Construction time study: investigation into factors causing construction time delays on some recent building projects in New Zealand

Abstract

In recent years the building industry has felt increasing pressure from clients to provide buildings in as short a time as possible. In an attempt to meet these demands many of today's building projects tend to overrun their proposed completion dates, causing inconvenience and financial loss to the client and building user. The extent of this problem and reasons for its occurrence is of concern to all those currently involved in the building industry. The Ministry of Works and Development are aware of this problem and are concerned to ascertain the causes and extent of time overruns on building projects so that their staff may be better prepared to plan against time delays in the future. This topic was considered an appropriate one for research by MWD Head Office, Wellington, through their Architectural Research and Development Unit (ARDU). Data gathering and research were considered appropriate tasks for an undergraduate student, employed over the University summer break 1985/86. I was employed in this capacity in November, 1985, to report and co-ordinate with ARDU's Chief Architect (Research), Henry James, and Development Architect, Dr. Frank Stoks. My task was basically to identify the variables that influence construction times and determine which of these were the most significant in causing delays. This information could then be used to enhance future planning, management, and budgeting of building projects by the MWD.