. In this phase, the project
owner and the contractor have the chance to conduct a detailed discussion in which they can
discuss the terms of the contract as well as the overall requirements of the project. In this phase,
a survey can be conducted regarding the possible risks and issues that may delay the project in
future. For instance, if the project involves the construction of a residential building, a survey can
be conducted to determine whether there are disputes regarding the ownership of the chosen
piece of land or whether the chosen piece of land is suitable for construction of a large building.

71DISSERTATION
Again, action can be taken to determine whether government permit has been granted for the
construction of the building or the proposed building design meets the design standards and
guidelines. After the identification of the risks, the two parties need to discuss about these risks
and agree upon suitable solutions that will not hurt the interests of both the parties as well as the
project itself. Finally, the agreed actions must also be included within the contract terms so that
there are no disputes regarding the same in the future when one or more of the risk events occur.
5.3 Summary
As per the definition, manageable delays should be able to be managed or controlled
without much difficulty. However, it does not mean these delays are not complex in nature. In
various construction projects, managers have faced considerable difficulties in finding suitable
solutions to these problems and issues. The main identified factor behind this is that most of the
managers are not aware of the delay issues during the planning phase and hence, they fail to take
suitable actions unless the risk events occur and cause delays in the project. Hence, it is
important to grow awareness among the construction project managers regarding these delays
and issues so that they identify these issues early during the project planning phase and take
suitable actions that will help them bypass these events and avoid delays in the project.

72DISSERTATION
Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendations
6.1 Conclusion
Delay is defined as the additional time that is required to complete a particular project
after the project deadline or the agreed delivery date between both the parties is already reached.
With significant growth in the construction industry every year along with the evolution of
technology, the construction techniques are also changing and getting more complex. Along with
the increase in the complexity, the construction projects are increasing significantly in size with
the aid of new technology and development of new and better quality construction materials.
Construction projects involve design and development of generally large structures like
buildings, bridges, pillars, platforms and others. Due to complex nature and vast scale of almost
all of the construction projects, the project managers often face significant amount of delays
throughout the course of the project. The delays in the construction projects are the biggest
problems that were faced by construction industries. Delay in delivering the projects leads to
many problems including contract dispute in between the client and the contractors associated
that normally ends with relationship disruption, contract termination, decrease in the productivity
of the construction industry, claims as well as lawsuit. The project manager here plays an
important role of making proper planning, project progress as well as completion of the projects
within the scheduled budget and time. The potential impact of this research study is mainly to
identify all manageable delays that are attached with the modern construction process and the
effects that fall on the construction projects delivery at the time of contract as well as suggest all
such mitigation measures that can mitigate construction delays. The specific problem that is
under focus in this research is the significant extent of delays in construction projects that

73DISSERTATION
ultimately results in high amount financial losses for the organizations. Very large extent of
failure can also lead to the failure of the project if the client or the construction company both
fails to compensate for the delays financially. Hence, delays are often the major causes of failure
of the construction projects in addition to the other technical issues. The delay in construction
industry is such a large problem around the world as evident from the construction industry in
Hong Kong. From the analysis of data, it has been found that 83% of the total number of
construction projects in Hong Kong has been delayed due to various reasons. For primary data
collection, a survey has been conducted on selected 51 project managers in the construction
industry in UK and the questionnaire contained both quantitative and qualitative data. The
responses received from the managers regarding the quantitative data survey are shown in the
following tables. The data collected from the survey signifies that most of the construction
project managers and other related personnel do not take additional initiatives to study about
various delays and suggested measures that can be taken to solve these delay issues. In order
words, most of the managers are completely reliant on their own ideas and perceptions and they
take their own actions for introducing change management in the project.
6.2 Recommendations
From the analysis of the entire case, some specific recommendations can be provided for
the construction project managers who have faced significant problems regarding mitigation of
manageable delay problems in UK construction industry. These recommendations are listed as
follows.
 The construction project managers in UK need to take up the issue of manageable
delays in projects seriously. From the analysis of the data, it has been found that
most of the managers have only basic understanding about the subject and

74DISSERTATION
moreover, they are not even aware of such risks until they face them during the
course of the project. These types of delays must be solved and bypassed as early
as possible in order to avoid further major problems or issues and loss of time and
funds.
 A recommended solution to the problem is to identify the issues early during the
planning phase of the project itself. It will not only allow more time to the project
manager to explore various options regarding solving the issues, it will also give
him a clear idea regarding the overall risk status so that he is able to plan
accordingly for the project.
 For avoiding the risks, one recommended method is to build up a suitable
professional partnership between the parent organization and the contractor.
6.3 Limitations of the Research
In spite of the field of study covered, there are some research limitations that are as
follows.
 The entire study has been focused on the construction industry in UK alone and
does not consider a global perspective. Hence, the research results are to be
considered true for UK but cannot be considered as absolutely true if the global
perspective is to be considered. For that purpose, further research with global
perspective needs to be undertaken accordingly.
 While considering only UK construction industry, the primary data has also been
collected solely from UK only. As a result, the data results are biased towards UK
construction industry and do not reflect the global picture and hence, the

75DISSERTATION
researchers who are working on a global perspective may find this research
misleading.
 The entire research focuses only on manageable delays in construction and does
not discuss about unavoidable and unmanageable delays that hamper the progress
of projects in construction industry.
 Some participants in the research survey have provided biased opinions or no
opinions at all that have resulted in a drawback in the research.
6.4 Future Scope of the Study
This study has a lot of future scope if the future researchers are willing to take actions
regarding the areas that have not been covered by this research. Since this research only focuses
on UK construction industry, future researches can take active steps to consider the same topic
on a global scale and solve the bias that might be present in this research. Further research can
also be undertaken to develop better and more efficient solution methodology for the manageable
delays in construction.

76DISSERTATION
References
Abdelmaguid, T. F., & Elrashidy, W. (2016). Halting decisions for gas pipeline construction
projects using AHP: a case study. Operational Research, 1-21.
Aimable, S. I. B. O. M. A. N. A., Shukla, J., & Oduor, J. (2015). EFFECTS OF RISK
MANAGEMENT METHODS ON PROJECT PERFORMANCE IN RWANDAN
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY A CASE STUDY OF MULTI-STOREY BUILDINGS
CONSTRUCTION PROJECT OF RSSB (Doctoral dissertation, Jomo Kenyatta University
of Agriculture and Technology).
Anees, M. K., & Sabarinathan, S. (2016). Ranking of delay factors in the Indian Building
Construction. International Journal On Engineering Technology and Sciences, III (VI),
39-50.
Assaf, S. A., and Al-Hejji, S. (2006). Causes of Delay in Large Costruction Projects.
International Journal of Project Management, 24, 349-357.
audit, o. n. (2001). modernising construction. london: the stationary office.
Ayinde, O. N., & Oke, A. E. (2017). Preferred Team Roles of Construction Team Members in
Selected Higher Institution Projects. International Journal of Built Environment and
Sustainability, 4(2).
Belay, M. D., Tekeste, E. A., & Ambo, S. A. (2017). Investigation of Major Success Factors on
Building Construction Projects Management System in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. American
Journal of Civil Engineering, 5(3), 155-163.

77DISSERTATION
Boateng, P., Chen, Z., & Ogunlana, S. O. (2015). An Analytical Network Process model for risks
prioritisation in megaprojects. International Journal of Project Management, 33(8),
1795-1811.
Chidambaram Ramanathan, SP Narayanan and Arazi B Idrus. (2012). Construction Delay
Causing Risks on Time and Cost - a criticsl review. Australian Journal of Construction
Economics and Building, 12(1), 37 - 57.
Chidambaram Ramanathan, SP Narayanan and Arazi B Idrus. (2012). Construction Delays
Causing Risks on Time and Cost - a Critical Review. Australasian Journal of
Construction Economics and Building, 12(1), 39 - 41.
Construction statistic. (2017). construction sattistics. Retrieved from office for national sattistic:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/constructionindustry/articles/
constructionstatistics/number182017edition
Corvello, V., Javernick-Will, A., & Ratta, A. M. L. (2017). Routine project scope management
in small construction enterprises. International Journal of Project Organisation and
Management, 9(1), 18-30.
Dixit, S., Mandal, S. N., Sawhney, A., & Singh, S. (2017). Area of linkage between lean
construction and sustainability in Indian construction industry. International Journal of
Civil Engineering & Technology, 8(8), 623-636.
Dolage, D. A. R., & Pathmarajah, T. (2015). Mitigation of delays attributable to the contractors
in the construction industry of Sri Lanka-consultants’ perspective. Engineer: Journal of
the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka, 48(1).

78DISSERTATION
DR S. G. NAOUM. (2007). Dissertation Research and Writing for Construction Students (2 ed.).
London: Elsevier Ltd.
EL - SAADI, M. M. (1998). Aministrative Procedures for the Management of Construction
Claims. American University of Beirut, Department of Engineering and Architecture.
Beirut, Lebanon: American University of Beirut.
El-Sabek, L. M., & McCabe, B. Y. (2017). Coordination Challenges of Production Planning &
Control in International Mega-Projects: A Case Study. Lean Construction Journal.
Esmaeili, B., Pellicer, E., & Molenaar, K. R. (2016). Critical success factors for construction
projects. In Project Management and Engineering Research, 2014 (pp. 3-14). Springer,
Cham.
Guo, B. H., Yiu, T. W., González, V. A., & Goh, Y. M. (2016). Using a pressure-state-practice
model to develop safety leading indicators for construction projects. Journal of
Construction Engineering and Management, 143(2), 04016092.
Han, S., Saba, F., Lee, S., Mohamed, Y., & Peña-Mora, F. (2014). Toward an understanding of
the impact of production pressure on safety performance in construction
operations. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 68, 106-116.
Hickson, B. G., & Ellis, L. A. (2014). Factors affecting construction labour productivity in
Trinidad and Tobago. The Journal of the Association of Professional engineers of
Trinidad and Tobago, 42(1), 4-11.
Hussein, A. I., & Zaid, K. (2016). Using Building Information Modeling (BIM) and the Last
Planner System (LPS) to Reduce Construction Process Delay.

79DISSERTATION
Iyer, K. C., & Banerjee, P. S. (2016). Measuring and benchmarking managerial efficiency of
project execution schedule performance. International Journal of Project
Management, 34(2), 219-236.
Jrade, A., & Lessard, J. (2015). An integrated BIM system to track the time and cost of
construction projects: a case study. Journal of Construction Engineering, 2015.
Jung, W., & Han, S. H. (2017). Which Risk Management Is Most Crucial for Controlling Project
Cost?. Journal of Management in Engineering, 33(5), 04017029.
Khalife, M. A., & Mahdavi, I. (2015). Optimization modeling in construction project risk
mitigation, literature review. PROCEEDINGS (ZBORNIK RADOVA), 638.
Khan, K. I. A., Flanagan, R., & Lu, S. L. (2016). Managing information complexity using system
dynamics on construction projects. Construction management and economics, 34(3), 192-
204.
Khanh, H. D., & Kim, S. Y. (2015). Development of waste occurrence level indicator in Vietnam
construction industry. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 22(6),
715-731.
Khodakarami, V., & Abdi, A. (2014). Project cost risk analysis: A Bayesian networks approach
for modeling dependencies between cost items. International Journal of Project
Management, 32(7), 1233-1245.
Kostka, G., & Anzinger, N. (2016). Offshore Wind Power Expansion in Germany: Scale
Patterns, and Causes of Time Delays and Cost Overruns. In Large Infrastructure Projects
in Germany (pp. 147-189). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

80DISSERTATION
Lambert, E. L. (2015). Complex factors related to capital construction project success: A case
study (Doctoral dissertation, Capella University).
Leijten, M. (2017). What lies beneath: Bounded manageability in complex underground
infrastructure projects.
Lessing, B., Thurnell, D., & Durdyev, S. (2017). Main factors causing delays in large
construction projects: Evidence from New Zealand.
Liu, J., Xie, Q., Xia, B., & Bridge, A. J. (2017). Impact of design risk on the performance of
design-build projects. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 143(6),
04017010.
Liu, Q., Xu, J., & Qin, F. (2017). Optimization for the Integrated Operations in an Uncertain
Construction Supply Chain. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 64(3), 400-
414.
Lu, W., Hua, Y., & Zhang, S. (2017). Logistic regression analysis for factors influencing cost
performance of design-bid-build and design-build projects. Engineering, Construction
and Architectural Management, 24(1), 118-132.
Luo, L., He, Q., Jaselskis, E. J., & Xie, J. (2017). Construction project complexity: research
trends and implications. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 143(7),
04017019.
Mali, M. L., & Warudkar, M. A. (2016). Causes of Delay in the Construction Industry in Pune
region of India. Journal of Management. In Engineering, 11(2), 45-50.

81DISSERTATION
Marhani, M. A., Bari, N. A. A., Ahmad, K., & Jaapar, A. (2018). The Implementation of Lean
Construction Tools: Findings from a Qualitative Study. Chemical Engineering
Transactions, 63, 295-300.
Martin, H., Lewis, T. M., & Petersen, A. (2016). Factors affecting the choice of construction
project delivery in developing oil and gas economies. Architectural Engineering and
Design Management, 12(3), 170-188.
Medallah, A. K. (2015). A review of projects and construction law practice in Saudi Arabia. J.
Pol. & L., 8, 94.
Menesi, W. (2007). Construction Delay Analysis under Multiple. University of Waterloo, Civil
Engineering. Ontairo, Canada: University of Waterloo.
Mhetre, K., Konnur, B. A., & Landage, A. B. (2016). Risk management in construction
industry. Int. J. Eng. Res, 5, 153-155.
Mohammad, H., Yaman, S. K., Hassan, F., & Ismail, Z. (2016). Determining the technical
competencies of construction managers in the Malaysia’s construction industry.
In MATEC Web of Conferences (Vol. 47, p. 04021). EDP Sciences.
Molner, B. (2007, march 28). Project Delays, Disruption, and Changes. shareholder,
construction Group, p. 1.
Monazam, N. H., Hamidimonazam, H., & Hosseini, M. R. (2016). AN INVESTIGATION INTO
DESIGN-RELATED RISKS AFFECTING IRANIAN CONSTRUCTION
PROJECTS. Project Management Development–Practice and Perspectives, 133.

82DISSERTATION
Mydin, M. O., Sani, N. M., Salim, N. A., & Alias, N. M. (2014). Assessment of Influential
Causes of Construction Project Delay in Malaysian Private Housing from Developer’s
Viewpoint. In E3S Web of Conferences (Vol. 3, p. 01027). EDP Sciences.
NEDO. (1988). Faster Building for Commerce HMSO. London.
Oedewald, P., & Gotcheva, N. (2015). Safety culture and subcontractor network governance in a
complex safety critical project. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 141, 106-114.
Olawale, Y., & Sun, M. (2015). Construction project control in the UK: Current practice,
existing problems and recommendations for future improvement. International Journal of
Project Management, 33(3), 623-637.
Oppong, G. D., Chan, A. P., & Dansoh, A. (2017). A review of stakeholder management
performance attributes in construction projects. International journal of project
management, 35(6), 1037-1051.
Oshungade, O. O. (2016). A comparative study of causes and effects of project delays and
disruptions in construction projects in the South African construction industry: City of
Johannesburg as a case study (Doctoral dissertation, University of Johannesburg).
Parry, A. (2015). The Improvement of Delay in the UK construction Industry. Northumbria
University, Phylosophy. Newcastle: Northumbria University. Retrieved from
http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/27294/
Patanakul, P., Kwak, Y. H., Zwikael, O., & Liu, M. (2016). What impacts the performance of
large-scale government projects?. International Journal of Project Management, 34(3),
452-466.

83DISSERTATION
Patil, S. M., Desai, D. B., & Gupta, A. K. (2015). Earned Value Analysis In Construction
Industry. International Journal of Informative & Futuristic Research Paper ID
JIFR/MH/2015/SI-I, 3.
S. M. Renuka, C. Umaran, S. Kamal. (2014). A Review on Risk Factors in the Life Cycle of
Construction Projects. Journal of Civil Engineering Research , 4(2A), 31-36.
doi:10.5923/c.jce.201401.07
SAEED, S. A. (2009). DELAY TO PROJECTS – CAUSE, EFFECT AND MEASURES TO
REDUCE /. The British University in Dubai, Project Management Program Institution of
Business. Dubai: The British University in Dubai.
Samad M E Sepasgozar, Mohamad Ahmadzade Razkenari & Khalegh Barati. (2015). The
Importance of New Technology for Delay Mitigation in Construction Projects. American
Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture, 3(1), 1. doi:10.12691/ajcea-3-1-3
Scaringella, L., & Burtschell, F. (2017). The challenges of radical innovation in iran: Knowledge
transfer and absorptive capacity highlights—evidence from a joint venture in the
construction sector. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 122, 151-169.
Sears, S. K., Sears, G. A., Clough, R. H., Rounds, J. L., & Segner, R. O. (2015). Construction
project management. John Wiley & Sons.
Senaratne, S., & Ruwanpura, M. (2016). Communication in construction: a management
perspective through case studies in Sri Lanka. Architectural Engineering and Design
Management, 12(1), 3-18.

84DISSERTATION
Shabbar, H., Ullah, F., Ayub, B., Thaheem, M. J., & Gabriel, H. F. (2017). Empirical Evidence
of Extension of Time in Construction Projects. Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute
Resolution in Engineering and Construction, 9(3), 04517008.
Sohrabinejad, A., & Rahimi, M. (2015). Risk determination, prioritization, and classifying in
construction project case study: gharb tehran commercial-administrative
complex. Journal of Construction Engineering, 2015.
Taroun, A. (2014). Towards a better modelling and assessment of construction risk: Insights
from a literature review. International journal of Project management, 32(1), 101-115.
Tawil, Toufic M. Mezher & Wissam. (1998). Causes of delay in the construction industry
Lebanon. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 5(3), 252 - 260.
Retrieved from dio.org/10.1108/eb021079
Tommy Y. Lo; Ivan W. H. Fung; and Karen C.F. Tung. (2006). Construction Delays in Hong
Kong Civil Engineering Projects. journal of Construction Engineering and Manageent
(ASCE), 636 - 649.
Van, L. T., Sang, N. M., & Viet, N. T. (2015). A conceptual model of delay factors affecting
government construction projects. ARPN Journal of Science and Technology, 5(2), 92-
100.
Verweij, S. (2015). Achieving satisfaction when implementing PPP transportation infrastructure
projects: A qualitative comparative analysis of the A15 highway DBFM
project. International Journal of Project Management, 33(1), 189-200.

85DISSERTATION
Wang, Y., Li, Y., & Guo, P. (2015). Modelling Construction Project Management Based on
System Dynamics. Metallurgical & Mining Industry, (9).
world bank. (1990). “Annual Review of Project Performance Results.”. world bank.
Xia, N., Zhong, R., Wu, C., Wang, X., & Wang, S. (2017). Assessment of stakeholder-related
risks in construction projects: Integrated analyses of risk attributes and stakeholder
influences. Journal of construction engineering and management, 143(8), 04017030.
Yang, J. B., & Chen, C. C. (2015). Causes of Budget Changes in Building Construction Projects:
An Empirical Study in Taiwan. The Engineering Economist, 60(1), 1-21.
Yap, J. B. H., Abdul-Rahman, H., & Chen, W. (2017). Collaborative model: Managing design
changes with reusable project experiences through project learning and effective
communication. International Journal of Project Management, 35(7), 1253-1271.
Yap, J. B. H., Abdul-Rahman, H., Wang, C., & Skitmore, M. (2018). Exploring the underlying
factors inducing design changes during building production. Production Planning &
Control, 29(7), 586-601.
Yap, J. B. H., Low, P. L., & Wang, C. (2017). Rework in Malaysian building construction:
impacts, causes and potential solutions. Journal of Engineering, Design and
Technology, 15(5), 591-618.
Yu, M. C., Dang, V. L., & Yeh, H. C. (2017). Measuring cash flow and overdraft for fuzzy
project networks with overlapping activities. Journal of Civil Engineering and
Management, 23(4), 487-498.

86DISSERTATION
Zidane, Y. J., Andersen, B., Johansen, A., & Ahmad, S. (2016). “Need for Speed”: framework
for measuring construction project pace–case of road project. Procedia-Social and
Behavioral Sciences, 226, 12-19.

87DISSERTATION
Appendices
Appendix 1: Gantt Chart
The Gantt chart reflecting the overall estimated schedule for research is shown in the
following diagram.
Figure: Gantt Chart of the Research
(Source: Created by Author)

88DISSERTATION
Appendix 2: Survey Results

89DISSERTATION

90DISSERTATION

91DISSERTATION

92DISSERTATION

93DISSERTATION

94DISSERTATION