In both the marine and civil construction, services are offered by contractors who are generally specialized in a particular type of work. They take the responsibility of job completion excluding the parts not mentioned in the contract. They are as a result responsible for building structures such as sewers, roads, and bridges in civil engineering and ship, boat ramps, and jetties among other marine vessels in marine construction.
Occasionally, they can allocate the performance of tasks to sub contractors.However, there are some factors that may result to delay or undone jobs hence cause a breach of contract. The following paper will discuss causes of delay in marine and civil construction. Causes of Construction Delays A delay in construction refers to the extension of time beyond the original plan due to unforeseen situations for a construction project to be completed.
It can also mean the situation that affects. These delays normally lead to construction claims or increase in project cost.The most common causes of delays in construction are contractor management and performance problems such as differing site conditions, changes made to the requirements and design, poor weather, the absence of labor, material or equipment, defective plans and specifications, and interference by the owner (Bramble & Callahan, 1999). Marine Construction Delays In marine construction, the most common types of disputes are related to schedule impacts hence result in complex situations.
These delays involve unexpected project events which may cause its extension or prevent the originally planned work from being done. The major causes for these delays include poor management and maladministration, restriction from site access, difference in various site conditions, permits and approvals, financially related problems, defective plans and specifications, changes in the work, issues related to labor productivity, review or approval of documents, testing or inspections, bad weather and force majeure events (Interface Consulting, 2009).The major type of conflict regarding schedule delays constitutes three points. These consider whether the event was related to the basic course of the project, quantification of the delay and its basic course and whether additional time or compensation is justified. In order to sort this out, the agreement basis must be understood so as to identify the particular risks that were acceptable, what is involved in delays that can be excused or compensated through contract review.
This therefore makes the validation of a delay claim by understanding the core elements very important (Interface Consulting, 2009). Civil Construction Delays Through control of the “means, methods, techniques, sequences and procedures”, the general contractor is usually responsible for the coordination of all aspects of the construction work. At times, however the owner is significantly involved in one of these areas through action or inaction posing the problem of owner interference.These include grade and scope designations that involve extensive revisions, changes in the work, interference with access to the project site, change of contractor performance due to directives of the owner, orders to remove a sub contractor, project use before its full completion, the owner’s inspectors requiring stricter standards of operation and the reinstatement of the same contractor after wrongfully termination of the contract (Bramble & Callahan, 1999).
In Civil construction therefore, this may lead to the experience of delays, which although may not be stated in the contract are normally resolved by the courts warning the owner against interference with the contractor’s performance. Eventually, the owner may be liable for related delay costs if the interference is found to be unreasonable. The order execution for determining the responsibility for delayed change is normally required. It is then exempted from any form of compensation if the contractor is unmanageable or negligent in his work with regards to scoping or pricing (Bramble & Callahan, 1999).Conclusion In the event that the owner interferes delays can be avoided by the contractor completing other works.
Additionally, when some cases involve sovereign government owner interference such as a visit by the president which disrupts progress it is not considered owner interference hence not liable for compensation. Majorly, the delays in marine construction are caused by the contractor while those in civil construction are determined by the owner.
