Common causes of Construction delays

Common causes of Construction delays.

What is a construction delay? Well in lamens terms anything that prevents a site from moving forward is a delay.

There are many different causes of construction delays However many of them can be prevented.

Weather, well we all might be thinking that we cannot control the weather, which is 100% correct, however one can watch the weather forecasts closely and plan ahead as far as possible.
There are many reliable weather sites available to us now days, so one should make use of them and plan accordingly IE one cannot lay roof sheets if you are expecting gale force winds, and you cannot pour concrete when it is raining.

There is however an old saying in the industry “ rain before 7 clears by 11” not too sure how true this is but it’s something I have heard many times before.

Insufficient funding, Oh yes MONEY can make or break a site. If the budget is not sufficient enough then this can have an enormous impact on the project, or if funding is not adequately released during the correct phases of the project then this too can have a huge impact, as this impacts delivery of goods, wage payments etc.
Decision making, Yip you heard right, if the Client cannot make up their mind during the project then this will cause serious delays, as well as if the client is changing their mind constantly, as the contractor and their subbies must now sit and wait for the final decision because if the contractor make his own decision then the client might not pay.
Poor Coordination. Now I am sure that we have all heard contractors blaming subbies and subbies blaming contractors , however it boils down to poor coordination / Time planning, if a contractor does not order their materials timeously the manufacturer cannot produce it on time , causing delays. If the Subcontractor or manufacturer does not plan ahead, and manage their own production correctly this too will cause delays.
Unskilled labour, Many people think it’s quite easy to lay bricks, or to tile, piping etc. when in actual fact if you do not know what it is that you are doing it will cost the site time and money to break done what has been done in order to fix it if it has not been done correctly leading in the obvious Time delays.
Incorrect designs, Yes designs…. If the professional consultant has not done all the correct designs, just a simple error can cost a huge time delay on site to try and correct or amend to make the design work again…
Then there is the ever popular Labour issue which is so common in South Africa. If you’re Labourers or SMME’s are not in agreement with regards to rates or wages, they often shut down an entire site and no further construction will commence until the dispute has been resolved.
Community related issues, this can cause huge delays , especially if there has not been a community buy in on the project, because the project is been done within their community, it needs to be of benefit to them, and if they do not feel it is for the better of them, they will be stopping the project as well.

This leaves me to the conclusion that it’s definitely quite a stressful job being in the construction industry as everything needs to run like a well-oiled machine.

PLAN, PLAN, PLAN!

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About Jennifer Ellis

I Started working with Leads 2 Business in 2007 and been based in Port Elizabeth as a Senior account Executive. I oversee the Subscriber base in the Port Elizabeth and surrounds region as well as some National subscribers.