Working Paper 141 - Always Late: Measures and Determinants of Disbursement Delays at the AfDB

Over the years, an abundant number of studies have pointed to long delays at project start-up as one of the main impediments to the performance of development operations in Africa. The influence and importance of time delays on project performance emphasizes the need for a systematic effort to understand why some projects delay so much and others do not. This study attempts to identify the projects’ characteristics which affect the probability to experience delays. Using a sample of African Development Bank Projects, statistical and econometric analyses are employed to identify the determinants of long delays in project start-up in the agricultural sector. The dataset used, consists of all the 525 agricultural sector operations approved by the Bank between 1990 and 2007. Analyses generally reveal that long gestation and delays at project start-up is prominent for agricultural sector projects and is a potential bottleneck for the Bank funded operations. Time delays have significantly improved for newly approved operations. Close to half of the time delay to the first disbursement is due to the delay between commitment and loan effectiveness. Multinational projects are significantly more efficient in term of delays at start-up. The smaller the cost of the operation, the greater will be the probability to experience long start-up delays. The longer the planned implementation period of a project, the higher the start-up delay will be. Projects with many components have lower probability of experiencing delays at start up. After a project has entered into force, the time elapsed to first disbursement will be longer for ADB countries. The paper concludes by outlining a number of implications for effective strategies to mitigate long delays encountered throughout the project cycle in the agricultural sector.

DELAYS FACTORS IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF KLANG VALLEY, MALAYSIA

The problem of project delays in construction industry is a global phenomenon; Malaysia is no exceptional. Delays are always considered as costly to all parties involved in the project and very often it will results in dispute, claims, total abandonment and blight the feasibility for project owners and retard the development of construction industry. Therefore, the objectives of this paper are to identify the main causes and contributor to the project delays because delays can be minimized only when their causes are identified. Moreover, it is also aimed to investigate the most critical stage throughout the process of project development pertaining to the project delays as well as to recommend various methods that could be adopted by the construction industry players to mitigate the problems. In order to achieve the said objectives, a total of twenty one factors of delays which was then grouped under owner related, contractor related and consultant related delay factors and ten methods to mitigate the project delays were based on literature review. The structural questionnaires were distributed to the targeted respondents in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The findings from this paper shown that owner’s slow in decision making was perceived to be the most significant factor and main causes to the project delays. All of the respondents claimed that working drawing stage being the most critical stage in governing all of these owner’s related delay factors. Besides that, the contractor is deemed to be the main contributor to the project delays in Malaysia construction industry. It is assumed by all of the respondents that the contractor should be responsible for any delays at the construction stage which is considered as the most critical stage in governing the project delays. In order to mitigate the project delays, awarding bids to the right and experience contractor was suggested to be the utmost effective solution in resolving those contractor’s related delay factors.CSFs; Project delay, construction industry, construction project development, mitigates delays, Malaysia

A study of project planning on Libyan construction projects

Construction projects are regularly faced by scheduling problems causing the projects to finish beyond their predetermined due date; this is a global phenomenon. The main purpose of this study is to consider the problems associated with project planning generally, with specific reference to construction projects in Libya. This study is unique in two respects. First, despite the recent high volume of infrastructure work in the country, there have been few investigations into construction delays in Libya. Secondly, earlier studies have considered the causes or the effects of project delays, whereas the present aim is to evaluate the potential of applying a planning and scheduling technique that is entirely novel in the Libyan context. The paper reports the results of Phase I of this research

Development of a scale for factors causing delays in infrastructure projects in India

The objective of the paper is to develop a validated scale to measure the factors that cause delays in infrastructure projects. The study employed a standard three phase scale development procedure of Churchill (1979) which was augmented subsequently by Nunnally, Bernstein and Berge (1994) and Prakash and Phadtare (2018). In phase one, 73 factors that cause delays were identified, which were reduced to 45 based on literature review and expert opinions. These 45 factors were subjected to an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in phase two and three, respectively, to refine and establish convergent, discriminant and nomological validity of the scale. The study confirms that delays in infrastructure projects happen due to six factors, i.e., Contractor Related Factors (CON); Consultant Related Factors (CS); External Factors (EX); Labour Related Factors (LR); Material Related Factors (MT) and Design Related Factors (DJ). The study is particularly useful for the firms engaged in the development of infrastructure projects globally, as it identifies and ranks the factors that cause delays in a project. However, the study being confirmatory in nature only confirms the grouping of factors causing delays and is also limited by the possibility of sampling error.&nbsp

Subcontractors' liability for project delays

The paper addresses the contractual problem of how main contractors pass on liability for project delays to their subcontractors; a topic that is difficult and has not been grasped properly in the previous literature. The survey reveals that the ‘normal’ approach is illogical and that the issue is misunderstood by a significant proportion of practitioners in the UK

Stability analysis of impulsive stochastic Cohen–Grossberg neural networks with mixed time delays

This is the post print version of the article. The official published version can be obtained from the link - Copyright 2008 Elsevier LtdIn this paper, the problem of stability analysis for a class of impulsive stochastic Cohen–Grossberg neural networks with mixed delays is considered. The mixed time delays comprise both the time-varying and infinite distributed delays. By employing a combination of the M-matrix theory and stochastic analysis technique, a sufficient condition is obtained to ensure the existence, uniqueness, and exponential p-stability of the equilibrium point for the addressed impulsive stochastic Cohen–Grossberg neural network with mixed delays. The proposed method, which does not make use of the Lyapunov functional, is shown to be simple yet effective for analyzing the stability of impulsive or stochastic neural networks with variable and/or distributed delays. We then extend our main results to the case where the parameters contain interval uncertainties. Moreover, the exponential convergence rate index is estimated, which depends on the system parameters. An example is given to show the effectiveness of the obtained results.This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of CQ CSTC under grant 2007BB0430, the Scientific Research Fund of Chongqing Municipal Education Commission under Grant KJ070401, an International Joint Project sponsored by the Royal Society of the UK and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany

Effects of construction delays on construction project objectives

Delays can be defined as the late completion of works as compared to the planned schedule on the contract. Delays can be avoided or minimized only when their causes are identified. When delay occurred in to our project, it will have adverse consequences on project objectives in terms of time, cost and quality. The aim of the study reported in this paper was to identify the effects of delays that could threat project objectives in construction projects. A comprehensive literature review from various sources through books, conference proceedings, the internet, and civil engineering journals was made to carry out the study. According to delay categories that were contractor related, client related, consultant related, labor related and external related, the results of this study identified the six major effects of delay that were time overrun, cost overrun, dispute, arbitration, total abandonment, and litigation. The study also revealed that time and cost overruns were the frequent effects of delay. It is hoped that this study will become the foundation of further research in the area of project delays and mitigation measures

A case study of the delays of dam and channels construction in Albania

The aim of this paper is to discuss and understand the delays during the construction of dam, and Canal projects. Delays in any infrastructure project leads to significant economic and political implications. While the immediate effect is that the public needs to wait for the benefits being delivered by the project, it also leads to many other secondary effects on the economy. Various reasons for these improvement delays, one of the most prominent being issues with land acquisition, followed by under staffing, delays on the part of CWC etc. This research concentrates on the delays in post approval processes related to construction of dam and canals, and this materials are based on the project ‘’Ternova Hydropower’’, a project of ’Dardania Ndertim’’ and ‘’Alba American Construction Services’’ companies that are collaborating with each other. The method being adopted in this study is to make a list of best practices in the industry which helps in reducing the time delays in project execution, and then to check the existence of such practices during the project execution at Albania. Also, the project document available at site has been evaluated to study the issues faced during the project execution stage

Developing Future UK Energy Performance Standards: The St Nicholas Court project, Final Report

The St Nicholas Court Project was set up to explore the implications of an enhanced energy performance standard for new housing for the design, construction and performance of timber framed dwellings. The energy performance standard, EPS08, is modelled on proposals made by the DETR in June 2000 for a possible review of Part L of the Building Regulations in the second half of the present decade. The overall goal of the project was to support the next revision of Part L through an enhanced body of qualitative and quantitative evidence on options and impacts. The seeds of the project were contained in a report – Towards Sustainable Housing - commissioned by Joseph Rowntree Foundation at the start of the last review of this part of the Building Regulations. The project itself has been based on the St Nicholas Court Development which involves the design and construction of a group of 18 low energy and affordable dwellings on a brown field site in York (see site plan below). The research project was established in two stages. Initial funding was provided by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in the spring of 1999. This ensured the involvement of the research team from the outset of the development process. Additional funding was provided from late 2000 by the Housing Corporation and by the DETR through the Partners in Innovation programme (responsibility for which now lies with the DTI). The research project was originally divided into five phases – project definition, design, construction, occupation, and communication and dissemination. Delays in site acquisition initially allowed the design phase to be extended, but ultimately forced the abandonment of the construction and occupation phases, and the scaling down of the communication and dissemination phase. Despite the delays, the development itself will now go ahead, with construction starting in mid-2003

Factors influencing project delay: a case study of the vale malaysia minerals project (VMMP)

Delays are one of the biggest problems faced by the construction industry. Delays in construction projects have significant financial and social impact to parties involved in the projects. The main objective of this study is to explore the causes of delay in the Vale Malaysia Minerals Project (VMMP) in Lumut, Perak. This study was conducted by using a qualitative approach. A series of face to face interviews were conducted with an expert from the construction organization and VMMP staff. Responses were analysed qualitatively using content analysis. The results revealed that several factors contribute to the delay in VMMP completion, i.e. poor communication, delays in material delivery, and poor management on site, etc. Time and cost overrun were the effect of delays in the construction project. The findings of this study will help project managers and/ or the client to take necessary actions and to use of supply chain management techniques to avoid further delays in future project completion on construction project