AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CAUSES OF DELAY IN LARGE CIVIL ENGINEERING PROJECTS IN KENYA. SYMON ANTONY KWATSIMA MASTER OF SCIENCE DEGREE (Construction Engineering And Management) JOMO KENYATTA UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY 2015 An Investigation into the Causes of Delay in Large Civil Engineering Projects in Kenya. Symon Antony Kwatsima Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of Master of Science Degree in construction Engineering and Management of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology 2015 i DECLARATION This thesis is my original work and has not been presented for any academic award in any other University. Signed _________________________ Date _________________________ Symon A. Kwatsima This thesis has been submitted for examination with my approval as University supervisor. Signed ___________________________ Date_________________________ Dr. Githae Wanyona JKUAT, Kenya Signed ___________________________ Date _________________________ Dr. Patrick Ajwang JKUAT, Kenya ii DEDICATION To my family Thank you for your love, encouragement and support. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am overwhelmingly thankful to God for seeing me through this study from inception. I am grateful to my supervisor Dr. Githae Wanyona and Dr. Patrick Ajwang for scholarly direction, advice and encouragement in the course of this study. I also acknowledge the efforts of my lecturers at the Department of Construction Engineering and specifically at the SMARTEC. Your lectures formed the basis of enlightenment within which this iii research falls. I appreciate the efforts of the consulting engineers, quantity surveyors, construction project managers, lead architects and contractors for their help in the study. Much appreciation goes to my beloved family for their steadfast support throughout my studies. TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION........................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION.............................................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................ iv CHAPTER ONE ......................................................................................................................... 11 2.1 Introduction 14 2.2 Theoretical Literature 14 2.2.1 Capability Approach 14 2.2.2 Managerial Capability 15 iv 2.2.3 Technological Capabilities 16 2.3 Empirical Literature. 18 2.3.1 Factors Causing Delays in Effective Communication 18 2.3.2 Project Teamwork and Composition 19 2.3.3 Lack of User Involvement 19 2.4 Delay-Case Studies 19 2.4.1 Case study one 20 2.4.2 Case study Two 22 2.4.3 Case study Three 23 2.5 Review of delays on both Building and Civil Engineering projects. 26 2.5.1 Damages for breach of contract due to delay. 29 2.5.2 Liquidated damages. 29 2.5.3 Findings affecting management of projects. 29 2.5.5 Severity of delay causing disappointment to parties. 31 2.5.4 Importance of delay to overcoming challenges of construction projects. 33 2.5.7 Design, construction and use. 34 2.6 Conceptual Framework 38 CHAPTER THREE .................................................................................................................... 40 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................. 40 3.1. Introduction. 40 3.2 Research Design. 40 3.3 Population 40 3.3.1Target population and sampling. 40 3.4. Sample Size and Sampling Design. 41 3.4.3 Purposeful sampling. 41 v 3.5 Data collection. 42 3.7 Test for validity and reliability 42 CHAPTER FOUR ....................................................................................................................... 43 4.4 Conclusion 55 4.5 Results and Discussion 56 4.5.1 Summary of discussion. 56 4.5.1.1 Recommended Remedies for Delay . 59 4.6 Mitigation measures. 60 4.6.1 Contractors should consider the following factors: 60 4.6.2 Consultants should look to the following points: 60 CHAPTER FIVE: ....................................................................................................................... 72 FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: ............................................. 62 5.0 Introduction 62 5.1 Research findings. 63 5.1.3 Summary of findings. 64 5.2 Conclusion. 64 5.3 Recommendations for future studies. 67 5.4 Acknowledgments. 67 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................ 69 APPENDIX-1 69 vi LIST OF TABLES Figure 2.1: Factors leading to delays in large engineering firms 39 Table 3.1 Construction by Sector 41 Table 4.1: Distribution of Gender of the Respondents 43 Table 4.2: Distribution of Highest Academic Level of the Respondents 44 Table 4.3: Distribution of Age of the Respondents 45 Table 4.4: Distribution of Length of Service in the project consulting 46 Table 4.5 : Effect of Regulatory Framework on the Performance of construction sector 52 Table 4.6: Alignment of Regulatory Knowledge to timely completion of construction projects. 53 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: Factors leading to delays in large engineering firms 39 Figure 4.1: Distribution of Age of the espondents 45 Figure 4.1- Experience of respondents 46 Figure 4.2 Indication of main delay causes in large civil engineering projects 47 Figure: 4.4 Indication of the impacts of delay in civil engineering projects 49 Figure 4.5. Severity of delay.. 49 Figure 4.6: Effect of Issuance of Construction Permits 50 Figure 4.7-Remedial action for delay source: analysis of survey data. 51 Figure 4.8: Performance of ERC in Handling of Sector Complaints Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 4.9: Alignment of Regulatory Knowledge to timely completion of construction projects 54 Figure 4.10: Regulatory Knowledge and timely completion of construction project 55 Figure 5.1: Project life cycle. 67 viii ABSTRACT Delays are one of the biggest problems construction firms face. Delays can lead to many negative effects such as lawsuits between owners and contractors, increased costs, loss of productivity and revenue, and contract termination. Even though various studies have been considered into the causes affecting delays, these studies seldom discuss common and general causes of delays in construction projects. Thus, comprehensive study on these delays was deemed to be essential. Since the problems are rather contextual, the study focused on specific causes of delay like insufficient coordination and ineffective communication between involved parties in construction projects located in Kenya. Currently, construction accounts for a large percentage of the annual gross domestic product (GDP). However, the growth in the construction industry has influenced the country’s economic development. As observed in developed construction is considered unique in that it can stimulate the growth of other industrial sectors. Hence to consider growth of the construction industry in terms of its contribution to GDP in isolation is somewhat misleading in that, to do so understates the crucial role played by construction .Therefore, improving construction efficiency by means of cost effectiveness and timeliness would certainly contribute to cost saving for the country as a whole. Effort directed to cost and time effectiveness was associated with management issues. A construction contract is made between two parties only i.e. ‘the Employer’ and ‘the Contractor’. Their roles are defined in the contract. However, because there is a need for day-to-day supervision of civil engineering construction, the two parties may agree that a third person should carry out such duties. This third person can have varying powers under the contract and this is reflected in his designation. He can be designated ‘the Engineer’ under the contract; or he may be designated ‘the Project Manager’ or ‘Employer’s Representative’ in both cases occupying a distinctly different position from any other designation. A survey on projects management performance of different types of construction projects in Kenya was conducted to determine the causes of delays which are one of major source of disputes and “construction claims” and their importance according to each of the project participants, i.e. owner, consultant and the contractor. Researching on the problem of delay in construction, the report adopted a descriptive research design. The sample size was established through the method of simple random sampling. The instrument used to collect data for the research was a structured questionnaire. Field survey was carried out with participants including 23 contractors, 19 consultants, and 15 owners. During the research, several causes of delay were identified. 76% of the contractors and 56% of the consultants had indicated that average of time overrun was between 10% and 30% of the original contract period. The three parties identified the most common cause of delay as being the variation orders. The surveys ix