Assessing the impact of the delayed issuance of construction permits on the timely commencement of construction projects.

Abstract

The construction industry is large, volatile and requires tremendous capital expenditures. Delay is generally acknowledged as the most common costly problem encountered in construction industry. It results into frequent disputes and claims leading to law suits between contractors and clients. The timely completion of construction projects is considered one of the most important factors affecting project success. The delays result into cost and time overruns. Construction project delays have an effect on parties for example the owner in terms of the late release of the of the structure to him which results into the late realisation of the profits and to contractor in terms of extra payments that have to be made in form of liquidated damages because of the delayed completion of construction projects (Syed & etl, 2014). Delays differ from one country to another, from construction project to another and from construction type to another. Contractors have voiced their concerns over the difficulty to overcome delay problems because they have no ability to identify the important causes of delays occurring before and during construction projects. Ranking the importance of delay variables by project managers enables the identification of the most important variables and assists them to seek best alternatives solutions (Syed & etl, 2014). Delays on construction projects have been experienced on several projects for example (Kininy, 2013) central Artery/ tunnel project better known as the Big Dig was one of the most notorious construction projects that took 16 years to complete and the Tunnel; Sydney Opera house in Sydney Austria was delayed due to design problems, bad weather and unforeseen circumstances.