Delays in construction almost happen in
all projects in Vietnam especially those state-funded and which contractors are
domestic. On the other hand, projects which were carried out by international
contractors are less likely to suffer delay.
The responsibility for delay was not
clearly defined; therefore, whenever delay happens, no one has to be blamed.
Because of this, the owner often give contractors extended time to finish the
project without any penalty. In very few cases, contractors were given more
time but had to pay a penalty.
However,
in general, delay and cost overrun are the biggest problems in bombing
construction field in Vietnam. Truong Quang Dien made a case study which focused on the construction stage of the
projects and the factors affecting it. The objectives of his paper were:
1.
Recognizing frequency causes of delay
2. Defining effects of delay in
progress of projects
3. Solutions to delay problem and how
to deal with delay when it happens
The discussion about the delay in
construction projects in Vietnam focused on frequency, severity and importance
of the causes of delay, effects of delay and how the delay was solved.
The frequency and severity causes of
delay were identified through previous research, present issues, and widespread
contributions of construction field in Vietnam. The construction participants
accorded inexact time, slow site clearance, slow issuance of government
permits, poor site management and supervision, financial difficulties,
incompetent subcontractor, and unforeseen factors, etc.
Slow acquisition was frequent cause of
delay in almost construction projects in Vietnam, which affected to whole
schedule of the project. In the Owner’s point of view the causes of delay were
related to the responsibilities of both contractor and subcontractor.
This paper showed that owners and
consultants realized that contract awarding to the lowest bidder was the
frequent causes of delay. However, the contractors considered that the severe causes
of delay were related to owners and consultants like: unclear responsibilities,
owners’ slow decision making bout some changed works during construction.
One common cause of delay was Change
Order initiated by owner during construction. Besides, there were many causes
between two parties, such as progress payment delay from Owner, ineffective
scheduling, poor site management and supervision, shortage of labors and
difficulties in financing from contractor.
All parties agreed that the following
causes rarely occurred and were less important: changes in government
regulations, restrictions at site, effect of social and cultural factors.
In general, there were certain interrelationships among the
problems. The top-ranked problems including occurrence were grouped under some
major factors: site related issues, incompetent designers and contractors, poor
estimation, poor site management and supervision, poor contract management,
price fluctuations, and improper techniques. It was noted that the findings
confirmed previous studies that most of the problems in construction projects
were related to human behavior and management problems, and not technical in
nature.
In order to mitigate delays in
construction industry in Vietnam, all engineers should be required for competency
training in terms of technical, and safety. Therefore, there was no more gap in
planning, managing and organizing and safety; project feasibility study must
receive a serious attention and must be done carefully especially on government
funded projects. In addition, contract
management work should be the focus. Although Vietnamese government has
regulated many decrees or circulars which ruled this work and published
contract template, it always needs experienced parties to do contract work and
suit template to real project conditions.
From the above causes, the effects of
delay were cost overrun and party’s damages. Third parties were people who
would get profit from operating or using the project.
To reduce delays, all parties should
consider the following important factors:
1. Separate site clearance
(acquisition) work from construction work and it must be finished before
estimating cost and schedule for construction phrase and bidding work.
2. Make clear responsibilities among parties
in the contract document and use CPM (Critical Path Management) to manage
schedule during construction.
3. Make Planning and scheduling: they
are continuing processes during construction and match with the resources and
time to develop the work to avoid cost overrun and disputes.
Besides the three most above mentioned
causes, the following points can be recommended by all parties in order to
minimize and control delays in construction projects.
For the Owners
1. Progress payment should be made on time;
otherwise, it impairs the contractor’s ability to finance the work.
2. Change orders should be minimized as
much as practical during construction to avoid delays.
3. Avoid delay in reviewing and
approving of design documents than the anticipated.
4. Check for all resources and
capabilities, before awarding the contract to the lowest bidder.
For the Contractors
1. Shortage and low productivity of
labor: enough number of labors should be assigned and be motivated to improve
productivity.
2. Financial and cash flow problems:
contractor should manage his financial resources, plan cash flow by utilizing
progress payment and ensure financial during construction.
3. Site management and supervision:
administrative and technical state should be assigned as soon as project is
awarded to make arrangements to achieve completion within specified time with
the required quality, and estimated cost.
4. Subcontractors and suppliers:
selecting Subcontractors and suppliers with competence and experience and have also
enough financial resources. Contractors should not select Subcontractors and
suppliers with low bidding price.
5. Planning and scheduling: they are
continuing processes during construction and match with the resources and time
to develop the work to avoid cost overrun and disputes.
For the Consultants
Reviewing and approving design
documents: any delay caused by the consultant engineer in checking, reviewing
and approving the design submittals prior to construction phase, could delay
the progress of the work. Inflexibility: Consultants should be flexible in
evaluating contractor works. Compromising between the cost and high quality
should be considered.
Abstract
In construction project management, delay means the
finish date of the project is beyond the date stated in contract. When delay happens,
cost often increases because of inflation or other factors. Most construction
projects in developing countries, including Vietnam, are suffering two
problems: delay and cost overrun.
For the owner, delay means cost more for capital and
loss of income from operating the outcome of the project. For constructors,
delay means cost more for construction work because spending on materials,
labors and vehicles will increase.
Completing project on time and within in-plan cost is
an indicator of efficiency in project management. However, construction
progress is often changed and affected by unforeseen factors such as:
contractor-related problems: Poor site management and supervision, Financial
difficulties, Incompetence subcontractors; owner-related problems,
design-related and slow site clearance, etc.
This report will try to find out which reasons are
main reasons for delay in Vietnam based on previous researches and personal
experience of author. Also, solutions for this problem will be mentioned in chapter
IV as a suggestion of author.
