Construction Delay Analysis – Principle No. 1 of 5
Delays on construction projects are common. Properly identifying the source and magnitude of project delays is the first “essential” step in resolving delay and avoiding disputes. The method used to measure or quantify delays is a function of and dependent upon the type and quality of the project documentation available. Most construction projects use critical path method (CPM) schedules to plan the work and to track progress. Regardless of the scheduling method chosen for the project, there are five basic and immutable principles that should be used to guide every analysis of delays.
Delay Analysis Principle No. 1:
Only delays to the project’s critical path will delay the project.
It is important to recognize that every construction project has a “critical path” – even if it does not have an accompanying CPM schedule. A CPM schedule is merely the time-management tool that enables the project team to more reliably identify the project’s critical path. The critical path is the longest path of activities in the CPM schedule network that calculates the project’s duration.
Based on this fundamental concept, if you were to add one workday to the project’s critical path, then the result would be a one-workday increase to the project’s duration, or said another way, a one-workday delay to the project. Because the critical path is responsible for determining the project’s duration, and an analysis of delay attempts to identify the cause of and measure project delay, every analysis of delays should begin with the identification of the project’s critical path at the time the delay occurred. It should also demonstrate that the project’s duration was extended by the alleged delay. In recognition of this basic fact, a well-written contract time extension provision includes this requirement.
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