Essay: UAE – construction industry

INTRODUCTION
The construction industry is one of the largest sectors in the entire world, it contributes significantly to the developing and developed nations on a large scale. This industry produces various large number of public infrastructures to private structures, these structures are used for various purposes including residential, commercial, institutional and industrial etc. The construction industry plays a major role in the developing and developed nations worldwide, this industry is linked to a wide variety of other industries such as real estate, raw material industry, tourism etc. The construction industry is undefinable, according to (Ofori, 1990), there can be various definitions to the construction industry as it includes a variety of professionals and skills to achieve a specific target and also there are various divisions in a construction industry, for instance the electrical and mechanical division, the civil and architectural division, plumbing and sewage division and so on.
We are absolutely focused to keeping to time and keeping within costs because delays cost money. – Tessa Jowell
As the construction industry is so massive, this industry does not only give out structures as products, it also creates millions of jobs worldwide therefore it has an effect on the economy of a nation. Although the construction industry enhances the GDP of a nation massively, there are few setbacks to the construction industry which have a negative impact on the economy or rather delay the positive impact which is predicted. These setbacks are caused mainly due to a huge investment in a project and then the project turning into a huge failure, there are many reasons for a project failure and a majority of these failures tend to become a burden on the developers or investors involved and also on the economy as a whole because these projects become monetarily expensive, in some cases the budget of a project quadruples the initial predicted budget. Such projects have a huge extension in the planned completion date which delays the monetary returns predicted from that particular source. For instance, the Scottish parliament building is considered one of the biggest failures of the century, although the project took only a 3-year extension to complete compared to the 8-year extension which is predicted for the nuclear power plant in Finland, the budget increased a whopping 700% from the initial estimated budget. As recently as 2014, the Dubai metro project took a huge blow of delay, which took an additional 5-years to complete with an increase of almost 80% of the estimated project cost. In developing countries, where the country’s population is growing vigorously, they cannot afford to invest in projects and convert the project into one of their biggest failures. It is for such reasons; suitable research studies have to be conducted for better understanding of the areas where a project could go into a massive turmoil. One of the chief factors that causes a project failure is delays during the project, there are various causes of delays in a project but only few are suitable and can be related to a particular country.
Role of Delays
Delays are expensive and time consuming, they are a very common phenomenon in today’s day and time. Delays play a major role in any project, it defines a project’s success or failure. If these delays are not carefully understood or if proper measures are not taken to avoid specific delays, they will have a huge impact financially and in terms of time. These impacts can have adverse effects depending on the scale of the impact, time extension could not only add on to the costs of the project but also stops the cash flow from the infrastructure and the amount invested would not generate returns without the project completion. Such cases tend to take investments in both financial as well as time, such effects sometimes lead to disputes and legal confrontations or in harsh cases a total abandonment by the contractor or the client terminating the contract. Delays and their effects definitely have a huge impact on the client or the developer, but the question remains about their relationship and their role with the economy of the UAE.
This study focuses on identifying the factors that cause delays through personal interviews with professional associated with the construction industry and the effects it has on the project and with the help of a survey, a series of ranking is given to these factors. The following section will clearly illustrate the necessity of this study and the boundaries of this research. ‘
LITERATURE REVIEW
Construction industry overview
‘Construction industry is regarded as a complex, fragmented and resource driven industry. A successful project is achieved if it is completed on time, within budget and to the specified quality standards. Timely completion of a project is a major criterion of project success.’ (Aftab. Et.al., 2011).
‘In UAE the construction industry contributes almost 7.5% of non-oil GDP besides being a vital source of employment. In the first quarter of 2004, almost 6000 construction companies were registered; 2119 buildings were completed including 1,436 villas and residential complexes, 393 multi-story commercial buildings and 290 industrial, entertainment and service buildings.’ (Dr. Belaid Rettab, 2005)As cited by (Salama, 2009). This study is majorly focused on the factors causing delays which are involved in the construction industry which would analyze the key causes and impacts of the delays. As stated by (Kishk, 2010), the effects of construction delays are not restricted to the construction companies, but can also influence the overall economy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where construction plays a major role in its development and contributes 14% to the GDP. ‘The key objectives of construction projects are time, cost, quality and safety. These objectives are jeopardized by delays. Delays result in extension of project time, which leads to extra over-heads that increase the cost.’ (Arshi Shakeel Faridi, 2006). Based on the above mentioned claims it can be drawn that delays in projects not only effect the construction industry but also effect the economy of the UAE. There have been limited research study done on factors causing delays in the construction industry, but the major objective of this study is to identify and categorize the factors causing delays based on their impact with the help of personal interviews of professionals associated with commercial projects in the construction industry of UAE and rank them with the help of surveys by professionals and employees from companies around the UAE involved in commercial projects over the years. There are studies that have done articles on delays and effects as a whole, but not focused on commercial buildings or at least not focused on UAE, there are other works done on delays within UAE, but have used a case study approach towards coming to a conclusion. According to a report done by Emirates NBD on sector economics, it shows that the construction sector in Dubai contributes 43.6% towards the construction industry of UAE as of 2014, compared to 36% in 2012 and 12% in 2009. (Tsetsonis, 2014). This shows the amount of development and growth UAE has induced in Dubai alone, it can be inferred from the above report that Dubai plays a significant role in the construction industry and this sector will benefit a lot from the massive expansions in the hospitality, tourism and transportation sector.
Fig. 1.1 ‘ GCC projects by sector
Source: MEED, Emirates NBD research
From the above pie chart (Fig 1.1) we can see that construction industry is a major part of development in the GCC nations, this industry creates massive job opportunities for employees all around the world with the vast amount of development projects and foreign investments. Although GCC nations are well known for their petroleum supply, the construction industry has a vital role to play in the upcoming years. As far as UAE is concerned, the pie chart below (Fig 1.2) shows that UAE contributes one third of the total amount of projects in the GCC nations and Dubai contributes nearly half of UAE’s contribution towards these projects. This proves that, based on this research done by Emirates NBD in 2014, UAE holds a pivotal role in the projects undertaken in any field but the major field of projects undertaken and developed in the whole of GCC is in the construction industry. So, for such reasons a study on delays that throws light on commercial projects of UAE and the relationship of these delays with the economy of UAE is essential towards gaining knowledge about this fast growing sector which helps many other sectors and also the economy in a crucial manner.
Fig. 1.2 – GCC projects by country (%)
Source: MEED, Emirates NBD research
According to a report on the construction industry of the UAE after the recession, Oryx Middle East (Trofimova, 2010) has done a strategic assessment on the market, trends, life cycle etc. the interesting section of the report is when the author elaborates about the players of this industry, the report describes the process about how the ‘real estate developers’ who are the clients announces a project and selects a ‘project management company’ to handle the management part of the project from start till finish, then the ‘contractors’ start submitting their bids and eventually a reasonable or suitable contractor is awarded the project who hires a ‘sub-contractor’ to do part of the job and also uses other ‘building materials providers or service providers’. This is typically how a project is carried out usually, but there may be complications within the project and sometimes before the project is even initiated, the process of a project from its development phase till its completion phase is totally depended on many variables. These variables may cause a delay in the begging of a project or sometimes cause a delay at a later stage.
Delays
‘Delays could be due to legal, contractual, construction scheduling, or eminent domain issues or due to externalities, contamination, or any variety of detrimental conditions. Some delays may be due to negligence or other improper conduct.’ (bell, 2011). There are various factors which cause delays, it is almost impossible to list and study each and every factor that causes delays. So, this study is going to gather the most important factors which have a measurable impact on commercial projects and categorize similar factors that fall under the same category. (Arshi Shakeel Faridi, 2006) In his research about significant factors causing delays in the construction industry of UAE establishes a list of 44 factors and categorized them into 8 major classes, furthermore, the study ranks the top 10 factors based on surveys and personal interviews, but doesn’t focus on the impact of the construction industry on the economy of UAE. This study is going a step further to analyze the factors and rank the top factors with the help of personal interviews and also to focus on the impact delays have on the construction industry as well as on the economy of the UAE. There are several articles and extensive research done on the causes of delays in the construction industry which are focused on specific regions, but very few focus on UAE and hardly any focus its impact on the economy of UAE. For example, (Aynur Kazaz, 2012) in their study gather a total of 49 delays that cause time overrun and then through interviews they could list down only those delays which were relevant to Turkey and then based on a survey they ranked the top delays which cause time overrun, they also do a comparative study of various countries to the current position of Turkey. Similarly, (Arshi Shakeel Faridi, 2006) in their paper study the significant factors causing delays in the construction industry of UAE, with the help of a huge number of questionnaire surveys and based on their analysis and evaluation of the surveys they could rank the top 10 most significant factors, but they have not focused on the effects of these delays. Although they have done a comparative study among different countries and their rankings of these top 10 delays, they have not gone in depth with how these delays effect the economy or how the commercial projects of UAE play a role in their economy. (Frank D.K. Fugar, 2010) In their study about factors causing delay in the construction projects of Ghana, they have identified a total of 32 factors causing delays, and conducted a survey which led to their discovery of the factor which has been highly rated by their respondents as the most effective delay. There are no such studies particularly focused on ranking the top causes of delays in the UAE.
As stated by (Aftab Hameed Memon, 2011)’The delay of construction project for whatever reasons, most probably lead to time overrun as the project may experience extension of time. This extension of time also may lead to cost overrun where it involves extra financial expenditure.’ Many delays are interrelated, one delay leading to cause another delay or the effect of a delay could ignite a similar delay, such delays have to be categorized under the same group and identifying those delays which cause of a chain of delays is crucial to rank them according to their impact. The delays which are most common fall under these categories: (1) Design related (2) Financial related, (3) Construction related, (4) Management related, (5) Rules and Regulations related, based on the following studies (Ali S. Alnuaimi, 2013 ), (M. E. Abd El-Razek, 2008), (Pederson, 2014), (Owolabi James, 2014).
Types of delays and effects
Delays have an indefinite effect on the respective project, a delay of 2 weeks in a construction activity may not definitely delay the entire project by 2 weeks (Aftab Hameed Memon, 2011), or in a different scenario a delay could enhance the value of a commercial building due to rise in market value of properties (bell, 2011). According to (Frank D.K. Fugar, 2010), in their study about the construction industry of Ghana, they have found out through questionnaire surveys that financial, material and improper scheduling were the main categories that caused delays in Ghana. In a study about delays in construction projects of Turkey, (Aynur Kazaz, 2012) in their findings about the factors causing time overruns have mentioned that design changes, delays in payment and flow of cash were top 3 reasons of time overruns, which is described in the next phase of this section. The economic impact is generally based on the level of economic activity caused by changes in a particular region (Glen Weisbrod, 1997), in this case those changes would be caused by delays in commercial projects. Based on literature review of various articles (Murali Sambasivan, 2007) explores the link between the causes and effects of delays in the Malaysian construction industry and considers 6 major effects of delays: (1) Cost overrun, (2) Time overrun, (3) Arbitration, (4) Dispute, (5) Total abandonment, (6) Litigation. The author also states that improper planning, poor site management, client’s inability to pay for completed works, contractors inadequate experience are the 4 major causes of delays according to their research findings. The effects of delays have a huge impact on the construction industry which consequently have a negative impact on the economy of a country, this study mainly focuses on the relation among the effects of delays on commercial projects of the construction industry which in turn has impact on the economy of UAE. (L. Muhwezi et. Al., 2014) In their study classify delays into 4 groups, as consultant related, client related, contractor related and external factors related. They state that consultant related delays are responsible for schedule delays, proper project planning, adequate equipment, labor and materials are crucial for project success, the study also stated that financial problems, changes during projects and slow decision making were critical factors causing delays. The study (L. Muhwezi, 2014) mentions that, based on literature review, material price fluctuation, weather changes, labor disputes, and change in government regulations were serious issues in this category.
Time overrun
According to (Aftab Hameed Memon, 2011), Time overrun is a significant effect of delays and has been observed in majority of the projects surveyed in his research. A time overrun would lead to a cost overrun and the client is forced to hold further payments due to time and cost constraints, which would result in reduced profits for the contractor, this may sometimes lead to litigation and disputes and sometimes lead to a complete abandonment of the project. (Owolabi James, 2014)
Cost overrun
The difference between agreed contract sum and final project cost can be expressed as a ratio (Ammar Kaka, 1991), and if the ratio > 1.0 then that is the case of cost overrun. ‘Contract-related factors such as change orders (changes in the deliverables and requirements) and mistakes and discrepancies in the contract document result in cost overrun.’ (Murali Sambasivan, 2007), the author went on to claim that Time overrun eventually leads to cost overrun. Cost overrun affects both the contractor and the client, which may sometimes lead to disputes and litigation.
Arbitration
This is usually the case when the contractor’s contract is being terminated by the client and generally a middleman is hired to settle the amount to be paid to the contractor for the amount of work done. This is highly unlikely, because it is a very unhealthy practice for both the parties and would eventually negotiate and come to a common conclusion.
Disputes
Disputes have a higher chance compared to Arbitration according to (Aftab Hameed Memon, 2011), he mentions that slow decision making by clients, escalation of material prices, changes in scope are generally the causes of disputes.
Litigation
When disputes between parties get accelerated and do not seem to find a solution or do not seem to come to an agreement, their last resort is litigation. (Murali Sambasivan, 2007).
Economy of the UAE
(Glen Weisbrod, 1997) In his study about measuring economic impacts provides five popular techniques to measure economic impact, (1) Total employment, (2) Aggregate personal income, (3) Value added, (4) Business output, (5) Property values, these measures are intertwined to each other and therefore cannot be used together to come to a conclusion. (Glen Weisbrod, 1997) Provides a suggestion for a research study ‘That is most frequently employment, business sales and/or property values’. Considering the type of commercial projects which are involved in this study, a property value measure would be suitable to analyze the impact of those projects on the economy of UAE. The author also suggests that such a research study be based on historical data, such as, the contribution of the construction industry in the economy of UAE, the contribution of commercial projects to the construction industry, the change in property values/real estate market over the years. As far as commercial buildings in the UAE are concerned, the impact of a singular project would be very minute on the economy of the entire nation. But, this doesn’t rule out the fact that a delayed project has a significant effect on the properties around it, on the owner and also delays the availability of jobs on the market. According to David Green, in his study about the inputs and outputs of 31 different sectors in the UAE (Green, 2010), states that the tourism industry is massively supported by a huge number of construction projects. Since UAE and especially Dubai is one of the top tourist destination, and this suggests that there will be no shortage of new developments and investments over the years. Also, due to an expansion in tourism and construction sector, which is going to attract about 100 million visitors by the end of this decade according to (Tsetsonis, 2014). This clearly indicates that the 3 major sectors that contribute to the economy are interrelated. A research study on the economic development of UAE (Interact, 2007)shows that, Abu Dhabi alone were to invest Dh555 billion over the next 5 years of which Dh320 would go into the construction sector. From all the above information, we can assume that the construction industry has a lot of potential to develop and grow through investments, but careful measures have to be taken to not let delays take control over a major sector. For such measures to be identified and undertaken, studies on this sector will help gain knowledge and help mitigate the causes and effects of delays, whereas this study focuses only on the commercial projects of the industry. We can also infer from the above literature review that a delay in commercial projects does not necessarily have a negative effect on the economy, but definitely has an indirect effect on the economy, in terms of property values, employment, and delayed start of sales etc. the bearer of the negative effects would be the owner of the property/project, whereas the economy would only benefit at a slower pace.
Fig. 1.3 ‘ GDP contribution by sector
Source: Zainal Mohebi Holdings
The construction industry contributes 8.6% towards the total GDP (Fig 1.3), but has an indirect effect on real estate and manufacturing industries. (Michael Kerr, 2013) Clearly states that the project developer of the employer of a project is the main player in construction projects, and these employers tend to fall into the category of ‘commercial and leisure real estate developers’. The author goes on to state that it is the project developer/real estate developers who bear the risk of fluctuations in the economy, whereas the contractor bears risk of changes in cost of construction materials, labor disputes and other time and cost related issues. According to (Glen Weisbrod, 1997) Economic impact is mostly defined as the expansion or contraction of an area’s economy through changes like opening, closing, expansion of a project. Economic impacts are usually regardless of user benefits or loss related to a particular project, if a commercial building is delayed and in effect suffers a time and cost overrun, the impact of that project might be a positive one on the economy of that area, but a definite loss to the project developer. There have been studies about delays and effects in the construction industry, but they have not focused on the impact it has on the economy.
Fig. 1.4
Source: Ministry of Labor, (The National, n.d.)
Clearly from Fig 1.4 we can infer that construction industry provides one third of the nation’s employment. But, the construction industry also provides more jobs in various fields through expansion of commercial, industrial and institutional buildings etc. (ventures onsite , 2013) this report talks about Dubai hosting the Expo 2020 which has been eventually given to Dubai, the report mentions the benefits from this expo like the expansion of metro lines, more developers and real estate investors seeking new ventures to develop, new infrastructure, modification of old infrastructure, a list of large scale projects and landmarks are estimated to complete by 2020. A study by Oxford economics shows that this expo would provide almost 270,000 jobs by the year 2020, this suggests that there will be a demand in the residential market. Also, according to (Arshi Shakeel Faridi, 2006) 16.5% of the total work force of UAE contributes through the construction industry as of 2003 and from the above figure we can infer that this work force has gone up to 33% as of 2014. Hence, the construction industry plays a huge role in employment and also on the economy of UAE, so there has to be more research studies done on the construction industry of the UAE to predict, to take precautions, to mitigate delays so that there are no repercussions of it on the economy since construction industry has a major role to play.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Methodology
For this study a mix of qualitative and quantitative approach has been used to identify the various types of delays and to use a questionnaire survey to rank these delays would be more accurate to satisfy the objectives and to achieve the intended outcome. According to (McLeod, 2008) qualitative has nothing to do with numerical data, but it is about an in depth understanding about how people feel or think. It is a descriptive data which is hard to analyze as compared to quantitative data, for example open ended questionnaires, observations, unstructured interviews etc. The author also states that expert advice and knowledge is imminent in doing a research study. (Williams, 2007) States that quantitative research method involves the formation of literature review and quantitative data analysis, this data is used to objectively measure reality. The quantitative approach uses opinions of people, which is converted into statistics to bring out a definite outcome. According to (Castellan, 2010), Statistical data is used to represent the social environment, ‘statistical methods’ and ‘deductive reasoning’ are used to generalize data. According to (Williams, 2007) in her study about research methods states that, a mixed method approach helps the researcher to not only understand a phenomenon from the respondent’s point of view but also helps in relating and quantifiable variables, which in this study are the causes of delays.
Interviews
There are various causes of delays in commercial projects, some of them have a very minute effect on the entire project and therefore literature review is not sufficient to list down the main causes of delays, also because there are very few research studies done in this region that interact with senior professionals to discuss the cause and effect of delays in construction. So, with the help of interviews, with highly qualified professionals who have a range of 5-25 years of experience in managing and executing commercial projects within the UAE, in these interviews I have listed a total of 47 delays with the help of literature review and then asked the interviewees about their opinion on delays in the construction industry and what they feel are the major delays based on their experience, many of the delays were repetitive and better terminology was used which shortened this list few have been irrelevant to the situations of the UAE, for example a delay caused by equipment failure and equipment unavailability has been clubbed as one delay instead of 2 separate delays, since it deals with equipment at site as a reason of delay. A total of 35 causes have been listed based on their high frequency of occurrence among the vast majority of projects they have executed over the years in the UAE and also what they believe are major issues with various projects around the UAE as far as delays are concerned. A total of 8 interviews were conducted in a time period of seven working days, these interviews were semi-structured face to face interviews, the interviews were helpful in listing the major causes of delays and their effects in projects, so the questions were focused on the major causes of delays according to them and how frequently they dealt with these delays and what would their effects be in their opinion. Each interview lasted a mere 30 minutes, these interviews were held in consent with the interviewees and a code of conduct was maintained throughout the interview.
The interviews were very informative and helped this study in gaining valuable insight about delays caused in real life construction projects, this helped structure this research based on the wealth of knowledge shared by the interviewees who have a significant contribution towards listing down the various causes of delays. Table 1.1 in the interview findings section shows the 35 causes of delays gathered from the interviews. Each interviewee had a unique approach and different phrases to explain these delays, so to avoid confusion among the delays these causes have been restructured and rephrased after careful understanding of each delay.
Questionnaire Surveys
The research method of using questionnaire surveys has been adapted to get a wide view of the currently working professionals associated with the construction industry of UAE and also to accomplish the objectives of this research by collecting a wide range of data about what the current contractors and consultants thought about the delays they are facing on a day to day basis, this will enhance the quality of this study by not only providing statistical data but also by providing data which will contribute immensely towards the ranking of delays and also towards the findings of this study. A total of 75 surveys were given and sent to companies to participate for this research, some of them have been sent through e-mail due to time and distance barriers and some of them have been delivered and collected personally, but only 58 of these surveys have been received for this research. These companies mainly included consultants, contractors and clients, which have been established within the past 10 years, but the experience of the owners of these companies and few professional employees is in between 5-25 years. Although it was a challenging task to do a questionnaire survey in such a busy scheduled industry, within a constricted time limit the amount of surveys delivered and received was really an astonishing factor for this research, the amount received was almost 55% of the amount of surveys distributed.
The survey uses a five point Likert scale where the options for every cause/effect are as follows:
Strongly agree ‘ 5, Agree ‘ 4, Not sure ‘ 3, Disagree ‘ 2, Strongly Disagree ‘ 1
This scale is developed by Dr. Rensis Likert, which gives the surveyor 5 options to choose from and those are given a score or code from 1-5, typically starting at 1 and incrementing from there. There are various types of Likert scales, but for this particular research the type of scale used would bring out the best outcome because the 5-point scale is easy to read and analyse without confusing the respondents.
These factors are then ranked with the help of Relative importance index (RII), which is commonly used to rank a series of factors based on the questionnaire responses.
Where, W = the weight given to each factor by every respondent (ranging from 1-5)
A = the maximum weight given for any factor, which in this case is 5
N = the total number of respondents of the survey.(L. Muhwezi, 2014)
The RII has to be between 0 ‘ 1, this method seems to be the most accurate way of ranking a list of factors which have gone through a survey. There are various other studies which have used this technique to rank their list of delays, for example (Frank D.K. Fugar, 2010), in their study about delays in building construction of Ghana, after a questionnaire survey of 130 respondents they have used the RII technique to rank their delays according to the views of clients, consultants and contractors separately before developing an overall ranking column of these delays.
FINDINGS
The below findings are a result of a series of face-to-face interviews through which a set of factors causing delays have been identified, which is followed by a survey about the factors that are highly likely to cause delays in commercial building’s projects. The surveys have then been analysed by the RII method which helped in ranking these surveys based on the RII score. These findings have helped the study in identifying the most impactful few causes of delays and the most common effect of these delays. The effects of these delays have a huge impact on the real estate developer or the investor, their relationship with the economy is discussed in the following section.
Interview findings
The following interviews are semi-structured interviews, although there have been a few open-ended questions, the responses from the interviewees have been very focused and detailed. The interviewees were cooperative throughout the interview which helped in building a decent conversation along the interview, which lasted an average of 30 minutes each. Some of the interviewees also took personal interest and guided me to reach the target respondents. Although there have been a few instances where getting an appointment to conduct interviews was challenging, the results of the interviews enriched the study furthermore.
Kota Rajendra Vara Prasad
Project Manager at Engineering Office (EO) of H.H Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
As far as experience is concerned, Mr Kota has an experience of 25 years in the construction industry and has been associated with the UAE’s construction industry from the past 15 years. He is also a member of the Society of Engineers in UAE and brings his vast knowledge and experience towards his contribution in this research.
Delays
Mr. Kota expresses his deep concern for delays due to frequent changes in drawings and designs and with his vast knowledge and experience he says he faced a lot of delays in the delivery of reinforcement and concrete from suppliers. He also expresses his dissatisfaction towards inexperienced sub-contracting staff. Mr. Kota also focuses his views on the delays caused due to poor supervision by consultants, who provide insufficient staff for timely inspections.
Effects
The major effect of delays as recognized by Mr. Kota are time extensions which in turn exceeds the approved or initial budget. Under productivity of staff and labour are other effects which cannot be measured according to him but they have their hidden consequences on the project. He mentions that due to design changes it becomes challenging to familiarise staff with the changes and also the reinforcement used in construction becomes unsuitable due to these changes. Another concern he states is that material management on site when the work is in halt or when the work is stopped, this again is the cause of poor supervision. Another effect he finds very time consuming and expensive is when sub-contractors demobilize if work stops, additional mobilization costs to be paid and it is time consuming, the cause for this could be due to lack of funding from client or if a particular activity is delayed or any kind of disputes etc. and there are many other reasons why a sub-contractor can withdraw or terminate his contract. Mr. Kota has also given a case where the cost of materials has gone up over the course of a delay in a project.
Construction industry of UAE
According to Mr. Kota construction industry is key to the development of UAE and this industry has raised the value of UAE as global players. The state of the art technology in construction and world class infrastructure has been attracting all business houses to UAE. This industry has also been bringing all nationalities to work together and promoting global culture. He also acknowledges the fact that this industry has been providing immense employment opportunities to work force which will eventually lead to sustained growth.
Delays relationship to the economy
As Mr. Kota predicts that delays in construction will lead to hike of construction cost and generation of revenue from real estate industry will be badly affected. He also states that cash flow will be negatively affected as most of the projects are financed by private lenders and banks. He claims that due to delays and their effects, if the returns from projects are delayed the investors will be impacted from lenders and this could be a major setback to the economy according to him.
B. V. Chandra Sekhar
Managing Director at DAIS Interior D”cor. LLC.
The interview with Mr. Sekhar helped in attaining valuable insight about the processes of a project from initial contract stages till the handing over phase, this has helped the research in gaining a broader perspective of delays in the construction industry.
Delays
According to Mr. Sekhar, the major delays he has faced were with the client’s inability to pay on time, so that the project can progress into the following stage. Another delay is labor shortage, in some cases where the client appoints unrealistic deadlines the contractor tends to accept the challenge for incentives and in such situations there is a shortage of labor or in other cases where Mr. Sekhar accepts too many projects at once, due to the market fluctuation he finds that there is a labor shortage occasionally.
Effects
He acknowledges the fact that there are always effects with delays, but he feels time overrun sometimes would lead to fines and a cut in the final payments and this can be a huge setback to any company trying to establish themselves in the UAE.
Construction industry of UAE
The construction industry is a vast sector of UAE and plays a major role in the economy as explained by Mr. Sekhar, he also highlights that UAE is a fast developing nation and there are various ongoing infrastructure projects and there is a lot of potential to develop in the coming years due to the Expo 2020.
Delays relationship to the economy
He clearly explains that delays are a minor setback in projects which may sometimes effect the construction industry in a minuscule scale, but delays in commercial projects would not have much of an effect on the whole of UAE’s economy. He clearly mentions that if a contractor extends the project duration it would have a direct and a huge impact on the contractor and the client which would eventually lead to financial problems but would not have much effect on a larger scale to the economy.
Milan Mahboob
Project Manager at Ambiente LLC.
The interview with Mr. Milan helped the study in gaining a younger and fresher opinion of the construction industry, it also helped in providing a thoughtful and broader view of the project management delays.
Delays
Mr. Milan describes delays in projects as a very natural and time consuming aspect, but these delays are mainly in acquiring documents and approvals for drawings before a project is initiated. He also mentions that in some cases the clients are at fault for causing delays when they’re unable to finalize and stick to the designs, he explains another case where getting special permits and approvals for a specific activity or project are delayed by government authorities. According to Mr. Milan, projects suffer delays when they have a unique and specific task where special materials are imported for the project, these delays are very occasional but they definitely delay a project.
Effects
As he further explains that effects of delays are basically related to time, a delay before the construction or site work begins, shifts the whole deadline of the project. He also states that delays have a direct effect on relations between client and contractors. He follows up his delay claim about delay in drawing approvals by stating that the contractor cannot go ahead with material procurement or the site works without the approved drawings.
Construction industry in the UAE
He describes that the construction industry in the UAE has a fast paced environment and this results in a highly competitive environment where it is very challenging to cope up with the pace, such an environment also encourages more developments and investments to the UAE, this also provides more business development opportunities to other sectors of the economy.
Delays relationship to the economy
According to Mr. Milan, the relationship is obvious that the effects delays have an impact on the pace of development of the economy, if projects and developments are delayed, then there will be a direct impact on the economy only in terms of the ‘pace of the development’ as put in words by him.
Abdul Qadir Barbhaya
Consultant at S.S Consultancy LLC.
As a senior consultant, Mr. Abdul brings his consultancy expertise to analyze the delays in the commercial projects of the construction industry. This enhances the quality of this study by bringing opinions and considerations from various experts in various fields associated with the construction industry.
Delays
Initially the delays that Mr. Abdul has put forward were, contractors improper planning, poor site management and their lack of experience. He supported his claims by providing instances where a delay is most of the time contractor related and then he mentioned client’s inability to pay on time, problems with sub-contractors, shortage in labor and material supply, these are some of the major factors which has to be taken into consideration to mitigate delays as he suggests. Other not so significant delays according to him would be equipment unavailability and change in government policies.
Effects
The major effect Mr. Abdul notices in his projects is Time overrun, which puts the contractor and the consultants in a lot of pressure. He provides an example of time overrun, he says if a project goes beyond a deadline the first party that is at fault is the contractor and then the consultants and clients. He gives this statement based on the fact that the entire project is majorly controlled by the contractor and the contractors decide the pace of the project and plan it from the initial stages and execute it by minimizing delays. He also explains how in such situations and in that immense pressure disputes are inevitable but they can be resolved through mutual agreement.
Construction industry in the UAE
As far as Mr. Abdul identifies, the population in UAE is growing rapidly over the years and is constantly on the rise. He says that demand for commercial and residential buildings will be on the rise soon, although there have been a few rough patches in this industry he predicts that there will be a rise in demand in the next 4-5 years.
Lukman Masood
Consultant at DG Jones & Partners ME Limited
Delays
Effects
Construction industry in the UAE
Delays relationship to the economy
Nikita Kelkar
Consultant at Embelle Interiors LLC.
Delays
Effects
Construction industry in the UAE
Delays relationship to the economy
Abraham Samuels
Professor in Architecture and design school at Amity University
As a Professor in Architecture and design at Amity University, Mr. Abraham brings in a wealth of knowledge as a contractor which was his previous occupation, this particular interview brings in views from a professional who not only has a lot of experience in the construction industry, but also has a deep interest in studies focused on the construction industry which enhances the quality of this research.
Delays
In the interview Mr. Abraham has mentioned about his previous experience as a contractor at his own establishment, he acknowledges the fact that many delays are caused by the client in a project and expresses his views about how design changes at the construction stages, delay in decisions from stakeholders and payment delays due to disputes and agreement of variance amount are the major delays he has faced from the clients side, he also mentions that constraints in time and issues of resources are due to lack of poor management of the project. Delays in getting permissions from the statutory authorities is one of the delays caused by the government officials especially in the UAE context is what Mr. Abraham confirms needs rectification. Delays in reworking due to snags and quality of work are the delays caused by the contractors which is again due to poor site supervision. Lack of communication between different parties leads to delays caused due to lack of coordination between different activities and sub-contractors, he also mentions that there are other causes of delays that are unpredictable and no one can be blamed such as communication errors and miscalculation, unforeseen issues like accident, climate change, calamities, inflation.
Effects
As the interview progressed Mr. Abraham mentions that sometimes these delays can have vigorous effects on the project and the contractor. He indicates that loss of time, money and resources could probably lead to abandoning the entire project also. He is also very well aware of the client’s position as far as delays are concerned, the client loses profits, trust, confidence on the contractors and referrals for the next projects. Another aspect which he is keen on is the disturbed relationship between the stakeholders and contractors which is majorly caused due to delays and disputes that follow.
Construction industry in the UAE
According to Mr. Abraham the construction industry in the UAE has become a very competitive market and the key to success in this industry is to keep up to the stringent challenges of Time, Cost, Quality and Technology. He also mentions that achieving unrealistic targets with high competitive market prices poses as a threat to many developing contractors in this industry, this is another reason why Mr. Abraham believes this industry has become highly competitive. According to Mr. Abraham, a highly competitive market does not mean the downfall or does not prove the market has become a saturated market, it shows the potential for growth in the industry even though the construction industry contributes a lot towards the economy of UAE.
Delays relationship to the economy
When asked about the relationship between delays in the construction industry and the economy of the UAE, Mr. Abraham clearly puts forward his views about the industry by stating that the construction industry in the UAE has a major stake in the growth of Economy of the UAE as its driven by a diversified source of income generation and try to be non-reliant on the oil & gas industry. He interprets how delays in projects which are so minute compared to the huge economy of a nation but have a definite impact on the economy, he explains that the delays in projects, delays the initiation of the business activities as planned and in turn increases the budget there by effecting the scheduled plans of the stakeholders and according to Mr. Abraham it’s a very symbiotic relationship as effects of delay causes effects on the economy, he provides further justification by explaining how delays have an effect on the project delivery which effects the client or the real estate developers by delaying the ROI which is expected after the project is completed, so that these funds could be allocated for future projects. This interpretation shows that delays have an effect on the economy without a doubt, but delays definitely have a huge impact on the clients compared to the impact these commercial projects have on the economy.
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No. Causes of Delay Party responsible/involved
1 Insufficient funds to finance the project Client
2 Slow decision making Client
3 Changes during construction Client
4 Delay in payment for completed works Client
5 Changes in drawings Client
6 Insufficient information from clients Client
7 Unrealistic project duration Client
8 Insufficient resources Contractor
9 Accidents during construction Contractor
10 Inadequate experience of contractor Contractor
11 Inadequate experience of subcontractor Contractor
12 Poor project planning Contractor
13 Poor construction methods Contractor
14 Poor coordination by contractor Contractor
15 Project management problem Contractor
16 Poor choice of sub-contractors Contractor
17 Poor understanding of project scope Contractor
18 Poor quality of materials Contractor
19 Poor site supervision/site management Contractor
20 Poor man management Contractor
21 Insufficient material at site Contractor
22 Waiting time for inspection and tests Consultant
23 Obtaining NOC and permits Consultant
24 Failure to acquire permits in time Consultant
25 Time taken for design approvals Consultant
26 Lack of labour productivity Labour and equipment
27 Equipment unavailability or failure Labour and equipment
28 Lack of skilled labour Labour and equipment
29 Labour disputes Labour and equipment
30 Inadequate labour supply Labour and equipment
31 Disputes between client and contractor Contract relationships
32 Lack of communication among parties involved Contract relationships
33 Weather conditions Other issues
34 Unforeseen site conditions Other issues
35 Change in government policies Other issues
Table. 1.1
Survey Findings
Questionnaire surveys help in converting opinions to numerical values which result in establishing a quantifiable and specific outcome (Williams, 2007). This questionnaire survey compiles a sample size of 58, out of the 95 questionnaires sent. The respondents mainly included Contracting firms, Clients/Real estate developers and Consultants, the experience of each respondent ranges from 5-25. Majority of the surveys have been delivered and collected personally from various firms and companies, the response rate of surveys conducted through emails is significantly low compared to those conducted personally, which is one of the reasons for the response rate being almost 60% of the questionnaires sent. Although the sample size may seem relatively small, the area of study has also been condensed and focused to commercial projects of the construction industry in the UAE, so, only the companies involved in commercial projects and those who take part in commercial projects on a regular basis have been considered for this study. Considering the amount of research and the wealth of knowledge available in this field, this research study was challenging to gather all the information through literature review and interviews, but this has only helped in enhancing the quality of the questionnaires and also to achieve the aims and objectives of the study through the survey findings.
Respondents Received/Distributed Percentage received Years of experience (0-10) Years of experience (10+) Staff involved
Clients 14/26 53.84% 8 6 Client, client representatives
Contractors 23/37 62.16% 12 11 Owners, project managers/coordinators
Consultants 21/32 65.62% 12 9 Owners, consultants
Table 1.2
In Table 1.2, the response rates of each type of respondent has been summarized, the consultants having the superior response rate of 65.62%, the consultants provide with valuable insights, as they involve in situations with contractors as well as the clients. On the contrary, the consultants don’t have the specific technical knowledge needed to answer few of the delay claims.
The contractors on the other hand, have a very wide knowledge about this particular topic and have been in familiar situations, they very well know the consequences and ways to mitigate or avoid certain delays. Some of them who have featured in the interview findings section have been interested and willing to contribute more towards this research through surveys and have provided support in attaining further participants for this research. Many of the contractor’s response have been similar to the final overall outcome of this survey, this shows that the vast amount of experience in the construction industry reflects their accuracy in determining the factors which cause the maximum amount of delays and those that have a vigorous impact on a project.
The Client’s responses were biased and seemed to blame many of the contractor related issues as the major reason for delays, the client’s responses also included real estate developers who have been involved in the construction industry for quite a long time and although the respondents for each category were tried to be kept equal, the majority of responses received were from contractors and consultants. So, this majority of responses seems to reflect on the final outcome.
Causes Survey
As you can see in the next table (Table 1.3) are the final rankings of the factors causing delays, these factors have been calculated using the RII and have been ranked accordingly. The number one factor that causes the maximum amount of delays according to this survey is the time taken for design approvals, which mainly involves the consultants and contractors. Delays in payment and changes during construction are typically related to the client, these are delays that can be mitigated by the client to minimize time or cost overrun. Failure to acquire permits in time is another major factor of delay that leads to further delays in project management, permits are very essential to ensure safety, to take necessary precautions and to control the environment etc. delay in acquiring permits are associated with consultants and often are the cause of lack of necessary documents, not providing documents in time or not estimating the time required to acquire these permits. Inadequate labor supply and lack of skilled labor are related to the contractor or in few cases where the labor supply is sub-contracted, according to this survey, the clients seem to find fault with the supply of labor and claim that factor as one of their major reasons for delays. Project management problem is the first directly related delay caused by contractors, it is a very essential part of any project and carries a higher weightage than any other contractor related delay. Lack of communication among parties is a three-way responsibility and has been acknowledged as a significant delay by all the parties.
No. Causes of Delay RII ‘ Relative importance index Rank Party
Responsible
1 Time taken for design approvals 0.82069 1 Consultant
2 Delay in payment for completed works 0.813793 2 Client
3 Changes during construction 0.803448 3 Client
4 Failure to acquire permits in time 0.794239 4 Consultant
5 Inadequate labour supply 0.786207 5 Labour and equipment
6 Lack of skilled labour 0.765517 6 Labour and equipment
7 Project management problem 0.762069 7 Contractor
8 Lack of communication among parties involved 0.755167 8 Contract relationships
9 Unrealistic project duration 0.737931 9 Client
10 Obtaining NOC and permits 0.732624 10 Consultant
11 Insufficient information from clients 0.725628 11 Client
12 Poor project planning 0.717241 12 Contractor
13 Poor site supervision/site management 0.710345 13 Contractor
14 Slow decision making 0.706897 14 Client
15 Poor coordination by contractor 0.703448 15 Contractor
16 Changes in drawings 0.701217 16 Client
17 Lack of labour productivity 0.700000 17 Labour and equipment
18 Change in government policies 0.668966 18 Other issues
19 Equipment unavailability or failure 0.653267 19 Labour and equipment
20 Insufficient funds to finance the project 0.648276 20 Client
21 Waiting time for inspection and tests 0.641379 21 Consultant
22 Inadequate experience of contractor 0.637931 22 Contractor
23 Inadequate experience of subcontractor 0.620690 23 Contractor
24 Disputes between client and contractor 0.606897 24 Contract relationships
25 Poor understanding of project scope 0.603448 25 Contractor
26 Poor choice of sub-contractors 0.595472 26 Contractor
27 Labour disputes 0.565517 27 Labour and equipment
28 Unforeseen site conditions 0.562069 28 Other issues
29 Insufficient resources 0.544828 29 Contractor
30 Poor man management 0.520690 30 Contractor
31 Poor quality of materials 0.513793 31 Contractor
32 Accidents during construction 0.475862 32 Contractor
33 Insufficient material at site 0.472414 33 Contractor
34 Poor construction methods 0.465517 34 Contractor
35 Weather conditions 0.372414 35 Other issues
Table. 1.3
Unrealistic project duration has been ranked 9th, this suggests that majority of the respondents realize that for most of the projects an unrealistic project duration has been set. Again, obtaining NOC and permits is seen as a major delay, the appearance of delays in acquiring permits in time or obtaining them in the first place in the top 10 delays indicates that there is a serious issue in the construction industry that causes delays and it goes without saying that this delay is a major issue in the UAE context, but goes unnoticed in other research studies in the UAE. These are the top 10 factors that cause delays according to the questionnaire survey.
Effects Survey
There are no causes without effects, there are always consequences in projects for any sort of delay, risk or accident etc. These consequences or effects in this study have also been included in the survey to find out the opinions and views of the same respondents who have provided their input for the causes survey, as explained earlier the 8 effects considered for this research are Time and Cost overrun, Poor quality of the project, Bad relations, Litigation, total abandonment, Disputes and Arbitration. Below are the findings and rankings from this survey (Table 1.4), it is not surprising to see Time and Cost overrun in the first two spots as they are the most common effects for most of the delays considered. In this day and age, Time and Cost are the two main aspects of a project and they are highly prioritized by Clients, Contractors and Consultants. Another cause for Cost overrun is Time overrun itself, this is one of the reasons clients tend to put unrealistic project durations, so that the project is done within the timeframe where the project would not exceed the agreed budget. According to (Ashwini Arun Salunkhe, 2014) in their article they define delays in construction projects as a factor that causes the extension of the considered time limit of a project. Time and Cost overrun are completely different and could become an interesting research study on its own, majority of the projects in the UAE have faced either time or cost overrun or both in many cases. For example, consider changes in construction as a delay which leads to both cost and time overrun, clients are bound to make changes during construction because sometimes there may be a case where the client does not like a final output or they change their mind halfway through an activity or budget constraints etc. this delay will usually lead to time overrun for making amends in the plan or project management, to estimate the cost for the changes, to get the changes approved etc. and this delay would lead to cost overrun because of the loss of material purchased or to purchase additional material, to seek skilled labor for a complex and specific task etc. Another example where a delay would only lead to time overrun is when there are changes made in design, permits are not acquired on time, insufficient information, lack of sufficient labor etc. If the table of delays is carefully evaluated, it can be drawn that time overrun and cost overrun go hand in hand, and there could be a few cases where time overrun is the only effect but there is not cost overrun. This shows why the respondents have rated highly for time overrun than cost overrun although both the effects are equally devastating for a project and everyone involved in it. In a research study done by (Sweis, 2013 ), about the factors causing time overrun in construction projects of Jordan, indicates that 73% of delays are caused by changes by the clients, government delays and weather conditions through the analysis done by the author. Another study by (Oko John Ameh, 2011) shows that inadequate funding, poor project planning and lack of equipment are the main causes of time overrun in the Nigerian construction industry. The study also focuses on the relationship between time overrun and labor productivity in the Nigerian construction industry, there is nothing more dangerous to the economy than a decrease in productivity as it creates inflationary pressure, social conflict, and mutual suspicion (Drucker, 1980) as cited by (Oko John Ameh, 2011).
Effect RII Rank
Time overrun 0.8379 1
Cost overrun 0.8172 2
Poor quality of project 0.7827 3
Bad Relations 0.7655 4
Litigation 0.6655 5
Total abandonment 0.6413 6
Disputes 0.6137 7
Arbitration 0.5793 8
Table 1.4
Another study about contractors perspective on factors causing time overruns in the construction industry of Malaysia (Memon, 2014), have ranked the factors causing time overruns and again design changes, changes in project scope and clients financial problems are the top major factors of time overruns.
Poor quality of projects is another major factor among the 8 effects in this survey, quality is usually compromised when there are too many changes, when time and cost are highly prioritized by the client etc. Poor quality is a result of improper planning and changes by clients, quality is the first aspect which is neglected when a project is going above the approved budget or when a project is going beyond the planned completion date.
Bad relations are the most feared effect by contractors and consultants especially, due to the negative effect it has on business development and the marketing plans. Contractors and consultants in their surveys have rated highly for having bad relations as an effect of delays, it is also one of their priorities to maintain good relations with clients because in this part of the world word of mouth is one of the most effective ways of marketing.
Litigation in construction industry according to (Paula Gerber, 2011) has a reputation for being ‘highly complex’, ‘extremely time consuming’ and ‘prohibitively expensive’. Litigation takes the fifth spot in the survey results, this scenario would take place to settle disputes and financial claims legally, whereas in many cases the parties held responsible tend to compromise with each other to avoid the legal hassle.
Total abandonment is a very rare situation, where the contractor or the client terminates the contract and settles financial claims, this is usually a result of dispute or the contractor’s inability to complete the project in a timely or efficient manner.
Disputes and Arbitration are the lowest in terms of effects of delays according to this survey, disputes are usually settled mutually and parties don’t tend to prolong it over the course of the project.
Although this study aims at finding the various causes of delays in commercial projects of the UAE, the findings about delays would not be of any value without specifying the implications they have on a project and also on the economy. Since the secondary aim of this study is to find out the relationship between delays and the economy, the key aspect to analyze the relationship between these is through understanding the effects of these delays on the economy as a whole. This is one of the reasons the research and survey on effects is imperative to this thesis.
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ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
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